Products...Target...Target Project Support

Enterprise Architecture Services (EAS) has provided continued support to the IPv6 Project Management Office (PMO), since its inception.  This support has ranged from consulting on the development of pertinent documentation to assisting in the planning and execution of the transition itself. 

The following documents were developed and published over the past year by EAS, to support the IPv6 PMO in the planning of the IPv6 transition. 

1. EA Guidance for Transition
2. EA Discussion IPv6 Transition Mechanisms
3. EA Communications Plan Guidance
4. EA Communications Plan (Sample)

Additionally, EAS assisted the IPv6 PMO in the development of the IPv6 Charter by providing documentation samples and consultative support.

EAS is active in IPv6 planning by providing oversight throughout the development of IPV6 PMO products identified below:

1. The Network Backbone Definition
2. IPv6 Transition Milestones
3. IPv6 Transition Checklist
4. IPv6 Migration Assessment
5. The Transition Plan for IPv6 Enablement
6. IPv6 Communications Plan

EAS is also responsible for IPV6 project reporting, under the EA Quarterly Progress report, EAS assisted in establishing reporting milestones and EAS ensures that all submitted artifacts satisfy the requirements levied by OMB against the Enterprise Architecture.

Finally, EAS has been a member and active participant of each of the IPv6 working groups, which are:

1. Ipv6 Steering Working Group
2. IPv6 Transition Working Group
3. IPv6 Registry Working Group
4. IPv6 Training Working Group

EAS will continue this close support of the IPv6 Transition Program throughout its development.

After publication of EA V4.1 in February 2006, EAS canvassed VA business leadership to obtain feedback and recommendations for the subsequent version 4.2.  One outcome of this effort was that the VHA Health Administrative Center (HAC) requested increased representation in the business architecture as well as participation in the architecture development process.  EAS collaborated with HAC business leadership, business process analysts, and IT management over a six month period in order to develop a highly granular view of the various HAC Business Programs, Business Functions, Sub-Functions and Processes and the manor in which they are supported by technology. 

This effort resulted in the identification of a Health Benefits Business Line, analysis of the corresponding business processes and review of the supporting IT systems by which these unique HAC-managed veterans programs can be classified and by the development of two representative models to describe these activities.

• The HAC business ConOps (Concept of Operations) Model is presented for the first time in the Baseline Business Architecture section of EA V4.2.  It provides a top-down view of HAC activities in context of external stakeholders and business partnering Agencies and Departments. The model describes implementing HAC business processes.

• The HAC Mission-Space model presents the HAC programs within the context of all VHA medical programs, defining the HAC mission scope. The model goes on to define the relationship between these programs, their benefiting veteran groups, business processes and supporting IT systems.  This model is also accessible from the V4.2 Baseline Business Architecture.

In the coming year, EAS will continue to work with the HAC to improve business process representation and to optimize operations.

During 2006, OEAM/EAS and the Office of Cyber and Information Security (OCIS) began a collaborative effort to develop a formal architecture for Cyber Security.  This effort began with an analysis and decomposition of NIST 800-series security guidance, FISMA legislation and OMB security guidance, in order to identify all security requirements that apply to VA.

The working group then developed a Cyber-Security Reference Model which, when completed, will provide a Line-of-Sight from external requirements through implementing projects and to measured outcomes.  This model associates each external (NIST, FISMA, OMB, etc.) requirement with the implementing VA policy and handbook; it also maps each external requirement to the seventeen security discipline families (defined by NIST).  As this model matures, over the next year, it will expand to identify implementing projects and operational programs and systems along with their measured business outcomes. The current Cyber Security Reference Model is presented as a work in progress, within the VA Reference Model Section of the EA V4.2 Portal.

The overall objective of this effort is to develop a top-down, requirements-driven security architecture that will produce a line of sight from security requirements, through security-implementing business process implementation, through Security-Implementing IT projects and systems, and finally to measurable project results and realized business outcomes.

In its present form, the model can demonstrate the mapping of VA's guidance to external requirements, which can be used to demonstrate policy compliance and as a tool to identify and fill gaps in policy development.

EAS supports the One-VA Identity Management PMO through the Registration Eligibility Project and the Contact Management Project, both of which are described under the Project Abstracts Section of the Target Architecture.  This support includes reviewing and editing (and authoring portions of) PMO deliverables, for EA continuity, including:

• Identity Management Services Vision and Scope document ;
• Identity Management Services white paper;
• Identity Management Requirements and Joint VA - DOD Migration Planning document;
• Identity Management for DoD/VA Common Population document;
• Identity Management Services Oriented Architecture for DoD/VA Common Population.

OEAM/EAS participates in the following Identity Management IPT’s to capture knowledge of activities and to provide advice and assure compatibility with the Enterprise Architecture:

• RE/CM IdM IPT
• RE/CM DoD/VA Data Sharing IPT
• RE/CM EDE IPT
• RE/CM Enterprise Design and Engineering (EDE) IPT

OEAM/EAS also participates in meetings and working sessions with RE and CM Managers, IdM Engineers and Data Architects to represent and capture EA issues.

The VBA Application Migration Project (VAMP) is intended to replace VBA’s proprietary, legacy application by a combination of COTS replacement, custom rewrite and code regeneration in conjunction with re-hosting applications on a current technology platform and operation environment that is made up of VA Enterprise Application Architecture standard elements. This is a massive migration which will involve restructuring or rewriting 60 application systems.

The VBA architect was also interested in using this opportunity to imbed service oriented architecture, if it was feasible and if his business stakeholders could be convinced to do so. The VBA Enterprise Architect requested assistance from OEAM/EAS in the development of the Alternatives Analysis, Risk Management Plan and Cost benefit Analysis for this project's BY-2009 Budget Request and Milestone-1 review. As that negotiation progressed, OEAM/EAS introduced the possibility of developing a segment architecture in order to identify, develop, and reuse common services for functions that naturally reoccur among the five VA Business Lines.

The negotiation between EAS and VAMP resulted in an MOU in which EAS would collaborate with the VBA customer and develop the required analysis including alternatives that would permit development of a service oriented architecture while the VBA customer would participate in defining a Benefits Segment Architecture in the same timeframe.

This customer engagement, to date has resulted in the development of an application POC matrix.  The application POC matrix will be used to determine the pertinent stakeholders for each VBA system.  An outline of alternatives will be used to determine risk identification and an in depth risk analysis including mitigation strategies and contingency planning. EAS is currently analyzing the business problem and determining viable alternatives centered on customer requirements.

The FLITE project will replace three major and twenty-four minor Financial Management Systems, across VA, with a COTS Financial System that is certified solution within the President’s Management Agenda Line of Business and conforms with:

• FMFIA 1982  (Pub L. # 97-255)    Financial Managers’ Financial Integrity Act; and
• FFMIA 1996  (Pub L. # 104-208)  Federal Financial Management Improvement Act

OEAM/EAS is preparing to assist the FLITE Program Management Office in Requirement Identification, Alternative Analysis, Risk Assessment, Architecture Alignment, and in development of a Financial Services Segment Architecture, which will establish well-defined services interfaces for VA business systems that must interface with the FLITE FMS.

In preparation for this engagement EAS has completed the following activities:

• Identify and research scope of “FLITE” FMS replacement project;
• Research the marketplace to identify governmental Centers of Excellence (COE) and qualified software based on the full core and P224 Incremental tests;
• Evaluate the four COEs and six qualified software products specified in the FMLoB Migration Planning Guidance;
• Identify and document Actionable Mandates contained in the President’s Management Agenda (PMA), the E-government Strategy, the FM LoB Migration Planning Guidance and the Memorandum for CFOs on the subject: “Update on the Financial Lines of Business and the Financial Systems integration Office”;
• Research information contained in the Office of Financial Management “Core Financial System Requirements” and the Financial Systems Integration Office “Federal Financial Management Common Government-wide Accounting Classification Structure”;
• Make initial contact with FLITE PMO;
• Identify the Financial Program Office’s strategy for providing a standard financial management system across VA;
• Identify support expected from IT Enterprise Architecture Services for FLITE development;
• Identify core system requirements identified by the Financial Program Office for the FLITE system;
• Outline the requirements for a Financial Management Services Segment Architecture  in EA V4.2.

With these tasks accomplished, EAS has begun project architecture support for the FLITE PMO.

EAS has been working with Business Stakeholders and IT Development PMO's to define a series of 10 Segment Architectures, across VA. Out of the 10 identified segment architectures, four segment architectures are in one state or another of development.

The Identity Management Services Segment is complete and is delivered with EA V4.2, it evolved out of extensive collaboration with the Registration Eligibility PMO, the Contact Management PMO, several stakeholder-chaired IPTs; and the Data Architecture Service.  This segment is fully described within the Segment Architecture Development Section of the Target Architecture.  OEAM has produced the following products in support of this effort:

• Identity Management input to Segment Architecture Abstracts;
• Identity Management Services Segment Architecture Handbook;
• Identity Management Services Segment Architecture Presentation.

The Benefits Business Segment is 20% complete as of February 2007, it is also described within the Segment Architecture Development Section of the target Architecture. It is the result of collaboration with the VBA Architect and the VBA Application Migration Project PMO and will be completed in 2007.

Work has begun on the Financial Services Segment and on the Information Technology Services Segment Progress on these and the remaining segments will depend upon resource and budget availability across FY-2007 and FY-2008.

VA's Segment Architectures provide well defined boundaries to scope across broad business areas and they provide explicit interface standards to invoke well-defined services.   As such they facilitate component and data reuse as well as parallel development of service-providing projects along with the business-rule implementing projects that would use those services.  The Objective of VA's Segment Architecture Program is to facilitate implementation of IT projects, maximizing component and data reuse and minimizing risk.