Attachment (to DEAR Policy Directive)

 

OCIO Directive 2004-010 Definitions

 

Information system means a discrete set of information technology (IT), data, and related resources, such as personnel, hardware, software, and associated IT services organized for the collection, processing, maintenance, use, sharing, dissemination, or disposition of information.  (Source: OMB Circular A-11)

 

Financial Management System:  system that houses financial data of any and all kinds (e.g., accounting, budget, etc.) including both transactional and reporting systems.  (Source:  OMB Circular A-127)

 

General Support System (GSS):  GSS means an interconnected set of information resources, under the same direct management control, which shares common functionality.  A GSS normally includes hardware, software, information, data, applications, communications, and people.  A GSS can be, for example, a local area network (LAN) including smart terminals that supports a branch office, an agency-wide backbone, a communications network, a departmental data processing center including its operating system and utilities, a tactical radio network, or a shared information processing service organization(IPSO).  A GSS normally provides support for a variety of users and/or applications.  Users may be from the same or different organizations. (Source:  OMB Circular A-130)

 

Major Application (MA):  MA means an application that requires special attention to security due to the risk and magnitude of the harm resulting from the loss, misuse, or unauthorized access to, or modification of, the information in the application.  All Federal applications require some level of protection.  Certain applications, because of the information in them, require management oversight and should be treated as a MA.  Adequate security for other applications should be provided by the security of the systems in which they operate.  A breach in a MA might compromise many individual application programs and hardware, software, and telecommunications components.  MAs can be either a major software application that utilizes the services of anther IT system’s platform and communication or a combination of hardware/software where the only purpose of the systems is to support a specific mission-related function.  The IT system should be defined such that, as whole, there is a completed product such as a report or a completed transaction.

(Source:  OMB Circular A-130)

 

Major IT Investments:  include: a) any project reported to OMB in the previous fiscal year, or b) had a $5 million annual cost or greater than $35 million life-cycle costs: or was c) a financial systems with a life-cycle of more than $500,000; or d) constitutes importance to bureau’s mission or its significant role in administration of programs, finances, property, or other resources; or was e) an integral part of agency’s architecture modernization blue-print; or f) constitutes an E-Gov, Departmental, or cross-cutting project.  (Source:  OMB Circular A-11)

 

Non- Major IT Investments:  means any initiative or investment not meeting the definition of Major IT investment defined above, but is part of the agency’s IT investment.  (Source:  OMB Circular A-11)

 

Modernization Blueprint:  the transition plan for migrating from to include the as-is and target architecture and associated transition plans typically specific to a business or functional area.  To view DOI’s Modernization Blueprint please visit:  http://www.doi.gov/ocio/architecture/index.html.