Why EA
It's easy to make changes, but to make changes for the better, you have to really understand the organization. EA is an organized way to study the organization so decisions can be made on facts, not anecdotes. EA streamlines the organization, focuses on understanding and accomplishing the mission, and gets rid of duplicate efforts. The result is the most efficient, most effective architecture possible within time and funding limits. For more benefits of EA, read the page on the value of EA.
Developing the vision
The vision comes from comparing what we are doing with the DOI Strategic Plan
, by mapping the PRM to the Strategic Plan. We compare our goals, mission, and needs with technical standards and industry best practices. Generally, we start with the narrow view (looking at technology and services) and move on to a wider view (looking at businesses and goals).
We also need to know the priority of the criteria. It's good to have systems that are fast, but if because of court orders, data security is more important than speed, a well-protected system should score higher than one that's fast. All together, the criteria measure how well a given system fits the architecture we want to have.
Value added
EA adds value to the three central phases of the CPIC cycle:
- Select--EA recommends what to select and reject based on value and compatibility with other systems and organizations
- Control--EA recommends how to set up relationships between systems
- Evaluate--EA recommends which systems to phase out, which to expand, and which to keep for now but not add to
To security: A well-defined architecture is easier to protect. DEAR, the EA repository, is also the source of record for security C&A (certification and accreditation) and enclave data.
To funding organizations: OMB values good architecture because a department with mature EA can show how its funding supports its mission.
Conceptual target architecture
By developing the vision (Step 1, Vision), we get a rough sketch of our to-be architecture. It's called the conceptual target architecture because it is not the final version; it will get refined and defined along the way. It's the initial sketch we use to make a blueprint. Next we need to take a lot of measurements (Step 2, Inventory) so we can understand what's lacking in the structure we have now (Step 3, Analysis) Finally, we produce the blueprint of planned additions (Step 4, Take Action). But it's the sketch we develop in this first step that gives us the concept of where we're going and why; it's what we refer back to for the rest of the work.
