U.S. Department of
Agriculture
Washington,
D.C.
|
DEPARTMENTAL REGULATION
|
NUMBER: 3630-001 |
|
SUBJECT: USDA Enterprise Shared Services (ESS) |
DATE: June 1, 2005 |
|
OPI: Office of the
Chief Information Officer |
USDA’s Enterprise Shared Services (ESS) environment is a
strategic component of both USDA’s Enterprise Architecture and its vision of
business transformation. ESS provides a
common technical infrastructure to support the development, delivery and
management of Web-based information and services, and USDA documents and
records. The ESS environment includes,
but is not limited to: the Enterprise Portal; Web Content, Collaboration and
Document/Records Management tools; Taxonomy; Common Employee Database; the “Google”
search engine; and Web presentation standards.
This Departmental Regulation documents USDA’s ESS policy, a
high-level evolving framework, and roles and responsibilities. USDA’s enterprise architecture and
investment strategies are the foundation for the policies in this Departmental
Regulation.
USDA agencies shall use the common technical
infrastructure provided through USDA’s ESS environment common technical
infrastructure to the maximum extent achievable to support the
development, delivery, and management of information and services on the Web
and USDA documents and records.
USDA agencies shall consolidate into the ESS environment
existing agency products and services that duplicate the components of the
common technical infrastructure.
Investments in duplicative products and services are permitted only with
the written approval of USDA’s Chief Information Officer through the capital
planning and investment and the information technology waiver processes.
The ESS environment includes, but
is not limited to: the Enterprise Portal; Web Content, Collaboration and
Document/Records Management tools; Taxonomy; Common Employee Database; the
“Google” search engine; and Web presentation standards.
The following outlines ESS
components and their features:
· A 24x7-supported service for developing, deploying and managing agency Web sites and Web-based services, except during scheduled maintenance.
· Provides customer and employee access to customized presentation of Web pages that consolidate the information and links to services they want, i.e., “My USDA.”
· A single point of access to all USDA information and services, providing a prominent outlet for announcing changes and enhancements to programs and services.
b Web Content, Collaboration and Document/Records Management Tools:
· Streamlined Web page development and deployment processes, reducing the number of staff needed to support these functions as Internet utilization grows.
· Simplify the reuse of online content (information on Web pages), permitting rapid redeployment of priority information through multiple web sites.
· Secure instant messaging services.
· Provide standardized, online meeting capabilities for ad-hoc and formal meetings nationwide.
· Provide online document and related information sharing services, such as team rooms.
· Provide common “workflow” tools which simplify management of online and offline documents/records.
· Enable fast, powerful electronic document/record retrieval, tracking and searching.
c Taxonomy:
·
Includes a metadata model of controlled vocabularies
and standards for metadata elements.
·
Includes terms and cross-references.
·
Identifies
services, topics and classification systems.
d Common
Employee Database:
·
A single point of access to common employee data to
support human resources, security functions and directories.
·
Reduces the cost of acquiring the data needed for
internal applications.
e “Google”
Search Engine:
·
An advanced search functionality enabling users to construct both simple and
complex queries, for example by using Boolean logic or restricting results to
languages, countries or web sites.
f Web
Presentation Standards:
·
Define guidelines and standards for online look, feel
and navigation to promote consistency while also improving the overall user
experience.
Additional capabilities and
functionality will be added to the ESS environment as requirements are
identified. Specifics on USDA’s ESS
environment can be found at www.sharedservices.usda.gov. (Users must have a Level 2 credential issued
through USDA’s eAuthentication Service gain full access to this site.)
Benefits of using the corporate technology platform
include freeing the time of information technology staff to support business
objectives, reducing information technology investment costs (e.g., hardware,
software, people), and reducing information technology security threats.
4
PROCEDURES – PLANNING AN APPLICATION USING ESS
Planning an application using ESS
involves several steps from defining the business problem to creating a project
plan. The Enterprise Shared Services
Implementation Guide identifies the necessary steps to implement agency
business applications using ESS. The
guide outlines ESS guiding principles, gives a high-level ESS overview and
walks through each of the implementation phases. The guide is available at www.sharedservices.usda.gov.
a
7 CFR 2.37 – Delegations of Authority by the Secretary
of Agriculture and General Officers of the Department, Chief Information
b
USDA Strategic Plan and USDA eGovernment Strategic Plan;
c
Public
Law 107-347, E-Government Act of 2002,
December 17, 2002;
d
Public Law 106-229, Electronic
Signatures in Global & National Commerce Act, June 30, 2000;
e
Public Law 106-222, Freedom to E-File
Act, June 20, 2000;
f
Public Law 105-277, Title XVII, Government
Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA), October 21 1998;
g
Public Law 104-231, Electronic Freedom of Information
Act Amendments of 1996, January 3, 1996;
h
Public Law 100-235, H.R. 145, Computer Security Act of
1987, January 8, 1988;
i
Public Law 99-508, Electronic Communications Privacy
Act of 1986, October 21, 1986;
j
Public Law 93-579, U.S.C. § 552A, The Privacy Act of
1974;
k
29 U.S.C. § 794(d), Section 508 of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973, amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, Public Law
105-220, August 7, 1998;
l
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-123, Management Accountability and Control,
June 21, 1995;
m OMB
Circular A-127, Financial Management Systems, July 23, 1993;
n
OMB Circular A-130, Management of Federal Information
Resources, November 28, 2000;
o
OMB Memo 00-10, OMB Procedures and Guidance on
Implementing the Government Paperwork Elimination Act, April 25, 2000;
p
OMB Memo 04-04, E-Authentication Guidance for Federal
Agencies, December 16, 2003.
q
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Special Publication 800-9, Good Security Practices for Electronic Commerce,
Including Electronic Data Interchange, December 1993;
r
NIST Special Publication 800-14, Generally Accepted Principles and Practices
for Securing Information Technology System, September 1996;
s
NIST Special Publication 800-18, Guide for
Developing Security Plans for Information Technology Systems, December 1998;
t
NIST Special Publication 800-25, Federal Agency Use of
Public Key Technology for Digital Signatures and Authentication, October 2000;
u
NIST Special Publication 800-26, Security Self-Assessment
Guide for Information Technology Systems, November 2001;
v
NIST Special Publication 800-37, Guide for the Security
Certification and Accreditation of Federal Information Systems, May 2004;
w NIST
Special Publication 800-63, Electronic Authentication Guideline: Recommendations of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology, June, 2004 (revision 1.0.1 released September 2004);
and
x
NIST Federal
Information Processing Standards Publication 199, “Standards for Security
Categorization of Federal Information and Information Systems”, December
2003.
-
End -