Case in Point: Federating the Business Enterprise Architecture and Component Architectures in the Area of Logistics

To improve the BEA content related to Department logistics processes, the BTA partnered with the Defense Logistics Agency and U.S. Transportation Command to create a coupling of architectures between the BEA and Component levels through the use of “touchpoints.” These touchpoints promote the objectives of the Federation Strategy, namely tiered accountability where Component architectures contain the detailed activities for performing logistics, and are linked to the higher Enterprise level to support transformation initiatives, strategic decision making, information sharing with the intended outcome of improved support to the warfighter and accountability to the American taxpayer.

In order to promote collaboration and to accelerate the architecture federation effort, the Business Transformation Agency (BTA) took advantage of the Supply Chain Operational Reference (SCOR) Model—the commercial reference model adopted for use across the DoD. SCOR provided a standard architectural framework and common language between the BTA, DLA, and USTRANSCOM, as it was used by those Components during the development of their respective architectures. Using SCOR as a starting point, the BTA was able to look across the various architectures and quickly determine where more detail was needed in the BEA to effect federation. The outcome was new activities and processes in the BEA under “Deliver Property and Forces” and “Dispose or Return Property and Materiel.” These new activities and processes represent a federation layer in the BEA that creates a “parent-child” relationship where Component activities map directly to a corresponding activity or process in the BEA.

The new activities and processes in the BEA allow the Components to align their architectures with the BEA (see the figure below). This alignment, along with the related information exchanges and process flows, support Materiel Visibility transformation efforts by providing traceability between the Enterprise and Component architectures. Now, via federation, the BEA can be used to better guide transformation efforts, rationalize information technology investments, and enhance the investment review process. The BEA also becomes more useful for program managers through tools such as the Architecture Compliance And Requirements Traceability (ACART) application that facilitates system compliance and integration efforts. (ACART is a mechanism by which Components and programs performing system assessments can illustrate how their system supports the DoD’s transformation efforts via mapping to applicable activities, business rules and data included within the BEA.)

As DoD advances towards its goal of transforming the enterprise, the BEA will continue to expand and mature—incorporating additional business rules, new best business practices, and revised transformational initiatives—all the while recognizing the benefits of federation.