Office of the Chief Information Officer &
High Performance Computing and Communications
Enterprise Architecture
Enterprise Architecture (EA) is both a process and a living document that provides a blueprint to guide the development/acquisition of efficient and secure Information Technology (IT) solutions to meet the enterprise’s mission and objectives. At NOAA, the EA augments the Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution System (PPBES) function to enable:
- Analysis of IT alternatives to close performance gaps
- Identification and elimination of redundant IT investments (leverage shared investments and enterprise solutions), and
- Establishment of technical standards and architectural principles to maximize sharing of data across programs and applications (removal of stovepipes).
Based on industry best practices and government-wide standards (e.g., the Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework), the NOAA EA provides a standard framework and methodology to describe various dimensions of NOAA as an enterprise. Specifically, the NOAA EA documents enterprise-wide performance, business, application (service), data and infrastructure requirements of each mission goal, and the interrelationships amongst these requirements.
The NOAA EA seeks to maximize collaboration on shared enterprise-wide IT solutions, enable reuse of existing IT assets wherever possible, and move NOAA towards a standards-based IT environment. Working in concert with PPBES, the NOAA EA also seeks to:
- Develop a corporate vision of NOAA's future IT environment, based on enterprise-wide business needs and priorities
- Identify and promote smart architectural principles to guide IT behavior and establish a secure, interoperable, and agile IT environment that can rapidly evolve to meet emerging business needs and priorities
- Facilitate a broadly vetted and consensus definition of the IT technical standards for use throughout NOAA.
- Analyze current IT assets and to identify areas where changes could lead to cost savings
- Provide a “line-of-sight” traceability between IT resources and their contribution to the achievement of program goals
Additional EA Information:
The NOAA Enterprise Architecture document (version 2.0) is available upon request to authorized persons. Contact David Layton or Sarah Brabson for further information.
NOAA Enterprise Architecture Committee
Related links:
Department of Commerce Enterprise Architecture Web Site
Federal Enterprise Architecture