7.2.5. DoD Enterprise Architecture-Related Guidance

DEFENSE ACQUISITION GUIDEBOOK
Chapter 7 - Acquiring Information Technology

7.2.5. DoD Enterprise Architecture-Related Guidance

7.2.5.1. DoD Architecture Framework (DoDAF)

7.2.5.2. DoD Information Technology (IT) Standards Registry (DISR)

7.2.5.3. DoD Net-Centric Data and Services Strategy

7.2.5.4. DoD Information Assurance (IA) Strategic Plan

7.2.5.5. Global Information Grid (GIG) Enterprise Services (GIG ES) Capability Development Document

7.2.5. DoD Enterprise Architecture-Related Guidance

The following paragraphs describe the major sources of guidance and tools related to the DoD Enterprise Architecture and supporting DoD strategies for implementing the architecture in information technology (including National Security Systems) programs. Program Managers and sponsors/domain owners should use the guidance, tools, and strategies outlined below throughout a program's life cycle to meet a variety of statutory and regulatory requirements.

7.2.5.1. DoD Architecture Framework (DoDAF)

DoDAF has been designed to meet the specific business and operational needs of the DoD. It defines a way of representing an enterprise architecture that enables stakeholders to focus on specific areas of interests in the enterprise, while retaining sight of the big picture. To assist decision-makers, DoDAF provides the means of abstracting essential information from the underlying complexity and presenting it in a way that maintains coherence and consistency. One of the principal objectives is to present this information in a way that is understandable to the many stakeholder communities involved in developing, delivering, and sustaining capabilities in support of the stakeholder's mission. It does so by dividing the problem space into manageable pieces, according to the stakeholder's viewpoint, further defined as DoDAF-described Models.

Each viewpoint has a particular purpose, and usually presents one or combinations of the following:

• Broad summary information about the whole enterprise (e.g., high-level operational concepts).
• Narrowly focused information for a specialist purpose (e.g., system interface definitions).
• Information about how aspects of the enterprise are connected (e.g., how business or operational activities are supported by a system, or how program management brings together the different aspects of network enabled capability).

However, it should be emphasized that DoDAF is fundamentally about creating a coherent model of the enterprise to enable effective decision-making. The presentational aspects should not overemphasize the pictorial presentation at the expense of the underlying data.

DoDAF organizes the DoDAF-described Models into the following viewpoints:

• The All Viewpoint describes the overarching aspects of architecture context that relate to all viewpoints.
• The Capability Viewpoint articulates the capability requirements, the delivery timing, and the deployed capability.
• The Data and Information Viewpoint articulates the data relationships and alignment structures in the architecture content for the capability and operational requirements, system engineering processes, and systems and services.
• The Operational Viewpoint includes the operational scenarios, activities, and requirements that support capabilities.
• The Project Viewpoint describes the relationships between operational and capability requirements and the various projects being implemented. The Project Viewpoint also details dependencies among capability and operational requirements, system engineering processes, systems design, and services design within the Defense Acquisition System process. An example is the Vcharts in Chapter 4 of the Defense Acquisition Guide.
• The Services Viewpoint is the design for solutions articulating the Performers, Activities, Services, and their Exchanges, providing for or supporting operational and capability functions.
• The Standards Viewpoint articulates the applicable operational, business, technical, and industry policies, standards, guidance, constraints, and forecasts that apply to capability and operational requirements, system engineering processes, and systems and services.
• The Systems Viewpoint, for Legacy support, is the design for solutions articulating the systems, their composition, interconnectivity, and context providing for or supporting operational and capability functions.

A presentation of these viewpoints is portrayed in graphic format below:

Figure 7.2.5.1.F1 DoDAF Models Viewpoints

DoDAF Viewpoints

DoDAF V2.0 is a more focused approach to supporting decision-makers than prior versions. In the past, decision-makers would look at DoDAF offerings and decide which were appropriate to their decision process. An example is the JCIDS process architecture requirements inside the JCIDS documentation (ICD, CDD, CPD, etc.). Additionally, older version Architectural Description products were hard-coded in regard to content and how they were visualized. Many times, these design products were not understandable or useful to their intended audience. DoDAF V2.0, based on process owner input, has increased focus on architectural data, and a new approach for presenting architecture information has addressed the issues.

Typically the Combat Developer (or Domain Owner/Sponsor) will be responsible for the architecture description prior to Milestone B with the Program Manager taking on the responsibility subsequent to the approval at Milestone B.

7.2.5.2. DoD Information Technology (IT) Standards Registry (DISR)

The DoD IT Standards Registry is an online repository for a minimal set of IT standards to support interoperability. These standards are used as the "building codes" for all systems being procured in the DoD. Use of these building codes facilitates interoperability among systems and integration of new systems into the Information Enterprise. In addition, the DISR provides the capability to build profiles of standards that programs will use to deliver net-centric capabilities.

When building systems, requests for proposals (RFPs) and contract statements of work (SOWs) should be reviewed as part of approved acquisition processes to ensure IT standards established in Initial Capabilities Documents, Capability Development Documents, and Capability Production Documents (Intelink account required) are translated into clear contractual requirements. In addition, RFPs and contract SOWs should contain additional requirements for contractors to identify instances where cost, schedule, or performance impacts may preclude the use of IT standards mandated in DISR. Key net-centric elements that program architectures should focus on include:

• Internet Protocol – Ensure data packets are routed across network, not switched via dedicated circuits. Focus on establishing IP as the convergence layer.
• Secure and Available Communications – Encrypted initially for core network; goal is edge-to-edge encryption and hardened against denial of service. Focus is on Black (encrypted) Transport Layer to be established through the Transformational Communications Architecture implementation.
• Assured Sharing – Trusted accessibility to net resources (data, services, applications, people, devices, collaborative environment, etc). Focus on assured access for authorized users and denied access for unauthorized users.
• Quality of Service – Data timeliness, accuracy, completeness, integrity, availability, and ease of use. This is envisioned as being measured through the Net-Ready Key Performance Parameter. Focus on Service Level Agreements and service protocols with quality and performance metrics.

7.2.5.3. DoD Net-Centric Data and Services Strategy

The DoD Net-Centric Data Strategy provides the basis for implementing and sharing data in a net-centric environment. It describes the requirements for inputting and sharing data, metadata, and forming dynamic communities to share data. Program Managers (PMs) and Sponsors/Domain Owners should comply with the explicit requirements and the intent of this strategy, which is to share data as widely and as rapidly as possible, consistent with security requirements. Additional requirements and details on implementing the DoD Data Strategy are found in section 7.4. (Refer to DoD Net-Centric Data Strategy, May 2003, issued by Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration (DoD Chief Information Officer (DoD CIO).

The DoD Net-Centric Services Strategy (NCSS) reflects the DoD's recognition that a service-oriented approach can result in an explosion of capabilities for our warfighters and decision makers, thereby increasing operational effectiveness. A service-oriented approach can accelerate the DoD's ongoing effort to achieve net-centric operations by ensuring that our warfighters receive the right information, from trusted and accurate sources, when and where it is needed.

The DoD NCSS builds upon the DoD Net-Centric Data Strategy's goals of making data assets visible, accessible, and understandable. This strategy establishes services as the preferred means by which data producers and capability providers can make their data assets and capabilities available across the DoD and beyond. It also establishes services as the preferred means by which consumers can access and use these data assets and capabilities.

The DoD's vision is to establish a Net-Centric Environment (NCE) that increasingly leverages shared services and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) that are:

• Supported by the required use of a single set of common standards, rules, and shared secure infrastructure provided by the Enterprise Information Environment Mission Area (EIEMA);
• Populated with appropriately secure mission and business services provided and used by each Mission Area;
• Governed by a cross-Mission Area board, which is chaired by the DoD CIO;
• Managed by Global information Grid (GIG) Network Operations (NetOps).

When this vision is achieved, all members of the DoD will realize significant benefits. A common infrastructure enables force capabilities to be readily networked in support of joint warfighting and operations. Interoperability of capabilities is improved when Military Departments, Agencies, and mission partners create reusable "building blocks" through the use of services. The coordinated management of this environment under GIG NetOps provides the necessary situational awareness for joint forces to use the capabilities that are available. The DoD's commitment to govern this evolution will greatly improve the ability to respond to evolving operations and missions. (Refer to: DoD Net-Centric Services Strategy, Strategy for a Net-Centric, Service Oriented DoD Enterprise, March, 2007, issued by DoD CIO.)

To assist in achieving the net-centric information sharing vision, PMs should be cognizant of the following principles from the DoD Information Enterprise Architecture (IEA) that address the deployment of data and services:

• Data, services and applications belong to the DoD Enterprise. Information is a strategic asset that must be accessible to the people who need it to make decisions.
• Data, services, and applications should be loosely coupled to one another. The interfaces for mission services that an organization provides should be independent of the underlying implementation. Likewise, data has much greater value if it is visible, accessible and understandable outside of the applications that might handle it.
• Only handle information once (the "OHIO" principle). Information that exists should be reused rather than recreated.
• Semantics and syntax for data sharing should be defined on a community basis. Information sharing problems exist within communities; the solutions must come from within those communities.
• Data, services and applications must be visible, accessible, understandable, and trusted to include consideration of "the unanticipated user". All needs can never be fully anticipated. There will inevitably be unanticipated situations, unanticipated processes, and unanticipated partners. By building capabilities designed to support users outside of the expected set, the Department can achieve a measure of agility as a competitive advantage over our adversaries.
• Enterprise Services providing data or information shall be authoritative and, thus, trusted as being accurate, complete and having assured integrity. Authoritative information has a pedigree that can be traced to a trusted source.
• Enterprise Services must be hosted in environments that meet minimum GIG computing node standards in terms of availability, support and backup. A small set of Enterprise Services, designated as Core Enterprise Services, are mandated for DoD-wide use by the DoD CIO in order to provide enterprise-wide awareness, access and delivery of information via the GIG.

Refer to: DoD Information Enterprise Architecture (IEA) issued by DoD CIO.

7.2.5.4. DoD Information Assurance (IA) Strategic Plan

The DoD IA Strategic Plan defines an enterprise-wide strategic direction for assuring information and guides planners, programmers, strategists and organizational leaders. The Net-Centric Enterprise IA Strategy serves as an annex to the DoD IA Strategic Plan, and focuses specifically on amplifying the goals and approaches for transforming to the IA essential to safeguarding a net-centric information environment.

The Net-Centric Enterprise IA Strategy is a driver for the IA Component of the Global information Grid (GIG) Architecture. The Net-Centric IA Strategy describes the DoD strategy for integration of IA into the global, net-centric information environment. The end-to-end IA component of the GIG is comprised of a set of informational documents and DoD Architecture Framework (DoDAF) products (tools) that define IA constructs as conceptualized and specified for integration of IA into the net-centric information environment in support of a secure, globally interconnected, end-to-end set of information capabilities, associated processes, and personnel for collecting, processing, storing, disseminating, and managing information on demand to warfighters, defense policymakers, and support personnel. The intent of the Net-Centric IA Strategy is to reflect an approach to IA concepts and definitions from a "services" point-of-view instead of a "system" point-of-view, without specifying requirements related to specific implementations or architectures.

For more detail about Information Assurance, see Section 7.5.

7.2.5.5. Global Information Grid (GIG) Enterprise Services (GIG ES) Capability Development Document

The GIG ES Capability Development Document is currently focused on nine core enterprise services to be provided by the Net Centric Enterprise Services (NCES) Program. These services are the foundation for the initial net-centric capabilities to be provided by the Defense Information Systems Agency. The Capability Development Document describes the overall set of services in detail.

The NCES program will develop the core enterprise services incrementally. The NCES Program Plan describes the increments and their anticipated schedule. Each program that is dependent upon the core services being developed by the NCES program should address the impact of the incremental NCES schedule on their program.

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