EA Professional Spotlight: EAIG Member Booz Allen Hamilton
EAIG Member Booz Allen Hamilton Promotes the Modernization of Federal Agencies’ Information Technology In Support Of Business Transformation. In recent months, Federal agencies raced to meet OMB’s May 31, 2005, deadline for achieving “green” ratings on Enterprise Architecture (EA) maturity as part of the President’s Management Agenda (PMA) assessment. OMB had established a target for all Federal agencies to achieve a Level 3 or higher (out of a possible 5) on its EA Assessment Framework by that date. For many agencies, this milestone represented a significant maturation of EA practices and work products from the previous scoring.
For years, Booz Allen Hamilton and others have been helping Federal agencies apply their EA activities toward strategic long-term planning and business transformation. This strategic approach to EA is consistent with OMB’s current focus on improving the “use and results” of EA.1 Booz Allen Principal Michael Farber explains that “agencies should focus on alignment and management of mission areas.”
This philosophy, which Booz Allen consultants call “mission back,” has reaped rewards for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Energy (DOE), and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), all of which exceeded the OMB “green” milestone in May. Three key elements are combining to translate this philosophy into action: structured processes for prioritizing and sequencing IT modernization activities, a focus on high priority architectural “segments,” and the integration of planning and governance processes.
Architecture is only the first step in driving IT modernization. Organizations cannot pursue everything with equal vigor or resources. Transition planning must be the process that helps agency leaders decide what matters most and where the next dollar should be spent. Booz Allen helps agency decision-makers apply rigor in this trade-off analysis, answering questions about mission impact, financial impact, and resource availability. “Organizations continuously face trade-offs,” says Farber. An EA allows organizations to consider alternative investments, say in mission versus management resources.”2
Once these decisions have been made, agencies can architect and implement high-priority “segments” of the architecture in a logical sequence. Segment architectures focus on specific lines of business, business functions, or IT services within the broader EA framework. They bring together expert staff from across the enterprise in an integrated project team (IPT) to identify opportunities for collaboration, sharing, and re-use across organizational boundaries. The IPTs create detailed blueprints, business cases, and implementation plans for each segment.
To be successful, agencies must integrate EA planning and governance processes with other related disciplines such as capital planning, security planning, and strategic planning. While all agencies are now recognizing the need for this integration, those gaining traction in executing their EAs have moved beyond process integration diagrams and are taking action. Effective EA practices are conducting strategic reviews of their IT portfolios relative to their Target EAs and Transition Plans. They are moving to an environment where EA is no longer a cross-check against investments, but rather the driver for investment. They are at the table in evaluating investments alongside the program areas and capital planning leads. And most importantly, they are educating stakeholders along the way in the value of collaboration, sharing and re-use.
Ultimately, an agency’s leadership will play a key role in the success or failure of the EA as a mission enabler. Booz Allen Principal Jim Benson explains that “leaders need to ensure that they have the right people driving the short-, mid-, and long-term visions to support organizational transformation, program and mission improvement. Leaders must reach out to stakeholders that support the mission and integrate their processes into the EA.” Likewise, Booz Allen takes an integrated approach to helping clients affect business transformation. Depending on client needs, a Booz Allen EA team may bring together consultants from a broad sweep of disciplines, including mission engineering, organizational change management, process reengineering, Service Oriented Architecture, and systems engineering.
With OMB’s focus on “getting to green” and with Booz Allen’s support, many Federal agencies are taking the appropriate next steps in applying EA discipline to drive the business programs to fulfill their missions.“Mission-back” approaches, fueled in part by program-driven segment architectures, are critical to successful transformation to modernized environments. Booz Allen is pleased to be at the forefront of driving EA to fulfill the goals and objectives of Federal agencies across Government.
by Bill Graca, Enterprise Architecture Interest Group
