OMB to agencies: Show me the EA results

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

Agencies have 10 months to prove to the Office of Management and Budget that their enterprise architectures improve the way program managers invest in IT.

Agencies have 10 months to prove to the Office of Management and Budget that their enterprise architectures improve the way program managers invest in IT.Richard Burk, OMB's chief architect, said the Federal Enterprise Architecture Program Management Office will use the new EA Assessment Tool to analyze how agency modernization blueprints are improving agency missions.'We are moving the goal posts,' Burk said last month at the American Council for Technology's Management of Change conference in Philadelphia. 'Agencies go through three stages of their EA'completion, use and results. We are focusing now on use and results.'The CIO Council's Architecture and Infrastructure Committee is reviewing Version 2.0 of the EA Assessment Tool, and Burk said OMB plans to release the tool in October and assess agency EAs by March 2006.'We want agencies to justify their architecture in terms of what it is delivering,' Burk said. 'For some agencies, it may just be in one area, while others will demonstrate usefulness and results in multiple areas.'Burk said only a handful of agencies are far enough along to show results in multiple areas.OMB also updated Version 1.0 in late April by defining the terms and components, and adding examples to help agencies understand what OMB wants.Burk said agencies submitted their EAs last week, and OMB will assess them against Version 1.5.In April 2004, OMB released Version 1.0 of the EA Assessment Framework, which was designed to let agencies rate the capability of their modernization blueprints. OMB said it complements the General Accountability Office's EA Management Maturity Framework.Last year, GAO found that only the Executive Office of the President had a mature EA, and 76 of the 93 agencies reviewed were in Stage 1'the lowest stage.Using OMB's tool, agencies rate their EAs on a scale of 0 to 5 to identify how they address four areas:Industry and GAO experts lauded OMB's decision to 'move the goal posts' and look at how agencies are improving their missions with their EA.Michael Farber, a principal with Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. of McLean, Va., said OMB's plans to assess usage and performance are practical.'The key is to home in on specific areas,' he said. 'The focus should be on alignment and management of mission areas.' For the past six years, agencies have focused too much on compliance, Farber added.Randolph Hite, GAO's director of IT architecture and systems issues, said OMB is just looking at the EA from another angle, and that is important.'EA is like a basketball game: There are so many angles to look at, and the more you cover, the better you understand what is going on,' he said.Hite added that GAO looks at agency architectures, most recently the Homeland Security Department's blueprint, for content and management maturity.'There are a multitude of vantage points you can take when looking at EA, and these efforts will fill some of these voids,' he said.The end result, Burk said, should be to integrate EA into the normal way agencies do business. If that doesn't happen, he said, agency executives will not see the benefits of their blueprint, and they will not depend on it for planning.'EA is the bridge between the strategic plan and mission execution,' Burk said. 'It is incumbent on architects to understand that this is a management tool.'

'Agencies go through three stages of their EA'completion, use and results. We are focusing now on use and results.'

'OMB Chief Architect Richard Burk

Henrik G. de Gyor



















Maturity rare




  • Managing changes in architectural and strategic direction

  • Ensuring standard interfaces, interoperability and connectivity

  • Integrating IT as defined by the Technical Reference Model

  • Ensuring alignment with the agency's strategic goals.

















X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.