April 28, 2009

© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights Reserved.

Evolutionary Strategies for the Development of a SOA-Enabled USMC Enterprise

Mohamed Hussein, Ph.D.The MITRE Corporation

April 28, 2009

Approved for Public Release; Distribution UnlimitedCase Number 09-1398

© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights Reserved.2

Agenda

1 Why a SOA-enabled Marine Corps Enterprise?

2 What are the goals, problems and potential solutions in a nutshell?

3 Development of Marine Corps SOA Framework

4 Activity Model

5 A1: Definition of the scope of Marine Corps Service Oriented Infrastructure (USMC SOI)

6 A2: Development of Technologies Roadmap for USMC SOI

7 A3: Performance of USMC SOI acquisition

8 Control / Feedback loop among baseline activities

9 Conclusions and Recommendations


Why a SOA-enabled Marine Corps Enterprise?

3

■ Move towards net-centricity where DIEA1 provides priorities for the realization of DoD’s net-centric strategic goals. Priorities are constrained with principles and business rules

1 Department of Defense, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Defense Information Enterprise Architecture, Version 1.0, April 11, 2008


What are the goals, problems and potential solutions in a nutshell?

4

Goals:

1. Modernize information technologies (IT) to satisfy DoD’s net-centricity strategic goals2. Align IT systems with ever evolving business processes via the emerging paradigm of

service orientation

Problems:

3. Stakeholder communications4. SOA implementation approaches may lead to stove-piped / legacy on arrival solutions5. SOA acquisition processes require novel approaches with new investments in human

capital

Evolutionary Solution Strategies:

6. Define SOA scope to improve stakeholder communication and collaboration opportunities

7. Develop SOA Technologies Roadmap to guard against stove-piped solutions8. Perform acquisitions to realize the benefits of SOA while balancing the interdependence

of reusable and composable services


Development of Marine Corps SOA Framework

5

■ SOA Framework is an iterative approach – Characterize the operating environment– Evolve technologies roadmap– Define governance to guide implementation at

the enterprise and tactical levels.■ Provide reusable techniques and processes ■ Enable program managers to visualize how they can

collaboratively develop service-oriented systems ■ Ensure the alignment of implementation efforts with

DoD, DON, and USMC guidelines and polices■ Initial focus is on service oriented infrastructure

(SOI)

SOA Framework


Activity Model

6

IDEF0 Sample Function Box and Data Arrows

1 Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Computer Systems Laboratory, Processing Standards Publication 183, Integration Definition for Function Modeling (IDEF0), December 1993

■ Preliminary high level activity model developed with the IDEF0 standard1

■ Baseline activities– Definition of the scope of USMC SOI– Development of Technologies Roadmap for USMC SOI– Performance of USMC SOI acquisition

Function BoxInput Output

Mechanism Call

Control


Activity Model – A0: Develop SOA-Enabled Enterprise

7

© 2009 The MITRE Corporation. All rights Reserved.8

Description – A0: Develop SOA-Enabled Enterprise

Activity Sub-Activity Description

A0: Develop SOA-Enabled Enterprise

A1: Define SOI Scope The scope of the development of SOA-enabled enterprise will be defined. With each successive spiral, the scope will be updated and refined. Stakeholders will actively participate in the definition of the scope.

A2: Develop SOI Technologies Roadmap

The technologies roadmap will be developed within the scope of the development of the service oriented enterprise. The roadmap will include investigation and validation of emerging technologies.

A3: Perform SOI Acquisition

Service oriented infrastructure will be acquired. Performance of the acquisition process will be monitored and documented and will provide feedback into the development of the technologies roadmap.


Activity Model – A1: Definition of the Scope of USMC SOI

9


Description – A1: Definition of the Scope of USMC SOI

10


A1: Define SOI Scope

A11: Define Terms and Concepts

SOA terms and concepts will be defined with concrete examples to foster a common understanding as to the direction the Marine Corps is going with regards to service orientation. A service orientation vision statement becomes a future target the Marine Corps will use to align and realign service orientation activities.

A12: Define Stakeholders

Internal and external stakeholders will be identified. They will then work to refine inputs that feed other service oriented activities. Technologies will be shared among stakeholders and the Marine Corps so as to ensure that development activities align with the service orientation vision statement.

A13: Define Success Criteria and Time Frames

Relevant service oriented stakeholder development timeframes and dependencies will be assessed. Relevant decision points and metrics for measuring success will be developed.

A14: Define Scenario and Vignettes

Stakeholder developments will be mapped to relevant mission threads. Scenarios and vignettes will then be created.


Activity Model – A2: Development of Technologies Roadmap for USMC SOI

11


Description – A2: Development of Technologies Roadmap for USMC SOI

12


A2: Develop SOI Technologies Roadmap

A21: Define Deployment Environments

Deployment environment will be defined in order to understand Marine Corps IT constraints. Particular attention should be paid to understanding where the Marine Corps environment differs from the standard operating environment of many of the SOI technologies.

A22: Analyze and Investigate Technologies

Based on an understanding of the deployment environment, focused analysis and investigation will be performed to influence the Marine Corps technologies roadmap.

A23: Define Technologies Roadmap

An iterative technologies roadmap based on the Marine Corps environment, sound analysis and investigation will be defined and evolved over time.


Activity Model – A3: Performance of USMC SOI acquisition

13


Description – A3: Performance of USMC SOI acquisition

14

Activity Sub-Activity DescriptionA3: Perform SOI Acquisition

A31: Evaluate Acquisition Capacity

The Marine Corps' current acquisition capacity will be evaluated. Evaluations will include personnel skill sets, structure, and program management capabilities.

A32: Analyze Existing & Desired Infrastructure

This activity will analyze existing infrastructure. Gaps between current and desired end-states will be identified.

A33: Develop Spiral Plans & Processes

Acquisitions of complex system of systems require careful planning, which must be controlled with well-defined processes and reusable frameworks. Spiral plans and processes will be developed that build blocks of the system on top of each other.

A34: Select/Allocate Providers to Roles

This activity will define roles for providers in terms of specialty, select them on the basis of competitive acquisition strategies, and task them accordingly.

A35: Acquire Spiral Infrastructure

This activity will lay out the process for acquiring spiral infrastructure. With each spiral acquisition, the overall work will be decomposed into acquisition segments that target a specific space of the infrastructure. The activity will coordinate the segmented efforts towards a spiral capability.


Activity Model: Node Tree

15


Control / Feedback Loop among baseline activities

16

Define SOI Scope

Develop SOI Technologies

Roadmap

Perform SOI Acquisition

Stakeholder Inputs

Technologies Roadmap

Analysis Gap Reports

Analyzed and Investigated Technologies


Conclusions and Recommendations

17

Conclusions:

■ Execution of baseline activities for the development of SOA-enabled USMC enterprise will help in the movement towards DoD’s strategic goals of net-centricity.

■ Defining the relationships between scoping, analysis/investigation and acquisition increases communication among stakeholders, guards against stove-piped solutions and improves the acquisition process.

■ Stakeholders can collaborate better with the joint evolution of an activities model such as the one described. That level of cooperation will be key to ensuring understanding of the scope of the SOA development that the Marine Corps is undertaking.

Recommendations:

■ Different Marine Corps commands and/or organizations can take ownership of the different activities once the model matures with a high level of confidence.

■ A USMC SOA consortium can jointly monitor the evolution and the implementation of the activities in the model.

■ A multi-service SOA consortium can jointly establish coordinated SOA development activities across the DoD.

Documents

April 28, 2009