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Table of Contents

1 Introduction
1.1 Document Structure
1.2 Purpose
1.3 Audience
1.4 Overview of this Document

2 Enterprise Architecture Program Overview
2.1 EA Drivers
2.2 The Role of EA
2.3 EA Infrastructure

3 Organization and Roles
3.1 HHS Organization Structure
3.1.1 Assistant Secretary for Resources and Technology
3.1.2 Office of the Chief Information Officer
3.1.3 Office of Enterprise Architecture
3.2 Governance Bodies
3.2.1 HHS CIO Council
3.2.2 HHS Information Technology Investment Review Board
3.2.3 HHS Enterprise Architecture Review Board
3.2.4 HHS Model Working Group/Configuration Control Board
3.2.5 HHS Data Architecture Work Group
3.2.6 OPDIV Advisory and Review Groups
3.3 Roles and Responsibilities
3.3.1 HHS Chief Information Officer
3.3.2 HHS Chief Enterprise Architect
3.3.3 HHS Lead Architect
3.3.4 HHS Data Architect
3.3.5 HHS EA Program Staff
3.3.6 HHS Chief Information Security Officer
3.3.7 HHS Capital Planning and Investment Control Program Manager
3.3.8 Office of the Secretary Chief Information Officer
3.3.9 OPDIV Chief Information Officers
3.3.10 OPDIV Chief Enterprise Architects
3.3.11 OPDIV Enterprise Architecture Programs
3.3.12 Information Technology Program and Project Managers

4 Enterprise Architecture Use
4.1 Enterprise Performance Life Cycle
4.2 EA Program Management
4.3 EA Development
4.4 Segment Architecture Development
4.5 Standards Integration
4.6 Federal Alignment
4.7 Configuration Management
4.8 EA Repository Administration and Maintenance
4.9 Capital Planning and Investment Control
4.10 Information Security
4.11 Information Resources Management Strategic Planning
4.12 Performance Measurement and Management

Appendix A Acronyms and Abbreviations
Appendix B References


1 Introduction

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Enterprise Architecture manages an Enterprise Architecture (EA) Program, under the leadership of the HHS Chief Enterprise Architect (CEA). The Office of Enterprise Architecture within the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) oversees many of the Department’s core strategic planning and accountability functions, including information security, capital planning and investment control, information resources strategic planning, and of course, enterprise architecture. The HHS EA Program fulfills multiple Federal mandates related to planning and managing information technology (IT) investments and supporting organizational effectiveness at the Department, Staff Division (STAFFDIV), and Operating Division (OPDIV) levels, and with relevant government-wide initiatives.

Key legislative and management drivers for the HHS EA Program include the Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996 (Clinger-Cohen), the E-Government Act of 2002, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), the Government Performance Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), and guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) including Circulars A-11, A-127, and A-130. In addition, the HHS EA Program ensures the Department’s compliance with OMB’s Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA) and Federal Transition Framework (FTF), and responds to regular EA maturity assessments performed by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and OMB. The HHS EA Governance Plan describes the key enterprise architecture stakeholders, including roles and responsibilities related to various management functions, decision-making activities, and oversight processes at HHS. The HHS EA provides information and capabilities that support numerous other HHS programs, with current and planned uses for the HHS EA including:


1.1 Document Structure

Part 1 Introduction (this section) gives a general description of the purpose, scope, objectives and audience for the HHS Enterprise Architecture Program Governance Plan.

Part 2 Enterprise Architecture Program Overview summarizes the overall assumptions and context for the HHS EA Program and the related functions and processes to be addressed within the Governance Plan.

Part 3 Organization and Roles discusses the roles, responsibilities, and authorities attributed to the various HHS EA stakeholders, at the Departmental and OPDIV levels. It also discusses the use of the EA in context of the relationship among various decision-making and oversight bodies.

Part 4 Enterprise Architecture Use describes the interaction of the HHS EA Program within the Department, including the EA’s role in supporting management functions, decision-making activities, and oversight processes. This section defines the scope of EA Governance in terms of the ways in which the EA is used and intended for use across the Department.

1.2 Purpose

This document is intended to describe the major activities of the HHS EA Program and, especially, the interaction of HHS EA Program activities with related functions, processes, and initiatives within and outside HHS. The Governance Plan defines roles and responsibilities for HHS EA stakeholders.

1.3 Audience

The intended audience for the Governance Plan includes all HHS EA stakeholders, as well as those interested in the operational activities of the HHS EA Program. These stakeholders include:



1.4 Overview of this Document

This HHS EA Program Governance Plan focuses on the roles and responsibilities of HHS EA stakeholders and on the processes and activities influenced, supported, or executed by the HHS EA Program. The scope of the HHS EA Governance Plan is Department-wide; it includes all HHS Operating Divisions and Staff Divisions. The HHS EA uses a federated approach, storing and presenting Departmental and OPDIV-level enterprise architecture models within a single, centralized repository. The EA Governance Plan reflects this federation, specifying roles and responsibilities for the Department-level enterprise architecture as well as corresponding models and EA activities at the OPDIV level. From the perspective of the HHS IT portfolio, all IT investments are subject to compliance with declared HHS EA standards, with priority investments subject to formal evaluation of EA alignment through the CPIC critical partner review process. The HHS EA Program is fully operational. As such, this plan addresses the use of the HHS EA in all relevant contexts, including demonstrating HHS compliance with relevant regulations and federal guidelines. Related documents that provide additional details of the EA Program include:

This plan complements, and will be incorporated by reference, within related HHS directives such as:

 

2 Enterprise Architecture Program Overview

2.1 EA Drivers

The development and maintenance of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Enterprise Architecture is required by Section 5125 of the Clinger-Cohen Act (CCA). It requires “developing, maintaining, and facilitating the implementation of a sound and integrated information technology architecture for the executive agency.” As defined in the CCA, “information technology architecture,” with respect to an executive agency, means an integrated framework for evolving or maintaining existing information technology (IT) to achieve the agency’s strategic goals and information resources management goals. In the 10 years since Clinger-Cohen was enacted, the scope of mandated enterprise architecture activities has been expanded – primarily through the efforts of the OMB Federal Enterprise Architecture Program Management Office (FEA PMO) – to explicitly include business architecture and performance architecture. Clinger-Cohen also legislated that organizational responsibility for enterprise architecture in federal agencies falls under the Chief Information Officer.

The FEA PMO works with Federal agencies to document, describe, and analyze EA from a government-wide perspective. Working with the federal CIO Council, in 1999 the FEA PMO developed and published the Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework (FEAF), which gives federal agencies a recommended common structure for building enterprise architectures. In support of the FEAF, OMB also publishes a set of five reference models (Performance Reference Model, Business Reference Model, Service Component Reference Model, Technical Reference Model, and Data and Information Reference Model) corresponding to the layers of the FEAF and to the need to link enterprise architecture to strategic planning and performance objectives. The FEA reference models provide a standardized taxonomy to organize and categorize architectural information. OMB requires agency enterprise architectures to align with the Federal Enterprise Architecture. In particular, major IT investments submitted to OMB must demonstrate compliance with agency enterprise architectures; this compliance includes alignment to the FEA.

The HHS EA Program is designed both to address the Department’s federal obligations for EA and to establish a basis for continuously evolving HHS business processes, services, and supporting systems and technologies. This provides effective operational capabilities in response to changing operational requirements and priorities. The HHS EA reflects HHS’ current environment and set of circumstances. It also defines intended target states to realize longer-term vision in the most effective and efficient way.

2.2 The Role of EA

The HHS Enterprise Architecture is the plan for optimally allocating resources of all types toward the realization of the Department’s strategic business goals and objectives The EA is a strategic resource that helps HHS plan, invest in, and implement information technology solutions to meet business needs and help manage the IT investment portfolio. It provides a mechanism for understanding and managing complexity and change. EA products identify the alignment of organizational business and management processes, data flows, and technology. They also enable identification of capability gaps and duplication. The role of the enterprise architecture within the broader cycle of strategic planning and execution is reflected in the initial “Architect” phase of the iterative performance improvement lifecycle described by OMB, as depicted in Figure 1 (Source: FEA Practice Guidance, December 2006).


Figure 1: Performance Improvement Lifecycle

HHS is a large and diverse organization, with a broad mission and corresponding functional responsibilities at both the Department level and, especially, among the Operating Divisions. To improve the business-driven perspective necessary for effective enterprise architecture development in support of the HHS mission, the HHS EA Program has adopted an approach defined in terms of “segments.” Segments are discrete sets of business functions grouped as communities of interest according to similarities in mission, goals, objectives, and commonality of services and business processes. HHS defines nine segments:

1. Access to Care
2. Health Care Administration
3. Health Care Delivery
4. Health Care Research and Practitioner Education
5. Human Services
6. Population Health Management and Consumer Safety
7. Information Resources Management
8. Management of Government Resources
9. Planning and Accountability

The first six segments listed above are mission-oriented, both in terms of their alignment with goals articulated in the HHS Strategic Plan and in their incorporation of the primary functional responsibilities of the HHS Operating Divisions. The last three segments focus on business functions and services common across Departmental operations; each of these three has a supporting or enabling role for the mission segments. From a governance standpoint, the distinction between these two sub-sets of segments is significant because HHS maintains primary responsibility for the defining and development of the supporting segments, while the primary responsibility for each of the mission-oriented segments rests with one or more Operating Divisions.

The segment-based approach helps to make enterprise architecture more manageable and consistent across HHS and its OPDIVs. This business-driven perspective is also consistent with the EA guidance provided by OMB. The HHS EA Program’s incorporation of segment-based EA development principles helps to establish appropriate governance boundaries and dimensions for EA development, use, and analysis. As depicted in Figure 2 (Source: FEA Practice Guidance, December 2006), the more narrowly a segment is defined in terms of scope, the greater the level of detail will be required to document the segment sufficiently to meet the needs of the segment stakeholders.


Figure 2: Architecture Levels and Attributes

 

2.3 EA Infrastructure

To support enterprise architecture information gathering, documentation, presentation, and reporting, the HHS EA Program deployed an enterprise architecture modeling tool and information repository, collectively known as the HHS Enterprise Architecture Repository (HEAR). The Department implemented HEAR as a centralized physical infrastructure with a federated logical design. This deployment model allows HHS to maintain an enterprise-wide perspective including all the Operating Divisions, while also permitting a degree of local flexibility at the OPDIV level to support OPDIV-specific needs. The use of a single, shared instance made available to the OPDIVs also provides economies of scale for EA technical capabilities across HHS. The underlying technology for HEAR has been implemented using a shared license pool, sized to support all EA modeling efforts at Department, STAFFDIV, and OPDIV levels. The HHS EA Program provides oversight of the HEAR system and its environment. This includes providing configuration management for the technical components of the environment, the structure of the repository, and the EA framework that supports EA functional requirements across HHS.

3 Organization and Roles

3.1 HHS Organization Structure

The Department of Health and Human Services is the United States government’s principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves. The Department includes more than 300 programs covering a wide spectrum of activities. HHS has many Staff Divisions corresponding to the Office of the Secretary, seven Assistant Secretaries, and 11 Operating Divisions:

At the Department level, the HHS Enterprise Architecture Program is the responsibility of the Office of Enterprise Architecture (OEA) under the direction of the Chief Enterprise Architect (CEA). The OEA is a part of the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO). The position of Chief Information Officer (CIO) is held by the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Resources and Technology under the Assistant Secretary for Resources and Technology.

The Office of Enterprise Architecture oversees the Departmental programs for Enterprise Architecture, Capital Planning and Investment Control, and Information Security, and also develops the HHS Information Resources Management Strategic Plans. Also within the HHS OCIO and are the HHS Director of Enterprise Project Management and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and the HHS Director of Resources Management. These relationships are depicted in Figure 3, below.

Figure 3: Organizational Structure of the Office of the Chief Information Officer

3.1.1 Assistant Secretary for Resources and Technology

The mission of the Office of Resources and Technology is to provide advice and guidance to the Secretary on budget, financial management, information technology, and grants management, and to provide for the direction and coordination of these activities throughout the Department.

The Office is headed by the Assistant Secretary for Resources and Technology (ASRT). The ASRT:

ASRT includes:

The ASRT also is responsible for ensuring that HHS continues to make progress in meeting the goals of three of the areas of the President's Management Agenda:

These are all areas that can be supported by enterprise architecture activities.

3.1.2 Office of the Chief Information Officer

The Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Technology (DASIT), who is also the HHS CIO, heads the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO). The Office of the Chief Information Officer advises the Secretary and the Assistant Secretary for Resources and Technology on matters pertaining to the use of information and related technologies to accomplish Departmental goals and program objectives. The mission of the Office is to establish and provide:

Assistance and guidance on the use of technology-supported business process reengineering;

Investment analysis;

Performance measurement;

Strategic development and application of information systems and infrastructure;

Policies to provide improved management of information resources and technology; and

Better, more efficient service to our clients and employees.

The Office exercises authorities delegated by the Secretary to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Technology, as the CIO for the Department. These authorities derive from the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996, the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the Computer Matching and Privacy Act of 1988, the Computer Security Act of 1987, the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), the National Archives and Records Administration Act of 1984, the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984, the Federal Records Act of 1950, OMB Circulars A-130 and A-11, Government Printing and Binding Regulations issued by the Joint Committee on Printing, and Presidential Decision Directive 63.

The Office of the Chief Information Officer is composed of the following subordinate organizations:

Among the functions the Office of the Chief Information Officer performs are the following related to enterprise architecture:

3.1.3 Office of Enterprise Architecture

The Office of Enterprise Architecture (OEA) is headed by the Director, Office of Enterprise Architecture who is also the HHS Chief Enterprise Architect (CEA), and supports all planning and enterprise programs that fall under the Office of the Chief Information Officer. The Office of Enterprise Architecture is responsible for:

The Office of Enterprise Architecture also is responsible for implementing and administering the program to protect the information resources of the Department, including information security and privacy provisions, managed by the HHS Chief Information Security Officer (CISO):

3.2 Governance Bodies

3.2.1 HHS CIO Council

The HHS Chief Information Officers Council is chaired by the HHS CIO and is composed of representatives at the Chief Information Officer or equivalent level from each of the OPDIVS, the Office of the Secretary, and the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The HHS CIO Council oversees major HHS program initiatives, including federal e-Gov initiatives for which HHS has a lead role.

The HHS CIO Council establishes and approves the Department's Enterprise Architecture. A foundational piece of that EA is the information resources management infrastructure standards, including technology, data, and service standards. The CIO Council reviews HHS IT investments and initiatives to ensure compliance with standards or to grant waivers as requested by investments that deviate from standards. The CIO Council makes recommendations on technical feasibility of proposed IT investments and initiatives to the ITIRB.

3.2.2 HHS Information Technology Investment Review Board

The HHS Information Technology Investment Review Board (ITIRB) is chaired by the HHS CIO and is composed of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Technology (HHS CIO), Deputy Assistant Secretaries for Grants, Acquisition Management, Finance, Budget, Human Resources and a senior business executive from each of the HHS OPDIVs, as designated by the OPDIV Head. This Board acts as the central review body to oversee, advise, and consult on the business feasibility and efficacy of Departmental information technology (IT) investments being proposed in support of HHS business programs and mission.

The ITIRB is charged with implementing the strategic vision, policy directions, and capital planning requirements set forth by the Department and the Office of Management and Budget. The ITIRB provides review and oversight of investments within the HHS IT investment portfolio in each of the three phases of Capital Planning and Investment Control: select, control, and evaluate. The ITIRB is responsible for ensuring that proposed investments align with the EA. The ITIRB monitors and evaluates the performance of information technology programs, and advises as to whether to continue, modify or terminate a program or project.

The scope of ITIRB oversight includes the entire HHS IT portfolio, but particular attention is focused on prioritized investments. These include major investments to be submitted to OMB for review and tactical investments proposed at the Department level and by the OPDIVs. The ITIRB also reviews and concurs with expenditure allocations for all investments proposed for funding at HHS.

3.2.3 HHS Enterprise Architecture Review Board

The HHS Enterprise Architecture Review Board (EARB) is composed of the HHS Chief Enterprise Architect and designated OPDIV Chief Architects (or other designee of the OPDIV CIOs). The HHS CEA chairs the EARB. The EARB assists the HHS CEA and HHS CIO by representing OPDIV business and IT stakeholders with respect to HHS EA matters. The EARB serves as a steering committee for HHS EA Program activities, and helps to establish EA priorities and tasks to be performed by both HHS and OPDIV EA program teams. The Board reviews and maintains ongoing monitoring of key HHS enterprise projects for adherence to the HHS EA. The EARB makes recommendations to the HHS CIO Council and the HHS ITIRB regarding the collective opinion of the Department and its OPDIVs on enterprise architecture matters. The EARB also performs analyses of IT investment alignment and compliance with the HHS EA under a Critical Partner Review as part of the capital planning and investment control processes.

The HHS EARB has the ability to charter EA-related work groups as needed to support the achievement of EA Program objectives or help accomplish specific tasks.

3.2.4 HHS Model Working Group/Configuration Control Board

The HHS Model Working Group (MWG) was chartered by the EARB to collaborate on the initial design of the HHS EA Framework and, in particular, the metamodel representation of that framework that is instantiated in the HHS EA Repository. The MWG is chaired by the Lead Architect or other designee in the HHS Office of Enterprise Architecture, and includes designated OPDIV representatives and alternates as well as other OPDIV architects and interested members of the HHS EA community. The voting members of the MWG include the chair representing the Department, each of the five large OPDIVs (CDC, CMS, FDA, IHS, and NIH), and OS representing the small OPDIVs.

Following the deployment of the HHS EA Repository in 2005, the Model Working Group charter was revised to formalize the MWG’s role as the Configuration Control Board (CCB) for the technical components of the HEAR environment. In this capacity the MWG/CCB adjudicates change requests submitted to the HHS EA Program related to configuration items, following explicit configuration control procedures specified in the HHS EA Configuration Management Plan.

3.2.5 HHS Data Architecture Work Group

The HHS Data Architecture Work Group (DAWG) was chartered by the EARB to bring to bear data architecture expertise from HHS and its OPDIVs and further mature and refine the data architecture within the HHS EA. The DAWG is chaired by the Data Architect in the HHS Office of Enterprise Architecture and includes members with data architecture subject matter expertise or special interest from the HHS EA Program, OS, and the OPDIVs. The DAWG is a standing working committee and advisory organization acting within authorities and tasks delegated to it from the HHS EARB or as directed by the HHS Chief Enterprise Architect (CEA). Its primary mission is to assist and advise the HHS CEA as a subcommittee of the HHS EARB in refining and maturing the HHS Enterprise Data Architecture. The DAWG focuses on developing and reviewing HHS data architecture artifacts that span OPDIVs and on promoting best practices in enterprise data architecture.

3.2.6 OPDIV Advisory and Review Groups

Many of the HHS Operating Divisions maintain their own enterprise architecture programs and, to varying degrees, also support OPDIV-level capital planning and investment control and other related programs. Just as HHS-level governance bodies provide review and oversight of the Department’s investment portfolio, enterprise architecture, and program initiatives, the OPDIV-level IT investment review boards, architecture review boards, and EA program offices provide review and oversight for their own areas of responsibility. The scope of influence for these OPDIV advisory groups may include maintaining OPDIV-level governance and oversight for subordinate organizations within the OPDIVs, such as Centers, Institutes, and Offices, under authority delegated by the OPDIV Chief Information Officers.

Where OPDIV-level governance bodies exist, the Department expects OPDIVs to use their own advisory and review processes to reach consensus within the OPDIV on any issues, decisions, or recommendations. The OPDIVs then communicate the results of that consensus to the appropriate HHS program representative or governance body. This operational model mitigates the potential for the Department to receive inconsistent or conflicting information from different parts of an OPDIV and ensures that the OPDIV’s positions are represented accurately to the Department.

3.3 Roles and Responsibilities

The roles and responsibilities for designated individuals and groups are summarized in the Table 1, below. The table shows the level and nature of participation by individual roles in advisory boards and other governance structures. Table 1: Individual Roles and Governance Body Participation

Individual Role

Governance Body

 

HHS CIO Council

HHS ITIRB

EARB

MWG/CCB

DAWG

HHS CIO

Chair

Chair

 

 

 

HHS CEA

Participant

Participant

Chair

 

 

HHS Lead Architect (or designee)

 

 

Participant

Chair

 

HHS Data Architect

 

 

Participant

Participant

Chair

HHS OS CIO

Member

 

 

 

 

OPDIV CIO

Member

Member

 

 

 

OS or OPDIV Chief Architect (or designee)

 

 

Member

Member

Participant

EA Program Staff

 

 

Participant

Participant

Participant

3.3.1 HHS Chief Information Officer

The HHS CIO serves as the primary IT leader for the Department, and oversees programs executed within the Office of the CIO. The HHS CIO has broad responsibilities derived both from federal mandates, legislations, and other regulations and from internal HHS decisions regarding organizational structure. The HHS CIO delegates authority for many of these responsibility to the directors of the three offices under his supervision.The HHS CIO serves as the chairperson for both the HHS CIO Council and the HHS IT Investment Review Board. The HHS CIO also represents the Department in the context of e-government and other federal government-wide initiatives, including representing HHS on the Federal CIO Council.

Within the scope of the HHS Enterprise Architecture, the HHS CIO is the business owner for many of the functional areas within the Planning and Accountability and Information Resources Management segments.

3.3.2 HHS Chief Enterprise Architect

The HHS Chief Enterprise Architect (CEA) has direct responsibility and accountability for the overall HHS EA effort, including enabling the enterprise architecture’s support for and interaction with other HHS programs. The HHS CEA serves as the technology and business leader for the architecture development and use, ensuring the integrity of the architectural development processes and the content of the EA products. In addition, the HHS CEA takes the lead in communication and outreach to both business and technical stakeholders across the Department and its OPDIVs to ensure all stakeholders understand the purpose of Departmental EA activities and the potential use for EA information to support decision-making in business and technical contexts.

The HHS CEA is responsible for integrating EA with all components of the HHS Enterprise Performance Life Cycle, including Strategic Planning, Information Security, CPIC, Budget Planning and Execution, and Performance Measurement and Management.The HHS CEA chairs the Enterprise Architecture Review Board (EARB), and delegates the leadership of working groups chartered by the EARB to appropriate staff within the Office of Enterprise Architecture. The HHS CEA updates and coordinates activities with the HHS CIO Council, the HHS ITIRB, and related Departmental strategic and decision-making forums. The HHS CEA is also the HHS point of contact for the Federal Health Architecture program, for which HHS is the managing partner. The HHS CEA is the HHS CIO’s EA representative to each of the OPDIVs.

The HHS CEA works with the OPDIVs through the EARB to define those areas of EA to be prescribed at the Department level, and to specify areas for which OPDIVs, as the business subject matter experts, should more appropriately take a leadership role in coordinating the the development of the HHS enterprise architecture for those specified areas. For the benefit of HHS and the OPDIVs, the CEA:

Manages HHS EA Program funding allocations.The HHS CEA is supported by and oversees the HHS EA Support Program, which includes Program Management Office, EA development and use, and EA tools support, maintenance, and enhancement activities. The HHS CEA is responsible for resource allocation to support EA Program activities. This includes investment ownership of the HHS EA initiative that funds the HHS EA Support Program contract, HHS EA Repository, and supporting tools.

3.3.3 HHS Lead Architect

Under the supervision of the Chief Enterprise Architect the HHS Lead Architect is responsible for the management of all HHS EA Program activities. The Lead Architect chairs the HHS Model Working Group/Configuration Control Board and serves as the acting chair of the Data Architecture Work Group in the event that the Data Architect position is vacant. The Lead Architect and staff are responsible for budget execution and management of contracts.

3.3.4 HHS Data Architect

With the support of HHS EA Program staff the HHS Data Architect is responsible for the planning, development, and management of all HHS data architecture activities within the HHS EA Program. The Data Architect chairs the Data Architecture Work Group (DAWG) and facilitates collaboration among HHS and OPDIV data and enterprise architects in developing HHS enterprise-wide data artifacts. The Data Architect is also the liaison between the HHS EA Program and the HHS Data Council, with the responsibility for ensuring HHS EA data architecture efforts are consistent with and, as appropriate, compliant with HHS Data Council policies and activities.

3.3.5 HHS EA Program Staff

The HHS EA Program staff includes HHS employees and EA support contractors. Under the direction of the HHS Lead Architect, the EA Program staff plan, execute, and monitor discrete program activities according to a work breakdown structure defined in the EA Program Plan. The HHS EA Program staff provide support to HHS EA stakeholders including:

Maintenance of EA information common to the Department and the OPDIVs, including enterprise services and technical standards as well as external references such as the Federal Enterprise Architecture and Federal Transition Framework catalog.

3.3.6 HHS Chief Information Security Officer

The HHS Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) manages Secure One HHS, the HHS enterprise-wide information security program. Secure One HHS helps protect HHS against potential information technology (IT) threats and vulnerabilities. The Program ensures compliance with federal mandates and legislation including the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) and the President's Management Agenda. The HHS CISO develops and disseminates information security and privacy policies for HHS, and prescribes standard processes to be used for fulfilling information security requirements, including certification and accreditation, risk assessment, vulnerability analysis, incident management and response, and security awareness and training. The HHS CISO also provides an enterprise FISMA data collection and reporting tool for use across the Department.

The HHS CISO works with the OS and OPDIV CISOs to coordinate the consistent implementation of security controls in accordance with FISMA requirements and to document the appropriate security and privacy supporting information for major information systems. The HHS EA Framework was designed to allow the accurate reflection of information security categorizations and corresponding security controls for information and information systems. In this regard the HHS EA Repository can produce views and reports to represent the HHS Security Architecture.

3.3.7 HHS Capital Planning and Investment Control Program Manager

The HHS Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC) Program Manager is responsible for the planning, execution, and oversight of CPIC policies and procedures for all phases of the investment lifecycle as described in the Enterprise Performance Life Cycle (EPLC). The CPIC Program Manager supports HHS and its OPDIVs in the creation, approval, and prioritization of IT investments, including those incorporated in the HHS IT portfolio as reported in Exhibit 53 as required by OMB Circular A-11. The CPIC Program Manager also provides an enterprise Portfolio Management Tool (PMT) for use across the Department.The CPIC Program Manager coordinates investment review and approval activities during all three phases of the CPIC investment lifecycle: select, control, and evaluate. The CPIC Program Manager and the CPIC Program staff work with the HHS EA Program staff and others to perform critical partner reviews for all major and tactical IT investments. The HHS EA Program critical partner review focuses on the EA section of the Exhibit 300 for each major investment, or the equivalent information captured for each tactical investment. The CPIC Program, under the direction of the Program Manager, performs the stage gate reviews required at the end of each EPLC phase using information and artifacts contributed by investment owners, IT program or project managers, and EA, information security, and CPIC programs.

3.3.8 Office of the Secretary Chief Information Officer

The OS CIO directs the Office of Information Technology Operations within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management (ASAM), and has oversight responsibility for the HHS Information Technology Services Center (ITSC) computer network and related services. The scope of the OS CIO’s responsibility includes the HHS Program Support Center (PSC) and the Office of Inspector General (OIG). Under the small OPDIV infrastructure consolidation initiative, the OS CIO also performs some CIO functions for the small OPDIVs within HHS. The OS CIO is a member of the HHS CIO Council, and is represented on the HHS EARB and subordinate work groups in a manner equivalent to the OPDIVs.

3.3.9 OPDIV Chief Information Officers

Each OPDIV head within HHS is responsible for designating a Chief Information Officer (CIO) to coordinate, facilitate, and direct information resources management in support of the OPDIV mission. The OPDIV CIOs are members of the HHS CIO. Within the structure of their own agencies, the OPDIV CIOs typically provide leadership and oversight for review boards, councils, and committees with responsibility for reviewing and approving OPDIV IT investments, establishing and enforcing OPDIV-level technical standards, and building consensus and representing OPDIV perspectives on matters that may be considered at the Department level. The OPDIV CIOs are also responsible for designating a Chief Enterprise Architect or equivalent role to direct the enterprise architecture activities of the OPDIV.

3.3.10 OPDIV Chief Enterprise Architects

The OPDIV CIO designates a Chief Enterprise Architect (CEA) to assure the development and documentation of the OPDIV’s EA, which is reflected within the federated construct of the HHS EA. The OPDIV CEA represents the OPDIV’s interests on the HHS EARB and other Departmental EA policy and advisory groups. The OPDIV CEA may also represent the OPDIV on cross-agency and government-wide EA initiatives including FHA and other line of business initiatives. Where an OPDIV consists of multiple operational sub-organizations (e.g., Centers, Institutes, and Offices), the OPDIV CEA assures that policies and information are disseminated to related business units and their EA representatives and provides a forum for agency-wide EA decision and advisory actions. The OPDIV CEA reports and makes recommendations to the OPDIV CIO and to any technology advisory group that may exist within the OPDIV on general EA matters, technology standards, and issues regarding adherence by OPDIV projects to the OPDIV and Departmental EA. The OPDIV CEA is responsible for the completeness, accuracy, and currency of EA documentation in the OPDIV and Departmental portions of the HHS EA Repository. The OPDIV CEA also is responsible for ensuring correct and complete alignment of the OPDIV enterprise architecture to the HHS EA.

3.3.11 OPDIV Enterprise Architecture Programs

Just as the HHS EA Program staff are responsible for Department-level enterprise architecture development and maintenance, it is the responsibility of individual OPDIV EA programs to model, populate, validate, and maintain information representing the OPDIV enterprise architectures. The Department and all OPDIVs share the same enterprise architecture repository and EA Framework. Both the modeling environment in the repository and the EA Framework were designed and implemented using a federated approach. This provides a common foundation for all EA modeling while allowing OPDIV EA programs the flexibility to extend or otherwise tailor the EA Framework to accommodate their specific requirements. Any such extensions are created and stored within the same centralized repository environment. OPDIVs electing to make these modifications must work with the HHS EA Program staff to make sure their extensions are technically valid and configured properly in the HHS EA Repository.

3.3.12 Information Technology Program and Project Managers

Individual IT program and project managers are obligated to comply with various information provision requirements as their projects move through each phase of the HHS Enterprise Performance Life Cycle. The EPLC specifies the aggregate set of information and artifacts to be produced in each of 10 phases to satisfy CPIC, information security, and enterprise program requirements. Program and project managers are encouraged to engage proactively with their OPDIV and HHS EA Programs to help assess and understand the extent to which a proposed new or existing investment complies with the enterprise architecture. EA analysis can also identify opportunities to create reusable service components or reuse existing service components to deliver functional capabilities required by a given project.

4 Enterprise Architecture Use

This section describes the primary functional areas under the scope of EA Governance at HHS, and explains the role of EA in the various processes and activities in which EA participates. The purpose of this section with respect to EA Governance is to delineate the roles and responsibilities of EA stakeholders within major HHS functional processes. Explicit details regarding individual steps, process flows, decision points, constraints, supporting mechanisms, and inputs and outputs for each of these functional processes can be found either in process-specific functional documentation, or in process models in the HHS EA Repository, or both.

Table 2, below, summarizes the participation by individuals and groups in HHS business processes and functional areas described in the rest this part of the document.

Table 2: Participation in HHS Business Processes


Legend: O = Oversight; X = Participant

 

4.1 Enterprise Performance Life Cycle

The HHS Enterprise Performance Life Cycle (EPLC) encompasses the major business functions executed under the Office of the CIO, and in particular shows at a high level the relationship among the different business functions and both the general order and the iterative nature of their execution. The placement of enterprise architecture in the center of the EPLC conceptual diagram, shown in Figure 4, reflects the supporting and enabling role that enterprise architecture serves for the major business functions in the EPLC.


Figure 4: EA Supports the HHS Enterprise Performance Life Cycle

The HHS EA Program explicitly considers the information needs of the EPLC processes in developing and enhancing the HHS EA Framework, collecting and populating data in the HHS EA Repository, and developing views, reports, and analytical tools that can be used to facilitate the execution of the EPLC processes.The EPLC conceptual diagram in Figure 4 provides a Departmental perspective of key business functions. The EPLC is also relevant from an individual investment or project perspective, as each new investment passes through each phase of the EPLC. The investment-level perspective is detailed in the HHS Enterprise Performance Life Cycle Framework, a document maintained by the HHS CPIC Program. Key EA roles and responsibilities for the EPLC at the investment level include:

4.2 EA Program Management

The HHS EA Program includes a Program Management Office (PMO) function. The overall management of the EA Program is described in detail in the HHS EA Program Management Plan, a document maintained by the HHS EA Program staff. Key EA roles and responsibilities for EA program management include:

4.3 EA Development

The HHS EA Program is responsible for the development of the HHS Enterprise Architecture, including a Department-wide perspective that incorporates information from all STAFFDIV and OPDIV models populated in the HHS EA Repository. EA development activities conducted within the Office of Enterprise Architecture are specified in the HHS EA Project Plan. As described more fully in the next section, the HHS EA Program follows a segment-based architecture development approach for new development activities. A large volume of EA information is currently housed in the HHS EA Repository. This existing information is subject to EA development activities outside of the segment development approach, for purposes of refinement, expansion of detail, and normalization and other data quality practices. Key EA roles and responsibilities for EA development include:

4.4 Segment Architecture Development

The HHS EA Program has adopted a segment-based architecture development approach, in order to give EA a business-driven perspective and to provide continuous improvement for the enterprise architecture at HHS. As noted in Part 2 of this document, HHS defines nine segments:

1. Access to Care
2. Health Care Administration
3. Health Care Delivery
4. Health Care Research and Practitioner Education
5. Human Services
6. Population Health Management and Consumer Safety
7. Information Resources Management
8. Management of Government Resources
9. Planning and Accountability

The HHS EA Program developed a standard methodology – with supporting tools and templates – to guide segment architecture development. Work on each of the nine segments will proceed in parallel, with the understanding that some priority of segments must be maintained to balance the work to be done and the resources available to do it. The HHS Chief Enterprise Architect has set the expectation that each segment will have one or more leads. In explaining the segment-based approach to the OPDIVs, the HHS CEA proposed that for the six mission-area segments, OPDIV Chief Enterprise Architects or their representatives take the lead for segments in which the OPDIVs have significant mission activities. For the other three segments, the HHS CEA will identify appropriate segment leadership and work with the OS and OPDIV EA programs and stakeholders to ensure that the segments accurately reflect the relevant portions of the HHS EA. Key EA roles and responsibilities for HHS Segment development include:

4.5 Standards Integration

The HHS EA includes the representation of technology, data, and service standards declared for use within HHS. The information on standards is captured using appropriate modeling objects and relationship types and can also be generated in a report format to produce the HHS Technical Standards Profile and the HHS Enterprise Services Profile. Within the Department-level EA, these represent enterprise standards intended to apply across HHS. Among the segment models within the federated HHS EA model structure, additional standards relevant to individual segments may also be populated.

Standards integrated into the HHS EA include those driven by external and internal factors. External factors for HHS include government-wide initiatives, regulations, or guidance with applicability to all federal agencies, as well as domain-specific standards which HHS is obligated to adopt due to its position in the health IT community. Internal factors for HHS include existing use of technologies, data standards, and services, as well as intended standards identified through strategic planning, target architecture development, or other analysis. Key EA roles and responsibilities for standards development and integration include:

4.6 Federal Alignment

HHS is required to demonstrate integration of and alignment to a variety of externally driven standards, initiatives, and reference models. Representative examples include the FEA reference models and Federal Transition Framework initiatives published by OMB, technical and health IT standards promulgated by authoritative standards bodies such as the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP). The integration of relevant standards within the HHS EA is described in the previous section. Key EA roles and responsibilities for ensuring appropriate alignment of the HHS EA to federal references include:

The HHS EA Program staff are responsible for importing relevant federal alignment information into the HHS EA Repository and making it available to all HEAR users. This information includes, but is not limited to:

4.7 Configuration Management

The HHS EA Program follows explicit configuration management procedures for receiving, analyzing, and adjudicating change requests, and tracking the disposition of submitted change requests, whether approved for implementation or rejected. The details of the HHS EA Configuration Management process are described in the HHS EA Configuration Management Plan, a document maintained by the HHS EA Program staff. The Configuration Management Plan lists the items under configuration control and describes the steps to create and process change requests. The HHS EA Program uses a Change Request Support System for submitting and tracking change requests. Key EA roles and responsibilities for configuration management include:

4.8 EA Repository Administration and Maintenance

The HHS EA Program manages the HHS EA Repository and related tools, including technical administration of the software systems, user and license maintenance, and access control. The HHS EA Repository is deployed as a single physical instance, with licenses and access rights available to all OPDIV EA programs. Key roles and responsibilities for EA Repository Administration and Maintenance include:

4.9 Capital Planning and Investment Control

The HHS EA Program is closely aligned with the HHS CPIC Program, both in terms of collecting and modeling information associated with major and tactical investments in the HHS IT portfolio, and in using the EA as a basis for supporting key CPIC processes. The details of most CPIC program activities are described in the HHS OCIO Policy for IT Capital Planning and Investment Control and the HHS OCIO CPIC Procedures. Both documents are developed and maintained by the HHS CPIC Program. As noted above, the CPIC Program also oversees the implementation of the HHS Enterprise Performance Life Cycle, and fulfills specific roles and responsibilities within the context of the EPLC phases. For the HHS EA Program the primary areas of interaction with CPIC are:

  1. Information sharing and integration between the HHS Portfolio Management Tool maintained by the CPIC Program and the HHS EA Repository maintained by the HHS EA Program.
  2. Performing analysis and feedback on the EA portions of IT investment business cases through participation in the Critical Partner Review of all major and tactical IT investments.
  3. Preparation, maintenance, and update of information for the HHS EA investment for use in both the HHS EA Repository and the HHS Portfolio Management Tool.

Significant information overlaps exist between the data collected and maintained by the EA and CPIC programs. The HHS Portfolio Management Tool is the Department’s system of record for IT investments constituting the HHS IT Portfolio. The HHS EA Repository contains additional data beyond the scope of data maintained in the PMT, but with respect to investments, the HHS EA Repository is the system of record only for EA information related to investments. Key EA roles and responsibilities for Capital Planning and Investment Control activities include:

4.10 Information Security

The HHS EA Program works closely with the HHS Chief Information Security Officer, to ensure that the HHS EA Framework –and in particular the Security Aspect of the Framework – accurately reflects the information and modeling needs of the Secure One HHS Program. The details of many Secure One program activities are described in the HHS IT Security Program Policy, a documents developed and maintained by the Secure One HHS Program. The CISO also oversees the creation of policies and procedures used to complete security-related tasks within the phases of the HHS Enterprise Performance Life Cycle, and fulfills specific roles and responsibilities within the context of the EPLC phases. The Secure One HHS Program maintains a FISMA data collection and reporting tool. For the HHS EA Program the primary areas of interaction with Information Security are:

  1. Information sharing and integration between the HHS FISMA Reporting Tool maintained by the Secure One HHS Program and the HHS EA Repository maintained by the HHS EA Program.
  2. Development, maintenance, and update of the certification package for HHS EA Repository system for initial and re-accreditation.

As a program operating under the Office of the Secretary, the designated approving authority for the HHS EA Repository system is the OS CIO.The HHS FISMA Reporting Tool is the Department’s system of record for capturing security and privacy information corresponding to major and general support systems and the information managed and used by those systems. The HHS EA Framework provides modeling constructs to reflect data and system level security attributes, security controls, and security-specific standards. The greatest area of information overlap between the FISMA Reporting Tool and the HHS EA Repository is with respect to systems, since the Department’s FISMA Systems Inventory is a subset of all HHS systems. The HHS EA Repository is designed to represent security characteristics of both information and systems in a context that includes linkages to business processes, IT services, performance measures, facilities, investments, and other dimensions that collectively help define and describe the HHS Security Architecture. Key EA roles and responsibilities for security activities include:

4.11 Information Resources Management Strategic Planning

The HHS CIO is responsible for developing and updating the Information Resources Management (IRM) Strategic Plan on a tri-annual basis. The IRM Strategic Plan describes a future state for IRM using a five-year planning horizon. The IRM Strategic Plan establishes IRM goals, objectives, and outcomes, and aligns the IRM-specific goals and objectives to the business goals and objectives articulated in the HHS Strategic Plan. The IRM Strategic Plan is an important input to effective target architecture planning and development, which in turn drives appropriate IT investment decision making. The goals, objectives, outcomes, and performance measurement indicators documented in the HHS Strategic Plan and the IRM Strategic Plan are reflected in the HHS EA Repository. These enable alignment of initiatives, investments, and programs to appropriate strategic drivers and performance measures. As the IRM Strategic Plan is revised and updated, the HHS EA Program also supports the strategic planning process. It supports this process in terms of convening and facilitating strategic planning workshops and in using information generated from the HHS EA Repository to provide a snapshot of existing strategic drivers and the entities aligned to them. Key EA roles and responsibilities for IRM strategic planning activities include:

4.12 Performance Measurement and Management

Performance measurement and management is a fundamental requirement for all programs operating within the Office of the Chief Information Officer. The HHS EA Program develops and maintains a performance architecture framework for HHS, derived from the Federal Enterprise Architecture Performance Reference Model and organized according to the nine HHS Segments. The performance architecture provides a construct through which specific performance measurement indicators can be specified for initiatives, projects, investments, and other relevant activities. As prescribed in the HHS Performance Management Plan, discrete metrics or other measures of success should be first established, then monitored to enable performance-based management. Key EA roles and responsibilities for performance measurement and management activities include:

Appendix A ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

ACF

Administration for Children and Families

AOA

Administration on Aging

AHRQ

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

ASAM

Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management

ASRT

Assistant Secretary for Resources and Technology

ATSDR

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

BRM

Business Reference Model

CCA

Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 (Information Technology Management Reform Act)

CCB

Configuration Control Board

CDC

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

CEA

Chief Enterprise Architect

CFO

Chief Financial Officer

CHI

Consolidated Health Informatics

CIO

Chief Information Officer

CISO

Chief Information Security Officer

CMS

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

CPIC

Capital Planning and Investment Control

CRM

Consolidated Reference Model

CTO

Chief Technology Officer

DASIT

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Technology

DAWG

Data Architecture Work Group

DRM

Data Reference Model

e-Gov

Electronic Government

EA

Enterprise Architecture

EARB

Enterprise Architecture Review Board

EPLC

Enterprise Performance Life Cycle

FDA

Food and Drug Administration

FEA

Federal Enterprise Architecture

FEAF

Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework

FedCIRC

Federal Computer Incident Response Capability

FHA

Federal Health Architecture

FIPS

Federal Information Processing Standard

FISMA

Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (E-Government Act)

FTF

Federal Transition Framework

GAO

Government Accountability Office

GPRA

Government Performance Results Act of 1993

HIPAA

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996

HITSP

Health Information Technology Standards Panel

HEAR

HHS Enterprise Architecture Repository

HHS

Health and Human Services

HRSA

Health Resources and Services Administration

IHS

Indian Health Services

IRM

Information Resources Management

IT

Information Technology

ITIRB

Information Technology Investment Review Board

ITSC

Information Technology Services Center

LOB

Line of Business

MWG

Model Working Group

NIH

National Institutes of Health

NIPC

National Infrastructure Protection Center

NIST

National Institute for Standards and Technology

OCIO

Office of the Chief Information Officer

OEA

Office of Enterprise Architecture

OIG

Office of the Inspector General

OMB

Office of Management and Budget

ONC

Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

OPDIV

Operating Division

OS

Office of the Secretary

PMA

President’s Management Agenda

PMO

Program Management Office

PMT

Portfolio Management Tool

PRM

Performance Reference Model

PSC

Program Support Center

SAMHSA

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

SDLC

Systems Development Life Cycle

SRM

Service Component Reference Model

STAFFDIV

Staff Division

TRM

Technical Reference Model


Appendix B REFERENCES


Reference

HHS Information Resources Management Strategic Plan 2007-2012

HHS Performance Management Plan

HHS OCIO Policy for IT Capital Planning and Investment Control

HHS OCIO CPIC Procedures

HHS Enterprise Performance Life Cycle

HHS OCIO IT Policy for Enterprise Architecture

HHS Information Security Program Policy

HHS Transition Plan

HHS EA Program Management Plan

HHS EA Configuration Management Plan

HHS EA Communications and Outreach Plan

HHS EA Segment Architecture Development Methodology

HHS EA Framework

HHS EA Modeling Guide

Federal Enterprise Architecture Consolidated Reference Model v2.1

Federal Transition Framework v1.0

Federal Enterprise Architecture Practice Guidance

 




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