OMB: Emphasize results in EA

Federal Enterprise Architecture Program Enterprise Architecture Assessment Framework 2.0

Agencies have less room for bad field goal kicks with the new enterprise architecture standards because the Office of Management and Budget “has narrowed the goal posts,” said Dick Burk, chief architect and director of OMB's federal enterprise architecture program.

OMB released its Enterprise Architecture Assessment Framework 2.0 in December. Burk said the new framework's emphasis is on implementation and results. Agencies’ first quarterly progress reports, an addition to their current task list, are due Feb. 28.

Burk wants to increase the number of acceptable business cases and see more secure and certified information systems at agencies. He wants agencies to find and close IT workforce gaps and improve their use of earned value management (EVM), a tool for providing snapshots of the progress of major IT projects.

According to a December OMB report, only seven of 25 agencies have fully implemented EVM, and 13 agencies have only some part of it in place.

Established almost four years ago, enterprise architecture aims to make government more citizen-centered and customer-focused by maximizing technology investments to achieve mission outcomes.

This is a trend away from government's former agency-centered perspective. Burk called it “a 180-degree turn, with a twist."

Burk spoke at a luncheon in Washington, D.C., hosted by the American Council for Technology/Industry Advisory Commission.