Enterprise Architecture for DOD Acquisition

Abstract : The Department of Defense (DoD) could achieve substantially higher acquisition cost savings by following the lead of industry in applying systems engineering theory to organizational structure to develop an enterprise architecture for DoD acquisition. Commercial industries are realizing that the best opportunities for reducing costs are in the architectural mismatches that exist within their corporations. Realizing these cost savings will be essential to survival in a global economy. DoD must find new ways to achieve the cost savings necessary to replace the numerous aging systems throughout all service branches. Development of an enterprise architecture, including seamless interfaces between each level, assignment of responsibilities, metrics for measuring success, and personal accountability for results could be a substantial contributor to achieving the needed efficiencies and cost savings. The Zachman framework, with the addition of a metrics column, provides the best template for defining an enterprise architecture for DoD. Implementing the enterprise architecture will be the most difficult challenge, as it will require imposing change on entrenched bureaucracies. Transferring responsibilities to reengineered, smaller organizations is one proven method of achieving rapid change on a large scale. The question is not if DoD will follow the lead of industry, but when. John Zachman expressed it best when he said, "My opinion is, we are on the verge of seeing architecture 'come into its own,' and in the 21st century, it will be the determining factor, the factor that separates the winners from the losers, the successful and the failures, the acquiring from the acquired, the survivors from the others."