Federated Architecture

Writers' First Review Draft:    (2V9C)

Term    (2VT6)

Federated Architecture    (2VT7)

Origin/Source for Inclusion of the Term    (2VT8)

OMB Context Definition    (2VT9)

Reference/URL OMB Context Definition    (2VTA)

Business Definition    (2VTB)

Large, complex organizations with independent lines of business (LOBs) that distribute the administrative and IT functions among several local authorities.    (2VTC)

Reference/URL for Business Definition    (2VTD)

The Meta Group, META Delta 46, "Federated Architectures: Integrating Autonomous LOBs", March 1, 1999 Decentralized, Dictionary.com, “The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition” Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=decentralized, accessed June 29, 2005    (2VTE)

Technical Definition    (2VTF)

Intended for the IT community; Provides technical specificity; In conformance with Business Definition    (2VTG)

Defines common or shared IT architecture standards and principles across Lines of Business (LOBs). It enables LOBs to maintain diversity and uniqueness, while providing interoperability. LOBs have full autonomy to develop standards for applications and infrastructure and to define enterprise architectures. The goal of the LOB is to optimize performance at LOB level    (2VTH)

Reference/URL Technical Definition    (2VTI)

The Meta Group, META Delta 46, "Federated Architectures: Integrating Autonomous LOBs", March 1, 1999    (2VTJ)

Context Definition 1    (2VTK)

Reviewer Comment: Federated Architectures define common or shared architecture standards across autonomous program areas, enabling state government entities to maintain diversity and uniqueness, while providing interoperability.    (2VTL)

Reference/URL Context Definition 1    (2VTM)

Reviewer Comment: Federated Architecture definition http://www.oft.state.ny.us/policy/p03-004/glossary.htm, accessed July 21, 2005    (2VTN)

Context Definition 2    (2VTO)

Reviewer Comment: A federated data warehouse (DW) architecture is an overall system architecture that accommodates multiple DW/data mart (DM) systems, operational data stores (ODSs),    (2VTP)

Reference/URL for Context Definition 2    (2VTQ)

Reviewer Comment: Hackney, Douglas. “Data Warehouse Delivery: Federated FAQs,” DM Review Magazine April 2000 http://www.dmreview.com/article_sub.cfm?articleId=2077, accessed July 21, 2005    (2VTR)

Context Definition 3    (2VTS)

Reference/URL for Context Definition 3    (2VTT)

See Also Related Terms    (2VTU)

Proposed Change Submitted by Edward Newman (Matt)    (2Y8K)

Federated Enterprise Architecture: A collective set of organizational architectures (as defined by the enterprise scope), operating collaboratively within the concept of federalism, in which governance is divided between a central authority and constituent units balancing organizational autonomy with enterprise needs. The central authority’s architecture focuses on the dynamics of economies of scale, standards, and the well being of the enterprise, while constituent units’ architecture has the flexibility to pursue autonomous strategies and independent processes.    (2Y8L)

Rationale:    (2Y8M)

To the point why was the verb “federated” added to enterprise architecture? To address a complex or multi-mission enterprise that has multiple enterprise architectures functioning as a collective. A Federated Enterprise Architecture embraces the concept of Federalism – “A system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and constituent political units” Webster    (2Y8N)

The principles of Federalism can be gleamed from the Federalist Papers or, for a more contemporary view, from an excellent discussion of Federalist concepts in business, Charles Handy’s “Balancing Corporate Power: A New Federalist Paper”, Harvard Business Review, Nov-Dec 1992. He proposes guiding principles that embody Federalism. With great liberty, these principles have been interpreted in the context of Enterprise Architecture as -    (2Y8O)

    Heightened emphasis on Governance – Shared Power
    Integration and acceptance of multiple Enterprise Architectures
    Focus on cross-functional processes and standards by the “Parent” organization
    Focus on unique or less frequently occurring functions by supporting organizations    (2Y8P)

The key characteristic is the balancing of control (i.e., power) between “Headquarters” and the quasi autonomous organizational units with the implied goal of a flexible and adaptive pluralistic enterprise that is sustainable. This requires an alliance based on trust and common goals (Handy, 1992).    (2Y8Q)

In the author’s opinion there are two Federated Enterprise Architectures that faithfully embrace the concept of Federalism these are:    (2Y8R)

    Canada’s Federated Enterprise Architecture ( http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/fap-paf/index_e.asp)
    New Jersey’s Federated Enterprise Architecture  ( http://www.state.nj.us/it/spf.pdf )    (2Y8S)

In addition there is an interesting discussion of Federated Architecture in support of supply chains –    (2Y8T)

    * http://www.sockeyesolutions.com/pdfs/fedent.pdf    (2Y8U)

While the definition originally proposed in the CAF does embrace some of the key characteristics of Federalism, the focus on LOBs is misguided. While a LOB can have an architecture, it is not an Enterprise Architecture. The term “Enterprise” is more expansive and is organizationally based (see definition for Enterprise in the glossary forum). The whole concept of Federalism is a collection of organizational units operating collaboratively not a line of business. Further there is insufficient emphasis on Governance. In a separate topic, an alternative definition is proposed for consideration.    (2Y8V)

Edward Newman (Matt) Information Resources Management College National Defense University (202) 685-2693    (2Y8W)