Agency enterprise architects can stop holding their breath. After months of delay and years of development, Office of Management and Budget officials released the document Oct. 20.
The first volume of the data reference model is widely considered the linchpin on which the entire federal architecture structure rests — and the most difficult part of the enterprise architecture. The model will be issued in four volumes.
The first volume sketches a basic data model based on three concepts: categorization, structure and exchange of information.
"It focuses on the needs of information exchange and does not try to set data storage structures and formats," said Kim Nelson, chief information officer for the Environmental Protection Agency and co-chairwoman of the CIO Council's Architecture and Infrastructure Committee.
Reactions from those who reviewed the document ranged from relief to muted frustration, but few doubt that the stakes are high.
"If you don't have a good grip on your data, then all the computing power in the world and all the fancy applications in the world don't solve your problems," said Mike Tiemann, a principal at AT&T Government Solutions and a former agency chief architect who helped create the federal enterprise architecture.
OMB officials chose to approach cross-agency information sharing cautiously. "They've simplified it considerably from even previous draft versions," Tiemann said. "You've got to walk before you can run."
Nelson said the first volume provides a high-level strategic framework.
"It is a first good step in that it starts the process," said Debra Stouffer, vice president of BAE Systems Information Technology and a former federal chief architect. "Would we like more detail? Absolutely, and I think it'll come."
Other experts expressed similar reactions to OMB's efforts. "I think the overall structure is good," said Michael Daconta, the Homeland Security Department's metadata program manager. However, he added, the model "does not follow modern principles of knowledge representation" and forces agencies into guesswork.
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