In this regard, it provides a flexible  benchmark against which to plan for and measure architecture program  management maturity that permits thoughtful and reasonable discretion to  be applied in using it. Version 2.0 of the framework arranges 59 core elements into a matrix of  seven hierarchical stages. We reported that DOD, as a whole, was not as well  positioned as it should be to realize the significant benefits that a well- managed federation of architectures can afford its business systems  modernization efforts. Military Departments Have Begun to Develop Enterprise Architectures, but Management and Use Can Be Improved

The Air Force, Army, and DON each have long-standing efforts in place  to develop and use an enterprise architecture, but much remains to be  accomplished before these efforts can be considered sufficiently mature  to fully support ongoing organizational transformation and corporate  optimization efforts. Specifically, the Air Force has fully satisfied 20  percent, partially satisfied 47 percent, and not satisfied 32 percent of  GAO’s enterprise architecture framework elements. The Army has fully  satisfied 12 percent and partially satisfied 42 percent of elements, with  the remaining 46 percent not satisfied. Finally, DON has satisfied 27  percent, partially satisfied 41 percent, and not satisfied 32 percent of  framework elements. (Table 1 summarizes each military department’s  satisfaction of core enterprise architecture management elements and  detailed results are presented in appendices III, IV, and V.)
More specifically, while the military departments have each demonstrated  that they are beginning to establish an institutional commitment to their  respective enterprise architecture by addressing many of the elements  described in Stage 1 of GAO’s enterprise architecture management  framework and to develop initial enterprise architecture content (Stage 3),  they have generally not established a well-developed enterprise  architecture management foundation (Stage 2). Moreover, the  departments have yet to complete and use their initial enterprise  architecture versions to achieve targeted results (Stage 4) or expand and  evolve their respective architectures to support institutional transformation  (Stage 5). Finally, the departments have taken limited steps to  continuously improve their respective architecture programs and use their  architectures to achieve enterprisewide optimization (Stage 6). Officials at  the military departments stated that they continue to face long-standing  enterprise architecture management challenges, such as receiving  adequate funding, overcoming cultural resistance and attaining sufficient  senior leadership understanding. Nevertheless, DOD has been provided  with considerable resources for its IT systems environment. Specifically,  in recent years, DOD has been provided with over $30 billion annually for  this environment. Military Departments Lack Well-Developed Management Foundations for Enterprise Architecture Development and Use

Stage 2 of GAO’s EAMMF describes elements that build on the strategic  leadership commitment established in Stage 1 by creating the managerial  means to accomplish activities in later stages, including developing an  initial version of the enterprise architecture (Stages 3 and 4) and evolving  and continuously improving an enterprise architecture (Stages 5 and 6)  that can be used to help guide and direct investments and achieve the  architecture’s stated purpose. Without fully developed and effectively managed enterprise architectures  and a plan, the Air Force, Army, and DON do not have the needed road  maps for transforming their business processes and modernizing their  supporting systems to minimize overlap and maximize interoperability. While  DOD has been provided with considerable resources for its IT systems  environment, the department is not managing its systems in a consistent,  repeatable, and effective manner that, among other things, maximizes  mission performance while minimizing or eliminating system overlap and  duplication. Because DOD is provided with over $30 billion each year for  its IT systems environment, the potential for identifying and avoiding the  costs associated with duplicative functionality across its IT investments is  significant. Recommendation for Executive Action

To ensure that the military departments establish commitments to fully  develop and effectively manage their enterprise architectures, we  recommend that the Secretaries of the Air Force, Army, and Navy each  expeditiously provide to the congressional defense committees a plan  that identifies milestones for their respective department’s full satisfaction  of all of our Enterprise Architecture Management Maturity Framework  elements. Specifically, the DOD and Army  CIOs concurred with the recommendation, while the Air Force and DON  CIOs did not concur. The  department added, however, that the Air Force and DON do not have a  valid business case that would justify the implementation of all 59  elements of our framework.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Department of Defense (DOD) spends billions of dollars annually to build and maintain information technology (IT) systems intended to support its mission. For decades, DOD has been challenged in modernizing its systems environment to reduce duplication and increase integration. Such modernizations can be guided by an enterprise architecture--a blueprint that describes an organization's current and target state for its business operations and supporting IT systems and a plan for transitioning between the two states. DOD has long sought to employ enterprise architectures and has defined an approach for doing so that depends in large part on the military departments developing architectures of their own. In light of the critical role that military department enterprise architectures play in DOD's overall architecture approach, GAO was requested to assess the status of the Departments of the Air Force, Army, and Navy (DON) enterprise architecture programs. To do so, GAO obtained and analyzed key information about each department's architecture relative to the 59 core elements contained in stages 1 through 6 of GAO's Enterprise Architecture Management Maturity Framework.

What GAO Found

While Air Force, Army, and DON each have long-standing efforts to develop and use enterprise architectures, they have much to do before their efforts can be considered mature. GAO's enterprise architecture management framework provides a flexible benchmark against which to plan for and measure architecture program maturity and consists of 59 core elements arranged into a matrix of seven hierarchical stages. The Air Force has fully satisfied 20 percent, partially satisfied 47 percent, and not satisfied 32 percent of GAO's framework elements. The Army has fully satisfied 12 percent and partially satisfied 42 percent of the elements, with the remaining 46 percent not satisfied. Finally, DON has satisfied 27 percent, partially satisfied 41 percent, and not satisfied 32 percent of the framework elements. With respect to stages 1 through 6 of GAO's architecture framework, the military departments have generally begun establishing institutional commitments to their respective enterprise architecture efforts (stage 1), not established the management foundations necessary for effective enterprise architecture development and use (stage 2), begun developing initial enterprise architecture content (stage 3), not completed and used their initial enterprise architecture versions to achieve results (stage 4), not expanded and evolved the development and use of their respective architectures to support institutional transformation (stage 5), and taken limited steps to continuously improve their respective architecture programs and use their architectures to achieve corporate optimization (stage 6). Officials at the military departments stated that they have been limited in their ability to overcome long-standing enterprise architecture management challenges, including receiving adequate funding and attaining sufficient senior leadership understanding. Nevertheless, DOD has been provided with considerable resources for its IT systems environment, which consists of 2,324 systems. Specifically, DOD receives over $30 billion each year for this environment. Without fully developed and effectively managed enterprise architectures and a plan, the Air Force, Army, and DON lack the necessary road maps for transforming their business processes and modernizing their hundreds of supporting systems to minimize overlap and maximize interoperability. What this means is that DOD, as a whole, is not as well positioned as it should be to realize the significant benefits that a well-managed federation of architectures can afford its systems modernization efforts, such as eliminating system overlap and duplication. Because DOD is provided with over $30 billion each year for its IT systems environment, the potential for identifying and avoiding the costs associated with duplicative functionality across its IT investments is significant.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that the military departments each develop a plan for fully satisfying the elements of GAO's framework. DOD and Army concurred and the Air Force and DON did not. In this regard, DOD stated that Air Force and DON do not have a valid business case that would justify the implementation of all the elements. However, GAO continues to believe its recommendation is warranted.