EA SERVICES

EA Assessments, Audits and IV&V

For those organizations that want qualified independent opinions on the relative effectiveness, maturity, and state-of-readiness of their Enterprise Architectures, or improve aspects of their EA operational capabilities, EAW offers Assessments, Audits and IV&V service options.   Whether clients are motivated by a need to prepare for pending OMB (EAAF) or GAO (EAMMF) assessments, or simply a desire to identify areas for program improvement, EAW can help.   

Assessments are analyses that can be performed on almost any aspect of enterprise architecture.  Each assessment is tailored to a specific client request, or perceived need, and is usually bounded in scope and duration.  Examples of this could be an analysis of EA program plans for accuracy and alignment to address GAO or OMB assessment findings, to review the relevance of EA artifacts, evaluate EA toolsets, etc.  The output of each assessment is a report with recommendations.

Audits are special or periodic reviews of an EA program that benchmark the program and its achievements against published criteria like the GAO or OMB Assessment Frameworks, best-practice benchmarks, or other measures.  EA audits could incorporate findings from prior audits, reviews, assessments, and IV&V efforts, IG Reports or GAO Audits as baselines to measure improvement.  The purpose of an audit is to ensure an EA and the supporting EA program have achieved specific goals, completeness, or levels of maturity.  The output is a report summarizing compliance, alignment or completion of specific criteria. 

IV&V (Independent Verification and Validation) is a comprehensive service that encompasses all aspects of an organization’s Enterprise Architecture throughout the EA lifecycle.  It allows for early detection of program defects so that corrections can be made with minimum costs and disruptions.  The EAW approach to IV&V ensures due diligence and validates results of work done, and verifies its value to the organization, as well as completeness and appropriate level of detail.  The outputs of IV&V are periodic reports on its analysis and findings, which include recommended actions which should be taken to mitigate gaps or deficiencies and improve the quality of the EA. 

EA Werks’ independent expert reviews, opinions and reporting cover all aspects of EA programs, including:

• EA PMO Policies and Procedures
• EA Governance and Program Management
• FEA Alignment and Compliance
• EA Change and Configuration Management
• EA Performance Measurement
• Federation of Segment Architectures
• EA Program Planning and Staffing
• Capital Planning and Portfolio Management Integration
• Collaboration and Components and Services Reuse
• Enterprise-wide business aligned IT implementation
• Other related areas (e.g., EA and Security integration, etc.)