Enterprise Architecture in Context

For many years, enterprise architects have struggled with the challenge of presenting understandable architecture artifacts to decision makers, and our architecture team has taken on this challenge.

In 2004, we began research to determine if Unified Modeling Language (UML) objects could stimulate a visual scenario - sort of an animated High-Level Operational Concept Graphic (DoDAF OV-1) driven by an Event-Trace Description (DoDAF OV-6c) and we succeeded! Our architecture animation tool (the UML Animator) has been the cornerstone for capabilities based assessments, exercise planning and mission area concept of operations development and refinement. In addition, our UML Animator has proven highly successful in assisting non-architects to verify and validate architectural findings. Most UML tools enable architects to develop activity models that graphically depict the organizations, business processes, data flows, and supporting systems, while addressing the technical infrastructure and gaps. A traditional limitation, however, is the inability to present these models to stakeholders in a visually understandable way.

We've mastered the art of architecture presentation and bring architectures to life! The underlying DoDAF architecture data actually drive our visualizations...

Since 2005, Serco has led industry in addressing this shortfall by developing a UML animation application to visualize and test UML object flow. The UML Animator allows us to animate UML activity models, which enables architects to execute the flow of data through the model. This provides an efficient test and refinement of the model logic, while improving our ability to develop more highly interoperable architectures. Our second generation UML Animator produces 2-dimentional (2D) visualizations of scenarios and mission threads, enabling stakeholders to see an active 2D visualization of the processes and information exchanges involved in mission execution. The resultant animations promote stakeholder understanding, advocacy, provide further process validation to identify mission area capability gaps, and support defensible resource allocation decisions or business process re-engineering measures to mitigate the capability gaps.

The figure above depicts a screen capture from a Sea Launched Ballistic Missile Scenario – one of 13 National Planning Scenarios modeled for the USNORTHCOM Homeland Defense & Civil Support Capabilities Based Assessment. Serco's unique capability is an excellent example of the DoDAF 2.0 "Fit for Purpose" view and is presentation focused for senior decision-makers. For example, more than 40 Flag and General Officers provided extremely positive feedback of our 13 animated scenarios developed for the high-visibility USNORTHCOM Homeland Defense and Civil Support Capabilities Based Assessment. After reviewing our scenario animation capability, Office of the Secretary of Defense/Networks and Information Integration (OSD/NII - DoDAF authors) requested Serco to present this capability at the 2009 DoD Enterprise Architecture Conference to more than 400 DoD enterprise architecture subject matter experts. Our presentation was the highest rated among the four days of EA presentations based on participant critiques.

Serco's UML Animator utilizes AGI's analysis and visualization tool interface to provide a significant evolution in DODAF model-driven visualization capability!

Animation Development: Enterprise Architecture Model-Driven Simulation Capability

For the last five years, Serco successfully animated UML for 2D visual models; however, these visualizations lack environmental feedback and other process stimuli such as the physics of the environment (e.g. radar detection range, missile time of flight, orbital parameters, etc.) as objects move through the process. In March of 2010, Serco made significant enterprise architecture advancement with the demonstration of our 3rd generation UML Animator. This new capability enables activity models from UML-compliant tools to "drive" a physics-based, 3-dimentional (3D) graphics using Analytical Graphics, Inc. (AGI) analysis software for land, sea, air and space as the simulation framework. Our UML models provide a basis for business process modeling (with the previously mentioned applications of CONOPS development, business process re-engineering, etc.), while AGI's tool provides the framework to analyze the effects of the physical environment (e.g. incorporation of aircraft rate of climb, speed, attitude, etc.) and rendering the UML model-driven scenario in full 3D graphics. As depicted above, our concept offers a new evolution in animating DoDAF-compliant architectures! To date, no other company offers this capability.