A number of original contributions have been made by the research. This research represents the design and implementation of a new governance reference model for SOA- based data initialization of military simulation and C2 systems. It is based on a new consolidated analysis of the priorities, goals, and best practices of military and industry stakeholders. A new set of solutions and design strategies have been created and tested to
meet these priorities and goals. Furthermore this research presents and documents the following products:
Structured Interview Data: (Appendix A)
o Interviews were conducted with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) in the fields of service oriented architecture, governance, business models, and data initialization. The SME input was collected using structured questionnaires and synthesized to identify factors and impacts.
Factors and Impacts:
o A synthesis of the structured interviews produced a list of factors and impacts (Appendix B) that the SMEs perceived to be critical to the design consideration of the revised governance reference model. Factors are grouped into a set of related fundamental issues.
Issues – Solutions and Strategies:
o For each fundamental issue identified, a general modeling solution was identified that would be used to resolve the issue or mitigate its impact. For each solution, one or more specific design strategies were developed that would help define the structure of the revised governance reference model (Appendix C).
Revised Governance Reference Model:
o The revised governance reference model is derived from interviews with SMEs and corresponding factors, issues, solutions and strategies, and documented using UML (Appendix D).
Governance Reference Model Developmental Process: Stages and Threads: o The governance model developmental process is derived from SME
insights and strategies, and organizational best practices. The process is used to drive the creation of a high-level architectural design that incorporates revisions to existing SOA design and moves it all into what is referred to below as Governance-oriented SOA (G-SOA). Also, the process provides opportunity for improvement by iterating enhancements back into the governance reference model and process.
Governance-oriented Service Oriented Architecture (G-SOA):
o As a revision to the traditional Service-oriented Architecture, a Governance-oriented SOA is proposed. The G-SOA design is implemented using the easily understood Business Process Modeling (BPM) notation (section 4.3.2). Further a prototype is implemented that conforms to G-SOA (Appendix E).
Prototype:
o The prototype is a Governance-oriented SOA-based application implemented using web-services technology (section 4.3.3). The implementation is driven by the G-SOA described above.
Data and Analysis:
o The revised governance reference model, proposed G-SOA, and prototype are evaluated based on requirements identified by expert input, expert evaluation, and published organizational best practices (section 4.4).
Finally, industry and government sectors implementing SOAs have found that governance is one of the most important topics associated with achieving a successful Network-Centric Environment. As described in Chapter 1, lack of governance was identified to be the largest factor inhibiting SOA adoption (InfoWorld, 2006). As such, there is motivation to implement products that guide the development of a governance- oriented SOA environment. This dissertation focuses service development on the common data initialization SOA-based military simulation and command and control systems. However, all products described above can be generalized and made capable of supporting SOA-based systems of many types and flexible enough to support incorporation of new SOA-based information technology and simulation-related technologies.
5.5 Solution to a Previous Weakness
A governance reference model in developing SOA-based data initialization services for joint military federation simulation and C2 systems would address many of the weaknesses to previous SOA-based strategies. The G-SOA:
has the potential to allow full interoperability of common initialization data and tools across a federation (Tolk, 2003; Shane, 2005)
may reduce costs because of the savings gained from faster initialization of common data and interoperability, and reusable services and tools (Blalock, 2005; Tolk, 2007)
could be used as a reference model across many other organizations and their respective SOA-based simulation systems (Tolk, 2003; ZapThink, 2006)
will allow SOA-based solutions to further satisfy the DoD requirement for systems to meet the Net-centric Enterprise Service objective (Vietmeyer, 2005; DoD-CIO, 2006)
SOA governance identified in open references is primarily proprietary. Examples include:
IBM (proprietary)
o SOA Governance Lifecycle Oracle (proprietary)
o Six Steps to Successful Governance with SOA Microsoft Corporation (proprietary)
o Governance for SOA Systems
However, there are published (non-proprietary) governance solutions available. Examples include:
OASIS (non-proprietary)
o Reference Architecture Foundation for SOA OpenGroup (non-proprietary)
o Guide to SOA Governance
Gaps were identified in current SOA governance solutions that were addressed in this research. The OASIS Reference Architecture Foundation for SOA (figure 32) is an example where best practices, concept extensions, and gaps in governance were identified and addressed in the revised governance reference model.
OASIS is a non-profit consortium that drives development, convergence, and adoption of open standards in information technology. Figure 32 illustrates the OASIS Reference Architecture Foundation for SOA. Governance exists as an entity with the reference architecture and is extended in figure 33.
Figure 32: OASIS Reference Architecture Foundation for SOA
Figure 33: OASIS Governance Reference Model
Figure 33 illustrates the OASIS Governance Reference Model that includes the SOA Governance Reference Model and its respective elements: SOA Infrastructure
Governance, Service Inventory Governance, and Participant Interaction Governance. Best practices were extracted from the three elements and mapped to the three stages of the revised governance reference model.
Realization Execution Enforcement Policies & Standards Governed Data Service Enforce Metrics Roles & Responsibilities Behaviors Processes & Procedures Implement Motivate Monitor Manage Security Rules Protect Success Factors Scope
Gaps addressed
SOA elements extended
into governance model
Best practices
incorporated
Figure 34: SOA Governance Model Comparison
Furthermore, figure 34 illustrates the extension of SOA elements from the OASIS Governance Reference Model into the revised governance reference model annotated by the blue ovals highlighting the threads for Policies & Standards, Security Rules, Processes & Procedures, and Metrics. Lastly, figure 34 shows the gaps identified in the OASIS Governance Reference Model, and addressed in the revised governance reference model annotated by the red ovals highlighting the threads for Success Factors, Behaviors, and Roles & Responsibilities.