Structured Subject Matter Expert Interviews

The success of this research depends on the precision, robustness, and clarity of stakeholder requirements. Structured interviews will be conducted with subject matter experts. These interviews are designed to help capture requirements and key factors on a variety of issues related to common data initialization, architectures, SOA, business

models, policies, processes, and standards for military simulation and C2 federation systems.

Nine subject matter experts in this domain will be interviewed. Their responses will be used to identify the key factors facing the proposed governance reference model. Questions will be formulated to highlight the most significant issues facing the reference model in its various domains. Interviews will be conducted by questionnaire via email or over the phone and, if needed, questions will be adapted on-the-fly to suit the information received from the expert. Responses will be recorded, or if possible, machine-recorded for later review. The following questions will be presented to the experts:

Service Oriented Architecture

 Question 1: In the attached journal article1, Service-oriented Architecture (SOA) is defined by OASIS as: ―A paradigm for organizing and utilizing distributed capabilities that may be under the control of different ownership domains…‖. Dr. Thomas Erl defines SOA as: ―An architectural model that aims to enhance the efficiency, agility and productivity of an enterprise by positioning services as the primary means through which solution logic is represented in support of the realization of strategic goals associated with Service Oriented Computing‖. Lastly, J. Dorn defines SOA as: ―A shift in the information system paradigm from document-centric transactions of business information to process-centric and service-based data exchange.‖. Which definition is closest to your own

1

Lanman, J.T., Proctor, M.D. (2009). ―Governance of Data Initialization for Service Oriented Architecture- based Military Simulation and Command & Control Federations‖. Journal of Defense Modeling and

Simulation: Application, Methodology, Technology, Vol. 6, No. 1, 5-16 (2009), DOI:

definition? If you feel that the current best definition is still inadequate, what would you rewrite in the current best SOA definition?

 Question 2: An InfoWorld study released in July 2006 (figure 2 above) determined that 42% of the SOA projects examined identified a lack of governance to be the largest factor inhibiting SOA adoption. Governance factors cited as being the most lacking that inhibited SOA adoption were: (1) Implementation of service processes and procedures, (2) Enforcement of service policies and standards, (3) Monitoring and evaluation of services using metrics, (4) Management of service and user roles and responsibilities, and (5) Incentivizing user behaviors. Is the list below of factors that inhibit SOA complete? If not, what is missing? Are any of these SOA inhibiting factors inhibiting your organization from either adopting or advancing SOA within your organization? To the extent of your knowledge please list in chronological order the SOA inhibiting factors that your organization has overcome. Can you estimate how long it took to overcome each SOA inhibiting factor in order to establish a baseline SOA? What SOA inhibiting factors is your organization currently working on? What SOA inhibiting factors does your organization plan to address or overcome during the next year in order to raise the SOA level in your organization?

Governance

 Question 3: Mr. M. Josuttis stated in his textbook, SOA In Practice: The Art of Distributed System Design: ―The goal of SOA governance is to develop processes

and oversight to ensure that services are developed and sustained to promote a flexible and dynamic infrastructure.‖ Further, a conceptual GOVERNANCE reference model as shown in figure 9 below has been proposed in the attached journal article1. In your mind, does figure 9 reflect all the key concerns that impact successful SOA Governance? What other activities and relationships (if any) should be included in the Conceptual Governance Reference Model? What activities and relationships should be removed or modified? Can you identify and describe any gaps in the Conceptual Governance Reference Model? For example, would you define Security within the context of the Conceptual Governance Reference Model below or prefer to propose a different Governance Reference Model?

SOA Governance

 Question 4: Eric Marks and Michael Bell note in their book, Service Oriented Architecture: A Planning and Implementation Guide for Business and Technology, that there is a paradigm shift in an organizations‘ business model in order to implement SOA and SOA governance. With this shift, there is a significant learning curve that directly affects initial and long term cost and schedule. Literature points out that the initial cost and schedule are high but reduce significantly as the organizational SOA enterprise matures. What do you perceive to be the most challenging business related obstacles to implementing, operating, or using an effective SOA governance reference model for your organization?

Business Model

 Question 5: The attached article1 describes related work in SOA governance and data exchange within government (i.e. MSDL standard, BML standard, Objective Initialization Capability), industry (i.e. IBM, Oracle, HP, ZapThink, etc.), and academic (i.e. JEDIS) organizations. However, due to variants within organizations, there is no single business model that promotes well-defined SOA governance. Examples of these invariants include the existing governance in place, the SOA maturity level (if applicable), size of the organization, etc. How would you begin to develop a business model that incorporates SOA and SOA governance for data exchange? Based on your ideal business model:

a) What decisions need to be made in an organization to have effective SOA governance?

b) Who should make these SOA governance decisions in an organization? c) How will these SOA governance decisions be made and monitored in an

organization?

d) What organization structures, processes, and tools should be deployed in an organization?

e) What metrics are required to ensure that an organization‘s SOA implementation meets their strategic goals?

 Question 6: What additional advice and recommendations do you have for someone developing a SOA governance reference model for military simulation and C2 federation needs?