Dr' John A' Gauss

1
Department of Veterans AffairsCIO Conference

• Dr. John A. Gauss
• Assistant Secretary for Information and
  Technology
• February 25, 2002

2
Why Are We Here?

• To continue the forum to foster improved
  department-wide communications across all
  elements of the VA IT community

• To update the departments Information Technology
  strategy for the future and obtain feedback
• To understand critical issues facing IT people in
  the field
• To reconcile differences between the strategy and
  the critical issues
• To develop action plans to achieve the strategy
  and reconcile the differences

Achieve a One-VA IT Team
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Seven Strategic Thrusts

• Implement a One-VA Enterprise Architecture

• Implement a One-VA data network
• Secure the One-VA enterprise against Cyber attack
• Establish a disciplined, non-bureaucratic IT
  project management structure
• Establish effective metrics to measure
  performance
• Implement an effective Command Control, COOP
  and COG infrastructure
• Implement a strategy for evolution of the IT
  workforce

Number One Priority Secure the Enterprise
Against Cyber Attack In the Context of the
Enterprise Architecture
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Number One PrioritySecuring the Enterprise

• Vulnerabilities exist that can disrupt our
  ability to execute our mission (e.g., Code Red
  Worm)

• Critical infrastructure protection is a must
  given current events (e.g., my E-Mail of 12 Feb
  2002)
• To effectively secure the enterprise, we must
• Do it in connection with the Enterprise
  Architecture
• Know the data network that we are protecting
• Be able to isolate ourselves from the Internet
  and other external networks when necessary
• Have an effective, real time, operational Command
  and Control (C2) process for operating the Cyber
  security infrastructure

Cyber Security Threats are Real We Must Attack
This Problem With a Sense of Urgency
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VA Enterprise Architecture Framework
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VA Enterprise Architecture Framework

• The Zachman Framework defines 36 engineering
  disciplines or primitives

• When completed prior to manufacturing a
  product, you have
• Minimum rework, scrap and waste
• Maximum reuse
• Maximum interoperability
• The 36 cells of the Zachman Framework will be
  defined for the One-VA To Be Enterprise
  Architecture
• Evolution of the One-VA EA will be
• Top down for new IT projects, and
• Bottom up for modernizing elements of the
  infrastructure
• The EA will evolve as business rules and
  technology change

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VA Enterprise ArchitectureNotional Sequencing
Plan
2001 2002 2003
2004 2005
2006
Syst A Syst B Syst C
L E G A C I E S
Syst D Syst E Syst F Syst G Syst H Syst
1 Syst 2 Syst 3 Syst 4 Syst 5
U N D E R D E V
Syst 6 Syst 7 Syst 8
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VA Enterprise ArchitectureFunctional To Be
Technical Architecture
Network infrastructure protection (denial of
service)
Intrusion detection
Secure protocols (authentication and privacy)
Active monitoring
Boundary protection
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One-VA To Be EAPhysical Infrastructure
VA Major Facilities
VA Remote Facilities
N Regional Data Processing Centers VBA - 3? VHA
- 6? NCA - 1? VACO 1?
1 Information Technology Integration
Center Product Acceptance Testing Electronic
S/W Distribution
3? Corporate Data Processing Centers Electronical
ly Vaulted Data Distributed Processing (Supports
COOP)
2 Network/Security Operating Centers Collocated
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One-VA To Be EAPhysical Infrastructure
Other Networks
3?
6?
3?
VA Major Facilities
Cyber Security DMZ
VA Remote Facilities
N Regional Data Processing Centers VBA - 3? VHA
- 6? NCA - 1? VACO 1?
1 Information Technology Integration
Center Product Acceptance Testing Electronic
S/W Distribution
3? Corporate Data Processing Centers Electronical
ly Vaulted Data Distributed Processing (Supports
COOP)
2 Network/Security Operating Centers Collocated
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One-VA To Be EANetwork Infrastructure

• One-VA Wide Area Network (WAN)
• Backbone protocol IP delivered to the WAN from
  VA major points of presence (POP)
• Remote locations will be backhauled to the major
  POP
• 100-millisecond maximum round trip delay
• .01 maximum packet error rate
• .9996 minimum availability (down 17 min/month)

ONE VA Network, Transmission, Switching, NOC, and
Cyber Security Services (Performance Based, Not
Circuit Based)
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One-VA To Be EAData Processing Centers

• Corporate data processing centers (Corporate
  assets)
• Mainframe processing
• Corporate data and application servers
• Fully mirrored COOP recovery capability
• External network connection points
• Regional data processing centers (Administration
  assets)
• Server farms for mid-tier and desktop services
• Remote electronic management of desktop software
• External network connection points

3?
6?
ONE VA Network, Transmission, Switching, NOC, and
Cyber Security Services (Performance Based, Not
Circuit Based)
3?
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One-VA To Be EAIntegration Center

• Information Technology Integration Center
• Integration
• Testing
• Acceptance
• Certification
• Configuration management
• Application distribution
• Alternate NOC/SOC
• Other

ONE VA Network, Transmission, Switching, NOC, and
Cyber Security Services (Performance Based, Not
Circuit Based)
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One-VA To Be EANetwork/Security Op Centers

• Network Operating Center
• 24x7 monitoring and management of
• IP Core routers
• Transmission layer of the infrastructure
• Security Operations Center
• 24x7 facility environmental sensor monitoring
• 24x7 security situation monitoring response
• 24x7 command control support

ONE VA Network, Transmission, Switching, NOC, and
Cyber Security Services (Performance Based, Not
Circuit Based)
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One-VA To Be EACyber Security DMZs

• DMZ at each Mega Center, Regional Center, NOC/SOC
  and the Integration Center
• Robust external fire-walled gateways to the
  Internet, extranets and other networks
• Customer/supplier facing applications and
  services
• Remote Access Services (RAS)
• Intrusion detection
• Protocol and content filtering
• VPNs for privacy and integrity services
• Content scanning
• Load balancing
• Only authorized area(s) to connectto external
  networks

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Integrated Process FlowFor New VA IT Projects
P L A N N I N G
F U N D I N G
Step 0 Define One Page Mission Statement
Step 2 Concept Development Develop 300B Exhibit
Step 3 System Definition Prototype and System
Design
Step 4 System Life Cycle Development and Testing
Step 5 Production and Deployment
Step 1 Concept Definition Develop Abbreviated
CIP
Address Row One of the Framework Plus T2
Master Schedule N2 Business Logistics System N3
Distributed Systems Architecture
Revalidate Row One of the Framework Plus Address
Row 2 of the Framework Plus Initiate Row 3 of
the Framework
Complete Row 3 of the Framework Plus Complete
Row 4 of the Framework
Complete Row 5 of the Framework Plus Complete
Row 6 of the Framework
Zachman Enterprise Architecture Framework Cells
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Integrated Process FlowFor Rebaselined VA IT
Projects
P L A N N I N G
F U N D I N G
Step 0 Define One Page Mission Statement
Step 2 Concept Development Develop 300B Exhibit
Step 3 System Definition Prototype and System
Design
Step 4 System Life Cycle Development and Testing
Step 5 Production and Deployment
Address Row One of the Framework Plus T2
Master Schedule N2 Business Logistics System N3
Distributed Systems Architecture
Revalidate Row One of the Framework Plus Address
Row 2 of the Framework Plus Initiate Row 3 of
the Framework
Complete Row 3 of the Framework Plus Complete
Row 4 of the Framework
Complete Row 5 of the Framework Plus Complete
Row 6 of the Framework
Zachman Enterprise Architecture Framework Cells
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Evolution of the IT Workforce

• What do we need to do to meet the IT workforce
  requirements for 2005?
• IT workforce to manage/acquire/oversee systems
• IT workforce to develop systems
• IT workforce to operate maintain systems

• Do we need different current skill sets, grade
  levels and numbers of people to support the
  implementation of our To Be Enterprise
  Architecture Physical Infrastructure?

We need a Strategy Implementation Plan to
get us from where we are to where we need to be

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Performance Metrics

• How do we measure cost, schedule, and performance
  of our IT projects during development?

• How well do IT systems perform in operation?
• From a technical perspective?
• From a VA user perspective?
• From a Veteran and his/her family perspective?
• From an VA IT workforce perspective?

In the End Its all about providing Quality
Service to our Veterans
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Department of Veterans AffairsCIO Conference

• Dr. John A. Gauss
• Assistant Secretary for Information and
  Technology
• February 25, 2002