Challenge
An intelligence community customer’s systems were tied together by point-to-point interfaces. Each connection was built for one pair of systems, so a change in one place could break others in ways nobody could predict. The architecture lived in documents that were hard to search, hard to keep current, and hard to trace back to requirements, which made it difficult to say where a change would ripple or where efficiencies could be gained.
Our Approach
CEdge’s architects and engineers, working in a Top Secret/SCI environment, treated the architecture as data rather than as paperwork.
Model the enterprise
Using industry-standard model-based systems engineering tools (SysML, Cameo Systems Modeler, and MagicDraw), we built and maintained digital models of enterprise systems, services, and components, following the customer’s governance and DoDAF standards. Because the models are machine-readable, the team could query them, trace connections, and see what depended on what.
Trace requirements end to end
We linked requirements and design artifacts directly to solution and enterprise architectures. That gave the customer a traceable line from a strategic objective down to the specifications that implement it, so nothing was built without a clear reason.
Test ideas before building them
The models were also used to simulate performance, test hypotheses, and explore new concepts such as automation, artificial intelligence, and advanced communications, before the customer committed to an implementation.
Guide the move to APIs
With the dependencies visible, we guided the transition from point-to-point interfaces to an API-oriented environment, removing fragile system-to-system dependencies and giving the enterprise a common, reusable way for systems to exchange information.
Results
- An API-oriented integration environment replacing legacy point-to-point interfaces
- Machine-readable, traceable architecture that shows where a change will have cascading effects before it is made
- Requirements traceability maintained from enterprise objectives through system-level specifications
- Architecture products delivered continuously to the customer’s governance forums and review boards