FEAF Explained: The US Federal Enterprise Architecture
FEAF version 2, dated 29 January 2013, gives US federal agencies a common vocabulary to describe and compare their investments.
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A framework for comparing agencies
The Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework, or FEAF, is the enterprise architecture framework of the US federal government. Version 2 is dated 29 January 2013. It provides the tools to implement the Common Approach to Federal Enterprise Architecture, released in May 2012.
Each agency has its own systems and budget. Without a common vocabulary, two agencies may fund similar services without knowing it, or fail to exchange their data. The Common Approach aims to eliminate waste and duplication, increase shared services and close performance gaps.
Six reference models
At the core of FEAF is the Consolidated Reference Model. It brings together six reference models, one for each sub-architecture domain: strategy, business, data, applications, infrastructure and security. They support cross-agency analysis and the identification of duplicative investments, gaps and opportunities for collaboration.
Applied together, the six models connect an agency’s strategic goals to the software and hardware infrastructure that enables them.
- Performance (PRM): links agency strategy, internal business components and investments, and measures the impact of those investments on outcomes.
- Business (BRM): describes the organisation through common mission and support service areas instead of its departments.
- Data (DRM): helps discover data held in silos, its meaning and how to access it.
- Application (ARM): categorises the application standards and technologies that support service delivery.
- Infrastructure (IRM): categorises network and cloud standards and technologies.
- Security (SRM): provides a common language for security and privacy in the context of agency goals.
A five-step planning methodology
FEAF v2 also describes the Collaborative Planning Methodology, a repeatable planning process in five steps: identify and validate; research and leverage; define and plan; invest and execute; perform and measure.
The agency documents its current and future state with core artefacts, whose type and depth follow the need for detail. Its enterprise roadmap then presents the transition plan from one to the other.
FEAF, TOGAF and ArchiMate
TOGAF offers a general method, the ADM; ArchiMate provides a notation. FEAF is a government framework focused on comparing agencies through common taxonomies. It shares many concepts with both and differs in purpose.
The archived White House website publishes version 2 and several reference models. It describes itself as a historical site that is no longer updated.
Reusing the reference model idea
FEAF was written for US federal agencies. Its reference model idea serves any organisation whose entities each describe their work in their own way: a bank with several business lines, a group and its subsidiaries, an administration with several directorates. A common taxonomy of capabilities and data makes their descriptions comparable.
In ArchiLU, the foundation can start from a reference catalogue, and a sector model, BIAN for banking, loads through the workbook. Each capability shows the applications supporting it; redundancy stands out when several applications support the same one.
Frequently asked questions
- What is FEAF?
- The enterprise architecture framework of the US federal government. Version 2, dated 29 January 2013, brings together six reference models and a five-step planning methodology to describe and compare agency investments.
- How does FEAF differ from TOGAF?
- TOGAF, published by The Open Group, is a general standard organised around the ADM. FEAF serves the coordination of federal agencies and relies first on common reference models. Both share many architecture concepts.
- Is FEAF relevant outside the US government?
- The framework targets federal agencies. Its reference model idea transfers: a common classification of capabilities, data, applications and infrastructure makes entities that describe their work differently comparable.