DoDAF Viewpoints and Models
Services Viewpoint
SvcV-9: Services Technology and Skills Forecast
The SvcV-9 defines the underlying current and expected supporting technologies and skills. Expected supporting technologies and skills are those that can be reasonably forecast given the current state of technology and skills, and expected improvements or trends. New technologies and skills are tied to specific time periods, which can correlate against the time periods used in SvcV-8 Services Evolution Description model milestones and linked to Capability Phases.
The SvcV-9 provides a summary of emerging technologies and skills that impact the architecture. The SvcV-9 provides descriptions of relevant:
- Emerging capabilities.
- Industry trends.
- Predictions (with associated confidence factors) of the availability and readiness of specific hardware and software services.
- Current and possible future skills.
In addition to providing an inventory of trends, capabilities and services, the SvcV-9 also includes an assessment of the potential impact of these items on the architecture. Given the future-oriented nature of this model, forecasts are typically made in short, mid and long-term timeframes, such as 6, 12 and 18-month intervals.
In addition, this model is useful in support of net-centric (service-oriented) implementation of services. As technologies change, like incorporation of Representational State Transfer (REST) services in the Web Services Description Language, this model can present a timeline of technologies related services over time.
The intended usage of the SvcV-9 includes:
- Forecasting technology readiness against time.
- HR Trends Analysis.
- Recruitment Planning.
- Planning technology insertion.
- Input to options analysis.
The SvcV-9 can be presented in a table, timeline, or a Herringbone diagram.
Detailed Description:
A SvcV-9 summarizes predictions about trends in technology and personnel. Architects may produce separate SvcV-9 products for technology and human resources. The specific time periods selected (and the trends being tracked) can be coordinated with architecture transition plans (which the SvcV-8 Services Evolution Description can support). That is, insertion of new capabilities and upgrading or re-training of existing resources may depend on or be driven by the availability of new technology and associated skills. The forecast includes potential impacts on current architectures and thus influences the development of transition and target architectures. The forecast is focused on technology and human resource areas that are related to the purpose for which a given architecture is being described and identifies issues affecting that architecture.
If standards are an integral part of the technologies important to the evolution of a given architecture, then it may be convenient to combine SvcV-9 with the StdV-2 Standards Forecast into a composite Fit-for-Purpose View.
The SvcV-9 is constructed as part of a given Architectural Description and in accordance with the its purpose. Typically, this involves starting with one or more overarching reference models or standards profiles to which the architecture is subject to using. Using these reference models or standards profiles, the architect selects the service areas and services relevant to the architecture. The SvcV-9 forecasts relate to the StdV-1Standards Profile in that a timed forecast may contribute to the decision to retire or phase out the use of a certain standard in connection with a resource. Similarly, the SvcV-9 forecasts relate to the StdV-2 Standards Forecasts in that a certain standard may be adopted depending on a certain technology or skill becoming available (e.g., the availability of Java Script may influence the decision to adopt a new HTML standard).
Alternatively, the SvcV-9 may relate forecasts to Service Model elements (e.g., Services) where applicable. The list of resources potentially impacted by the forecasts can also be summarized as additional information in SvcV-9.
SvcV-1 Services Context Description
SvcV-2 Services Resource Flow Description
SvcV-3a Systems-Services Matrix
SvcV-3b Services-Services Matrix
SvcV-4 Services Functionality Description
SvcV-5 Operational Activity to Services Traceability Matrix
SvcV-6 Services Resource Flow Matrix
SvcV-7 Services Measures Matrix
SvcV-8 Services Evolution Description
SvcV-9 Services Technology & Skills Forecast
SvcV-10abc Introduction to SvcV-10a, SvcV-10b and SvcV-10c
SvcV-10a Services Rules Model
SvcV-10b Services State Transition Description
SvcV-10c Services Event-Trace Description