Architecting an Enterprise-of-Enterprises with the 10-Layer Rubric: Transforming EoE Decision-Making

Abstract

In modern global business, municipal, and government environments, the complexities of architecting an Enterprise go well beyond the borders of the Enterprise itself. Today’s large-scale systems require a system-of-systems (SoS) or, more effectively, an Enterprise-of-Enterprises (EoE) strategy to fulfill mission requirements. The 10-layer rubric (10LR) provides an organizing framework that starts with identifying mission requirements and decomposes an SoS or EoE to better understand and abstract capability, complexity, extensibility, interoperability and scalability, with the goal of facilitating the architecture process effectively and efficiently. In a complex and dynamic multi-enterprise environment, a disciplined architecture methodology is essential for decision-makers to recognize the resources that are required to support the mission, vision, requirements, goals, and capabilities for an organization. The 10LR is a tool that can be used to identify key architectural elements to define system strategies, components, and standards. It is sufficiently abstract to enable decision-makers to see the relationships between the essential operational domains for rapid decision-making and specific enough to aid in thought processing the EoE technical complexities in simple layers and components. Decision-makers who wish to quickly recognize the supporting activities, applications, and elements that will enable their joint domain mission requirements and capabilities should consider adopting the 10LR.