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2
Real Reengineering:
Technical Infrastructure and
Business Process
ONDUCTING A DECENNIAL CENSUS of the United States
Cpresents massive logistical challenges on many levels. It has
been said that the fielding of the 2000 census complete
with over 860,000 short-term employees serving as enumerators-
constitutec! the "largest peacetime civilian mobilization" in American
history (U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General,
2000:3~. Impressive as well is the extent of computing anc! information
networks that underlie the census systems to track personnel hires
anct fires, monitor caseload, capture anct synthesize data, generate
maps, and so on which must function not only at Census Bureau
headquarters but also at regional offices, data collection centers, anct
over 500 temporary local census offices.
Specifically, the 2000 census relied on 10 major systems (U.S. Cen-
sus Bureau, 2000~:
· Geographic Support System (GSS): facility for deriving extracts
from MAF/TIGER as necessary anct printing enumerator maps;
23
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24
PLANNING THE 2010 CENSUS
· Pre-Appointment Management System/A?~tomatedt Decennial Ad[-
ministrative Management System (PAMS/ADAMS): support for
the hiring, processing, and payment of temporary employees, as
well as administrative data archiving;
· Operations Control System (OCS 20009: caseloac! management
system to clefine anct track enumerator assignments, as well as to
monitor duplicate anc! missing aciciresses;
· Data Cap tore System (DCS 2000J: check-in anct scanning of com-
pletec! questionnaires;
· Telephone Questionnaire Assistance/Coverage Edit Follow- Up
(TQA/CEFUJ: support for respondents requiring assistance
or aciclitional forms, as well as follow-up data collection from
respondents by phone;
· Internet Data Collection/Internet Questionnaire Assistance (ID C/
IQAJ: support anct management of limitect-scale Internet re-
sponse to short-form questionnaires;
· Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation (ACE): support for follow-up
survey to assess possible unclercount ancl, possibly, adjust census
counts accorclingly;
.
ManagementInformation System (MIS2000J: senior management
planning anc! information tracking, including schedule anc! bucI-
get;
· Headquarters (HQ) Processing: analysis and processing of final
clata, including production of reapportionment and redistricting
population counts, as well as other data products; anc!
· Data Access and Dissemination System (DADS): system for clis-
semination of census data to the public, most notably through
the American FactFincler Internet sited
ht~p://factfinder.census.gov f6/1/03] .
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REAL REENGINEERING
25
In the encI, this network of information systems supported achieve-
ment of the clesirec! results. "Operationally, most agree that this
decennial census was a success participation was higher than antic-
ipatec! ... anc! operations concluclec! on time," notes one assessment.
However, the assessment continues, the means by which it was
achiever! including the patchwork of information systems lee! to
other clescriptions: "costly, complex, and high risk" (U.S. Department
of Commerce, Office of Inspector General, 2002:iii).2
The Census Bureau's generic label for its current plan for the 2010
census is that it is a "reengineering plan" (Waite, 20021. One interpre-
tation of the term "reengineering" is that it means a markoct departure
from past practice that the plan for 2010 is not intenclect to follow
the 2000 census script merely with minor embellishment. The boldness
of the Census Bureau's proposals for MAF/TIGER modernization anct
the American Community Survey suggests that the bureau is not taking
"reengineering" lightly, anct that is commendable.
A more meaningful interpretation of reengineering suggests a se-
rious systemic analysis anct evaluation of the entire decennial census
process, with a particular eye towarc! effectively implementing changes,
enhancing efficiency, anct establishing organization-wicle coordination
on major initiatives. It is on this score that the panel critiquccl the bu-
reau's initial presentation of its 2010 census strategy, noting that the
bureau's plans lackoct an overarching framework.
Though not as well publicized as the Census Bureau's major pro-
posect initiatives for the 2010 census, a pilot project within the Census
Bureau has macle great strides towarc! creating a base for true reengi-
neering in the best sense of the term. This pilot project is a move to-
warc! establishing an enterprise architecture for the 2010 census, first by
2An example of the "high risk" nature of system operations: In late 1999, the Com-
merce Department's Office of Inspector General reviewed one of the constituent in-
formation systems of the 2000 census the PAMS/ADAMS system to track personnel
hiring and payroll. Based on interactions with the Census Bureau, the report concluded
that the Census Bureau "did not follow a well-managed software development system"
in creating PAMS/ADAMS, but the bureau was confident that the system would be
able to support decennial census operations given "extensive operational use" of the
system since the 1998 dress rehearsal. By January 2000, further review led the bureau
to conclude that the PAMS/ADAMS might not be fully capable to support decennial
needs and undertook "extensive software modifications" less than 3 months before
Census Day (U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General, 2000:i-ii).
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26
PLANNING THE 2010 CENSUS
mapping all the activities anc! information clepenclencies associated with
the 2000 census en c! then by using that resulting structure as a moclel
to test alternatives for 2010. In this chapter, we examine this effort in
more detail.
TOWARD A "BUSINESS PROCESS" OF THE DECENNIAL
CENSUS
Past experience with reengineering and upgrading information tech-
nology operations within corporations and government agencies sug-
gests that the most pruclent anc! productive approach is to proceed in
well-thought-out stages or steps.
· Define a "logical architecture" or "business process" model. A first
step is to articulate the set of activities anc! functions currently
performed by the organization anc! the informational clepenclen-
cies among them. This moclel of activities anct functions is called
a logical architecture. It may also be called a business process
moclel because it clefines the ways in which operations are carried
out to accomplish the intenclec! objectives of an organization. In
the census context, the current business process would be the in-
formation flows anc! tasks associated with the 2000 census. We
will explain the nature of logical architecture or business process
models in greater detail in the following section.
.
Reengineer the logical architecture. The completed logical archi-
tecture may be viewoc! as an "as-was" model; again, in this case.
the as-was moclel would describe the activities of the 2000 census.
Using the as-was moclel as a base, the next step is to produce one
or more "to-be" models. That is, new assumptions anct objectives
are identified and the as-was logical architecture model is adjusted
as necessary to finct the optimal way to structure functions uncler
the new clemancis. Different to-be models can then be compared
against each other in order to reach a final architecture moclel.
· Construct the physical technical infrastructure using the reengi-
neered logical architecture as a guide. The finished logical ar-
chitecture/business process moclel is then usec! as template anc!
specification for a new physical technical infrastructure the
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REAL REENGINEERING
27
actual network of hardware anc! software systems assembled to
carry out the organization's work.
Any other approach such as failing to map business functions in terms
of overall objectives or rushing to make decisions on technical infras-
tructure too early serves only to allow the organization to make more
mistakes, albeit (probably) faster than before.
The Census Bureau has begun the task of reengineering the clecen-
nial census infrastructure in this manner because it fits into the objec-
tive of early planning anc! testing envisioned as part of its broac! strat-
egy for the 2010 census anct because it brings the Census Bureau anct
the Department of Commerce into fuller compliance with the Infor-
mation Technology Management Reform Act of 1996 (also known as
the Clinger-Cohen Act).3 This act forcer! federal agencies to reexamine
their information technology (IT) structures, requiring greater atten-
tion to how IT furthers the agency goals anc! attention to modeling
current anc! moclernizec! IT structures as a business process. The Chief
Information Officers (CIO) Council, created by executive orcler, sub-
sequently clevelopec! the Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework
(FEAF), a set of minimum stanclarcts for description of IT programs
anc! modernizations.
.
Baseline: Logical Architecture of the 2000 Census
The Census Bureau contracted with the Centech Group, an IT
company based in Arlington, Virginia, to develop its baseline for in-
frastructure reengineering: namely, a business process moclel of the
operational flows underlying the 2000 census. Lockheec! Martin was
subsequently brought in as a subcontractor. The result of this first
stage of work is a map of the logical architecture of the 2000 census,
anct it is summarized in a report (Centech Group, Inc., 2002a). A
more cletailec! companion volume examines each logical segment of the
moclel in greater detail (Centech Group, Inc., 2002b).
3The Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996 is part of Public
Law 104-106. Among other provisions, the act also encourages the use of commercial
off-the-shelf (COTS) products relative to software systems built within government
agencies.
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28
Logical Architecture: What It Is and What It Is Not
PLANNING THE 2010 CENSUS
The logical architecture models clevelopect by the Census Bureau
uncler this contract adhere to the Integration Definition for Function
Modeling (IDEFO) language, a method that has been acloptect as a
federal standard for representing organizational functions and flows.4
IDEFO models use simple graphical structures to organize information.
Functions (activities) of an enterprise are renclerec! as boxes; arrows
connect the boxes, representing information constraints. For large
enterprise moclels, a high-level diagram is typically produced as a guide
or roac! map for the analyst; smaller pieces are then inclexec! based on
this high-level map, available in full detail on separate pages.
A logical architecture moclel is a blueprint of the workflow of a
particular enterprise. It describes the nature of information that must
be passect from point to point at various phases of the operation anct, in
doing so, highlights information interfaces points of connection both
within the system anct with external entities. A logical architecture
model thus clefines the baseline capability that must be present when a
physical technical infrastructure is constructed. A logical architecture
model may also convey a rough sense of where, geographically or
organizationally, groups of activities should be clustered.
To better unclerstanct what a logical architecture moclel of the clecen-
nial census is, it is also important to remember what it is not. The main
purpose of an IDEFO-basect logical architecture moclel is to emphasize
process anc! function. To that encI, a logical architecture moclel effec-
tively ctisregarcts two variables that are of some natural concern. First, it
cloes not attempt to assign completion times to any function or process.
Hence, the moclel describes forward information flow through a busi-
ness process but is not meant in any way as a timeline or schedule of the
process. Incliviclual segments of the model may be completely distinct
in terms of their actual execution time, or they may just as likely overlap
extensively. In aciclition, IDEFO models clo not consider existing orga-
nizational boundaries; logical segments are partitioned strictly basect on
function en cl purpose, without respect to internal work divisions that
may already exist within an enterprise.
Specifically, IDEFO was released as a standard in 1993 in Federal Information Pro-
cessing Standards (FIPS) Publication 183.
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REAL REENGINEERING
29
Finally, since the concepts may be confusecl, it is important to em-
phasize that a logical architecture is not equivalent to a physical com-
puting or technical architecture. Properly executed, a logical architec-
ture cloes not clefine the specific computing platform to be usec! or the
specific database structure that may be employoct, anct it certainly cloes
not presume to dictate the specific variables or records to be savec! in
particular databases. However, the logical architecture can provide a
template for the physical trappings; the cliagrammecl flows and con-
straints of the moclel give shape to anct provide baseline specifications
for the types of activity that physical systems must be able to perform.
Moreover, a logical architecture documents work but should be invari-
ant to specific operational decisions whether certain data are input at
one computer or at twenty or, in the context of the census, whether
operations take place in 500 local census offices or 600.
Follow-up Work
After clefining operational flows, the Census Bureau's next step
was to select a computer-assistect architecture modeling package. Ulti-
mately, the bureau chose to use System Architect, a package clevelopec!
by Popkin Software, Inc., as an initial base for its modeling efforts.
Beginning in February 2002, the diagrams and logical flows captured
in the logical architecture moclel of the 2000 census were renclerect in
System Architect, to support a pilot reengineering exercise.
Reengineering Exercise
Between August anct October 2002, Census Bureau staff performed
a logical architecture reengineering exercise, again contracting with the
Centech Group, which issucct the final results in a report (Centech
Group, Inc., 2002c).
To keep the exercise manageable, given the Census Bureau's new-
ness to the process, reengineering activities were narrowoct in scope to
focus on the data collection through data processing steps of the census
process. Cancticlate areas for retooling were proposed anct consiclerect
for inclusion in the exercise. Ultimately, the exercise concentrated on
adapting the as-was moclel of the 2000 census to reflect three areas of
change:
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30
PLANNING THE 2010 CENSUS
· Localized control offollow-?~p procedures: assignments for non-
response follow-up would be made clynamically, based on regu-
lar upclates of response status for all housing units cluring census
conduct anc! on the progress of incliviclual enumerators.
· Centralizing data capture andformattingfor all response modes: en-
sure that data proviclec! to headquarters is in uniform format re-
garclless of response type (mail, telephone, Internet).
· Redistribution of "undeliverable as addressed" questionnaires: adapt
sorting anct screening processes to streamline handling of ques-
tionnaires returnee! by the U.S. Postal Service, for easier iclentifi-
cation of vacant housing units.
Architecturally, adapting the as-was 2000 census moclel to reflect these
operations incluclec! many changes in follow-up information process-
ing as well as the acictition of data centers5 to perform processing anct
formatting tasks.
As part of the exercise, Census Bureau staff clevelopect a list of six-
teen architectural principles to guicle the logical architecture as the three
selected changes were incorporated into a to-be design. As the con-
tractor report notes, individual architectural principles may, by clesign,
oppose each other "optimization for one principle may cause non-
compliance with another principle." The hope is to finct alternative ar-
chitectural flows that best balance the opposing clemancis of the entire
set of principles (Centech Group, Inc., 2002c).
For instance, two of the architectural principles are: "consider
the neects of the respondent" anct "facilitate counting everyone once,
only once, en c! in the right place." These principles can be weigher!
against each other by the degree to which they contribute to overall
goals. They can also be usect to evaluate competing "to-be" logical
architecture models. For instance, a higher number of response mocles
available to respondents uncler one plan might be consiclerect evidence
in its favor with respect to the "consicler the needs of the responclent"
principle. In the reengineering exercise, Census Bureau staff iclentifiect
5Here, "data center" refers to a designated point to handle sorting and reformat-
ting tasks. Use of the term should not be confused with the Census Bureau's current
state data centers, which are part of the bureau's existing apparatus for data and analysis
outreach to users.
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REAL REENGINEERING
31
a number of such measures (quantitative and qualitative), which serve
as evaluation criteria to compare the baseline as-was model (the 2000
census structure) with the proposed initiatives for the 2010 census.
ASSESSMENT
The panel enthusiastically endorses and supports the work that the
Census Bureau has performed on its pilot logical architecture project
and strongly urges its continuance.
Completion of the first phase alone development of a logical ar-
chitecture moclel for the 2000 decennial census is a major accomplish-
ment and deserves recognition for its potential utility. As the contrac-
tor's report notes, the Census Bureau has traditionally put "little em-
phasis on assessment of the entire 'enct-to-enct' decennial census pro-
cess" (Centech Group, Inc., 2002a:vii). Hence, the bureau's efforts
with this moclel of the 2000 census are incleect very encouraging.
The reengineering exercise was, unclerstanclably, very limited in
scope, but it demonstrates that the Census Bureau is now poised to
make fuller use of the modeling techniques in formalizing a logical
architecture for the 2010 census. The logical model for the 2010 census
can then be translated and operationalizec! in assembling the physical,
technical infrastructure for 2010. The panel is comfortable with the
bureau's selection of its modeling product en c! paradigm (System
Architect and IDEFO, respectively), which appears to be quite sound.
Recommendation TI-1: Having completed a logical
architecture mode} for the 2000 census and having con-
ducted a limited-scope experiment to refit part of the
mode} to reflect "2010 assumptions," the Census Bu-
reau should continue and extend its logical architecture
modeling activities. If necessary to gain experience with
modeling functionality, additional small-scale experi-
ments should be conducted to apply 2010-design ideas to
parts of the architecture mode} that were not addressed
in the first exercise. However, the Census Bureau should
proceed as quickly as possible to construct alternative
reengineered business process models for the 2010 census
as a total system. The most promising mode} should be
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32
PLANNING THE 2010 CENSUS
used to develop a final design and to assemble a physical
technical infrastructure.
EXTENDING THE PILOT WORK: THE NEED FOR
INSTITUTIONAL COMMITMENT
The Census Bureau's emerging plans for the 2010 census are laden
with new initiatives and new technologies: a parallel data process in
the ACS; more extensive ties to an updated MAF/TIGER system; data
capture and transmissions from MCDs; Internet transactions; use of
administrative records systems; and in-time collection and archiving of
information for immediate use in quality control and quality assurance.
Each of these activities will require care when incorporated into a logical
architecture for the 2010 census.
Constructing an extensively reconfigured logical architecture-
and, more importantly, using the resulting model as a template for
building the actual physical infrastructure for the 2010 census is an
arduous task. And though the effort of using a completely realized
logical architecture to build the physical technical architecture will
ultimately reduce operational risk in census conduct, the architecture-
building process is not without risks of its own. In terms of general
recommendations as the Census Bureau continues with its architecture
work, the panel's suggestions are generally consistent with an earlier
National Research Council panel on which members of the current
panel also served. The earlier panel was charged to advise the Internal
Revenue Service on the modernization of its internal systems (National
Research Council, 1996), a task similar in certain respects to reconfig-
uring the decennial census. Accordingly, our lead recommendations are
similar: first, successful reengineering efforts typically require active
"champions" at the highest management levels, and the bureau must
seek champions for its architecture construction process. Second, in
order to conduct a successful reengineering process, the Census Bureau
will need to bolster its technical expertise in enterprise modeling.
Management "Champions"
.
The major technological enhancements envisioned under the Cen-
sus Bureau's proposed plan for the 2010 census are distinctive not only
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REAL REENGINEERING
33
for their range but also for the manner in which they cut across long-
stancling organizational divisions within the Census Bureau. For ex-
ample, MCDs with GPS receivers are a fielct data collection tool, and
so many requirements for the crevices will have to be ciriven by fielc!
personnel neects; however, they are of limited use if the positional accu-
racy of TIGER is not improved. Aciclitionally, computer-assistec! ques-
tionnaires contained on the crevices would benefit from cognitive and
usability testing.
The approach of enterprise or logical architecture mocleling is to
concentrate on function and information flow rather than preexist-
ing work conditions, though incleec! the finisher! result of modeling
may suggest more efficient ways to structure operational workload.
However, experience in carrying out similar infrastructure remoclelings
suggests that it will be vitally important to have strong support at
the highest levels of management at the bureau in effect, to have
influential "champions" of architecture reengineering. These people
can effectively convey the importance of the task and encourage all
divisions to "buy in" to modeling activities, and then coordinate and
. .
integrate to ae emerging system.
Establishing a System Architect
The development of an acloquate business process moclel for the
2010 census will require a serious effort that must be well staffer! and
well supportecl. Although top-level management support and commit-
ment are necessary, it is our view that authority for coordinating and
developing that model should be vested in one person a system archi-
tect for the 2010 decennial census. We recommenc! that such a position
be created as soon as possible en cl that a well-qualifiecl candidate be
hirect to fill the job.
Recommendation TI-2: The Census Bureau should
create and staff the position of system architect for the
decennial census, conducting a search of persons with
expertise in modeling business processes and conducting
reengineering activities. The system architect must have
the authority to work with and coordinate efforts among
the organizational divisions within the Census Bureau
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PLANNING THE 2010 CENSUS
and should serve as a champion of the idea and the
importance of architecture reengineering at the highest
levels of management within the bureau.
The system architect should be supported by a full-time staff of rea-
sonable size; this is important in orcler to achieve necessary expertise in
a modeling methodology that is new to the Census Bureau. The system
architect anct related staff have a primary role as information gatherers,
tapping expertise of other Census staff to build anc! revise architecture
models. But an important role is also outreach, in a sense helping to
build commitment to architectural principles by informing other parts
of the Census Bureau of modeling results anct demonstrating their use-
fulness.
CHALLENGES IN TRANSITION FROM LOGICAL TO
PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
A business process or logical architecture moclel will clefine the ac-
tivities anct the informational interfaces/clepenclencies required to carry
out the 2010 census. Between now anct the ctress rehearsal in 2008 (with
1 1 . 1 . . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . . 1 r
an opportunity to CIO related testing In zuuo), an 1ntegratecl 1ntormat1on
system a physical technical infrastructure must be put into place to
support those activities anc! satisfy their informational requirements. In
preparation for the refinement of the 2010 logical architecture en cl the
transition to a physical infrastructure, we offer some further comments
based on past experience with reconfiguring information systems, and
we will revisit the architecture efforts in our final report. We raise these
points some of them cautionary in nature not to cleter the Census
Bureau from proceeding with architecture modeling efforts but merely
to emphasize the difficulty anct the importance of the task.
Changing Architecture and Methods Simultaneously
.
Reengineering the Census Bureau's information systems is a very
large and complex project in its own right. However, it is made vastly
harcler because the Census Bureau will be reengineering a very large
anct complex integrated system at the same time as it attempts to make
.
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REAL REENGINEERING
35
substantial changes in the tools anc! methods it plans to use for in-
stance, the migration of the MAF/TIGER system to a commercial off-
the-shelf database system, the development (in the ACS) of a complete
data system parallel to the census, anc! the implementation of new re-
sponse mocles. The aciclect difficulty involved in developing new meth-
ocis simultaneously with new architecture argues ever more strongly for
a strong, coorctinatect system architect for the census, since synchroniz-
ing efforts will be key to successful implementation.
For example, one part of the proposed MAF/TIGER Enhance-
ments Program which we treat in detail in the next chapter is the
conversion of the existing MAF anc! TIGER databases to a moclern
database environment. One cited goal of this single objective of the
Enhancements Program is implementation of pilot projects to improve
the Census Bureau's Capability Maturity Moclel (CMM) score, a
measure of an organization's maturity in software engineering (Franz,
2002~. This is certainly a lauclable goal. However, in isolation, the time
anc! investment it takes organizations to move up one CMM level is
around 2 to 3 years, anct this progress is slowoct further by attempting
broacler systemic engineering at the same time. Allowing one of these
paths improving software engineering capability or designing system
architecture to proceed in isolation from the other could be a critical
anc! costly error, if time anc! resources elapse without both contributing
. . . .
o1nt. y to census 0 electives.
Potential Pitfall: Locking in Physical Infrastructure Too Early
A major cianger in making the transition from retooler! logi-
cal infrastructure to completed physical infrastructure is a rush to
judgment a rush to finalize physical structures too early. Moore's
Law the aclage that computing power tenets to clouble roughly every
18 months is well known; the rate of change in the computer tech-
nology world is incleect astounding. Thus, in settling on the purchase
of a particular computer or software package, the Census Bureau runs
the same risk faced by millions of personal computer buyers in the past
several years: namely, instant obsolescence, as the capabilities of the
chosen product are bested shortly thereafter by the next generation of
procluct.
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36
PLANNING THE 2010 CENSUS
The selection of MCDs is a particular area in which the Census Bu-
reau shoulc! remain cognizant of the ciangers of clecicling on physical
form too early. At present, small-scale tests of basic skills are being
concluctec! navigation using a map clisplayoc! on a palm-sizec! screen,
administering a computerized questionnaire on a small computing cle-
vice, and so forth. It is important that the Census Bureau concluct pro-
totype testing of this nature, to get some sense of current capabilities
and form factors; however, it is likely to be a mistake to ciraw final con-
clusions on qualities like clesirect MCD weight, size, and memory capac-
ity based on early test results. MCDs are, essentially, relatively simple
computing crevices with reliable storage and test input facilities; acicti-
tional features that may be clesirec! include: a color display with gooc!
resolution, a GPS latitucle-longitucle acquisition crevice, electronic com-
munication facilities such as a lanciline moclem, and perhaps encryption
and decryption capabilities. However, the most important product of
early MCD testing is not so much a checklist of clesirect features but
a clearly articulated plan of the workflows and information flows that
must be satisfied by MCDs, as they fit into the broader infrastructure.
It would be a mistake to make assumptions at an early stage that
unnecessarily limit the functionality or constrain the human factors
of these crevices. Given the rate of technological development, it is
not unreasonable that a tablet-size MCD with a full-blown operating
system, acloquate memory, a 20 gigabyte hare! cirive, a GPS receiver, a
moclem, encryption facilities, and an 8-inch full-color screen display
will be available in the market by 2007 at a price of $500 or less in the
quantities required by the bureau. So to prototype systems and to put
too much emphasis on usability tests using crevices of considerably
less capability rather than using early testing to further refine the
basic logical and informational requirements that the final crevice must
satisfy is probably too conservative and will result in the acquisition
and use of crevices that will be less effective than necessary.
Enterprise Architecture as Learning Too} and Guide to
Organizational Change
The end goal of business process or logical architecture reengi-
neering is the production of a smoothly functioning finisher! physical
architecture an amalgam of software, computer systems, and telecom-
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REAL REENGINEERING
37
munications systems. Given this purpose, it is perhaps too easy to cast
the effort as purely technical anc! technological, a highly inaccurate
impression. We strongly encourage the Census Bureau to take full
advantage of the exercise of architecture reengineering. That is, we
urge the Census Bureau to view the effort not merely as the means to
reengineer its computer systems but also as a key information tool to
. . . . .
reengineer its own organization anc operations.
IDEFO logical architecture models emphasize function en c! process,
nclepenclent of extant labor anct institutional boundaries within the
organization. Large organizations that develop rigid internal clivisions
over time can benefit from and find refreshing the basic exercise
of stepping back and specifying the most basic flows of information,
without regard to which division performs a given function or to
which directorate it may report. For the Census Bureau, this logical
architecture modeling represents a "new, and very clifferent, perspective
on decennial census operations," one "basecl on logical groupings of
functions Lancl highlighting] the commonality across similar processes
that were developed independently for different operations" (Centech
Group, Inc., 2002a:vii). Accorclingly, this new approach represents a
potential step away from the "compartmentalizecl thinking" the panel
warned against in its letter report (National Research Council, 2001c).
By these comments, we do not suggest the need for wholesale
change in the way the Census Bureau is currently structurecl. What
we do suggest is that the Census Bureau could benefit greatly from
the development of a task-basecl project management approach. The
analysis of information flows in architecture models may suggest log-
ical clusterings of activities or redundancy in activities and provide
clues for how parts of the bureau may best be mobilized to carry out
the task.
.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
census bureau
