AGENDA FOR 10 FEBRUARY 1982 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING: INFORMATION HANDLING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83M00914R000700090025-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 40
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 6, 2006
• Sequence Number: 25
• Publication Date: February 3, 1982
• Content Type: MEMO

SS R T EXCOM 82-7002
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3 February 1982
MEMORANDUM FOR: Executive Committee Members
FROM: EA/Executive Director
SUBJECT: Agenda for 10 February 1982 Executive Committee
Meeting: Information,Handling
1. The Executive Committee will meet on Wednesday, 10 February 1982,
at 1000 hours in the DCI Conference Room for a progress report on the
information handling strategic planning effort. The attached paper will
serve as the basis for discussion.
2. Your endorsement will be requested for the information handling goals
developed during the first phase of this planning effort. A succinct list
of the goals appears in the table of contents. You might also want to focus
on the areas identified as requiring concentrated planning and engineering
(pages 22-25) and the items identified as having significant budget impact
(pages 26-27).
cc: Inspector General
Comptroller
ADMINISTRATIVE-INTERNAL USE ONLY
UPON REMOVAL OF ATTACHMENT
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EXCOM REVIEW OF IHSA STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR IHSs
This is a progress report to the EXCOM on the Strategic Planning effort
for the Agency information handling systems. It presents and briefly
discusses the goals as developed in the first phase of the effort. In the
next phase the strategic-level implementation plans for achieving these.
goals will be developed, contingent upon any specific guidance the EXCOM
may choose to give.
An overview of the goals is available in the following Table of
Contents.
In the interest of a succinct presentation, common Agency abbreviations
have been used throughout. Should the reader find any that are unfamiliar,
he can refer to the appended Glossary and Definition sections of this
paper.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXCOM REVIEW OF IHSA STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR IHSs
I. Introduction
II. Strategic Planning Phase I Results
A. Overview
B. IHS Goals for the Implementation Planning
1. Architecture Goals of Agency IHSs
Goal 1.1: Provide Reasonably Facile Interoperation of All
the Major Centers, Facilities and Extra-Agency
Facilities
Goal 1.3: Provide Reasonable Standardization of Hardware?
Documentation and Procedures
Goal 1.4: Provide an Architecture to Take Advantage of
Standard Commercial Products
Goal 1.5: Increase Overall IHS Availability to the
0.995 Level by 1989
2. Office Automation
Goal 2.1: Management Commit to Plan and Execute the
Acquisition and Integration of Office Automation
into the Agency by 1989
Goal 2.2; Provide the User a Single, "User Friendly"
Environment
Goal 2.4: Provide Training, Documentation and Support for
IHSs
Goal 3.2: Provide On-Line Storage Capacity and a
Corresponding Access Methodology to Meet
Real-Time User Needs .
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Goal 3.3: Develop Processing Center Architectures That
Support Agency Homogenity and Robustness
4. Carrier Systems/Telecommunications
Goal 4.1: Provide Carrier Systems/Telecommunications Which
Have the Capacity and Flexibility to Meet the
Agency's Service Demands
Goal 4.2: Provide an Overall Carrier System Availability on
the Order of 0.995
Goal 4.3: Provide Security in Carrier Systems
5. Administrative Systems
Goal 5.1: Automate Manual Administrative Tasks
Goal 5.2: Develop a Set of Interoperating Systems
6. Message Handling
Goal 6.1: Provide. a Cohesive Architecture to Support Message
Dissemination and Distribution Functions
Goal 6.2: Centralize Message Accounting and Flow Management
Goal 6.3: Utilize Computers for Management of Access Control
Goal 7.1: Develop a Centralized Capacity to Provide
Scientific and Technical Services Which Are
Responsive to User Turnaround and Throughput Needs
Goal 7.3: Facilities Which Provide for General Scientific
and Technical Support
Goal 7.4: A Cadre of Skilled Professionals in the Scientific
and Technical Area
Goal 8.1: Provide Flexible, Powerful, User Friendly Data
Base Management Systems
Goal 8.3: Provide an Effective, Agency-wide, Data Base
Administration (DBA) Capability
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Goal 8.4: Provide an Effective Resource Management
Program for User Accountability of Resources
Goal 8.5: Provide Archiving Policy, Implementation Guidance,
and an Archive System to which System
Developers and Operators can Interface
Goal 9.1: Ensure Compartmentation Controls are an Integral
Part of IHS Design, Procurement and Operation
Goal 9.2: Provide for the Use of Secure Operating Systems in
Agency IHSs
Goal 9.4: Ensure TEMPEST Protection for IHS Field Systems
and I/O Devices
C. Areas Requiring Concentrated Planning and Engineering
1. Office Automation Plan
Interoperation of Major Systems
3. User Support Functionalities
4. Message Dissemination and Distribution
5. Scientific and Technical Facilities
6. Availability Goals Allocation
7. IHS Training and CAI
8. Backup Facilities
D. Items with Incremental-Budget Impact
1. Office Automation
2. Administrative Systems Development
3. Enhanced Scientific and Technical Facilities
4. Networking of Major Centers
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III. Outline of the First Draft of the Strategic Plan
IV. The Revised Plan for Development of the Strategic Plan
Glossary
Definitions
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EXCOM REVIEW OF IHSA STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR IHSs
The first phase of the strategic planning process focused on user goals
- what services Agency professionals needed and expected from its
information handling systems (IHSs) in the 1985 through 1989 time period.
The first phase effort has been completed and is documented in two sets of
papers: the staffing papers that provided background at the initiation of
each of the five working groups, and the reports by the chairmen of these
groups. Copies of these papers and reports have been issued to all working
group participants, the Strategic Planning Steering Committee, and other
interested individuals. There is, of course, some overlap among the groups
since a definition of completely independent subject areas involving such a
complex subject was not possible. There were also some gaps. The IHSA
staff has endeavored to resolve such concerns, and present in this report a
single, coherent definition of the goals.
As a whole, the goals have major implications with respect to the
Agency's capabilities, methods of operation, personnel planning and
budgeting. Before making a significant planning investment in how we are
going to meet these goals, it is important to have them reviewed by senior
management, and revised, as may be found desirable. A full appreciation of
the implications of these goals will not be available until further
planning more specifically illuminates the implementation approaches and
their associated schedules and costs. These will be documented in the
draft Strategic Plan, and a review with respect to commitment would be
appropriate when the draft document is available.
To provide further insight into the product of this strategic planning
effort, a tentative outline of the IHS strategic plan is provided. It is
expected that in subsequent years the plan will expand, with the addition
of sections presenting current resources and investments, IHS personnel
planning, and impact on Agency operations.
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II. Strategic Planning Phase I Results
A. Overview
The goals were developed in'the first phase of the strategic planning
for IHSs in terms of five, reasonably independent areas of user concern:
o Information Handling Facilities
o 'Continuity and Contingency
o Technical and Scientific Facilities
o User Productivity and Support
o Information Protection and Management
-These areas were defined and selected to provide a small number of coherent
subject areas to which users could effectively respond in a working group
context.
The implementation aspect of the strategic planning will be developed
in terms of functional areas for the provision of services - provider
areas. The set defined has been structured to be coherent with respect to
provider concerns, and is:
1. Architecture of Agency IHSs
2. Office Automation
3. Processing Systems
4. Carrier Systems/Telecommunications
5. Administrative Systems
6. Message Handling
7. Scientific and Technical Facilities
8. Information Management
9. Security
This list does not necessarily represent the complete set of provider areas
that will ultimately appear in the strategic plan, nor is it immutable.
The goals resulting from the Phase I effort are mapped from the user
areas into the provider areas and presented in that format. This
presentation of the goals provides visibility with respect to the strategic
plan that will be developed, a prime concern of this review. It will be
seen that some of the user goals are applicable to a number of provider
areas, reflecting the fact that provider areas are not coherent with
respect to user concerns.
The implementation planning for this program has to be sectioned in
well-defined segments such as these in order to have a structure to support
the ultimate product definition, specific schedules, milestones and budgets
that can be evaluated and committed to by management. An aspect of being
coherent with respect to service areas is that, generally, specific
organizational units can assume the implementation responsibility.
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These are not nine separate provider area problems, however. It is
essential that these areas be addressed as components of an integrated
network. The IHSA staff will carry the responsibility for the coordination
and integration of the design elements of the Agency's IHSs via its
principal concern with:
o system architecture
o robustness
o standards and specifications
o intelligence community compatibility
These activities will be conducted in parallel with the planning for and
implementation of the service areas. What will result will be an iterative
allocation and refinement of goals between the system considered as a whole
and the separate provider areas.
Even though the goals are stated specifically, it was recognized that
there has to be flexibility in implementing the planning. There are, for
example, significant uncertainties pertaining to the capabilities and
cost/performance characteristics of off-the-shelf hardware that will be
available in the planning period. In addition, we have just started to
plan for the way in which IHSs will modify the office work processes and
organizations. Before major new block investments are made, development
and verification of the structure and function of the systems needs to be
pursued via prototyping. While such prototyping projects have not been
identified at this point, it should be recognized that there needs to be a
vigorous program of prototype investigations relevant to major new
investments. Prototyping is a high risk activity, the intent of which is
to avoid much larger mistakes. We should expect a certain failure rate of
prototypes and be prepared to fund them.
Following-the goals definition in this section is the identification of
areas for which significant focused attention is required in the near
future by Agency line organizations. These are, generally, complex areas
which we, as an Agency, are just beginning to address. They frequently
involve the conjunction of existing Agency systems and new commercial
technology, some of which is in a state of rapid developmental evolution.
From such attention there should come significant refinement of the
strategic level goals and implementation plans.
To provide a very rough indication of the budgetary implications of
these goals, there is next an identification of those that appear, at this
point, to require incremental increases in a continuation budget. That is,
acceptance of the these goals will produce an increase in the IHSs budget,
beyond the inflation level. Quantitative assessment of the value or
benefit of such increased investments will be performed as design and
implementation proceed. However, the assessment is not simple, because
only part of the benefit is the elimination of manual tasks. The rest is
the provision of the needed, enhanced individual corporate capabilities.
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B. IHS Goals for the Implementation Planning
There was articulated in all of the working groups a perspective that
the Agency should be automated as quickly as practicable to provide a
significant advance in productivity. Several drivers for the strong demand
for automation were identified:
o An improvement in quality and timeliness of Agency products
is required to meet rising intelligence demands.
o The technical sophistication of required operational and
analytic processes is continously and rapidly increasing.
o The old solution of adding appropriately skilled manpower
to meet added responsibilities is becoming much less viable.
o The Agency has a substantial amount of precious manpower
performing routine tasks which are amenable to automation.
In addition, there seems to be a broad perception now within the Agency
that personal access to the productivity-enhancing functions of IHSs gives
individuals the ability to be much more effective. This added a high
degree of personal interest to the expressed urgency for providing IHSs
functionalities broadly within the Agency.
The provision of technical capabilities is not solely a responsibility
of the providers of services. Users must be involved in the budgeting,
planning, designing, and implementing of these services so that the
resultant capability achieves the user's goals. The following goals
emphasize the provision of technical capabilities. Continuous user
involvement is required to achieve these goals.
The goals for the implementation planning phase of the IHSs Strategic
Plan are summarized-by the nine provider areas, which follow.
1. Architecture Goals of Agency IHSs
The Information Handling Task Force (1980), and others, concluded that
it is necessary that the Agency's Information Systems fit into a larger
system definition - an overall system architecture. The need has been
reaffirmed in the current strategic planning effort. Some of the
underlying reasons are:
o The user community requires access to the growing number of
IHS services through a single work station.
o Increasing volumes of electronic information, residing in
various computer centers, and more widely shared, will have
to be accessible to larger user communities.
o The concept of an electronic work station at the fingertips
of each employee providing access to central and distributed
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computing facilities for both domestic and overseas
users requires a carefully integrated system.
o Increasing dependence on.information services demands
superior reliability and responsiveness. Processing centers
should be able to back each other up.
o The users require commonality in the man-machine interface.
The requirement to integrate individual Information Systems into a
larger system is a corollary to the Office Automation Goal. The objective
is to provide each Agency employee transparent use of the Agency's
processing facilities. These facilities can reside at four levels:
o Host processing in the cluster centers
o Communications processing
o Distributed processing
o Terminal and local processing
Future integrated system components must be able to operate in a stand-
alone, decentralized mode, or as fully integrated elements of a more
centralized system. For example, a nodal processor may be functioning with
a number of work stations and peripherals, and be called upon to provide
host access for several users through a communications processing
environment.. Communications is a key ingredient in binding the components
into a larger system.
To provide such an integrated environment, the following architecture
level goals are defined:
Goal 1.1: Provide Reasonably Facile Interoperation of All the Major
Centers, Facilities and Extra-Agency Facilities
The centers (RCC, SCC, NDS, and shortly, SAFE), should be capable of
interoperation using such facilities as MERCURY, MHF, METRONET, MPS, APARS,
ETECS, and COM (Computer Output Microfiche). Interoperation with extra-
Agency facilities via the same user terminals will be required. Implied is
compatibility of the lower level protocols.
Goal 1.2: Provide a Reasonably Homogeneous Environment
Integration of the IHS operations of the Agency requires that the
functionalities hosted on the centers and facilities comprise a homogeneous
environment. This implies a homogeneous set of major utilities, software
language, communication formats and higher level protocols.
Goal 1.3: Provide Reasonable Standardization of Hardware, Documentation
and Procedures
The appropriate level of standardization is ultimately a management
judgment: too much, unreasonably limits competition and forecloses the
benefits to be derived therefrom; too little, means excessive required
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investments in compatibility engineering and O&M support. It also implies
a reduction in security due to the increased number of functional entities
which can cause breaches and the increased number of contractors required
.for O&M support.
Goal 1.4: Provide an Architecture to Take Advantage of Standard Commercial
Products
The affordability of the goals depends very heavily on our ability to
use standard commercial products. Of particular concern in this regard are
systems software products, such as DBMSs; applications software products,
such as budget analysis/display or time series analysis packages; and
terminal equipment.
Goal 1.5: Increase Overall IHS Availability to the 0.995 Level by 1989
In a fully automated office environment users will be singularly
dependent on IHSs as tools to do their work. When the system is not
available, they will not be able to do production work in the paper
environment, as is now the case. Accordingly, the "tools" must be
available. To meet the 0.995 availability goal the number of single points
of failure must be reduced, hardware availabilities must be increased, and
a true overall availability reporting mechanism must be in place. The
following measures are perceived as fundamental to achieving these
objectives:
o A total, end-to-end, availability reporting program
o Individual system/component monitoring -
o Stressing availability in budgeting and designing
o Establishing reliability/availability criteria as a
part of hardware/software/system procurement
2. Office Automation
There are two principal dimensions of the office automation concern:
the universal provision of electronic work stations, and the facilities
that would be provided through them. The first is important in terms of
making broadly available the general productivity enhancement that
automation offers and of achieving the "paperless" office environment.
Eliminating most of the paper, however, has to await the completion date of
office automation. Whenever a relatively small percentage of those needing
terminals are without, the paper will continue to flow, and the cost saving
benefits of reducing it will be deferred.
Our current process of achieving office automation is more a bottom-up
than top-down process. Terminals and functionalities are generally
provided in response to needs stated by organizational units. The
procurements are individually justified by requesting organizations in
relatively small lots. The facilities to support the terminal
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installations are provided individually, as each terminal installation is
made. As a whole, it is a relatively expensive and laborious process which
has little chance of providing, in a timely manner, the capabilities needed
for full office automation.
Goal 2.1: Management Commit to Plan and Execute the Acquisition and
Integration of Office Automation into the Agency by 1989
The goal of full office automation by 1989 is compatible with what
other agencies and the private sector are planning. For example:
o In a recent Yankee Group study, they projected that: "Today in
major firms we find 1 terminal for every 25 employees. By
1986 we will have 1 terminal for every 10 employees; by
1990 we will have 1 terminal for every 3.5 employees.'. These
are numbers averaged over all types of firms, most of which
have major manufacturing operations requiring a very low
ratio of terminals to employees.
Even if these goals and projections are judged optimistic, they reflect
a rapid, universal movement towards a new operational environment for the
office. Suppliers are moving quickly to fill the needs of this burgeoning
market. Even with the accelerated pace, the Agency will lag the leading
edge sufficiently that it should be able to capitalize on commercially
funded R&D supporting the movement, avoiding the necessity for any
substantial RDT&E investment.
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As a part of the management commitment, the Agency should develop a
master plan for office automation. The procurement of terminals and
facilities for office automation can then be justified one time to the
Executive and Legislative monitors of the Agency's programs.
Goal 2.2: Provide the User a Single, "User Friendly" Environment
There is a very clear and strong perception on the part of many users
that a single, user friendly environment is required. There will be enough
complexity in variety of functions needed, that an additional dimension in
the variety of environments would be overwhelming. Users pointed out that
the imposition of improperly developed automated systems can be just as
difficult and frustrating to deal with as the inefficiencies of manual
systems.
The term 'single environment' reflects a number of requirements. These
o The command language (which includes such things as sign-on,
sign-off), utilities (editor, file manipulation commands) and
common application programs (word processing, electronic mail)
should be standardized so that they operate identically whether
the user is dealing with a stand-alone terminal, a terminal
attached to a local net, or a terminal attached to the mainframe.
(NSA appears close to implementing such an environment by
standardizing on the UNIX-type of operating system, that now
operates on micros, as well as host computers. DoD is developing
such an environment in the context of its Ada language development.)
o Users demand that a single, multi-functional terminal be
capable of interfacing securely with the multitude of systems,
such as SOLIS, NDS, VM and SAFE, that exist today.
In addition, users identify the 'user friendly' requirements to be:
o convenient access to terminal and output devices (terminals
on the desks, output devices nearby)
o terminals/systems that are easily learned and easy to use
(structured and menu driven to eliminate complexity, minimal
keystrokes, elimination of.repetitive and menial tasks)
o response times and data rates that support the normal user
workpace - terminals should allow the user to work at least
as fast with the screen softcopy materials as he would with
comparable paper materials
o feedback that is responsive - error messages and other forms
of advisory output should be intelligible, not codes requiring
reference to manuals
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o functions that are integrated - information once entered
should not have to be rekeyed when being passed to another
functionality
Goal 2.3: Provide Productivity Tools
The user thinks of a workstation in terms of the job-related functions
it can perform. Users stated that all of the information handling
functions listed below would be valuable to a significant number of Agency
personnel:
o Electronic Mail
o Automation of personal management functions
o Computer Assisted Instruction
o Teleconferencing
o Personal Computing
o Access to VM and MVS (or equivalent)
o Personal and group filing systems
o Access to central DBMS's
o Knowledge-based systems
o Management support systems
o Administrative DB systems
o Access to outside nets and data bases-
In addition, IHS professionals need tools to increase their
productivity. These include: report writers, code generators,
specification and code validators, and code library systems.
Goal 2.4: Provide Training, Documentation and Support for IHS's
With the growth of Information Handling Systems and the introduction of
major office automation projects, resources for training and user support
have been severly taxed. Additionally, many organizations find that
operational demands severely limit their ability to send their key
personnel away to needed but lengthy courses. The objectives that support
this goal are:
o to assure that training and user support are
thoroughly and adequately addressed early in
system developments
o to develop standards for the types of documentation
required of IRS systems and to standardize
commonly used applications such as command languages
and editors
o to develop automated and consultative, user
instructional tools to alleviate the
classroom training requirements
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3. Processing Systems
The primary functional nodes of the Agency's IHSs consist of the
Washington area cluster computer centers - the RCC, SCC, NDS, 4C and
shortly, the SAFE Computer Center. Add there exists several
smaller computer sites, and specialized computer
systems, such as TADS. Specialized operations, operating systems
limitations, and security/compartmentation considerations are factors that
may lead to new cluster centers in the 1985-1989 timeframe.
The primary requirements for these centers have been, and will
certainly. continue to be, to meet the capacity and service needs of the
users that they directly support. In the 1985-1989 timeframe, meeting
these requirements will depend more and more on the ability of these
centers to interoperate. Users will increasingly need access to services
and data resident in other cluster centers. Providing this access places
-additional demands not only on the communications network, but on the
originating center as well. With the rapidly increasing number of on-line
users, the resultant net performance expectations represent a major advance
over today's capabilities.
Consequently, the requirements that will carry much greater weight as
we move into this timeframe are: interoperability, availability,
homogenity and robustness of these systems. Most of the goals relevant to
these requirements will take time to develop because of their strong mutual
interdependence. They are outlined in the following paragraphs.
Goal 3.1: Provide Capacity to Meet the Needs of the Agency
Of the two general categories of services offered by these centers -
specialized services created by major designated projects or systems, and
general services (VM) - the latter is more readily predictable on a
strategic basis. The capacity growth for general services has been
characterized by continuous growth. Major designated projects, on the
other hand, can come at any time and generally budget independently for
their processing capacity. Thus, the strategic planning concern is with
general services and such major projects as have already been designated.
The historical rate of increase in demand for general processing has
been high - on the order of 20 percent per year. It is projected to go
even higher, driven by greater systems access through office automation,
and the expanding ability of Agency professionals to capitalize on the
capabilities of such systems. Accordingly, if the accelerated office
automation goal is accepted, an increased annual capacity growth
requirement of something in the range of 25 to 30 percent seems likely. As
systems such as CRAFT and SAFE come on-line, and start to interoperate with
the general service systems, we need to determine the overall capacity
parameters (processing power, response times, on-line storage, data rates)
to ensure the quality of service the users need. The development of the
overall capacity growth requirement for 1985 to 1989, and its allocation to
the various centers, is currently being studied..
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Goal 3.2: Provide On-Line Storage Capacity and a Corresponding Access
Methodology to Meet Real-Time User-Needs
On-line storage is projected to grow at least at its historical 20
percent per year rate. Vast amounts of-information will need to be
directly accessible via the work station. This includes operational
support data, historical information, reference data, "open source" data
and literature, personal and organizational files, data bases, work files,
correspondence, imagery and voice. While technology is providing increases
in storage capacity, it is unlikely to keep pace with the dramatic increase
in needs. Data processing facilities will need to be designed to
accommodate the growth through both the acquisition of new DASDs and the
exploitation of new technology. Care must be taken in the development of
processing facilities that the increasing levels of.DASD I/O per computer
do not produce a degradation of IHS responsiveness.
- Goal 3.3: Develop Processing Center Architectures That Support Agency
Homogenity and Robustness
The RCC and SCC currently provide processing service availabilities of
about 0.97. While quite high with respect to current technology, such
values will not be adequate to support full office automation. Evaluations
of the needs with full office automation indicated a need for an
availability for on-line services of about 0.995, the value to which SAFE
is being designed. This increase represents an order of magnitude increase
in MTBF and a significant reduction in MTTR over the values obtaining
today.
To achieve these availabilities, current knowledge points towards
procuring system components with much better individual availabilities, and
developing architectures that reduce the.number of single points of failure
and provide better recovery characteristics.
Improved robustness requires detailed contingency planning. To the
maximum extent practicable, the centers should be able to back each other
up. This requires some degree of homogenity and the ability to handle
computer-to-computer communications as well as user-to-user and user-to-
computer communications.
o Identification of critical IHS functions and services, and
current IHS vulnerabilities
o Development of a coordinated IHS contingency plan,
using such guidelines as.FIPS 87
o Substantially increased utility availability (power,
cooling, water)
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o Institution of a regular, contingency testing
plan to assure designed robustness
Additionally, a remote ADP backup facility, if designed properly, can
provide the robustness our Agency systems need when operating under
stressed conditions.
4. Carrier Systems/Telecommunications
The ability of an intelligence organization to perform its mission
depends on the responsiveness of its communications system. The Agency's
existing communications system is a slow-speed, narrative teletype network,
portions of which are technically obsolete. The network is difficult to
operate, expensive to maintain and unable to meet certain service demands.
Goal 4.1: Provide Carrier Systems/Telecommunications Which Have the
Capacity and Flexibility to Meet the Agency's Service Demands
A set of programs, collectively called Recapitalization, has been
identified to ensure the Agency's communications system is responsive to
user needs. The objectives of Recapitalization are to:
o Increase the network transmission capacity through
a combination of improved satellite (up to 19.2 Kbs),
high speed lease lines, medium-speed (300-600 Bps) high
frequency radio and user-friendly, emergency communications
systems.
o Provide greater data transfer through replacement
of the message and data switches by a
packet-switched data network.
o Provide greater hardware and operator efficiency through
introduction of new, high speed cryptographic and
terminal processing equipment.
o Increase the capacity and robustness of the Washington
area communications system, applying packet-switching
network technology. -
o Provide other services such as secure voice, facsimile
and automatic dissemination and distribution.
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Full operational capability (FOC) of Recapitalization will provide the
capacity to support documented and perceived Information Handling
requirements through 1989. However, analysis of traffic over the past ten
years shows generally an exponential growth. Projections for the future
are for an increased rate of growth, both in volume and types of service.
This escalation of information exchange dictates that IHSs be designed for
expandability, much in the manner of industry's value-added networks
(VANs).
The goal is to allow expansion through systematic component
replacements, significantly postponing the necessity for future major
system replacements such as Recapitalization.
Goal 4.2: Provide an Overall Carrier System Availability on the Order of
0.995 - - -
Accomplishing this goal requires that all elements of the system have
individual availability well above the 0.995 macro figure. It is, however,
premature to assign a high, firm performance goal without further
assessment of current system availability measurements. The communications
nodal processing centers conform nicely to availability measurements -
taken as an entity they "fit" the standard IHS model. Alternately,
achieving an accurate measure of availability on the myriads of individual
transmission links around the world and domestically is more difficult and
complex - they do not "fit" the standard model. It is, therefore,
necessary to base calculations of availability on technical failures of
components which provide MTBF and MTTR statistics. Operational factors
such as propagation anomalies should be considered separately in
availability calculations for individual communications links.
Major communications programs which will impact on the architecture
have design specifications supportive of the availability goal. The
specified availability of the MERCURY network is 0.997 at less than 50
percent of full capacity loading. When fully stressed (100 percent loaded)
the specified availability is 0.98. For the SKYLINK SC-3 terminals the
availability design goal is 0.995.
Goal 4.3: Provide Security in Carrier Systems
The necessity for protecting all communications links is recognized.
Communications security aspects need to be considered in the planning,
design and operation of communications systems. The goal is to provide
communications carrier systems with multi-level security features and
reduced emanation profiles. Assurance of these attributes will continue to
be provided through rigorous testing and validation of hardware and
software, physical and technical inspections and thorough analysis of
documented failures or compromises.
The great importance of administration systems is sometimes obscured by
the Agency's operational imperatives. In fact, administrative functions
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have high priority; personnel evaluation and assignment, pay, contract
reimbursement, and budget planning and reporting, for example, all have
rigid submittal/action dates. Administrative functions also are currently
absorbing a significant portion of the Agency's precious personnel
resources, both on a dedicated and a collateral basis. Most of this
manpower is used in the performance of routine, manual tasks. The
investment required to take advantage of the capabilities of IHSs to
alleviate this administrative workload burden is substantial, and the
.currently funded pace of implementation is perceived as inadequate for the
scope of the required effort.
Many of the needed pieces of administrative automation have already
been put in place. Principal among these are PERSIGN, MEDSIGN, ICS, CONIF,'
FRS, GAS, and tailored registry systems. Currently under development are
LIMS, ASAPS, ACIS and expansion of PERSIGN and registry systems to meet the
--needs of directorates and offices. The pace and scope of these
developments falls far short of that required to meet the goals, however,
because the resources are not currently available to support an integrated,
properly paced approach. A significant commitment is required to provide
facile interoperation of the systems we now have, expand the ones we now
have to meet user needs, and to develop the new ones required.
Goal 5.1: Automate Manual Administrative Tasks
The Agency today still has a significant amount of manpower dedicated
to routine manual processing. In some areas, we seem to have gotten to the
point where the increasing complexity of the processes threaten to
overwhelm the ability of manual techniques to cope. LIMS and ACIS are
representative of badly needed automation projects that are designed to
provide the required automation.
One of the advantages of developing a large terminal network is that
many manual tasks, which by themselves could-never justify the equipment
expenditure, can now be automated. With an installed network, tasks such
as preparing T & A's, travel vouchers, training requests, personnel
evaluations, requests for library services, and use of on-line
consulting/support services can be efficiently executed electronically.
Goal 5.2: Develop a Set of Interoperating Systems
Users expressed not only a requirement for improved automated
administrative systems, but also a concern that the large administrative
systems existing and being built be mutually compatible. This
,compatibility is vital to alleviating substantial manual processing
otherwise required to interoperate. Eventually, the goal may be to have a
fully integrated set of systems, that is, sharing a common data base and
having integrated software.. If appropriate, that would be a goal for the
90's. For the 85-89 time period, addressing a set of independent,
interoperating, systems would be a major accomplishment.
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The message handling functions of the Agency are a principal element,
and to a certain extent, determinant of its architecture. The requirements
of access security, compartmentation, speed, accounting and process
management bear heavily on the architecture of the totality of message
handling functionalities.
Goal 6.1: Provide a Cohesive, Architecture to Support Message
Dissemination and-Distribution Functions
The Agency is evolving towards a layered, or hierarchical, architecture
for its dissemination and distribution systems. At the top is CDS, to be
supplanted by MHF. Then there are the dissemination and distribution
systems in the various centers, such as MPS, SAFE dissemination, and APARS.
The allocation of functions and accounting data flow among such
hierarchical functionalities needs to be determined to develop a single,
integrated environment.
To minimize costs, every effort will be made to develop the plan around
standard interfaces and formats; institution of the proposed IHC standard
Intelligence Reporting format for electrical messages with automatic
conversion of "outside" traffic is a prime objective.
Goal 6.2: Centralize Message Accounting and Flow Management
To provide required audit trails, transaction records should be
retained at all switching centers. However, a continuously updated,
complete message accountability and flow management record should be
maintained at and available from the principal and "highest order" message
switching node in the system. This will assure integrity of operations by
making available a full record of reference data on the complete message
handling process at one central location.
Goal 6.3: Utilize Computers for Management of Access Control
Message access will be computer controlled based on dissemination
criteria that is provided in the following sequence: a)'system controls
(compartmentation and higher order security controls); b) originator
instructions (message type and/or slug line, pass to, exclusive for, etc.);
c) content of the message (key word search, subject area, etc.); or c) user
requirements (search and retrieve). There will be sufficient IHS
interconnectivity to provide to the user a homogenous message handling
capability which will rigorously enforce message access restrictions while
providing access to authorized messages in a timely and efficient manner.
A requirement for a major advance in the Agency's Scientific and
Technical analysis capability is foreseen for the second half of the 80's.
In this time period the design of office automation systems will be largely
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complete, and the general population of professional users will be moving
beyond office automation functions to sophisticated use of information
processing. services in the Scientific and Technical areas.
As with office automation, support will be required for a diverse group
of users in many organizations, all of whom will need advanced "tools,"
adequate system response, and the support of knowledgeable personnel. The
Scientific and Technical functionalities required have similar underlying
aspects - they require the services of highly skilled, technically oriented
personnel and information processing power which is orders of magnitude
greater than that needed for general purposes. Services which are
integrated into our architecture must be flexible and, above all, be
responsive to operational and analytical needs.
--Goal 7.1: Develop a Centralized Capacity to Provide Scientific and
'Technical Services Which Are Responsive to User Turnaround and Throughput
Needs
Scientific and Technical processing power is going to be a major factor
in meeting user needs. Much of the scientific and technical processing is
currently dispersed, running on a variety of machinery. Amalgamation of
much of the scientific and technical processing hardware resources appears
highly desirable to deal effectively with the character of scientific and
technical processing: very high capacity requirements for relatively short
periods of time. Increasingly, users are likely to find that they do not
have the budgetary resources available to afford the power needed on a
segmented basis.
In addition, there are special characteristics of scientific and
technical software which can be exploited only by special hardware such as
vector manipulators or data base machines. Such special machinery provides
scientific and technical.processing power for a much lower cost than
processing power on general data machinery. Its integration into an
overall environment will probably require a significant investment,
however, and it will require a cadre of highly skilled professionals to
help users exploit it. When it will be procured and what types of special
machinery are appropriate has to be determined through thorough technical
analyses.
Goal 7.2: Provide a Compartmented Environment
Much of the scientific and technical data is extremely sensitive; it is
raw data, cannot be sanitized with respect to sources and methods, and its
very existence and character reveal areas of Agency interest and intent.
As a consequence, it needs to receive a high level of compartmentation
within the-processing environment.
One of the major concerns, therefore, is limitation of contractor
access. Careful consideration should be given to isolating "development"
and "production" through the provision of separate systems, because
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contractors will always have extensive access to any development
environment. This may mean additional equipment investments, but is a much
more difficult budgetary problem if pursued on a dispersed rather than a
centralized basis.
There will always have to be contractor access for maintenance.
However, with a highly skilled cadre of professionals supporting and
operating the facility, there can be high assurance that contractor
maintenance personnel can be prevented from exposure to extremely sensitive
information and methods. In addition, an isolated environment, such as a
separate center, would limit such contractor access to only the types of
equipment and processes needed for the scientific and technical processing
- a more limited set of contractors than is needed in a general data
processing center.
Goal 7.3: Facilities Which Provide for General Scientific and Technical
- Support
Interactive Graphics:
The goal is for the Agency to have a universally available general
Interactive Graphics capability, both black and white and color.
This will include providing "off-the-shelf" tools for application
to particular needs, being properly documented, having simple
interfaces and meeting performance criteria. This capability will
provide for the comprehension and understanding of the aggregate
significance of the ever-increasing amounts of information pertaining
to a given subject.
o Generation of two and three dimensional displays
o Statistical presentations
o Signal processing presentations
A Structure for and a Set of Specific Interrelated Models:
A usable set of models in the military, economic, and political area
which predict future events and display the consequences of specific
stimuli is required. These need to be relevant to problems of
increasing scope, accurate, and interrelated when required.
The consequence is that they are projected to be one to two
orders of magnitude more complex than today's models.
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Artificial Intelligence and Knowledge Based Systems:
The Agency will need the capability to install and use Artificial
Intelligence mechanisms and Knowledge Based Systems. This will enable
users to integrate these functions into their operations/decision
processes to meet particular needs within time constraints. The
use of special computers, experimental (possibly proprietary) systems,
and ease of their integration will be provided.
Computer Aided Design:
The goal is to have an integrated Computer Aided Design capability to
support the following:
o Reverse engineering of foreign hardware
o Map generation, processing, and annotation
o Architectural design, storage and update, e.g.,
physical plant layout, wiring, piping, space
allocation
o Management support/project tracking displays,
e.g., PERT-type planning tools, operations tracking
These will be linked to the appropriate data sources and permit
the rapid manipulation of information into the desired form
and format.
General Utility Software for Technical Application
In the analysis and development of systems, especially technically
oriented ones, there are often needs for a variety of complex
software functions. Included are such processes as matrix
analysis, statistical analysis, optimization and optimum
seeking techniques, and image processing. A library of these
processes should be acquired, documented and maintained so that
users can readily apply them.
Goal 7.4: A Cadre of Skilled Professionals in the Scientific and Technical
Area
The Agency will need a staff with the specific skills necessary to
provide Scientific and Technical facilities, services and consultation.
External dependency will be more restrictive and a cadre of experts is
needed to provide user services in a timeframe significantly shorter than
today.
Access to these facilities requires a carefully planned architecture.
Processing power will be needed at the proper "node" or "center", capacity
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for adequate information transport will have to exist, and prompt technical
assistance in implementing the correct portions of readily integrated
functions will be essential. The Agency must be in a posture which permits
the timely integration of Scientific and Technical facilities (including
newly available, commercially vended functions) into its "mainstream" if
user needs are to be satisfied.
In the later half of the 80's it is expected that the Agency's
internodal and interorganizational use of information will sharply
increase. Additionally, the bulk of the anticipated requirement is for
real-time response to diverse user needs originating at electronic work
stations. Provision of such capabilities requires that the information be
managed in an efficient manner so that the IHSs are not overwhelmed with
on-line storage of vestigial data, redundant data and data base update and
synchronization problems.
Because information will accumulate at an ever increasing rate
provision must be made for its storage for immediate use and subsequent
removal to an archival repository. The policies which will control this
must be set and the capabilities to provide the required information
management provided.
Goal 8.1: Provide Flexible, Powerful, User Friendly Data Base Management
Systems
Users will require DBMSs which permit them to efficiently create and
maintain data bases. The range of needs in power and type dictate that
commercially available DBMSs be available and supported. Such DBMSs should
be hardware manufacturer independent so that Agency management may specify
Agency standard DBMSs in development contracts. Inverted, hierarchical
systems, such as ADABAS and IDMS, and relational systems, such as ORACLE,
which run on a variety of hardware are examples of the current types that
may be able to meet these needs. They will be more user friendly and
feature those characteristics most often needed by users - responsiveness,
transportability, installation ease, upward compatibility, and minimal
maintenance. Additionally, a wide range of specific functions will be
required, for example, report writers, graphics output, external loading,
and, mathematical capability. It should be recognized, however, that the
more powerful DBMSs will probably always require professional expertise
because of the complexity and power of their capabilities.
A concomitant aspect of providing and supporting current technology
commercial DBMSs on our central systems is that obsolescent ones have to be
dropped. Supporting a DBMS requires the dedication of O&M resources and
continuous training of new users in the use of the DBMS. As a consequence
of resource limitations, it is practical to provide and support only a
limited set of DBMSs. Thus concomitant with the provision of new DBMSs is
the requirement to convert files on old ones to new ones.
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Goal 8.2: Develop a Set of Pertinent Data Standards
Data standards are needed to provide.for the interoperability of
systems, the avoidance of needlessly duplicative files, and the ready
transfer of information between systems and organizations. The first
priority is in the administrative area because standardization of
administrative data definitions is essential to interoperation of these
systems. This will be more difficult with respect to operational and
intelligence data because community [interests frequently obtain. A more
deliberate approach is required for'data standards in this area, setting a
priority framework based on specifically identified interoperability
benefits. It should be recognized that widely varying applications of data
will frequently preclude standard definitions in the operational area.
Goal 8.3: Provide an Effective, Agency-wide, Data Base Administration
(DBA) Capability
The user need for Data Base Administration services is expected to
increase sharply as the Agency-wide use of IHSs increases. Also needed is
assistance in using DBMS facilities to obtain, retrieve, manipulate and
understand information and the specific expertise in particular DBMSs and
associated applications software for users to independently apply and
operate such DBMSs.
In addition to local DBA functions, a central DBA management function
is. needed to provide coherency and to set goals and policy in local areas
such as:
o Migration and Conversion of Data Bases and Data'
o Data Standards
o Synchronization
o Data Transfer
o Security
Goal 8.4: Provide an Effective Resource Management Program for User
Accountability of Resources
The current resource management program is based on a budgeting
approach and meets the Agency's current needs. In the 1985-1989 timeframe,
with an order of magnitude increase in on-line users and a more dynamic
environment, the current approach is seen as inadequate. To meet the
increased resource needs, accountability must be more direct. The
decisions concerning IHS expenditure allocations need to be made at lower
levels of management so that use is responsive to the dynamics of the
required work environment. Additionally, there should be a greatly
improved motivation for frugal use of processing and DASD resources. This
motivation is needed to alleviate peak processing period loading through
deferral of tasks to non-prime time when practical - peak loading being the
primary determinant of processing capacity requirements. Users should also
be motivated to archive on-line data when it is no longer needed thus
alleviating the need for additional DASD resources.
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Goal 8.5: Provide Archiving Policy, Implementation Guidance, and an
Archive System to which System Developers and Operators can Interface
A method of archiving data bases, files and systems from current status
is needed. In the electronic environment, especially with integrated
systems, the MARS "record copy" definition is insufficient. Currently,.
"dumping" for backup purposes is often used as an archiving substitute and
this does not provide an adequate historical copy. Retrieval of
information from an old copy of an obsolete DBMS and the loading of it into
a new (different) DBMS, for instance, would be extremely difficult and time
consuming. Guidance as to the criteria to be used in archiving, and an
encompassing "archiving system" must be available to system/data base
designers so they can incorporate archiving into the design process.
These information management functions will'provide the Agency with a
more efficient and responsive overall capability. The need for -
availability of information, its rapid retrieval and use will increase
greatly in the future.
As increasing quantities of information become available to greater
numbers of users at increased data rates, confidence in the integrity of
the systems processing this data becomes increasingly important. The
following goals for security enhancements apply broadly to the Agency's
IHSs.
Goal 9.1: Ensure Compartmentation Controls are an Integral Part of IHS
Design, Procurement and Operation
In information systems, the classical methodology is to ensure
compartmentaton by employing unique systems for unique purposes. The issue
is how to provide IHS interoperability and assure the requisite access
limitations. In some cases, interoperability may not be desired for normal
operations, but should be available for emergency backup.
Technology offers some prospective solutions. Secure operating
systems, encrypted data bases, and kernelized security clusters have the
potential for enhancing compartmentation. These technologies all present
tough developmental problems to be solved; thus, there is major uncertainty
in the timing of their maturity.
Compartmentation will be emphasized in hardware and software
applications e.g., front-end processors, link encryption, DES, and ACF-2.
Additional requirements for accountability, audit trails and techniques to
verify and assess loss of information, either accidently or intentional are
goals for IHS's in the 1985-1989 timeframe.
In the final analysis, however, personal accountability,
professionalism and internal management control procedures still provide
the cornerstone for security of our activities.
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Goal 9.2: Provide for the Use of Secure Operating Systems in Agency IRS
Secure operating systems (OS's) have the potential for providing multi-
level security features. Utilization of secure OS's in Agency IHSs will
require a balanced approach between security enhancements and operational
flexibility. As secure operating system technology or techniques develop,
provision for incorporation of secure OS's into the Agency's IH environment
is a goal. Immediate concerns for the IRS architecture are definition and
scope of the security threat and identification of protective measures and
incorporation of security enhancements into the design of IHSs.
Goal 9.3: Provide for Incorporation of Encrypted Data Bases
Encryption of file data, stored on electronic media, particularly
DASD's, is needed to counter unauthorized access or accidental spillage.
Such a capability is particularly needed for field station IHSs. This
.methodology provides spillage protection by putting the decryption on
authorized terminals rather than in the OS. The result is that spillage to
an unauthorized terminal yields only unreadable, encrypted data. In
support of this, the Agency must:
o Foster research in development of techniques for
utilization of encrypted data bases.
o Develop testbeds within the Agency to rigorously
evaluate the performance of encrypted data bases
in relation to elapsed processing time.
o Establish management plans for storage and use of
system and personal keys for encrypted data bases.
Goal 9.4: Ensure TEMPEST Protection for IHS Field Systems and I/O Devices
Improved TEMPEST protection is a very important dimension of improved
IHSs security.
C. Areas Requiring Concentrated Planning and Engineering
It is recognized that the foregoing goals are inadequately definitive
in many areas. This lack of definition exist chiefly where feedback from
the implementation implications of the generally stated goals is required
before the specific goals can be appropriately defined.
Implied by these goals is a substantial dedication of planning and
systems engineering effort by Agency line organizations to develop and
resolve the implementation implications. This should provide feedback to
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the strategic goals and the strategic-level implementation plans, as well
as definition of the tactical plans of the individual organizations.
The scale of the required efforts is such that, in many instances, a
substantial refinement of the associated strategic planning is to be
expected in the second years' plan. Such planning and systems engineering
work is ongoing in many of the areas. For others, such as top-down office
automation planning where it has not yet started, it needs to be initiated
directly if the refinement sought is to be ready for the 1983 plan.
The areas that are currently identified as being of particular concern
in this regard are discussed in the following paragraphs.
1. Office Automation Plan
Pursuant to a management decision to automate Agency offices on the
recommended schedule as a top-down integrated program, the office
automation plan has to be developed. The strategic planning for this
process has to take place within directorates as well as on an integrated,'
Agency-wide basis. Working through the priorities, required organizational
accommodations, and related personnel planning will take time and should
begin soon.
2. Interoperation of Major Systems
Each of the major systems currently under development (SAFE, NDS,
MERCURY, and CAMS) have requirements to interoperate with other systems.
The developers, in the absence of an overall architectural definition or
prescribed standards, tend to work these requirements independently and on
a system-to-system basis. If continued in this manner, the results will be
a proliferation of interfaces, protocols, and information exchange formats.
Subsequent integration of these major systems into a total homogeneous
environment will be costly, perhaps prohibitively so. A solution
frequently conjectured is to insert "gateways." However, these are costly
and they take a long time to build if developed for a unique interface.
If the goal of a homogeneous environment permitting interoperation of
these major system entities is to be achieved, standardized communication
networks and the environment will have to be defined to which these systems
can interface. The variation in the network architectural alternatives is
wide, and the ability of the Agency to tie its systems together will depend
strongly on a judicious choice of network architecture and individual
systems and centers architectures. To avoid costly retrofits, the
determination of the architectural approach should proceed as expeditiously
as possible and will require focused attention by the principal providers.
3. User Support Functionalities
An architecture for user support functionalities needs to be defined if
the goal of a single, user friendly environment is to be achieved. This
architecture would comprise and support a family of operating systems,
DBMSs, and utilities, with their capability being a function of the power
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of the host machinery. There is also an interrelationship between this
architecture and that of the Agency hardware systems. Their mutual
.compatibility is required in achieving the desired environment.
Developing this architecture will take an integrated effort on the part
of providers and users.
4. Message Dissemination and Distribution
The architecture of the Agency's intended dissemination and
distribution system needs to be determined to develop a complete strategic
plan in this area. This determination is compounded by the fact that the
Agency.is evolving from a monolithic dissemination and distribution system,
using CDS and hand distributed paper, to one integrated, hierachical
system. The latter will incorporate such functionalities as MHF, SAFE
dissemination, the MPS and APARS. The allocation of functional
-responsibilities among these systems needs to be determined, however. In
addition, the top-level relationship between the dissemination and
distribution functions and the MERCURY-type of message transmission and
handling system needs to-be determined. A complete strategic plan depends
on a top-level allocation of functions among all these entities, defining
the goals for each sector.
5. Scientific and Technical Facilities
The projected sharp expansion in scientific and technical requirements
presents some significant, interrelated questions with respect to
provisions of the services. These questions need to be resolved before a
comprehensive strategic plan can be worked out in this area. Among them
are:
o What are the time-phased, capacity requirements
by scientific and technical processing categories?
o How should security objectives and constraints be met?
o What sort of approaches should betaken in selection of
machinery, its mutual interoperation, and its
internetting with communications facilities
and other types of processing equipments or centers?
o How should the professional cadre be formed and
positioned within the Agency?
6. Availability Goals
User inputs provided a reasonably good perspective, in a strategic
sense, of what availability of central services the user needs at his
terminal. The allocation of availability goals to the various provider
areas which support this is to be determined. The communications and
processing availability goals will vary by type of service and character of
the mutual interaction. The utilities goals will have.to support the
highest availability goals that obtain for processing and communications.
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Developing the allocations of availability goals is a complex problem
involving cost versus availability performance tradeoffs among hardware,
software, and architecture. Because of the approximate character of much
of the tradeoff relationships, the analysis process leading to the
allocation will have a strong judgmental element.
7. IHS Training and CAI
A preliminary survey of IHS future training requirements completed
about seven months ago indicated the potential for a very substantial
classroom training requirement. This need was predicated on continued
reliance on the current approach, which emphasizes classroom training.
The size of the training personnel and facilities investments that
would be needed in continuing the Agency's current approach are judged to
be impractically large. So are the time requirements on the part of the
professional staff which would be trained. The manner in which CAI can be
used to alleviate this load and the degree of emphasis for a CAI program
remains to be determined.
Working out a strategic plan for IHS training will require a
coordinated assessment of training requirements by individual directorates,
and then an evaluation of approaches to meeting those requirements.
Responsibilities for implementing those training requirements then need to
be allocated.
8. Backup Facilities
Because of the high cost, any significant progress in providing large-
scale, remote backup of Agency IHSs is judged dependent on inter-program
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D. Items with Incremental Budget Impact
It is clear from the general character of the goals that, taken as a
whole, they cannot be accomodated within a continuation budget. They imply
a significant increase in those portions of the budget that pertain to
Agency IHSs, beyond an inflationary adjustment.
Although cost estimates of the goals are well beyond our current
status, it is desirable for Agency management to have some feel for the
budgetary implications of these goals. To this end, those goals that the
IHSA estimates will produce an incremental increase in a continuation
budget are listed in the following paragraphs.
1. Office Automation
The acceleration of office automation implies buying and installing
substantially more terminals, software, communications and processing
capacity than a continuation budget will accomodate. Terminals, with an
appropriate allocation of printers'and local net facilities probably
-average about $10,000 per unit. Everything necessary to support this
increase probably multiplies this number by a factor of two to four.
2. Administrative Systems Development
The investments required for new administrative systems to automate
current manual tasks and to enhance the existing systems to interoperate is
substantial. Based on costs estimated for a few new systems and some
extrapolation, this additional investment is placed in the $50 to $100
million category, through 1989.
3. Enhanced Scientific and Technical Facilities
There are three aspects of this investment: hardware including special
I/O devices to provide the capacity and response needed; software packages;
and a cadre of skilled professionals. The total cost of this investment is
4. Networking of Major Centers
The networking of the cluster centers of the Agency will require a
significant design engineering investment and then an investment in
hardware, software and communication protocols. NSA's PLATFORM backbone
system successfully.internets into a homogeneous environment more than half
a dozen cluster centers, comprising a variety of marques of computers.
Although it is a dated technology relevant to.new computer communications
implementations, PLATFORM provides valuable experience as well as insight
relevant to the level of investment required to achieve such an objective.
A cost on the order seems probable, assuming that the
internal architecture and prototype of clusters can be accommodated to this
environment and gateways can be avoided.
26
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5. Data Base Conversions
With the substantial rate of storage of electronic data, the Agency has
now accumulated a significant amount of data in DBMSs that are obsolescent.
We are entering an era where new DBMSs should be brought into the Agency's
IHS environment and the files on the old DBMSs converted. It is a major
expense, but a concomitant one to bringing aboard new DBMSs. It is
estimated is required for these conversions. This
does not i c e c nversions associated with designated projects.
6. Backup Facilities
27
ECUT
For robustness in the face of a wide range of contingencies short of
strategic nuclear war, the Agency-needs backup in both communications and
processing facilities. It appears essential for cost reasons that
communications and processing be colocated in a single facility. There
- would be far greater assurance of the backup functions being there when
needed if the center were continuously manned, performing a valid normal
operating function of the Agency.
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III. Outline of the First Draft of the Strategic Plan
The following pages present a draft of the Table of Contents of the
Strategic Plan for IHSs for the Agency. The term "provider areas" in
section VII refers to the nine areas previously defined. For sections IV
and VII, the subordinated subjects apply to each provider area.
Designated projects were specifically excluded from scrutiny in the.
first phase because there was no contribution to be gained from reviewing
the definition of already formalized needs. Such projects are an integral
part of the total strategic plan for IHSs, however, and are included in the
total plan.
It is expected that in subsequent years, it will be possible to be much
more definitive with respect to resources and investments, personnel
planning and Agency operations as they are relevant to IHSs. In addition,
it is anticipated that planning will have defined the need for some
prototype developments, which will also be added.
It is projected that the strategic plan will be updated each year. In
some instances, major refinements will occur, principally where new
technology provides new opportunities. A significant refinement of the
first year's plan can be expected in the 1983 plan, as many of the
technical and organizational questions are resolved.
28
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CIA Strategic Plan for IHSs
I. Executive Summary
II. Purpose of This Plan
o Provide Corporate Commitment
o Provide Baseline Program
o Orient Near-Term Activities to Long Term Objectives
o Basis for Personnel Planning
III. Current Status
o Organizations & Budgets
o Recent History (1971-1981)
- Funding & Projects
- Personnel Resources
IV. Current Designated Development Projects
o SAFE/MERCURY/NDS/CAMS/CRAFT/LIMS/TADS/ACIS/METRONET/4C
- Specified Functions and Performance
- Milestones and Schedule
- Funding Profile
V. Strategic Plan Goals - 1985-1989
o Strategy Overview
o Goals by Provider Areas
VI. Architectural and Organizational Implications
o Agency IHSs Architecture
o Productivity Increase
o New Capabilities Made Possible
o Character of Organizational Impact
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VII. Implementation Plan
o Summary Plan
- Major Milestones
- Implementation Responsibilities
- Summary Annual Funding Profile
o Provider Area Plans
- Major Milestones
- Major Hardware and Software Acquisition Points
- Annual Funding Profile
o Personnel Management Plans (Mostly TBD)
- Training and Retraining
- Acquisitions Requirements
- Career Planning
Appendix (Separate Volumes)
o Strategic Plan Development Overview
- Summary of Goals Development
- Summary of Implementation Planning
o Tabs
- Phase I Working Group Staffing Papers
- Phase I Working Group Reports
- Phase I Report to the EXCOM
30
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IV. Revised Plan for the Development of the Strategic Plan
Due to constraints in time and provider personnel resources, the
working group approach was not considered feasible for the implementation
plans in the next phase. As a consequence, the originally planned phases
II and III have been combined. The IHSA staff will assume responsibility
for the development of the implementation plans. It will coordinate
extensively with provider and user organizations in doing this, and will
have its staff supplemented by a few, dedicated personnel from ODP and OC
for this next phase.
31
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1982 PLAN FOR IHSs STRATEGIC PLAN
TASK
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
A r
May
Jun
Jul
Au
Phase I: Ob
ti
D
f
jec
ves
e
.
Working Group Session (Phased)
Synthesis
Report to Senior Management
Phase II: Dev. of Integrated Plan
Dev. of Implementation Plans
Dev. of Rough Draft Strategic Plan
Report to Senior Management
Phase III: Reconciliation
Reconciliation with Budget
Dev. of Final Report
Report to Senior Management
Legend
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DEFINITIONS
Availability MTBF divided by MTBF plus MTTR; a mathematically described
(Intrinsic aspect describing the performance of a system considering
system - Ao) spontaneous failure of components.
Functionality Anything which has been built to perform a particular
function. May include hardware as well as software,
but most frequently used in reference to various
software applications packages.
Integrated
Interoperability
Robustness
Systems which are designed as components of a larger
whole. Implies tight coupling of data files, processing
operations, and communications.
The ability of separately designed and developed systems
to operate together. Implies data and execution
compatibility.
A system characteristic measuring the ability of the
system to continue to perform after sustaining component
failures, excessive loading and all other sources of
increased levels of system stress. Robustness
encompasses availability but also includes system
"graceful degradation" characteristics and
contingency or backup capabilities.
3,~-
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