Developing operational views with DoDAF ABM

Architecting and designing > DoDAF > DoDAF 1.5 Activity Based Methodology (ABM) > Developing operational views with DoDAF ABM

The operational architecture view describes the tasks, activities, operational elements, and information flows that are required for a military operation to take place. It describes what types and how often information can be exchanged, which tasks and activities are supported by the information exchanges, and the nature of information exchanges in order to establish specific interoperability requirements.

The Activity Based Methodology specifies a step-by-step method on how to build the diagrams and specify the information.

Steps

1 An OV-4 Organizational Chart shows the hierarchy of command in an organization. You can draw Organizational Units on the diagram in a hierarchical layout. You can also draw Roles on the diagram, and attach Roles to the Organizational Unit that contains them.

See OV-4 organizational chart diagrams and roles (ABM for DoDAF).

2 Optional: Create OV-1 high-level operational concept graphic diagrams.

See Creating OV-1 high-level operational concept graphic diagrams.

3 Develop node tree diagrams.

See Developing node tree diagrams.

4 Create OV-2 operational node connectivity diagrams.

See Creating OV-2 operational node connectivity diagrams

5 Optional: Generating OV-2 Operational Node Connectivity diagrams from Operational Nodes (ABM for DoDAF)

You can use the Operational Node to OV-2 utility to generate OV-2 Operational Node Connectivity diagrams from an existing Operational Node. The utility locates the appropriate Operational Nodes and generates the symbols on the diagram, connected with the appropriate Needlines.

See Generating OV-2 operational node connectivity diagrams from operational nodes (ABM for DoDAF).

6 Generate OV-3 Operational Information Exchange matrices (ABM for DoDAF).

You can generate a matrix to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that shows specified information exchanges.

See Generating OV-3 operational information exchange matrices (ABM for DoDAF)

7 Build traceability between Operational Activities, Operational Nodes, and Roles (ABM for DoDAF)

You can use various matrices to create traceability between operational activities, operational nodes, and roles.

See Building traceability between operational activities, operational nodes, and roles (ABM for DoDAF).

8 Generate Information Exchange Requirements and Needlines (ABM for DoDAF)

You can use a utility to generate Information Exchange Requirement (IER) definitions and Needline definitions.

See Generating information exchange requirements and needlines (ABM for DoDAF).