Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

General Information

Technologies must be operated and maintained in accordance with Federal and Department security and privacy policies and guidelines. More information on the proper use of the TRM can be found on the TRM Proper Use Tab/Section.

Website:	Go to site
Description:	Sparx System Enterprise Architect is a comprehensive modeling solution that allows users to visualize, analyze, model, test, and maintain systems, software, processes, and architectures. This software supports model auditing, version control, role-based security, mind mapping, Model Driven Generation (MDG) Technology creation and utilization, shared models, and debug and visualization for running applications. Additionally, this software`s functionality can be extended through optional Cloud services. Sparx System Enterprise Architect is available in four editions; Ultimate, Unified, Corporate, and Professional. The scope of this entry covers all editions of this technology. The TRM decisions in this entry only apply to technologies and versions owned, operated, managed, patched, and version-controlled by VA. This includes technologies deployed as software installations on VMs within VA-controlled cloud environments (e.g. VA Enterprise Cloud (VAEC)). Cloud services provided by the VAEC, which are listed in the VAEC Service Catalog, and those controlled and managed by an external Cloud Service Provider (i.e. SaaS) are not in the purview of the TRM. For more information on the use of cloud services and cloud-based products within VA, including VA private clouds, please see the Enterprise Cloud Solutions Office (ECSO) Portal at: https://dvagov.sharepoint.com/sites/OITECSO/
Technology/Standard Usage Requirements:	Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.
Section 508 Information:	This technology has been assessed by the Section 508 Office and found non-conformant. The Implementer of this technology has the responsibility to ensure the version deployed is 508-compliant. Section 508 compliance may be reviewed by the Section 508 Office and appropriate remedial action required if necessary. For additional information or assistance regarding Section 508, please contact the Section 508 Office at Section508@va.gov. Please see reference tab for more information concerning product versions.
Decision:	View Decisions

Decision Source:	TRM Mgmt Group
Decision Process:	One-VA TRM v24.1
Decision Date:	01/25/2024 at 01:33:19 UTC
Aliases:	Enterprise Architect
Introduced By:	TRM Request
Vendor Name:	Sparx Systems

Vendor Release Information

The Vendor Release table provides the known releases for the TRM Technology, obtained from the vendor (or from the release source).

Version	Release Date	Vendor End of Life Date	Vendor Desupport Date
9.2	11/17/2011
9.3	03/07/2012
10	01/15/2013
11	04/01/2014
11.1	02/01/2015
12.x	06/18/2015
13.x	10/20/2016
14.x	05/03/2018
15.x	05/14/2019
16.x	04/21/2022

Current Decision Matrix (01/23/2024)

Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.

The VA Decision Matrix displays the current and future VA IT position regarding different releases of a TRM entry. These decisions are based upon the best information available as of the most current date. The consumer of this information has the responsibility to consult the organizations responsible for the desktop, testing, and/or production environments to ensure that the target version of the technology will be supported. Any major.minor version that is not listed in the VA Decision Matrix is considered unapproved for use.

Legend:

White	Approved: The technology/standard has been approved for use.
Yellow	Approved w/Constraints: The technology/standard can be used within the specified constraints located below the decision matrix in the footnote[1] and on the General tab.
Gray	Unapproved: This technology or standard can be used only if a POA&M review is conducted and signed by the Authorizing Official Designated Representative (AODR) as designated by the Authorizing Official (AO) or designee and based upon a recommendation from the POA&M Compliance Enforcement, has been granted to the project team or organization that wishes to use the technology.
Orange	Divest: VA has decided to divest itself on the use of the technology/standard. As a result, all projects currently utilizing the technology/standard must plan to eliminate their use of the technology/standard. Additional information on when the entry is projected to become unapproved may be found on the Decision tab for the specific entry.
Black	Prohibited: The technology/standard is not (currently) permitted to be used under any circumstances.
Blue	Planning/Evaluation Constraint:The period of time this technology is currently being evaluated, reviewed, and tested in controlled environments. Use of this technology is strictly controlled and not available for use within the general population. If a customer would like to use this technology, please work with your local or Regional OI&T office and contact the appropriate evaluation office displayed in the notes below the decision matrix. The Local or Regional OI&T office should submit an inquiry to the TRM if they require further assistance or if the evaluating office is not listed in the notes below.

Release/Version Information:

VA decisions for specific versions may include a ‘.x’ wildcard, which denotes a decision that pertains to a range of multiple versions.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 7.x would cover any version of 7.(Anything) - 7.(Anything). However, a 7.4.x decision would cover any version of 7.4.(Anything), but would not cover any version of 7.5.x or 7.6.x on the TRM.

VA decisions for specific versions may include ‘+’ symbols; which denotes that the decision for the version specified also includes versions greater than what is specified but is not to exceed or affect previous decimal places.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 12.6.4+ would cover any version that is greater than 12.6.4, but would not exceed the .6 decimal ie: 12.6.401 is ok, 12.6.5 is ok, 12.6.9 is ok, however 12.7.0 or 13.0 is not.

<Past

CY2017

CY2018

CY2019

Future>

Release

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

9.2

Unapproved

9.3

Unapproved

10

Unapproved

11

Unapproved

11.1

Unapproved

12.x

Approved w/Constraints
[2, 3]

Divest
[2, 3]

Divest
[1, 2, 4, 5]

Divest
[1, 2, 4, 6]

Divest
[1, 2, 4, 6, 7]

13.x

Unapproved

Approved w/Constraints
[2, 3]

Approved w/Constraints
[1, 2, 4, 5]

Approved w/Constraints
[1, 2, 4, 6]

Approved w/Constraints
[1, 2, 4, 6, 7]

14.x

Unapproved

Approved w/Constraints
[1, 2, 4, 6, 7]

15.x

Unapproved

16.x

Unapproved

Decision Constraints


[1]	Technology must remain patched and operated in accordance with Federal and Department security policies and guidelines in order to mitigate known and future security vulnerabilities.

[2]	If free trialware is utilized, the software must be purchased or removed at the end of the trial period.

[3]	Per the May 5th, 2015 memorandum from the VA Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) FIPS 140-2 Validate Full Disk Encryption (FOE) for Data at Rest in Database Management Systems (DBMS) and in accordance with Federal requirements and VA policy, database management must use Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 compliant encryption to protect the confidentiality and integrity of VA information at rest at the application level. If FIPS 140-2 encryption at the application level is not technically possible, FIPS 140-2 compliant full disk encryption (FOE) must be implemented on the hard drive where the DBMS resides. Appropriate access enforcement and physical security control must also be implemented. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500 and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards. It is the responsibility of the system owner to work with the local CIO (or designee) and Information Security Officer (ISO) to ensure that a compliant DBMS technology is selected and that if needed, mitigating controls are in place and documented in a System Security Plan (SSP).

[4]	Per the May 5th, 2015 memorandum from the VA Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) FIPS 140-2 Validate Full Disk Encryption (FOE) for Data at Rest in Database Management Systems (DBMS) and in accordance with Federal requirements and VA policy, database management must use Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 compliant encryption to protect the confidentiality and integrity of VA information at rest at the application level. If FIPS 140-2 encryption at the application level is not technically possible, FIPS 140-2 compliant full disk encryption (FOE) must be implemented on the hard drive where the DBMS resides. Appropriate access enforcement and physical security control must also be implemented. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500 and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards. It is the responsibility of the system owner to work with the local CIO (or designee) and Information Security Officer (ISO) to ensure that a compliant DBMS technology is selected and that if needed, mitigating controls are in place and documented in a System Security Plan (SSP).

[5]	Due to potential information security risks, cloud based technologies may not be used without the approval of the VA Enterprise Cloud Services (ECS) Group. This body is in part responsible for ensuring organizational information, Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Health Information (PHI), and VA sensitive data are not compromised. (Ref: VA Directive 6004, VA Directive 6517, VA Directive 6513 and VA Directive 6102).

[6]	Due to potential information security risks, cloud based technologies may not be used without the approval of the Enterprise Cloud Solution Office (ECSO). This body is in part responsible for ensuring organizational information, Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Health Information (PHI), and VA sensitive data are not compromised. (Ref: VA Directive 6004, VA Directive 6517, VA Directive 6513 and VA Directive 6102).

[7]	Veterans Affairs (VA) users must ensure VA sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISO (Information Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500.

Note:

At the time of writing, version 16.1 (Build 1628) is the most current version, released 09/26/2023.

References

The following reference(s) are associated with this entry:
Type	Name	Source	Description
Best Practice	Version Control Best Practices for Enterprise Architect		This document explains how version control concepts apply to Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect and suggests best practices for establishing version control in shared and distributed modeling environments.
Vendor Provided*	Enterprise Architect User Guide	Publicly Available	This Guide provides information on how to use the tools, features, and capabilities for Enterprise Architect.
Vendor Provided*	Recent Features		This page provides in depth information about the release notes for this specific version of the software.
Vendor Provided*	System Requirements	Publicly Available	This page provides the system requirements for this software.
*NOTE: Vendor provided information is subject to the accuracy of the manufacturer.

Technology Components

Note: This list may not be complete. No component, listed or unlisted, may be used outside of the technology in which it is released. The usage decision for a component is found in the Decision and Decision Constraints.
Name	Description
No components have been identified for this entry.

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Domain Area	Category	Customer Guidance	Category Locked By ELT Date
Application Technology Development Tools	Analysis, Design, and Modeling Tools
Application Technology Development Tools	Integrated Development Environment (IDE)

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

macOS - Approved w/Constraints
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) - Approved w/Constraints
Windows Client - Approved w/Constraints
Windows Server - Approved w/Constraints

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Firebird - (required for some configurations)
Maria Database (MariaDB) Server - (required for some configurations)
Microsoft Access - (required for some configurations)
Microsoft Structured Query Language (SQL) Server - (required for some configurations)
My Structured Query Language (MySQL) Database - Commercial Editions - (required for some configurations)
Oracle Database - (required for some configurations)
PostgreSQL - (required for some configurations)

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

At the time of writing, no National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) vulnerabilities had been reported and no VA Cyber Security Operations Center (CSOC) bulletins had been issued for the latest versions of this technology.
This technology supports a number of industry standard file formats.
This technology has a comprehensive set of documentation.
This technology may improve productivity for specific staff whose responsibilities include building maintainable systems.

Adoption Risks

There are other approved solutions that provide similar functionality available on the TRM. The use of several similar solutions may increase organization requirements for support and maintenance.
The technology requires the purchase of licenses from vendor, which could potentially lead to vendor lock-in.
This technology can potentially use MariaDB, an unapproved technology.
This technology can potentially use Firebird, an unapproved technology.
The potential exists to store Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Health Information (PHI) and/or VA Sensitive data and proper security standards must be followed in these cases.
This technology is available as freeware. If commercial support is not purchased, the product will be without clearly defined support options which may result in suboptimal enterprise level support.
This product can be configured with a PostgreSQL Database, which currently has TRM constraints limiting its use to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) only due to its many known security issues on other platforms.
This product can be configured with a MySQL Commercial Edition Database, which currently has TRM constraints limiting its use to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) only due to its many known security issues on other platforms.
There is no indication based on available vendor documentation that this technology is Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 compliant.

Architectural Benefits

This technology is portable as it runs on multiple TRM-approved operating systems.
This technology can use a VA-preferred database.

Architectural Risks

This product includes cloud-based functionality, which has potential information security risks.

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Vendor Release Information

Current Decision Matrix (01/23/2024)

Decision Constraints

References

Technology Components

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Technologies/Standards Relationships

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Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

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Adoption Risks

Architectural Benefits

Architectural Risks

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VA Technical Reference Model v 24.7

General Information

Vendor Release Information

Current Decision Matrix (01/23/2024)

Decision Constraints

References

Technology Components

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

Adoption Risks

Architectural Benefits

Architectural Risks

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