Changes to TRA can be requested by submitting feedback via the comment box at the bottom of every content page on the TRA website.

Business Rules are requirements. CMS systems are expected to be compliant with all Business Rules. They are numbered within the TRA and always begin with the "BR" tag.

Recommended Practices are items which are not required, but which are strongly recommended. Business owners should be prepared to explain exceptions to these practices. These are also numbered in the TRA and always begin with the "RP" tag.

Industry Best Practices are items which tend to be theory or philosophy-driven and may relevant only to some types of applications. These are neither required nor necessarily recommended but may be helpful depending on the application environment.

The bulk of the TRA content is published on an externally accessible website at https://www.cms.gov/tra. Some content, notably in the network and security areas, is restricted for CMS internal use only and is not available via the external website. External contractors needing this restricted content can request to receive a copy via their COR.

The Services Framework was developed to modernize and enhance the traditional 3-tier multi-zone architecture. Although it expands the capabilities of the 3-tier multi-zone to be more adaptable, especially in the cloud, there is currently no mandate to change from the current 3-tier multi-zone. The multi-zone architecture is part of the Services Framework. For more information and guidance, please refer to the TRA chapters for the Services Framework found in the Foundation Section of the TRA.

CMS TRA guidance is updated regularly to keep current with technology best practices and Federal IT policies. Material updates to TRA guidance are referred to 'major releases'.

The CMS TRA may also be updated to address minor corrections or to fix or change website features. These updates are referred to as 'minor releases'.

The TRA version number is in the form of: TRA <year> Revision <x>.<y>; where

• year = the year of the release

• x = the major release revision

• y = the minor release revision

Minor releases contain no new content or guidance changes. Thus for example, Revision 2.2 vs Revision 2.1 will have only minor corrections applied with no changes to policy or guidelines.

Archived TRA versions are found in the OIT CTO Corner: Archived TRA Documents. Hosting of more recent versions is under development.

The TRA is no longer being provided as a PDF document. The current and complete version of the TRA is available internal to CMS via the TRA website https://tra.cloud.cms.gov.

All projects and applications are required to adhere to the Business Rules in the CMS TRA unless covered by an approved exception. Where deviation from TRA standards is required, please seek CMS Technical Review Board (TRB) guidance regarding risk acceptance or other acceptable mitigation.

Be sure consult all relevant TRA content to understand compliance requirements. All applications and projects need to have complete architectural diagrams ready and vetted that demonstrate compliance with the TRA rules. For specific questions, schedule a consult with the CMS Technical Review Board (TRB).

Currently, the only print option is to print individual pages from the CMS TRA website.  Enhanced print capability is on the TRA development roadmap.

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