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  Thursday, October 31, 2002

Acceptance Test Update

ITS has a very diverse and complex production environment which includes a multitude of boxes running web servers and application servers, databases, and third party products such as Actuate. Many interdependencies exist between production applications, databases, authentication services (siteminder and associated components), NDS trees, and the boxes they run on. I am sure there are interdependencies that I have never heard of. In many cases, there are many potential breaking points that could make an application unavailable, and potentially make other services or infrastructure components unavailable.

So how do we ensure that new or changed applications or infrastructure components will not adversely affect the rest of our production environment? Well, that is a good question. It is a question to which we currently do not have an adequate answer. The thing that is missing is an enterprise acceptance test environment. Now, lest you cry foul, I must acknowledge that we already have a lot of pieces of this puzzle. For example, we have acceptance test oracle databases, some acceptance test app servers, etc. We really do have a lot of the stuff that we need to build a real life acceptance test environment. We are missing a few things, though. We are missing some of the peices of the puzzle, but more importantly we are missing a common understanding and definition of what our acceptance test environment is.

This is one of my products, and because it has floated to the top position on the organizational priority sheet, it is getting a lot of attention. I feel that it needs more attention, more exposure, and a tighter focus, so I will be working towards that end. For now, let me update you on recent progress. A group of stakeholders has been meeting to create a vision/scoping document that will be a basis for a common understanding of the acceptance test environment, and a starting point for creating it. We will have to build a better understanding of what we have in production, and devise the best method to ensure that we have an acceptance test environment that emulates production as closely as is practical. Please be assured that we are being realistic about what can and should be done.

One thing that I think we need to accomplish with this project is a common understanding of the whole acceptance test environment. I want people to think of the whole picture, not just production server X = acceptance test server X. Our production environment is much more complex than that, and applications and infrastructure components need to be tested in an environment that models all of the interdependencies of production.

I know that this product will provide great value to ITS and its customers. There are many products/projects that can only be successful if we are successful at providing a complete acceptance test environment. Please check back here for more updates on a frequent basis.

 


11:54:13 AM    
 

Authentication Update (Siteminder)

Many within ITS and elsewhere are asking me what is going on with the new authentication infrastructure. I realize that their queries highlight my failure to keep people informed, but this entry will be one of many efforts to fix that problem. So here's the deal straight up:

For the sake of reviewing the structure around product development (web authentication is an important product) let me write briefly about product management and project management. The product manager has ownership of the product, and is ultimately responsible for its success or failure. I am the product manager for web authentication. I am not, however, the project manager for web authentication. That is Sonny Olsen, a very capable fellow. The responsibilities of the project manager include managing the timeline of the project, ensuring that deliverables are completed on time, and coordinating resources. This is an oversimplified explanation of the structure, but I gather that these fundamentals are not widely understood. For a better understanding of the role of a product manager, please see Phil's whitepaper.

OK, with that out of the way, here is the deal with web authentication. A group of stakeholders from security, operations, engineering, product management (representing customer interest), and project management have begun the process of determining the vision and scope of web authentication. This is a very important process that we really haven't done for authentication in the past. The result of this effort will be a common understanding of the product and the project to create it, and will be the starting point for complete functional requirements gathering. I know to some of you this may seem like a silly exercise, but it is a best practice and our best bet for creating a product that meets functional requirements and is supported by TSM. Everyone involved with authentication from an operations and an engineering perspective will have a chance to shoot holes at it before it is finalized and agreed to. I will also work to confirm it with customers. This document will be available to everyone, including our customers, once completed.

The vision/scoping document is just the first step. Take a look at this diagram to understand the process better (I will be talking about this more in other entries). Broader participation will occur after the document is completed. We have to make sure we have a common understanding of the problem and the proposed solution before we can go solving problems and engineering the solution. I hope we will be able to complete the vision/scoping document over the next 2 weeks (Nov 15). It is way too soon to estimate when the new web authentication system will be completed, but it will definitely be after the new year. This project is number 2 on the organizational priority sheet behind the acceptance test environment, so it will get that level of attention.

If you have questions or concerns or think we are all screwed up, please feel free to let me know. I am serious about this. If you have questions about product management, project management, or whatever, please contact me.


10:29:16 AM    
 

Web Services Used to Make Portals

Check out this paper on the future relationship between Web Services and portals. One main benefit of using Web Services to create a portal is that the portal engine does not have to speak many different languages, or in other words, the methods for hooking content and services for use in the portal will be unified by Web Services.

http://www.cw360ms.com/research/ovum/Portals_and_web_services.pdf


8:25:42 AM    
 



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