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Member Newsletter
July 2004
Welcome to a new edition of The Open Group Member Newsletter!
We hope it will be a valuable resource for our members, and
a tool as useful as The Open Group website.
Please let us know if there is anything you would like to
see in this newsletter, or on our website, by e-mailing
us. We look forward to hearing your feedback.
In This Issue:
The Final CIO Corner with Terry Blevins: Boundaryless Information
Flow™ is Real and Relevant
Three and a half years ago I came to The Open Group to work
with the customers of The Open Group to help them articulate
their business requirements for open infrastructure to:
- Assure that the changes and standards are relevant
- Articulate the value in tangible terms
- Relate to both supply- and buy-side constituencies
We all know that organizations are changing, their objectives
are changing, and their visions are changing. Organizations
are becoming more boundaryless to improve operational efficiencies.
They are improving operational efficiencies by improving enterprise
business processes, both internal and external ones, including
interactions with suppliers, customers, and partners. But
there is a barrier to creating a truly boundaryless environment
with fully integrated information. The missing component is
interoperability, which presents an issue for most organizations.
But what does interoperability really mean? We worked with
CIOs and members of the Customer Council to understand that.
We started off using TOGAF's Business Scenario method, and
discovered that interoperability could be described rather
easily as "The ability of two or more entities or components
to exchange information and to use the information that has
been exchanged to meet a defined mission or objective."
(This is a slightly extended version of IEEE's definition.)
Not having interoperable systems that would allow for Boundaryless
Information Flow across and in-between enterprises is causing
real pain to organizations. Respondents at one of our conferences
indicated that the lack of interoperability is responsible
for:
- Hundreds of millions of dollars in lost opportunities
- Billions spent on making systems interoperate or recovering
from mistakes
The losses are not only financial – there are significant
risks of lost lives as hospitals, 911/999 systems, critical
infrastructure, and Air Traffic Control systems become susceptible
when information doesn't flow.
Gartner Dataquest forecasted worldwide end-user IT spending
would grow from US $2.7 trillion in 2001 to over US $3.4 trillion
in 2003. And according to IDC CIO magazine survey, companies
spend over 35% on integrating systems and processes. This
problem is big!
Our interoperability work resulted in a new vision for The
Open Group: "Boundaryless Information Flow achieved through
global interoperability in a secure, reliable and timely manner",
and an update to its mission to ensure that we focus on the
key pain points that are relevant to our members.
We have worked with the vendor community and given them the
opportunity to describe their offerings in terms of addressing
the problem. Fujitsu, HP, Hitachi, IBM, Sun and many other
vendors have solutions that are attempting to address Boundaryless
Information Flow in their own way.
But in order to solve the Boundaryless Information Flow problem
there are some prerequisites that have to be met:
- The solution must be based on open standards
- The standards must be expressible as profiles of
standards
- The standards must be accepted by a broad community
- The solutions must be certified to conform to those standards
as specified
Any solution not meeting these conditions is bound to become
one of tomorrow’s boundaries.
The Open Group provides a legal, safe, open, flexible, and
highly leveraged environment where buy-side and supply-side
organizations can work together, and network on issues related
to the health of information technology, resulting in faster,
better, and longer lasting solutions at a cost lower than
if dealt with alone. The organizations:
- Are involved in the creation of directly re-usable work
- Influence products and standards
- Share information
I believe in the vision of Boundaryless Information Flow.
It is a challenge and opportunity, and it is worthy of all
of your attention. I believe in the mission of The Open Group,
to drive the creation of Boundaryless Information Flow. But
most of all I believe in the future that The Open Group is
trying to create; a safer and healthier future as evidenced
by the flow of information throughout and beyond the enterprise,
unlimited by boundaries.
In a few weeks I will be leaving The Open Group to spend more
time with my family. I am honored to have worked with the
dedicated and resourceful members and staff of The Open Group
that have helped expose the real issues behind interoperability
and move this forward to-date. My sincere thanks to all of
you, and best wishes for making the Boundaryless Information
Flow vision a reality.
http://www.opengroup.org/cio
Top of Page
A Note from The Open Group’s CEO, Allen Brown
On the behalf of myself, the staff and the members of The
Open Group, I would like to thank you for all your hard work
and commitment, and wish you well for the future. All the
best, Terry.
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The Open Group Releases Interconnect Transport Application Programming Interface (IT-API)
The Open Group recently announced the release of the Interconnect
Transport Application Programming Interface (IT-API) developed
by the Interconnect Software Consortium, a forum of The Open
Group. The IT-API provides an open, industry-standard application
programming interface for RDMA (Remote Direct Memory Access)
applications that is both interconnect-independent and enables
"pedal-to-the-metal" performance. The IT-API enables
distributed applications to take advantage of the performance
and horizontal scale-out benefits delivered by RDMA-based
interconnects.
IT-API version 1.0 currently supports both InfiniBand and
the Virtual Interface Architecture (VIA) standards, which
are ready for deployment today. It also provides support for
the RDMA over TCP/IP standard specified by the RDMA Consortium
(iWARP).
For more information, please visit http://www.opengroup.org/comm/press/26jun04.htm
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Conference Week - Boundaryless Information Flow™: Enterprise Information
Management
The Open Group’s Boundaryless Information Flow™:
Enterprise Information Management conference in Boston that
occurs this week at the Hyatt Harborside Hotel, focuses on
a number of important topics, including:
- How HP executives see the future of the Adaptive Enterprise
and what it could mean for your organization – Presented
by Mark Potts, Hewlett-Packard’s chief architect for
its Adaptive Enterprise. Mr. Potts outlines how the HP vision
enables flexibility and re-use in enterprise architectures
and encompasses open standards.
- The US does not have the infrastructure to meet the information
demands of modern business! - Presented by Professor Alan
McAdams from Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School
of Management. Professor McAdams details the serious inadequacies
in the country’s telecommunications infrastructure
and how a lack of strategy could leave the US at a global
disadvantage.
- Network Centric Operations: the future of defense information
systems architectures – Presented by Douglas Barton,
Lockheed Martin’s Director of Network Centric Programs.
Mr. Barton examines the industry’s response to the
information needs of the modern war-fighter.
- Stephen James, EMC's Director of Strategic Programs introduces
the vision and mission of a new consortium created to address
Network Centric Operations.
- How has the health industry coped with the implementation
of new business information infrastructures? – Elliot
Stone, Director and CEO of the Massachusetts Health Data
Consortium, leads a group of speakers who detail working
examples of the moves within the health industry to establish
enterprise information strategies.
- Security is critical to information flow within the enterprise
- Steve Whitlock, Boeing’s IT Security Architect,
and Nathaniel Borenstein, Distinguished Engineer, IBM Lotus
Division and author of the MIME standard, focus upon some
of the critical security threats to information retrieval
and distribution.
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Looking Ahead: Conference Preview - Boundaryless Information Flow™: Securing the
Extended Enterprise
The Open Group’s autumn conference, Boundaryless Information
Flow™: Securing the Extended Enterprise, is taking place
on October 18-21, 2004 at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans,
LA, USA.
Information technology has made the world a much smaller place.
Information flow has vast benefits for the modern enterprise,
yet is overshadowed by the threat of those who abuse this
technology to bring down personal, corporate or even national
systems and networks, in turn leading to significant financial
loss and threatening national security and critical infrastructure.
Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks pose a debilitating
threat to enterprise networks and the flow of information
throughout the boundaryless organization. In 2000, DDOS attacks
took three to four days to replicate across the Internet,
but in 2003 the Slammer worm took only minutes. The actions
of attackers - spreading viruses, stealing information and
identity, undermining privacy, and proving they can break
security measures - need constant responses; it's a continual
game of catch-up. The threat to the enterprise is real, all-pervasive,
and now is automated.
The response is to focus on what is most important –
safeguarding information, and making IT systems as fail-safe,
dependable and reliable as possible. This conference will
bring together the foremost IT security and other experts
to detail the current security threats, discuss the issues
for enterprise communications, and outline practical solutions.
For more information on this conference, please visit:
http://www.opengroup.org/new-orleans2004
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The Open Group’s Dr. Chris Harding on Information Management for Adaptive Organization
* In his recent article, Dr. Harding discusses information
management challenges adaptive organizations are facing, and
describes their quest for a holistic solution:
As organizations are getting under more and more pressure
to improve productivity, efficiency and overall business performance,
they look for new ways to achieve their objectives. With technology
becoming commoditized, the spotlight turned on optimal use
of information and knowledge as the key differentiator and
source of competitive advantage.
But viewing information as a source of competitive advantage
brings a whole new set of challenges and questions. What is
the correct knowledge and information to generate and distribute,
how to assure its quality, safety and access only by the right
people, and how to assure it gets the attention of the right
people? How will people find the right information, and filter
and prioritize it to avoid information overload? How can an
integrated information flow be created, connecting all the
separate islands of information that exist in the organization?
And how does one ensure efficient cooperation across business
lines, geographies and different time zones?
Although information management is not a new concept, the
products and solutions procured more often than not still
result in stovepipe solutions. As a consequence, employees
spend too much time on searching and recreating information,
and too often the information is inaccurate, stale, simply
not available or hard to integrate. This dramatically affects
productivity and therefore the bottom line. With the continuous
pressure on producing results, leading organizations are increasingly
looking to holistically address the lifecycle of information
and knowledge management – from creation to sharing
and reuse to impact on business results. They are looking
to integrate information from multiple sources, transform
and transfer it as needed, connect and synchronize all the
components - from metadata and taxonomies to portals, collaboration
software, content management, and ERP software - to allow
for just-in-time knowledge and information management, to
make the right information available to the right person at
the right time in the right format.
Companies calling for a holistic solution come from a number
of industries. Oil companies with complex operations spanning
the globe, that need just-in time information to maximize
utilization of their equipment and resources. Auto manufacturers,
that manage complex relationships with their supply chains.
Retailers that have to continuously optimize their inventory
moving processes, e-commerce companies that need to integrate
products from numerous vendors in different formats with images,
product information catalogs and lead metrics to enable one-stop
comparison shopping. Global financial institutions that need
to provide straight-through transaction processing. Insurance
companies that need fresh and accurate integrated information
to accurately assess the level of risk.
The need for access to integrated information applies not
only to corporations, but also to governments and other organizations.
Physicians need to stay on top of the thousands of diseases,
symptoms, tests, and drugs available - an automated check
against a database and a comparison with patient records could
minimize serious errors and save lives. Law enforcement agencies
need just-in-time access to the right information, in the
right context, across departments and bureaus, to more effectively
fight crime or ward off any terrorist attacks. Researchers
need access to the latest information at their fingertips
and a way to collaborate easily to cut down the time needed
to bring new products to market.
As many organizations are experiencing frustration with the
lack of an all-encompassing solution and end-to-end integration,
what can they expect from IT system suppliers? Suppliers have
a number of information management offerings in the space.
However, they are still based on creating islands of automation,
and a truly integrated solution remains elusive. It is not
because the suppliers do not recognize the problem but because
it is a complex task for any one supplier. This is where a
neutral organization can play a vital role, facilitating a
dialog and leading a joint effort for standards-based, user-centric
solutions.
According to Peter Drucker, the next information revolution
will be a revolution in concepts. It will not be focused on
technology, technique or software, it will not be centered
on data and its collection, storage, transmission, analysis
and presentation, but instead it will ask: “What is
the meaning of information, and what is the purpose?”
For adaptive organizations, this revolution has already begun.
For more information, please contact Dr. Chris Harding, c.harding@opengroup.org
Top of Page
TOGAF Open Training Sessions
Need to get TOGAF certified? Check out TOGAF training sessions
offered by The Open Group members: TOGAF 8 Awareness or TOGAF
8 for Practitioners. For more information, check out: http://www.opengroup.org/events/#TOGAF
A variety of courses are available.
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SD Times' Industry Watch on synergies between TOGAF ADM and OMG's MDA
In an article on enterprise architecture, SD Times features
the joint efforts of OMG™ and The Open Group to create
an architecture that drives development, and quotes The Open
Group's CIO, Terry Blevins, on the complementary character
of both TOGAF ADM and OMG's MDA
To read the article, please visit: http://www.sdtimes.com/cols/industrywatch_105.htm
Top of Page
Press Roundup
The Open Group in the news:
July 7, 2004 - Yahoo Finance: Wind River Declares Commitment
to POSIX and PSE54 Conformance
July 1, 2004 - SD Times: One Blueprint for Architectures
July 1, 2004 - ebizQ: Open Group Out With RDMA Interface
June 30, 2004 - IT Toolbox: The Open Group Announces Release
of Interconnect Transport Application Programming Interface
(IT-API)
June 29, 2004 - Computer Weekly: Integrate data for business
gain - Staff spend too long tracking relevant data
June 2004 - ebizQ: Information Management For Adaptive Companies:
Seeking A Holistic Answer
June 17, 2004 - Computerwoche Online: Jericho Forum fordert
mehr IT-Sicherheit (German text)
June 15, 2004 - Yahoo Finance: Network Appliance Collaborates
With InfiniBand Leaders to Form OpenIB Alliance
http://www.opengroup.org/press/articles/
Press Releases:
June 26, 2004 - The Open Group Announces Release of Interconnect
Transport Application Programming Interface (IT-API)
http://www.opengroup.org/press/titles.htm
Top of Page
Top Downloads from the Web
Top 10 downloaded publications in June
2004
The Single UNIX Specification, Version 3
TOGAF, Version 8 'Enterprise Edition'
Base Definitions, Issue 6
Distributed TP: The XA Specification
The Single UNIX Specification, Version 3 (Superseded version)
X/Open Single Sign-On Service (XSSO) - Pluggable Authentication
DCE 1.1: Remote Procedure Call
Security Design Patterns
Identity Management
Common Security: CDSA and CSSM, Version 2 (with corrigenda)
Top 10 page views in June 2004
The Open Group home
Open Motif home
A-Z Index
Testing Downloads
Open Motif Downloads
TOGAF home
Search
Software
Messaging home
CDE home
Top of Page
Sneak Peek – “Boundaryless Information Flow™: Architecting
Identity Management” Conference
The Open Group’s first conference of 2005, “Boundaryless
Information Flow™: Architecting Identity Management”
will take place in the Hyatt at Fisherman’s Wharf in
San Francisco, January 24-28.
Identity Management is a convergence of technologies and business
processes. There is no single approach to Identity Management
because the strategy must reflect specific requirements within
the business and technology context of each organization.
It is critical therefore that enterprises take an IT Enterprise
Architecture approach to addressing their needs for Identity
Management.
This conference will spotlight the progress being made on
enabling interoperable Identity Management solutions as part
of The Open Group’s overall vision of Boundaryless Information
Flow. In addition to looking at the activity roadmap, the
conference will provide valuable information on the current
thinking in Identity Management including:
- Key Concepts for Architecting Identity Management
- The Business Value of Identity Management
- The Security Perspective
- The Technical Perspective
To get the most out of your experience, please take the
time to fill out a short questionnaire at http://www.opengroup.org/events/q105/questionnaire.htm
and share your thoughts on what you would like to see and
hear.
For more information on this conference, please visit: http://www.opengroup.org/san-francisco2005/
Top of Page
DMTF’s Enterprise Management World Conference
In 2004 and going forward, the DMTF Developers Conference
will be part of the new industry conference called Enterprise
Management World (EMW), to be held on September 12-15, 2004
in Philadelphia, PA, USA.
EMW is the only IT management conference focused on the rapid
growth in user implementation of distributed management technologies
for the data center and the communications infrastructure.
Throughout this three-day conference, attendees from major
corporations will learn about the latest user successes and
challenges – as well as products, tools, services and
training – in the IT and communications industries.
The conference will feature a set of developer tracks and
a set of end-user tracks. The conference is greatly expanded
in scope to include end-users, vendor exhibits in line with
conference and tradeshow norms, and a DMTF and Alliance Partner
technology demonstrations.
Please visit http://www.emwusa.com
for more details.
Top of Page
Certification News
TOGAF 8 Certification News
The Open Group is pleased to announce that the following have
recently been registered under the TOGAF 8 Certification Program:
TOGAF 8 Certified
Ron Baillie - Harmony Professional Services
Allen Brown - The Open Group
Alan Burnett - Popkin Software
Alan Inglis - Inglis Associates Limited
For further information please refer to the register at:
http://www.opengroup.org/togaf/cert/register.html
LDAP Certified Registration News
The Open Group is pleased to announce that the following has
been registered as conforming to the LDAP Certified Product
Standard:
Nexor Directory 5.1 on two separate environments: Windows
2000 Server (SP2 or later) and Solaris 8 and Solaris 9 (SPARC)
To read the Conformance Statements please refer to http://www.opengroup.org/csq/
For the latest official list of registered products, please
refer to http://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/
LSB Certification News
We are pleased to announce that Silicon Graphics Inc has registered:
SGI ProPack for Linux 3.0
as conforming to the LSB Runtime Environment for IA64 version
1.3 product standard.
To see the Conformance Statement please refer to:
http://www.opengroup.org/lsb/cert/register.html
and click on the CSQ icon for the product.
For more information on the Free Standards Group Certification
program, please refer to http://www.freestandards.org/certification/
Top of Page
Industry Events Calendar
Events of The Open Group
TOGAF 8 Awareness
Training Session
September 13, 2004
Washington DC, USA
http://www.architecting-the-enterprise.com
TOGAF 8 Accreditation for Practitioners
(this course leads to TOGAF 8 Certification by The Open Group)
September 14-17, 2004
Washington DC, USA
http://www.architecting-the-enterprise.com
TOGAF 8 Awareness
Training Session
September 27, 2004
Paris, France
http://www.architecting-the-enterprise.com
TOGAF 8 Accreditation for Practitioners
(this course leads to TOGAF 8 Certification by The Open Group)
September 28-October 1, 2004
Paris, France
http://www.architecting-the-enterprise.com
Boundaryless Information Flow™:
Securing the Extended Enterprise
October 18-21, 2004
New Orleans, USA
http://www.opengroup.org/new-orleans2004/
Boundaryless Information Flow™: Architecting Identity
Management
January 24-28, 2005
San Francisco, USA
http://www.opengroup.org/san-francisco2005/
Boundaryless Information Flow™:
Secure Architecture, Web, and Mobility
April 25-29, 2005
Dublin, Ireland
http://www.opengroup.org/events
Boundaryless Information Flow™:
Managing the Enterprise
July 18-22, 2005
New York, USA
http://www.opengroup.org/events
Other Industry Events
DMTF's Enterprise Management World
Conference
September 12-15, 2004,
Philadelphia Marriott, Philadelphia, PA
http://www.emwusa.com
4th Annual FinSec Conference
Information Security for Financial Institutions
September 15-16, 2004
Millennium Hotel London, UK
http://www.mistieurope.com/MIS/Special_Events_FINSEC04.asp
Final Thoughts…
Please let us know if there are other subjects you would like
to see covered in this newsletter, if you have any comments
on any story or article in the newsletter, or to send letters
to the editor for possible publication in the future. Please
e-mail us.
We look forward to hearing from you, and will see you next
month.
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