Re: Comment on section 3.3.4, Messaging Service Spec v0-1

[dick@8760.com]

> Much of our precious discussion time and mental bandwidth is being taken up
> due to imprecise and varying requirements, as well as some imprecision in
> the written words. My $0.02 worth...

I agree with Jim, it's beginning to feel like the floor of the New York Stock
Exchange. We need a compass to guide us and focus energies on what needs to be
delivered in an orderly fashion. During the San Jose meeting a few people talked
about a solution to help the team stay focused. We discussed a multi-phase PLAN
that would clearly show the TR&P deliverables in 3 phases.

Phase 1 - Deliver the minimal functions people need for a significant number of
B2B scenarios

Phase 2 - Deliver additional functions for people with more advanced B2B needs

Phase 3 - Deliver full functionality meeting all the requirements listed in our
Requirements & Overview Spec

Set a target completion date for each phase!

Separate requirements from the R&O spec into each phase, the TR&P team agrees on
the distribution of requirements/phases - NO CHANGES after we've agreed, unless
its a technical show stopper. This results in a matrix that we use at every
meeting to focus discussions on the deliverables.

Define a set of use cases for each phase so that people have a mental picture of
what we are delivering in each phase.

Associate each requirement (from each phase) with one of the following
categories:
- Core; pertains to requirements of the base functionality of the Messaging
Service
- Security; pertains to requirements such as encryption, digital signatures,
access controls etc.
- Reliability; pertains to requirements related to reliable delivery of messages
- TPA; pertains to requirements associated with Trading Partner Agreements and
discovery
- Miscellaneous; the inevitable catchall category for anything that doesn't fit
above

Assign team leaders to each category.

Team members "sign-up" to whichever team they have the time/talent/willingness
to help on.

The team leaders, along with their team members, set priorities, prepare a
plan/schedule with milestones and are responsible for delivering their
respective specs on time.

GROUND RULES GOING FORWARD:

We ONLY work on one phase at a time!
We ONLY work on one phase at a time!
We ONLY work on one phase at a time!

If, at any time, someone comes up with a NEW requirement or function they think
is important, it gets assigned to a phase/category within the matrix and the
team leader of the category fits it in under his/her delivery plan.


I believe we need an organized approach to help us stay focused on the
deliverables and timelines of TR&P. I don't believe the above proposal is a
silver bullet solution, but it is a starting point, please add your
thoughts/suggestions - or shoot it down - whichever you feel is appropriate. If
you DON'T believe such a structured approach would work then shoot it down and
move on to something else, BUT I believe we need something to keep us on track -
whatever it may be.

Dick Brooks
http://www.8760.com/