Planning Timetable for Central Service Replacement Planning Exercise ____________________________________________________________________ 1.INTRODUCTION In 1990, money (approx. #2milllion ) will be made available by the Computer Board for the replacement of the University of Edinburgh's central computing service systems, currently based on three Amdahl 470 mainframes. This money may ONLY be used for the provision of central facilities i.e. those managed by the Computing Service and available for use by the entire Edinburgh user community. The choice made in 1990 will dictate the shape of central computing for seven years which is the new Computer Board replacement timescale. The Service organisation, the communications network and Departmental computing will to varying degrees be influenced by the choice made for the new central facilities. The procurement process requires us to produce an Operational Requirement by the Autumn of 1988, which sets out in detail what is needed to satisfy Edinburgh's needs, including mandatory and desirable requirements but WITHOUT specifying a solution. This OR is then submitted to the Goverment's CCTA who initiate a tendering process. To allow the OR to be prepared and be ready for approval by the Computing Policy Committee at their October 1988 meeting, it will be necessary to begin now an information gathering and consultative process. The aim of this will be to establish what current uses are made of computing, both on central and distributed systems in Edinburgh, and to assess likely requirements for the 1990s taking into account factors such as projected technological developments, University funding constraints and the need to provided a smooth transition for a large, long established user base. The following is a proposed timetable for the initial stages in the process. 2.TIMETABLE PHASE 1 July to October 1987 1) Obtain details of Computer Board, CCTA and Joint Network Team requirments for Central Service procurement, Operational Requirements and communications. 2) Discuss with, and seek support from, the User Committee for a survey of all non-student users and prepare such a document. The aim of this survey would be to elicit information on their use of central, distributed and network facilities and to identify main applications areas. 3) Make informal contact with suppliers of equipment to ensure that the planners receive details of important product anouncements etc. 4) Arrange meetings with certain key individuals in Edinburgh computing. These meetings are primarily for the planners to seek advice. 5) Seek advice from key ERCC personnel who have had involvement in handling large scale procurements or have specialised knowledge. 6) Visit other Universities who have recently had a major replacement of facilities and discuss the process with them. Attempt to obtain copies of their ORs and evaluate what distinguishes a successful one from a potential disaster. Probable candidates include Newcastle, Kent, Bristol and Strathclyde. Also possible are Aberdeen, Oxford and Glasgow . 7) Invite written input from all ERCC staff on their views on how they would like to see central servicess in the 1990s and arrange a meeting (probably at Bush) to discuss the outcome with Senior Managers,Support Team Leaders and Contributors. This meeting is in part a dummy run for similar meetings with users in Phase 2. 8) Collect and analyse all readily available statistical information about Central Service Users and machine usage. This should cover Emas, Vax and UNIX. Consider requesting facilities to collect new information if there are obvious gaps. 9) Attempt to obtain funds for retaining suitable professional help and advice from Consultancy or Software House. 10) Obtain from Directorate of Computing Service an outline corporate plan for 1990-1997. Extract from this plan the staffing constraints relevant to provision of Central Services. 11) Process the information gained in steps 1-8 and establish the main issues. Prepare a list of questions on the main issues to be used as the basis of the meetings with users in Phase 2. PHASE 2 October 1987 to February 1988 1) Send out survey as detailed in Phase 1.2 to all users. Collect and correlate the results and if neccessary modify the list of issues and questions prepared in Phase 1.11. 2) Invite Edinburgh Computing users to submit written input on the Central Service replacement issue. The invitation to be worded to elicit views on what Phase 1 has identified as the main issues. 3) Hold meetings with small groups (not more than 10) of users to discuss the main issues, the list of the questions prepared in in Phase 1.11 and the written input. 4) Prepare list of possible replacement scenarios. Attempt to assess their relative strengths and weaknesses and invite comments. These scenarios are intended to aid the development of the OR but will not form part of it. 5) If funds are available, select a suitable Consultancy and commission a report on probable developments in computing technology in the 1990s. 6) Produce a preliminary requirement specification (PRS) which might well have unresolved issues. Hone down the list of scenarios and attempt to cross match requirements and scenarios. PHASE 3 March to JULY 1988 1) Put out the PRS for comment 2) Arrange a second series of meetings with Users and support team leaders to finalise any remaining issues. 3) P.D.Stephens and J.F.Livingstone visit manufacturers and key sites to try to ensure that the requirements can be met. 4) Construct and validate a few quantitative tests that will rule out undesirable offerings and ensure the University is not swindled. PHASE 4 August - September 1988 1) Write the OR. Planners to be suplemented by several key ERCC staff to work up technical sections and polish the presentation. Submit OR for approval or ECUC and CPC. P.D.Stephens. J.Livingstone. June 1986