Hi Toby,
Thanks for this letter. It certainly helps put things
in perspective in terms of next steps for oBIX. I have to admit, due also
my day job at Cisco and my obligations with the OSCRE Americas Board, I have not
been able to spend as much time with oBIX as I would have liked either.
The work that you, Brian Frank, Aaron Hansen and others have done is
commendable.
While I remain keenly interested that the work that oBIX is
doing, and thought seriously about volunteering as co-chair, I must
respectfully decline the opportunity to step up as co-chair for the
Enterprise. This said, however, I have some suggestions as to who I think
might be qualified, but I should check with them first before submitting my
nomination(s).
Thanks again to you and everyone else involved with oBIX,
an open standard for building information systems and the M2M community will
become increasingly important in the months and years ahead!
Dave
Clute
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Sr. Consultant - Advisory
Services
Tel: 408-424-9217
Mobile: 719-332-7809
email:
From: Considine, Toby (Facilities Technology
Office) [mailto:]
Sent: Saturday, March 19,
2005 1:53 PM
To:
Subject: [obix]
oBIX Leadership: co-chair required
It has become increasingly clear
to me that the chairmanship of oBIX requires more than I can do alone. While I
am, in general, pleased with the interest we are beginning to get from other
Enterprise groups, with the alliances we are beginning to see with classes of
enterprises that will require an enterprise interface to controls, and our
relationships with some other non-OASIS bodies interested in our progress, I
also know that I need that I have let some things drift from the pressure of my
day job.
I am very satisfied with our
progress. That is in large part to the strong technical vision of Brian Frank
and Aaron Hansen and the sure hand of Aaron Hansen on the meetings of the XML
committee. Their dedication and focus have brought a similar focus to what I
call the Base Protocols of oBIX that makes up the deliverables of oBIX
v1.
Still, it has been obvious that
while the XML subcommittee met regularly, that some of the other groups, the
ones that I am more intimately involved in, could have met more. Until
now, while we were waiting for the Base Protocols, this was, perhaps, OK.
As we move ahead, the challenges
will change. The abstractions on top of the Base Protocols will require
bringing commitments of personnel from many companies. Making useful
abstractions will be hard work. We will need to gather requirements and
use cases from a wider pool of demanding customers. We will need to bring in
those companies who are actively basing their business around higher
abstractions today to harvest their knowledge of what does and does not work.
Quite frankly, I will need assistance from someone whose knowledge of the
controls industry is broader and deeper than mine, who knows what projects are
under way, and knows who has thought about these issues in the
past.
To date, I have gotten by without
this by relying on two strong advisors; Anto Budiardjo and Paul Ehrlich. Anto
has, of course, a strong vision for oBIX and a deep roster on speed-dial. Paul,
the original chair, had to step back a year ago while he disentangled himself
from his former employer and launched out as in independent. Even during the
busiest part of that transition, when he was tying up loose ends with Trane,
finishing up ongoing projects as a contractor, he still made time to act as a
sounding board and to offer experienced counsel, (and to consume far too much
caffeine in a seedy well-pierced college-town coffee shop).
But now, to do what we need to do
next, I need a co-chair, one who is focused on the Enterprise.
As an OASIS Committee Chair, I am
committed to an open process. I welcome nominations from anyone on the
oBIX committee, particularly self-nominations. I would like anyone who is
willing to submit himself to send a letter to the list if they have the time, or
to present themselves at the meeting on Monday.
When we finish up with that, one
of the first orders of business will be to consider how we will structure our
overall movement toward abstractions for v2. I welcome anyone who considers that
they can lend some leadership or strong participation on this matter to be ready
to speak up on Monday.
Looking forward to seeing most of
you in Dallas...
tc
===================================================
Toby
Considine ! "Do the right
thing. It will
UNC Chapel
Hill ! gratify some
people and
Chapel
Hill, NC
! astonish the
rest."
Phone (919)962-9073
!
Fax (919)962-1102
!
--Mark Twain
!
===================================================
