CIMug Collaboration

Randy RhodesUtility Co-Chair

November 13, 2009

CIMug Collaboration• How We Support Collaboration

– Relationship with UCAIug and other groups– Current Capabilities– Wins and Challenges

• How-To Demo– Manage My Account– Submit Requests– Find Information

• Future Enhancements• Q&A

CIMug Relationship with UCAIug• UCA International Users Group is a non-profit organization

dedicated to promoting standards usage and development– UCAIug: www.ucaiug.org

• Member groups have individual sites:– CIMug: www.cimug.org– IEC TC57: www.iectc57.org– IEC 61850: www.iec61850ug.org– Open Smart Grid: www.opensmartgrid.org(These are the simplest URLs – bookmark and share them.)

• A “federation” of sites – secure, scalable, and reliable

Capabilities• Every CIM Users Group Member or Guest Can:

– Be known through a User Profile.– Track What’s New on CIMug or other sites (UCA, Open Smart Grid,

IEC TC 57, IEC 61850)– Monitor or submit CIM model issues– Submit help desk requests and get answers.– Search by keyword across any or all of these sites– Contribute content (documents, discussions, blogs, wikis, etc.) – Track activity by RSS feeds or with alerts– Create subsites for projects, working groups, or member-specific activity

• All operations are permission-limited per your User Profile

Current Site Status• Wins

– Consistent user account management and security across all sites (including Open SmartGrid, 61850, etc.)

– High scalability and reliability– Low maintenance costs

• Challenges– Communicating adequately with key stakeholders– Educating site owners and members, who have varied

experience, desktop environments, and expectations

Site Functionality• The following functionality is available to any group

– URL Links List– RSS Feeds– Alerts (User and

Administrator)– Issues Tracking– Contacts List– Wiki– Blog

– Document Libraries– Discussion Lists (can

be email-enabled)– Announcements– Group Calendar– What’s New List– Item Roll-ups– Surveys

CIM Site Activity – Prior

30 Days Size: 3.1 Gb

Active Users: 1319Bandwidth: 1.4

Gb/day

3,033 visits came from 634 cities in 68 countries across 17 subcontinents …a 43% increase over the fall Europe meeting report…

Interest areas

Account Creation

• Step 1: create a Guest Account at www.cimug.org – Username will be:

Firstname.Lastname(# if repeat)

– Membership status will be upgraded as payment is received

– Interest areas will eventually be used for area-specific communication

• Login/Logout/Profile (in upper right corner of every page) is always context-sensitive

• Recommended: click “Remember Me” when you log in

Password Retrieval

User Login

How to Manage My Account

How to Search

Use quotes to search for phrases

Designate search target (current site

listed first, then parent site, then

others)

This result appears for all

users

This result will appear for

Process WG members only

Click to view online

The CIMug Help Desk Process

Initiate Request

Mark Engaged, Assign to

Expert

Review Request

Post Response

Reassign?

Check FAQs

Satisfied?

Finish

ExpandResponse

CreateFAQ

MarkResolved,

Pos/Neu/Neg

Start

Member

Service RepManager

Service Rep/Experts

Knowledge Base Manager

Monitor Requests

Monitor Responses

Create KBArticles

Monitor FAQs

MarkClosed

CreateFAQ?

Check Support FAQs for AnswersClick to view online

How to Submit a Help Desk Request

Click Here to Get Started

Your Open Requests

Listed Here

Creating a Service Request

Attach a screen-shot if that

would help the service

rep

Use a verb – “Fix, explain,

supply, resolve…

Be liberal with details –versions, browsers, etc.

Enter the user name here (User.Name)

Click to confirm - or search for a user

name

Anatomy of a Service Request

User’sRequest

ServiceRep’s

Response

Click to view this example online

The “Experts”Are VolunteersClick to view online

Help Desk Status & Comments• Wins

– Processed over 200 requests in 18 months– Creating a useful reference

• Challenges– All volunteer, so response times will vary– Utility co-chair should focus on other things

• Options to Consider– Create dedicated team– Rotate assignments for time-consuming roles– Opportunity for student interns to learn about CIM– Hourly paid position may be necessary

Future Site Enhancements• Integrated Email Discussion Groups

– Planning to integrate COTS ASP.net forum product– Working on requirements and design

• Subversion for Configuration Management– Tentative design proposed– Detailing out requirements

• For current activity, view: http://www.ucaiug.org/org/CoLab/CoLabWiki/Home.aspx Task 1 and Task 5

Screen Mockup for Discussion Forums- Master List

Screen Mockup for Discussion Forums- List of Discussion Threads

Screen Mockup for Discussion Forums- Create Post

Forums Email Integration• Use Cases (necessary for modification of COTS forum software)

– Create Site• Site owner will be able to create forums when creating a new site

– Manage Site Security• Modifications to manage forum security

– Create Forum• Site owner will create new forums

– Create Thread• Users can create new thread via email (interface to existing function)

– Insert Reply• Users can reply via email to existing thread (also interface to existing function).

Forum Administration & Security

• Delegated Administration• Forums will be created at any site level and also be available

through a master listing• Security is inherited through the site it is created at.• Forums are security trimmed! You only see what you are

granted access to

Subversion – Custom

Authentication

SharePoint Authentication

Provider Integration with

Subversion