| Document: | IT/99-0112 |
| Date | March 8, 1999 |
| Author: | John Neumann |
| Action: | For discussion and decision at the March NCITS meeting |
NCITS, at its meeting in Houston on December 1 and 2, 1998, agreed in principle that it needed to be proactive in its approach to attracting both new technology to its program of work, and members within both existing Technical Committees (TC's), new TC's, and within the parent committee NCITS.
The recommendation was made that the Secretariat should identify a plan and cost associated with the implementation of the plan for consideration of the membership. The purpose of this paper is to respond to this recommendation and to solicit comments from the NCITS membership at its next meeting or through the Letter Ballot process.
Prolonged discussion and debate is inconsistent with the urgency expressed by the members. It is recommended that this plan be given visibility by distribution with a request for comments within the normal 30-day period, followed by a revision and redistribution in time for discussion and approval at the next meeting of NCITS, or by Letter Ballot if time permits.
Implementation of this plan requires the full cooperation of all members of NCITS and its underlying TC structure in order to identify candidate technologies and companies to be targeted for recruitment. NCITS membership consists of companies and organizations that have long recognized the importance of domestic and International standards within the Information Technology Industry. This recognition must be translated into action that assists in "getting the message out" to other IT companies and providers.
The objective of this activity is to attract new technology and, by implication, new members to the Standards Development community through proactive recruitment by members, staff , and outside resources as required.
The goal is to increase the membership by at least 10% annually at all levels of participation. A side effect of this activity should be to increase sales of published standards and increase visibility of Standards Development in the IT industry.
The underlying assumption of this activity is that all members at all levels support the effort on the part of NCITS staff and members to undertake this work. This support by necessity must manifest itself in at least two ways:
1) There must be a financial commitment by members of NCITS. This financial commitment will come in the way of approved funding to undertake this activity. More important, it will come in the way of a commitment in time and resources on the part of the membership to participate in the activity.
2) There must be a commitment to succeed. The implication is that members at all levels will approach this activity with an open mind and be receptive to the introduction of new technology into existing TCs or be willing to create new TCs as required to place the new work.
Experience at the TC level of work within NCITS leads one to the conclusion that there exists a strong NIH factor within the technical committees. Unless an existing member brings a new project to the committee there is little effort to identify or invite new technology into the work process of the committee. This factor will not go away on it's own, neither can it be decreed to not exist. This leads one to the following assumption:
There will be a concerted effort by NCITS and the staff of ITI to re-orient the officers of the Technical Committees to a new way of doing business in the next millennium. This will require at least two activities: 1) NCITS Liaisons will have to take a more active role in the work of the committee(s) for which they have assumed responsibility. This includes at least one visit each year to a meeting of the TC in order to communicate actively with the TC, and
2) There needs to be a meeting of all TC officers (at least one per TC) in order to involve them in the process. This meeting should precede the creation of collateral material and identification of specific actions the TCs are expected to contribute to the success of the program. As a minimum it should include break-out sections to allow the officers to participate in identifying additional actions, and recommend changes in operating procedures (SD2) which will facilitate the implementation of these recommendations and make it more attractive to undertake new work within NCITS.
Existing collateral material for NCITS and JTC1 TAG is oriented towards introducing the activities of these two organizations to companies which have little or no exposure to the standards process. It is most likely that candidate technologies and companies are already familiar with the work of the SDOs within the USA but have chosen a different path to achieving their goals. New collateral material needs to be developed that is oriented towards these candidates. This material takes on two basic forms:
1) A new brochure oriented towards individual companies reinforcing the benefits of standardization and participation of technical experts at significantly reduced cost when compared to the cost of participation in consortia. In addition to openness and greater acceptance of the work product in the targeted IT community, it needs to be demonstrated that this process can be as effective and fast as the consortia approach. This brochure should serve as complimentary material to a targeted presentation of benefits that will have been delivered to the technical officers of the targeted corporation.
2) A new brochure oriented towards existing and forming consortia to reinforce the benefits of standardization of their work product and the need to involve the standards community early in their deliberations. The procedures need to be seen as facilitating the work of the consortia within a TC environment rather than as impediments to progress. This brochure should augment a developed presentation which stresses the ease with which the work will be accepted into the program of work of NCITS and the speed by which the work can progress once accepted. There needs to be an emphasis on "control of their own destiny" so that there does not exist a perception of "standardscrats" taking over their efforts.
The collateral material should be an integral part of presentations developed for delivery to selected targets and candidates. The presentation material should be in the form of OHP and 35mm slides and their should be multiple sets of the material available for use by NCITS members and staff, or outside sources, so that the widest visibility possible can be achieved. NCITS officers and key members of NCITS should be the primary source of presenters, and this should be augmented whenever possible by NCITS staff or outside resources. For example, it doesn't make economic sense for an NCITS staff member to travel to Cupertino, CA to give a presentation to a target company when an officer of NCITS resides and works in the San Jose area. Likewise, targeted companies in other regions can best be introduced to the work of NCITS by members who reside in those areas rather than have other members or staff travel to locations and incur additional expenses.
There are three types of candidates for this activity
1) existing and forming consortia
2) company members of existing and forming consortia
3) companies that should be participating due to their market presence
NCITS members are traditionally active leaders in the technology that forms their market. It is highly unlikely that an IT consortium exists or is planned whereby the NCITS member is not involved. Frequently, this activity may come within a different division or area of expertise within the NCITS member company than from which the member comes. For example, the member may be attached to a corporate function dealing with industry standards, while the consortium is staffed by member company technical experts in the field of storage technology. The NCITS member may or may not be aware of their company involvement, but are likely to be aware of it. There has been a perceived strategic benefit to participation in the consortium and this benefit must be translated to NCITS as a resource for achieving the strategic goals of the company. The NCITS member is the best person to do this translation and to identify the candidate consortium and how NCITS can meet the objectives of participation.
NCITS TC activity covers almost the complete spectrum of IT market penetration. The TC members and officers serve as a second source of information needed to identify candidate consortium and companies. It is not unusual for a TC member to also represent their company within the technical work of market relevant consortia. These individuals are the best source for information about the objectives of the consortium and the work environment that exists within the consortium to achieve their company's objectives. They are also usually involved in early discussions with other company technical experts that leads to the establishment of the consortium. There needs to be a re-orientation of TC members towards seeking a solution to their company's strategic goals within the structure of existing NCITS TCs or by formation of new TCs, as required.
Frequently consortia are formed for short durations of time required to develop an industry specification that can be used by members of the consortium and there is little interest in a prolonged or permanent structure. For these types of consortium and their members, a structure within NCITS must be created that caters to this type or style of organization. The implications of this are an attractive fee structure for smaller companies (revenue based) and organization of work to allow for frequent meetings that meet the time constraints as perceived by the candidates. This needs to be considered as a part of an overall revision of the SD2 to accommodate the work of consortia.
There are a large number of industry leaders who do not participate in standards at either the TC level or within the parent NCITS committee. We know who they are and each member can identify several such companies. Once identified, ITIC staff can and should take the lead in identifying the right level of technical expertise within that company for presentation of benefits of participation. This usually is at the executive level of small to medium size corporations. NCITS staff, or outside resource, should be the primary instrument for penetrating these companies. Results should not be measured on the basis of having attracted this organization, but rather on the positive reception of the message delivered. While there may not be an immediate rush to "join", a positive seed needs to be planted such that the company executive asks the question of his subordinates "have you considered NCITS, and why is this not a better alternative to participation than in a more expensive consortium".
The most difficult candidate technology will be the one that is under development inside a consortium which is "facilitated" by an outside contractor. The outside contractor will have a vested interest in perpetuation of the consortium and will not be receptive to NCITS recruitment. The approach to this "facilitator" must show that it is ultimately within their interests to re-orient their activity and that of the consortium to developing the market for products resulting from the technology being developed within NCITS. This activity has been a traditional part of the work of the consortium but often taking a "back seat" to the technology or specification development. With this technology development directly under the control of the consortium members within the context of the NCITS TC environment, the consortium can focus on making the resulting product successful in the market. Where closely tied today, this will result in an uncoupling which is healthy for the market, the perceived value added by the "facilitator", and the acceptance of the technology in the IT industry.
Presentation to candidate companies and consortia should be made initially by NCITS staff or outside resource until such time as NCITS staff is prepared to undertake this task. Such presentations should be organized geographically and by industry so members of NCITS can participate in the presentations and eventually become presenters on their own. It is far more productive to have a recognized industry leader be a part of the presentation than for someone representing NCITS take on the task alone. Industry specific concerns can be addressed more readily by using this dual approach and demonstrates the commitment of existing members to the process.
This part of the plan is probably the most financial intense as it requires NCITS staff or representative along with a representative from an existing member to travel to and make the case for involvement with the NCITS community. Eventually this can be undertaken directly by the NCITS member. On the other hand, it may prove to be a winning combination to involve NCITS staff or representative on a regular basis.
It is insufficient to make presentations to candidate members or technology and to rely on due deliberation to take its course and expect positive results. Such presentations must be followed up with both literature (letters) and personal contact by phone, email, fax, or other electronic means, and by visits to consortia members as a last resort. There has to be the perception on the part of the candidate that their problem is important and that the solution to their problem is important to NCITS. Only then will the harvest be possible and positive.
Where an existing TC has been identified as the logical placement of the new work, the TC chair or other officer has to get involved in the recruitment in order to demonstrate a complete commitment to meeting the needs of the candidate. Whenever possible, a draft SD3 should be prepared and sent to the candidate(s) for their consideration so that they can see what the first step looks like and how easy it is to start new work in the NCITS environment
NCITS liaisons to TCs will take on a more active role in this new environment. It will be their responsibility to ensure that the goals and objectives of the new companies and sponsors of new technology are being met. They will also be responsible for recommending improvements both in the procedures and in the TC environment to reach these objectives.
NCITS and the NCITS environment can become a program of attraction through the successful implementation of the work of the liaison responsibility. When companies see that this environment is beneficial to their corporate strategy there will be less of a need to "sell" them on bringing future work into the community. On the other hand, projects left to flounder in infancy without the necessary handholding provided by the NCITS liaison could drive a wedge between NCITS and the constituency it is supposed to serve.