Organization News: 

August 01, 2008 -  The final June meeting minutes have been posted.  The next meeting will be held Monday August 4th, from 1:00-4:00 at PPG at 5 PPG Place, 4th Floor Conference Room.  Please go to the Security desk in Building Five and identify yourself as attending the Western Pa Enterprise Architecture Forum meeting.  The agenda for the August meeting has been posted.  

Meeting Topic:  Search - Thinking Outside the (Search) Box

Date/Time:         08/04/08 1pm - 4pm
Location:            PPG Industries, Inc.  5 PPG Place (Building 5)  4th Floor, Conference Room, Downtown Pittsburgh

BACKGROUND:  The value of enterprise search may seem obvious – improved access to information, greater user adoption and happier employees. But those arguments don’t often resonate with CIOs or department heads who control the budget. Yet enterprise search can produce a significant return on investment, which you can leverage to build a solid business case to get your project funded. 

Jerome Pesenti, Vivisimo’s Chief Scientist, will discuss the business case for enterprise search, including real-world case studies from organizations that are doing search right. He’ll also share his vision for the future of enterprise search – as well as the technical environment needed to turn that vision into a reality.  Pesenti’s presentation is available, following free registration, at http://vivisimo.com/landing/download-wpeaf

The news release about Jerome Pesenti’s talk for the Western Pennsylvania Enterprise Architecture Forum’s meeting can be found here.

May 20, 2008 -  As most of you know, we are in processes of setting up a SharePoint based replacement site for the WPEAF web site!  Microsoft has generously donated the software, and Allin Consulting has donated resources to help us design the base site.  The membership will take it from there, and build out the new WPEAF.org web site.  The base software has been installed, and we are ready to work with Allin Consulting to begin design.  They have provided me with a list of sample user group site designs.  Please take a moment to vote on your favorite - this will be used to help select a base design for our site.  Here are the samples to choose from:

BayArea.JPG                  DC.JPG                      Federal.JPG                  LA.JPG                 Minn.JPG

NYC.JPG                                          Phila.JPG                                   pugetsound.JPG                          RockyMtn.JPG                sample2.JPG

sample4.JPG                                   sample5.JPG                              sample6.JPG                                  StLouis.JPG                     Swiss.JPG

After you have reviewed the user group samples above, please take a moment to vote for your top 3 here.  We will use the results to provide design guidance to Allin Consulting.

May 14, 2008 -  The final April meeting minutes have been posted.  The next meeting will be held Monday May 19th, at the Microsoft North Shore Offices in Pittsburgh from 1pm to 4pm.  Lunch will be provided for all arriving over the noon hour. 

Meeting Topic:  Application and Content Delivery Practices for Mobile Devices

Date/Time:         5/19/08 1pm - 4pm
Location:            Microsoft North Shore Office - Pittsburgh, PA; 30 Isabella St, 2nd Floor; Alcoa Business Services Center
                         Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 15212

BACKGROUND:  The rapid adoption of Smartphones in the workforce and the availability of mobile content experienced in our personal lives as consumers, have lead enterprises to ask the question of what is next beyond mobile email.  What business activities can be performed differently since we can bring information of value right to where the work gets done?   

This session will explore the necessary infrastructure and practices needed in building and delivering content and application solutions to the various mobile platforms available.  Topics explored include: 

• Infrastructure Considerations:  Internal resources, services; Target devices, platforms, capabilities, etc; Support

• Application Considerations:  Information organization; Interface, display, input; Security; Development Practices (testing, etc.)

We have also received votes from membership regarding presentation selection from 12 Gartner topics proposed (results below.)  We will work with Gartner to see that we can schedule a presenter for our August or September meeting.

April 07, 2008 -  The final February meeting minutes have been posted.  The next meeting will be held Monday April 7th, from 1:00-4:00 at PPG at 5 PPG Place, 4th Floor Conference Room.  The agenda for the April meeting has been posted.  

MEETING Topic: Local Enterprise Architecture Programs
Facilitator and Speaker:        Alfons Schermaier and Andy Gans, PPG

A number of our enterprises have adopted Enterprise Architecture (EA) programs to better align IT assets & solutions to the needs of the business and to achieve greater agility and/or efficiencies.  We see a number of artifacts introduced under EA programs that can include Roadmaps, Reference Models, and various governance processes that deal with lifecycle management, introduction of new technology & solutions, and asset/solution alignment with overall business strategies.  

We would like to explore how various EA programs have advanced/matured by holding a Roundtable to share brief a summary on status and two particular areas of interest:

How are members interfacing their EA practices with the business strategic planning and budgeting processes?
How are members interlacing the EA process with the project delivery process (PMO)

Format for EA Updates:
Duration:                 15-20 minutes
Visual Aids:                 Option for using slides (6-10); Bring PPTs on thumb drive
Suggested Outline Areas Covered:                
Background - General background on EA program efforts (time exists, # of people, major areas of emphasis, etc.)
Artifacts - Major artifacts used under EA
Governance - Major governance processes used under EA practices
Alignments - How is EA aligned with other planning and delivery processes that include: (1) business strategic planning; (2) budgeting; (3) solution/project delivery (PMO)


 

March 03, 2008 -  The Western Pa Enterprise Architecture Forum did not meet in March.

February 01, 2008 -  The final December meeting minutes have been posted.  The next meeting will be held Monday February 4th, from 1:00-4:00 at PNC Bank.  The agenda for the February meeting has been posted.  

February MEETING TOPIC:    “Evaluating a Service-Oriented Architecture”

Facilitator:   Philip Bianco, Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon
               Rick Kotermanski, CTO, Summa Tech

Do you believe architecture evaluation is an important step in the software lifecycle because, among other benefits, it detects problems hard to fix once the implementation is in place? If you said yes and yes, be invited to join us for this talk where we’ll provide practical information for the architecture evaluation of an SOA system. What information? How to describe the architecture, what architectural approaches are applicable, what questions and design considerations can be used to probe the architecture, and other aspects of architecture analysis, always looking at the specifics of SOA solutions. The SEI ATAM method is used as a reference for the steps, inputs and outputs of an architecture evaluation technique.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Last 30-45 minutes will be reserved for reviewing the survey completed earlier this year and suggesting possible changes to the group’s approach and agenda. PPG will lead this discussion.

December 04, 2007 -  The final November meeting minutes have been posted.  The next meeting will be held Monday December 10th, from 1:00-4:00 at PPG.  The agenda for the December meeting has been posted.  

December MEETING TOPIC:    “IT Talent Show”

Facilitator:   All members

September 04, 2007 -  The final August meeting minutes have been posted.  The next meeting will be held Monday September 10th, from 1:00-4:00 at SummaTech.  The agenda for the September meeting has been posted.  

Due to a scheduling conflict, the original topic for September, “Evaluating a Service-Oriented Architecture” , will be rescheduled.

September MEETING TOPIC:    “Records Management”

Facilitator:   Bob McAteer and Kevin Larkin,  Federal Home Loan Bank

Bob and Kevin will present on a current project involving records management in their organization. The subject material will revolve around the following areas:

• Governance
• Taxonomy
• Retention
• Disposition
• Policies and Procedures
• Tools and Techniques

Following the presentation, the company roundtable will involve a discussion of other companies’ experience and strategies around the subject material.

July 30, 2007 -  The agenda for the August meeting has been posted.  This meeting will be Monday August 6th, from 1:00-4:00 at Mellon Bank.      

August Topic: Improving Collaboration with Web 2.0

Speaker:    Ron McIntyre, Emerging Technologies, Strategic Technology Group, BNY Mellon

Location: 12^th Floor MAIN Conference Room, One Mellon Center, 500 Grant Street, Downtown Pittsburgh

Ron will discuss the changing world of communications driven by Web 2.0 technologies. In the presentation Ron will provide background information on the technologies and applications that embody the Web 2.0 concept.  He will also highlight some interesting business case studies where Web 2.0 is exploited to achieve clear business value.  

July 02, 2007 -  The final June meeting minutes have been posted.  The next meeting will be held Monday August 6th, from 1:00-4:00 at Mellon Bank.  The topic is "Use of Collaboration Techniques in the Enterprise".   

REMINDER: As a member of WPEAF, you are also invited to the July 24^th  Summer Slam VI sponsored by the Pittsburgh Technology Council. Details on the event are included here. 

Summer Slam VI         (flyer)

Developers, leave your code at the office; DBAs, forget Oracle and SQL for one night; CIOs, you can worry about the information technology audit tomorrow. It's time for Pittsburgh user groups to unite! For the sixth consecutive year the summer socials of many Pittsburgh user groups -- including Java, .NET, Oracle, SQL, SharePoint and many others -- combine for a unique night of networking and fun. Learn about the benefits and challenges of each technology through informal conversations with peers. Enjoy free appetizers, raffle prizes and a cash bar.

Other participating user groups include Coding Dojo, IIBA, IRMAP, ISSA, PES, PghBOUG, PghDW Group, PITCFUG, PMI's IT SIG, PRKMC, STC, WPEAF, WPLUG, WSMQUG and WSUG.  Attend and interact with your peers to learn the meaning of each acronym.

Date: Tuesday, July 24
Time: 5:00 - 8:00
Venue: McFadden's, 211 North Shore Drive, Pittsburgh http://www.mcfaddenspitt.com/
Cost: Free
RSVP: Council events at 412.918.4229 or events@pghtech.org

Event sponsored by Allin, Fibertech Networks, Softmart and TEKsystems.

 

June  01, 2007 -  The final May meeting minutes have been posted.  The next meeting will be held  Monday June 18th, 2007 from 1pm to 4pm hosted by Microsoft at the Microsoft North Shore Office in Pittsburgh. Additional details will follow.

June MEETING TOPIC: “Web 2.0”

Facilitator:   John McClelland, Architect Evangelist | D&PE East Region Team

Today, new social movements, advances in technology, and forces within business are colliding to create a landscape overflowing with challenges and opportunities. In many cases, these forces have driven the deployment of new technologies and the adoption of new behaviors, adding multiple layers to an already complex set of issues that must be navigated. Architects are searching for a solution to manage this complexity. SOA, ESB, Software as a Service, Web 2.0, and Edge are all elements of the solution, but are they the complete picture? Are they a sufficient answer to the issues? Can they be used together in a productive and efficient fashion? We have the opportunity now to think about what the platform of the future looks like; for software architects to take a step back and to forecast what lies over the horizon. This presentation examines the business, social and technical drivers behind this platform and examines vision and technologies for the future
 

 

May  04, 2007 -  The final April meeting minutes and the May meeting agenda have been posted.  The next meeting will be held Monday, May 7th, from 1:00-4:00 at PPG in the PPG Building 5, 4th Floor Large Conference Room, Downtown Pittsburgh

May MEETING TOPIC: “Roundtable: Demand/Program Management”

Facilitator:   Member Roundtable

This session is to share best practices and experiences for IT demand management and project management. Processes, tools and governance are topics to be reviewed. Each member will be given the opportunity to discuss their companies' approach to managing the demand for IT services and managing projects. Please be prepared to respond to the items presented in the Agenda including:

1. What is the technique for requesting IT services:
       a)  break/fix
       b)  minor enhancements
       c)  project work
2. For project work, how is the work funded, approved, scheduled? Describe the initial demand process including forms used, approval requirements and scheduling.
3. Do you have a formal PMO? What are its primary functions? Do you use a tool to manage project demand?
4. How does your organization manage demand? Set by the number of resources available? Set by the funding?
5. How are resources marshaled? Internal only, internal and contract, mostly contract.
6. Once the projects are approved and started, how are project mangers selected?
7. Are the project managers full time or do they have other roles like supervisor, program management, support coordination? Do you require PMI certification?
8. How are projects measured for success? Schedule and budget? Make the sponsor happy? Complete the project objective successfully?
9. What tool(s) do you use for project management? Are they integrated into the PMO tools?

 

April 04, 2007 -  The final March meeting minutes and the April meeting agenda have been posted.  The next meeting will be held Monday, April 2nd, from 1:00-4:00 at PPG in the PPG Place , Building 1, Conference Room 6&7, Downtown Pittsburgh

March MEETING TOPIC: “Impact of P2P File Sharing Networks”

Speaker: Chris Gormley, COO, Tiversa

This session is to describe the impact and risks of P2P file sharing networks. Data leakage of corporate documents through these networks is one example of the risks these applications present. Capacity issues, identity theft and intellectual property loss are other issues. This session will highlight recent findings of the impact of P2P systems on the Internet, personal and corporate security and anonymity of leakage contributors.
   

 

February 26, 2007 -  The final February meeting minutes and the March meeting agenda have been posted.  The next meeting will be held Monday, March 5th, from 1:00-4:00 in the Alcoa Business Development Center.  30 Isabella, North Shore Pittsburgh. Boxed lunches will be available at noon.

March MEETING TOPIC:    “Blackberry Platform update”

Speakers:   Dean Roberts and Tim Fraser, Research in Motion

This session is to help companies leverage the capabilities of their Blackberry platform beyond email, to enable supply chain, sales, and other business critical information.  RIM will lead the session with the following topics:

1.        Innovative Blackberry Use at Other Companies
2.        Blackberry Security
3.        Disaster Recovery / Redundancy
4.        Monitoring                                  
5.        Improved Blackberry Manageability            
6.        App BES / MDS Development Options    

NOTE: Here is a spreadsheet of topics for the April meeting with CyLAB, CMU Research Teams. Abstracts of the projects are available here. Please send Gary your top 5 picks or bring them to the meeting so we can finalize the topics for April.
 

December 18, 2006 -  The final December meeting minutes and the February meeting agenda have been posted.  We will not be meeting in January due to the holidays, and the next meeting will be held Monday, February 5th, from 1:00-4:00 hosted by Summa-Tech in the US Steel Building.  The February topic will be "Securing the Mobile Workforce" and will be facilitated by Keith Kaiser of Giant Eagle as a membership roundtable.