Members Councils

Objective of Meeting

In our Members Councils meetings, the Customer Council and Supplier Council join together to invite members from all Forums and Working Groups of The Open Group to share issues and concerns that are common to Customer members and Supplier members - across all Forums and Working Groups of The Open Group.

Specifically addressed at this meeting were agenda items that build on the outcomes of the July 2006 member-representative elections of Councils Officers, and how these officers plan to implement the new Councils Charters.

Summary

Chris Greenslade (Supplier Council Chair), led this meeting. 

• Customer Council:
  • Chair: Ben Calloni (Lockheed Martin) - also elected to Governing Board
  • Vice-Chair: Alan Doniger (POSC) - also elected to Governing Board
  • John Anton (Kestrel Technology) - also elected to Governing Board
• Supplier Council:
  • Chair: Chris Greenslade (CLARS)
  • Vice-Chair: Sam Ceccola (BEA Systems) - also elected to Governing Board

Chris introduced the new Charters for the Customer Council and the Supplier Council, noting their alignment, and that our task is to make them work for the intended benefits of all members of The Open Group. 

In his set of slides, Chris explained:

• The roles of the two Councils
• How these roles arise from the governance structure of The Open Group, where all members are classified as either a Customer or a Supplier
• How the cross-forum coverage by the Councils looks to deliver added value and identify new opportunities that will benefit all members, primarily by improving communication not only between forums and working groups but also between members and the Governing Board

We are seeking representatives from each forum and working group to serve as liaison representatives to the steering committees of the Customer Council and the Supplier Council, conveying relevant messages between their Forum/WG and the respective Council, and so making the steering committees of each Council an effective cross-forum body for sharing and informing all members and our Governing Board representatives. Through these forum representatives we will be able to ensure an effective two-way channel for sharing issues between the Customer and Supplier Councils and Forum members. We propose asking Forum and WG Vice-Chairs to take up these liaison representative roles if their Forum/WG does not appoint an alternative representative.

Outputs

The Councils Officers called for action from each Member Forum and Working Group to:

• Appoint a representative to the Customer Council
• Appoint a liaison representative to the Supplier Council

In the absence of a specified representative, the Councils Officers call upon the Vice-Chair of each Forum or WG to fill this liaison role. 

Next Steps

The Councils Member Officers and The Open Group Councils Director will encourage Forum and WG leaders to appoint member-representatives as liaisons to serve on the steering committees of the Customer Council and Supplier Council.

Links

See above.