  Meeting Minutes
Meeting Agenda
DCE Home Page |
DCE Program Group
Members' Meeting
San Diego, CA
April 29 - 30, 1998
Executive Summary
D elivering Business Value with DCE was the
theme for the DCE Program Group's meeting in San Diego. The goal of the meeting was to
continue defining the new strategy for DCE, to ensure that DCE users get maximum value
from their IT investment. DCE is the premier distributed computing technology for
enterprise-wide, mission-critical applications. The DCE Program Group, as part of The Open
Group's IT DialTone™ initiative, is focusing future development of DCE on the
business needs of that target market. DCE will address the needs of business-critical
computing services to take advantage of Internet and intranet opportunities without
sacrificing reliability or security in their core operations.
The highlight of the meeting was the demonstration of a new security capability for
DCE. In a three-way joint effort with the Securities Industry Middleware Council, and The
Open Group's Security Program Group, the DCE Program Group identified immediate,
high-value business requirements for the use of public key technology in DCE. IBM
Corporation, DASCOM, Inc. and Entrust Technologies jointly engineered a solution to the
requirement. This innovation combines flexible Internet security techniques and the
efficient and precise protection mechanisms of DCE, giving firms in the securities
industry new ways to safely open new commerce channels with each other and their
customers.
This major accomplishment was backed by commitment from the vendors to collaborate in
refining RFC 68.4 and to jointly support the evolution of this RFC into an Open Group Fast
Track Specification and Standard. Funding this effort are: DASCOM, Hewlett-Packard and
IBM.
The April meeting was a follow-on to the highly successful meeting in Amsterdam, The
Netherlands, at which the new strategy for DCE was first unveiled. The strategy was
expanded with the first presentation of a strategic relation between the DCE Program Group
and the Open Group's IT DialTone architecture. Meeting attendees participated in planning
DCE's evolution into a complete solution for highly available enterprise computing. Plans
and schedules for enhancing DCE's operability, security, and integration with the Internet
were presented. Continuing the practice begun in Amsterdam, structured discussions helped
ensure that user's requirements were effectively captured.
This meeting demonstrated the new strategy of complementing the traditional strengths
of DCE, and extending its reach. Representatives of firms from outside the
"traditional" DCE community participated in Thursday's program on intercell and
multi-cell operation. . The subject of firewalls and other boundary protections and their
relation to DCE and robust enterprise computing were addressed by leading theorists and
practitioners. Sessions on intercell and inter-enterprise directory services, management
tools, and related issues completed the program.
Significant Achievements
IBM Corporation, DASCOM, Inc. and Entrust Technologies jointly engineered a
demonstration of the DCE-PKI login requirement.
Vendor agreement was reached among DASCOM, HP, and IBM, for collaboration and funding of
the DCE-PKI Login Fast Track Specification.
The DCE program group presented the Architecture Board a draft of the plan for relating
DCE to the IT DialToneä . The initial response was positive.
The Program Group continued to refine the "new strategy" for DCE. Surveys to
determine what customers and vendors see as the core values of DCE were used to help
direct the next steps to be pursued. The information gathered during facilitated
discussions at the meetings will be combined with information from E-mail surveys. The
results of these discussions will be further refined in the coming weeks and posted to the
DCE web site when the results are tallied.
The Open Group's Research Institute (RI) continues to add value in working with the DCE
and other communities in bringing new technologies to the marketplace. Progress was
reported on existing projects such as JADE and ADAGE, and on new initiatives. The audience
was invited to take advantage of the RI's consulting services and research capabilities to
support their private initiatives. A new area of expertise allows the RI to help companies
measure the return on investment of deploying IT infrastructures.
Many of the major DCE vendors and resellers gave R & D and product updates.
Highlights of these presentations included: IBM's e-Network security strategy; Digital's
DCE toolkit for programming and environment monitoring; DASCOM's IntraVerse NetSEAT
product; and Gradient's NetCrusader product and its PC-DCE thin client product.
A panel presentation on LDAP directory services addressed the relation between DCE and
new styles of directory. Much work still needs to be done on migration strategies,
operational capabilities, and models of reliability and replication. The Q & A period
that followed the presentations provided further insight into future customer requirements
for directory services in mission-critical and robust enterprise computing. The panel of
speakers indicated that they would take some of these requirements and concerns to the
upcoming IETF meeting in San Jose. A DCE Forum discussion will be conducted including DCE
customers and other experts, including some members of the panel, to further define the
requirements for directory services in DCE.
The problems associated with maintaining a central trouble tracking mechanism for DCE
were discussed and alternative solutions considered. It was agreed that further planning
and analysis is needed. A number of roles were proposed for The Open Group to help satisfy
customers' needs.
Next Steps
Gain approval from the Architecture Board for DCE as a strategic program group within
the IT DialToneä initiative.
Gain vendor and customer support for continued cooperation on joint DCE II initiative
and eventual rollout, as defined at member meeting. Put effective process in place to
expedite this coordinated effort.
Move forward with DCE 2.0 effort. Release tentatively planned for Q1 1999.
Plan for the July 1998 members' meeting in Miami.
The Open Group, working with the DCE Forum, will provide a proposal for enhancing the
current DCE support mechanisms to insure greater interoperability and collaboration.
Eliot M. Solomon, DCE Program Group Chair
DCE
Home Page | Open Group Home Page |
