Call for participation -- Is OSI really useful?

[[e-mail]]

 When I sat down earlier this week to define the agenda for the 
 upcoming "Birds of a Feather" on OSI Upper Layer efficiency, I 
 found myself sifting through so many completely varied solutions, 
 I forgot the problem being solved. And then I picked up an issue 
 of Network World (May 9) that a co-worker had left on my desk. 
 Thomas Nolle's column "Reality Check" that week was titled "OSI 
 decline reflects problems in standards process." So I read the 
 column. Nolle, in referring to OSI, claims that "the idea was to 
 give the marketplace a standard, and everybody would go along with 
 it from the start, ...thus was born the open systems movement, 
 and the OSI model." However, a more realistic reality check is 
 the recent history lesson I received from Bob Stover. He reminded 
 me that OSI was defined as a gateway and backplane architecture 
 to connect very large, private networks together for the purpose 
 of increasing market share for each party. There's a reason why 
 the Reference Model looks like a mutant cross between ARPANET 
 and SNA. Given that, twenty years after the first RM was created, 
 we now use terms like "collaborative computing" and "common data 
 repository" and "information infrastructure" instead of "gateway" 
 and "backplane" the question is, what problem are we trying to 
 solve? The BOF was initiated to research efficiency options for 
 OSI upper layers. However, if the paradigm is no longer applicable, 
 and the problems facing the communications industry today are 
 not being addressed, how valid are the solutions we've produced? 
 More to the point, is OSI really useful?
 
 The essential point in Nolle's article is not the usefulness of 
 the RM, but rather on the effectiveness of the standards process. 
 He asks, "Who are these people writing standards anyway?" It is 
 a good question. We all know that attendance at meetings has 
 dropped off significantly. In addition, the standards bodies, 
 ANSI and ETSI, ISO and ITU-T, and the regional workshops, OIW, 
 EWOS, and AOW, are all legislative bodies. Therefore they are 
 not the optimal place to conduct scientific research and initial 
 technical work. Such groundbreaking work should be completed 
 before and outside of the legislative process. Vendor forums have 
 been sucessful at creating new technology, but can be restrictive 
 in their membership and cost prohibitive. All of the regulations 
 and fees for membership in any of these organizations is limiting 
 the participating community to just a handful of focused experts. 
 Given the initial scope of OSI, that it was a gateway and backplane architecture
 for large private networks, this was exactly the way 
 it should be; but if we agree that the scope has changed, then 
 members of the user community and the academic community should be
 contributing more to the effort. What, if anything can we do to 
 expand the process to increase participation?
 
 To that end...
 ---------------------------------------------------------------
 
                             OIW ULSIG BOF
               OSI UL efficiency - Requirements and options
 
                        Call for participation
                                 
                ****************************************
 
 Date: 8-10 June 1994
 
 Location:  Days Inn Springfield Mall
                  6721 Commerce Street
                  Springfield, VA 22150
                  [phone]
                  FAX: [phone]
 
 Host:         Telenex, Inc. (AR Test Systems)
 
 Dialogue:   [e-mail]
 
 The OIW ULSIG will sponser an open "Birds of a Feather Symposium"
 on Upper Layer Efficiency and Usefulness of OSI. The ULSIG recognizes
 the industry need for more efficient common upper layer protocols 
 and profiles. In the future the usefulness of data communications
 applications will be determined in part by how well different 
 applications interact with each other. This is why the OSI 
 Reference Model architecture allows for a common set of upper 
 layer services. Those services are currently defined by the ACSE 
 (ISO 8649, ITU-T X.217), Presentation (ISO 8822, ITU-T X.216), 
 and Session (ISO 8326, ITU-T X.215) service definitions. The 
 primary purpose of this symposium is to define ways to provide 
 these common services more efficiently. Last January, the first BOF 
 was held in Minneapolis. Efficiency requirements and standardization
 approaches were outlined at that symposium. The agenda for this meeting
 is as follows:
 
      Wednesday Morning -
         Is OSI really useful?
      Wednesday afternoon -
         What can we do to expand the process and to increase 
         participation?
      Thursday Morning - 
         Who can benefit from a common upper layer architecture?
         What are our essential requirements?
                     Papers: Extended ALS, A2CSE, and others
         How efficient do we need to be?
                     Papers: Fast Byte for Upper Layers
      Thursday afternoon -
         What role does ASN.1 play in Upper Layers Efficiency?
                     Papers: Packed Encoding Rules, Grouped Bits
      Friday morning - 
         How does OSI fit into the Information Highway Vision?
                     Papers: FIRP report, IPIR Charter
      Friday afternoon -
         What can we do in the future?
   
 Contributions
 This is an open, free meeting. We encourage contributions on any 
 topics related to the above agenda. 
 
 Contributions can be posted on the THINOSI mail exploder
 ([e-mail]) or sent to me at the address below.
 
 To register on the thinosi list, send a message to:
       [e-mail]
 
 Meeting Times:
    Wednesday, June 8         10:00 AM - 5:00 PM     Virginia Room
    Thursday,  June 9          9:00 AM - 5:00 PM     Virginia Room
    Friday, June 10            9:00 AM - 5:00 PM     Virginia Room
 
 Hotel Information:
     The Days Inn will have rooms available for the attendees. If you
 wish to stay at the Days Inn, please make reservations directly with 
 them. Attendees should request the corporate rate and mention that 
 they are attending the "Telenex meeting" when making reservations.
 
 Room Rate:       $53/night single              $59/night double
 
 The hotel also has a special "Room N' Ride" package available. For 
 $78/night the hotel provides free continental breakfast, free 
 parking/van service to Metro, free van service from airports, a 
 car from Enterprise Rent-a-Car, free upgrade to midsize, free 
 mileage, car delivery to hotel. If interested, ask for more details 
 (or to speak with Jackie Loeper in the Sales Office) when making
 reservations. 
 
 CONFIRMATIONS ONLY
 I need a list of the attendees by 6 June. Please reply to me if you 
 are planning to attend.
 
 Laura Emmons
 Telenex, Inc.
 7401 Boston Blvd.
 Springfield, VA 22153
 [phone]
 FAX: [phone]
 INTERNET: [e-mail]
 
 For more information contact me (see above). I have maps and
 flyers on the "Room N' Ride" program.