Information specialists are defined in this context as
those vendor engineers, IT specialists, CIOs, and
corporate strategists who are responsible for longer term goals, such as
product planning, IT planning, development of future systems, research into new
technologies, and future power system operations strategies. These information
specialists are not responsible for a particular implementation, but instead
envision the future systems and develop migration strategies to reach
longer-term goals.
Information specialists would focus (in the context of
this document) on developing strategies and migration plans for long range
objectives. They can review the UML models, described in Volume III,
and study the detailed engineering descriptions, in Volume IV, to better
understand information engineering concepts and strategies, and thus plan the
migration path to future systems and products along the common roadmap.
Information specialists are also most likely to review the gaps in technologies
identified in IntelliGrid Architecture projects, and then contribute actively to develop the
standards or other solutions to close up these gaps.
How
to Design Products Using the IntelliGrid Architecture
For vendors, the most time consuming and
expensive part of developing future products is determining what objectives
must be met and what future technologies are best to use. The IntelliGrid Architecture provides such a project a big step up by providing a roadmap to
the future information infrastructure. In particular, information specialists
can use the Strategic Vision and the High Level Concepts to plan long range
objectives, and then review the Tactical Approaches, described in Volume 4, for
determining the best paths for migration from older systems and to create
interoperability between systems from different vendors.
Although the term ‘vendor’ is normally
associated with external companies selling products to other companies, in
reality any department or group that is developing products for any other
internal or external clients can be seen as a vendor. Therefore, this product
design strategy is as important to internal product developers as it is to
external vendors.
CIOs corporate IT specialists, and other corporate planners
involved in the flows of information can use the Strategic Vision of High Level
Concepts from the IntelliGrid Architecture as a guide to develop long range
goals. These specialists can also use the Tactical Approaches as key methods
for developing migration plans for their corporations.
The IntelliGrid Architecture cannot be a
static document. Instead, IntelliGrid Architecture must be a living, expanding, and evolving
Reference Architecture that takes into account new requirements and
technologies as they appear. Information specialists will be particularly able
to point out these new developments and recommend updates to the Reference
Architecture.
Information specialists are also in an
excellent position to review and understand the gaps in standards and
technologies identified in IntelliGrid Architecture project. These specialists can then be
active in developing standards, technologies, and other solutions to fill these
gaps.
