Design Teams

[Black_David@emc.com]

Julian,

> Can we get a room for some face-to-face design
> team meetings in Pittsburgh.

The short answer is "no", if for no other reason
than there is no official IETF space available.

The long answer is that the core iSCSI proposal has
more or less reached the point where a small design
team ceases to be an effective means of making progress.
A focused design team is effective in producing an
initial version of something, and the iSCSI design
team has done well has done well in that regard. 
Once the initial version is done, wider review and
comment is required to move from design team consensus
to working group (rough) consensus.  Working through
the issues on the mailing list where all of the
technical discussion is visible tends to be more
effective than queuing up issues for design team
meetings and interpreting the minutes to try to
figure out what was considered by the design team.

Design teams may still be appropriate for focused
areas where it's necessary to make rapid progress
on an initial version -- security comes to mind
as a possible example.  Also, the WG may need interim
meetings between IETF meetings - if so, these will
be announced well in advance and open to all.
Let me also make it clear that this note should not
discourage interested people from meeting in whatever
informal circumstances are convenient, as long as
everyone keeps in mind that the list should be the
primary forum for technical discussions and
decision-making rather than merely being used
to review decisions made offline.

I've been personally involved in an IETF WG in which
design teams were used effectively (disbanded after
production of the initial version) and one in which
they were used ineffectively (persisted long after
the initial version).  IMHO, it's more than coincidence
that the latter WG has encountered greater difficulty
and consumed much more time than expected in making
progress towards its goals.  I'd prefer not to identify
the WGs in order to avoid an off-topic discussion.

I believe the AD(s) will have more to say on this
subject in Pittsburgh.

--David

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David L. Black, Senior Technologist
EMC Corporation, 42 South St., Hopkinton, MA  01748
+1 (508) 435-1000 x75140, FAX: +1 (508) 497-6909
black_david@emc.com  Cellular: +1 (978) 394-7754
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