Leveraging Collaborative Technologies in the IO Requirements Process

The process of clearly defining a strategic roadmap that anticipates and sets industry directions depends on requirements input from a diverse set of folks and disciplines. The input spans several key factors: customer, market and application workloads and requirements; basic and derivative technology trends; competitor directions; business model innovations; applicable new and substitute technologies; riskanalysis; and the team’s capabilities. To perform this level of analysis requires dynamic collaboration by a diverse group of thought leaders, as well as input from the wider community that will share the responsibility for carrying out the mission from start through release and into field support. When the influx of feedback and ideas is not limited or restricted, more perspectives and backgrounds can be leveraged to make the more comprehensive predictions and fine tuning that are required of a cohesive strategic roadmap. In many cases this type of process will not lead to consensus, in which case the thought leader(s) must weigh the factors and make a decision. This paper will provide an overview of the teams involved in creating IBM’s Systems IO and DataCenter Networking (DCN) technologies and products. It will describe the roles each team plays in turning requirements into products. A key part of this processis the IO Technical Community (IOTC), which provides a collaboration medium that spans all ofthese teams. It will also describe the technologies and methods used by these teams. It ends with a summary of the keys to leveraging an active technical community in turning requirements into products.