[[TracNav(TracNav/ISO15926Primer)]] = Implementing ISO 15926 in an Organization = ---- [[PageOutline(2-4,Contents,inline)]] == Abstract == The actual steps an organization takes to implement ISO 15926 will depend on what exactly it wants to achieve. However, there are some common steps: * Join FIATECH or POSC/Caesar[[BR]] - A good way to get some help. * Map Your System Landscape[[BR]] - Know where you are. * Build a Business Case[[BR]] - Know where you are going. ---- == Join FIATECH or POSC/Caesar - Get Involved in a Project == ISO 15926 is a different approach to exchanging information between applications. In the past, when we've linked two applications, we've always tried to know as much as we can about the applications. But with ISO 15926, linking applications by exploiting this special knowledge is actually a liability. For most of us, this is something we have to un-learn. Fortunately there are others that can hep you. A good place to find them will be to join FIATECH or POSC/Caesar. ISO 15926 is being developed right now. The developers are accessible. If you join, there will be people to assist you getting up to speed. Along with getting help, you may end up helping others, too. This is a good thing. Outside of working on ISO 15926, many of us are competitors. The natural tendency, then, is to horde information. But if we cooperate, interoperability of information gets easier, projects become easier, and as projects become easier and cheaper, the owners (who in the end, pay for everything) will be able to do more. The pie gets bigger. * [https://www.posccaesar.org/wiki/PCA/Membership POSC Caesar Membership] * [http://fiatech.org/about-us/membership.html FIATECH Membership] === Make a Map of Your System Landscape === You will need to know all the individual software applications your organization uses, where they get their input from, and where their output goes. Show all of the information exchanges. Your most important applications will probably already be mapped together either with custom programming or commercial middleware. Other information exchanges might be made with manual keyin every time, exchange files in a neutral format, or perhaps ad hoc software. Show all of them, even if they seem to be working properly. === Gather Application Information === Dig into each application and understand the information it deals with. * Document the schema - catalogue what's there. * Uncover any special requirements. For instance, uncover any relationships that have to be maintained. * Understand what all the data items ''mean''. Look for implied attributes. For instance, if an application was written for an organization that always used Imperial units of measurement, the original developer many not have thought to explicitly store Fahrenheit as the units of temperature measurement. You may not have to catalogue ''every'' data item in all of your applications but you do need to know everything about the information movements that you want to automate. === Some Example Scenarios === Here are some examples to help you look for an opportunity to improve an information exchange by using ISO 15926. Preferably, the entire information exchange should be within your organization, as opposed to automating an exchange with a business partner. Choose something simple to start with if you have a choice. The first three examples involve mapping applications together using ISO 15926 Part 4 (ISO 1596-4): * [wiki:ISO15926Primer_GettingStarted_Automate Primer: Automate a Manual Exchange] * [wiki:ISO15926Primer_GettingStarted_Encapsulate Primer: Encapsulate an Application] * [wiki:ISO15926Primer_GettingStarted_Decouple Primer: Decouple an Application from a Confederation of Applications] The fourth example involves working with an external organization: * [wiki:ISO15926Primer_GettingStarted_Partner Primer: Expose Information to a Business Partner] == Build a Business Case == The very first line in this Primer explains why we need ISO 15926: ''So we can exchange complex plant and project information easier and cheaper.'' So if ISO 15926 actually accomplishes this, it shouldn't be too difficult to build a business case. Here are some ideas: * Look at your system landscape. * Which applications are linked? * What could you do differently if more of them, or all of them, were able to exchange information easily? * What does it cost your organization to maintain the existing links between applications? * Is your organization forgoing opportunities to upgrade individual applications because doing so may break links to other applications? All of these questions lead to justification to implement ISO 15926. Basically, you are counting the cost, in both financial and business efficiency terms, of the status quo. You will likely end up with something in one of the following categories: * Increase Reliability - For instance, if your current method of interoperability requires manually rekeying information between applications, you can map your applications to ISO 15926-4 so they will be able to exchange information automatically. * Saving Money - For instance, if you have to repeatedly map one application to other applications. If you use ISO 15926 you only have to map it once (more). * Saving Time - For instance, if you repeatedly have to map applications to other, external, applications in a short period of time. If you map to ISO 15926, the application will be ready to exchange information with any other ISO 15926-compliant application. * Reduce Maintenance - For instance, if you currently use custom maps to move information between applications and you have to continually revise the maps because of version changes in the linked application software. If, instead, you map each application to ISO 15926-4 and the application changes, you will only have to revise the map to ISO 15926-4, none of the other maps will have to change. * Interoperability of Internal Applications - For instance, if your organization runs many proprietary applications that have to talk to each other, instead of mapping each of them together one pair at a time, map each to ISO 15926. * Experience - For instance, if you anticipate having to implement ISO 15926 in the future, you can do a small project to map two applications together using ISO 15926-4. You will learn enough to be able to judge the impact of implementing ISO 15926 on a larger scale. == Next == * [wiki:ISO15926Primer_GettingStarted_Automate Primer: Automate a Manual Exchange] * [wiki:ISO15926Primer_GettingStarted_Encapsulate Primer: Encapsulate an Application] * [wiki:ISO15926Primer_GettingStarted_Decouple Primer: Decouple an Application from a Confederation of Applications] * [wiki:ISO15926Primer_GettingStarted_Partner Primer: Expose Information to a Business Partner] * [wiki:ISO15926Primer_GettingStarted_OtherIdeas Primer: Other Ideas for Getting Started] ----