Making a better blueprint for computing
Don Petravick, head of the Enterprise Architecture initiative for Fermilab, wrote this week's column
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| Don Petravick |
Communication is important at a national laboratory, not only among people but also among the computing systems they use. The Computing Division is working to coordinate and modernize the way Fermilab's growing number of computing systems talk to one another.
When each system does only its assigned task and talks to other systems in standard ways, it's easier to get accurate data to people who need it. We have begun surveying our laboratory's IT needs in order to create a blueprint that will help us find ways to connect systems and prevent people from duplicating their efforts. These new connections could simplify tasks such as making a vacation request or planning an experiment.
The tools and techniques for creating this blueprint come from a discipline in computer science called Enterprise Architecture. The goal of EA is to make computing systems simpler, better understood and more effective.
We are already making progress on this front. Laboratory employees and users can use new services account passwords to complete a growing number of tasks, such as filling out a timecard, opening a Service Desk ticket and, for some, checking their Fermilab e-mail. This has been possible because, behind the scenes, the Computing Division has begun to work on a coherent infrastructure to manage your digital identity and to make it available to the applications you use every day.
DOE and the taxpayers who fund it expect a national laboratory to be a modern, capable organization that can manage complex projects, be financially responsible, respect the environment and support its workforce, all while operating in a safe and efficient manner. As expectations for the laboratory rise, we need to become more organized at larger and larger scales. Improving the underlying architecture of our computing systems will help us get our work done better, faster and more cheaply.
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