The Fine Art of Politics in TERENA Middleware Task Forces

More than Ten Years and Counting Middleware has consolidated as one of the most relevant TERENA activities – From middle-what to the TMC Several task forces (and several incarnations of them) – TF-LSD, TF-AACE, TF-EMC2 – TF-Mobility, TF-MNM Services and global collaboration

And the Politics that Made It Keep middleware nature in mind – Coolness and fuzziness Apply a few basic principles – Listen and talk to anybody – Let things happen – Keep things simple – Maintain focus

Middleware is Cool The base for any network service A way for innovation at reasonable costs – Software intensive – Open source implementations are common place The core for inter-institutional collaboration – Local, national, regional, global

Middleware is Fuzzy Keep a general definition aligned with the idea of providing the basic services a networked application needs to run – Access control, location, accounting, message passing… – Seamless integration: Plug-and-play, plug-and-be- played Adapt and extend – Attention to different user needs – Community diversity

Listen and Talk to Anybody Keep the community as diverse as possible – Active outreach Look for allies – Join forces at all levels – Consolidate global cooperation – Ease local collaboration Rely on meritocracy – To the utmost

Let Things Happen Don’t mind to start small – Wait to gain critical mass – Think big Aligning individual requirements Generalizing a local solution Change as you grow – Many models have proven feasible From community development to deals with providers – Try new models Blaze your trail

Keep It Simple Avoid technical and administrative overheads – Avoid reinventing the wheel in several shapes – Take very careful steps into additional formalizations Take advantage of the existing trust links in the community – Build on strong foundations Make the whole system sustainable – Sustainability is by definition opposite to perpetual growth

Maintain Focus Remember: middleware has a too wide meaning Depending on the community – And where the community feels the stuff is – Middleware is the layer connecting the stuff to the rest of the world in a seamless manner Stuff here is academic and research networking – But the definition above is still too wide – And perceived needs must be dealt first Concentrate on – Enhancing current achievements – Widen their application areas – Explore demanding aspects

To Conclude We have another bunch of years ahead providing innovative services to the European research and academic networks… –And beyond! … As long as we are able to produce results according to the three (Spanish) Bs: –Bueno (Good) Open Dependable Scalable –Bonito (Nice) As seamless as possible –Barato (Cheap) Provide results not available in the open market at reasonable prices Do not impose additional burdens on users and admins