EIDE System Requirements and Specification Documents WECC DEWG EIDE Training

Overview What you will need to specify Identifying deliverables Specification boilerplate

What you will need to specify Network infrastructure Security Back office interfaces Data mapping Triggers Error conditions Redundancy

Network infrastructure How can you use your existing network infrastructure to meet your security and functionality requirements? Possibilities include: Smart listener with code and access to back office through secure sockets or ports Dumb listener with ability only to write documents Somewhere in between

Security requirements Any design you create must meet your security requirements and should be reviewed by the 1300 compliance monitor. Firewall policy DMZ policy Authentication policy This is not because the interface is necessarily critical, it is because of the interface to the potentially critical systems. Firewall – are ports allowed to be opened inbound, is anything outbound restricted? DMZ – can systems be placed in the DMZ Authentication policy, does it allow client mapping?

Back office interfaces Which systems will you be getting data from and sending data to? How? Database, file, three tier? Can changes to the back office systems be isolated from the gateway? What methods will be implemented? How will you ensure reliability?

Data Mapping How will you flexibly map data between your system and others? EIDE protocol is flexible and allows various methods. Database structure and programming logic can allow any combination. Hierarchical approach can be used.

Triggers Timed transfers? Who sets these up and how? Manual transfers? What does the user interface look like? Will you do gets?

Error conditions What happens when you get an invalid inbound document? What happens when your database is temporarily down? What happens when you can’t find a path for a file write? What happens when the receiver system is down? How are timeouts and bad responses handled? Do you need acknowledgement? How are bad responses handled? Do you need acknowledgement?

Redundancy Dual internet connections through different vendors No single point of failure Hot standby configurations Parallel configurations Failover between database sessions

Identify Deliverables Based on what tasks are to be performed Assign responsibilities Specification documents can be created for each module with interfaces specified in each Deliverables may include: System Requirements Document, System Design Document, Database Design, Detailed Design, Technical Documentation, User Documentation, Data Dictionary or Glossary, RFP, Statement of Work Sys req contains a specification of functions defines “what”, sys design contains high level data flows and defines “how”, detailed design contains specifics of how, including physical design details.

Specification boilerplate Introduction including project scope, specification overview, and description of existing systems Functional Requirements with subsections for each functional area User interface requirements Hardware and software requirements Sizing, expansion, performance, upgrade, testing Documentation and Training Maintenance

Functional Requirements Should specify “what” rather than “how” with exceptions where required Should allow for creative implementations Identify which methods will be required Identify any specific implementation requirements for back office interfaces How 23 and 25 hour day is handled How data is mapped

EIDE requirement examples Data sets containing a combination of EMS and Scheduling information can be configured to trigger each hour at HH:MM, each day at XX:MM, each week at XX:MM Data from EMS and scheduling system can be sent using either PutSchedule or PutMeter Messages received will be displayed at the _______ console in a popup box

EIDE Specification Compliance with schema and communications protocol document Ability to integrate schema modifications Functional requirements include validation of received documents based on your own business rules, back end system interfaces User interface requirements include both administrative and user. Meter data accepted only in the past, schedules only in the future, schedules only 3 days back unless operator override, meters only 3 days back, max number of days to accept into the future

EIDE Spec Functional requirements should also specify data translation requirements, whether gets will be used, etc. Should also include timing requirements if there are any Be sure to include 23 and 25 hour day handling, data compression, error conditions, etc.

RFP and SOW boiler plate Needs to include: Terms and conditions Responsibilities, deliverables, schedule, disclosure, termination, performance, project rights, agreement on definition and handling of work outside scope, invoicing and payments, software license/ownership,etc. Project organization and procedures Any company specific requirements

Tool choices There are many good tools available for describing the functional requirements These include DFD, UML, relationship charts for database…