World Class Standards 44TD21 The ETSI Standards Engineering Process STF308 DTR/MTS Steve Randall STF308 © ETSI All rights reserved MTS#44 March 2007, Sophia Antipolis

World Class Standards 44TD21: ETSI Standards Engineering Process: TC-MTS#44 March Overview of DTR/MTS  Analysis of the Engineering Processes within other bodies:  3GPP  IETF  OMA  IEEE  ITU-T  DVB  Analysis of the Engineering Process within ETSI  Recommendations for changes to ETSI’s process which should help to assure the inherent interoperability of implementations

World Class Standards 44TD21: ETSI Standards Engineering Process: TC-MTS#44 March Basis of the Analyses  The analyses of engineering processes were based on the existence and use of the following aspects:  A means of initiating new work items aligned with strategic objectives  A means of distributing elements of new work to multiple development bodies  A means of coordinating work distributed across multiple development bodies  Document drafting methods and facilities  Procedures for validating completed standards and sets of standards  A means of controlling changes to approved standards

World Class Standards 44TD21: ETSI Standards Engineering Process: TC-MTS#44 March Analysis of other Standards Bodies  Protocol standards development in a number of bodies is still based on a 3 Stage method (as per I.130):  User requirements  Functional Architecture  Detailed Protocol specification  Most other bodies raise Project or Topic work items which then spawn lower-level work items  In many organizations, responsibilities are distributed and monitored by a single central group  Coordination of related standards is generally good and even quite formalized in a few organizations  In most cases validation of standards is rather ad hoc and, in some instances, accidental!

World Class Standards 44TD21: ETSI Standards Engineering Process: TC-MTS#44 March Analysis of ETSI’s Standards Engineering Process  Drafting procedures and support amongst the best but mainly in the area of cosmetic rather than technical quality  The combined facilities offered by STFs, PTCC and MTS itself are unique and enviable  The Work Programme management culture is document based rather than project based  Distribution and coordination of projects across multiple TBs depends on individual TBs  Agreements with other SDOs are oriented towards the sharing of documents rather than resources  Validation facilities exist but validation is not mandatory  Change control is ad hoc

World Class Standards 44TD21: ETSI Standards Engineering Process: TC-MTS#44 March Recommendations (1)  The analysis identified that ETSI's own process is very good in many aspects  However, lessons can be learned from the other SDOs  There are a number of areas where changes in ETSI's process should result in improvements to the interoperability inherent in ETSI's standards

World Class Standards 44TD21: ETSI Standards Engineering Process: TC-MTS#44 March Recommendations (2)  Recommendation 1:  ETSI's technical committees should be encouraged make use of a system of hierarchical work items where one work item can result in a set of related deliverables.  Recommendation 2:  If hierarchical work items are introduced to the ETSI standards engineering process (Recommendation 1), a coordinating editor should be appointed for each high-level work item with overall responsibility for the coordination of the content and schedule of the subordinate work items and deliverables

World Class Standards 44TD21: ETSI Standards Engineering Process: TC-MTS#44 March Recommendations (3)  Recommendation 3:  If the subject area of a new high-level work item does not fit clearly into the scope of a single existing technical committee, ETSI members should be encouraged to submit the work item request to OCG for approval and allocation of responsibilities  Recommendation 4:  The ETSI Secretariat should investigate the provision of an easy-to- use project management software package that can be used for small projects as well as large ones  Recommendation 5:  All technical committee support staff should be trained to be competent in project planning and management techniques and the associated software tools available in ETSI

World Class Standards 44TD21: ETSI Standards Engineering Process: TC-MTS#44 March Recommendations (4)  Recommendation 6:  The current set of fixed milestones associated with a work item should be extended to include significant stages within the drafting process  Recommendation 7:  The ETSI Secretariat should investigate how the existing Work Programme Management application could be used to monitor the progress of essential work items in external SDOs  Recommendation 8:  All technical committees should be encouraged to use a phased approach to the development of standards (particularly protocol specifications) that incorporates the main elements of a "top-down" design process

World Class Standards 44TD21: ETSI Standards Engineering Process: TC-MTS#44 March Recommendations (5)  Recommendation 9:  ETSI PTCC should be requested to provide a proposal for a package of support for technical committees undertaking validation activities related to all types of ETSI deliverables  Recommendation 10:  The ETSI Board should ensure that the use of the TC-MTS validation techniques and guidelines is promoted to all technical committees  Recommendation 11:  "Specification Validated" should be included in the fixed set of WPM milestones  Recommendation 12:  The OCG and the ETSI Secretariat should work together to evaluate the possibility and means of incorporating Plugtest events into the standards development process

World Class Standards 44TD21: ETSI Standards Engineering Process: TC-MTS#44 March Recommendations (6)  Recommendation 13:  The ETSI Board should encourage all technical committees to implement a method of change management which is appropriate to the nature of the specifications they produce  Recommendation 14:  The ETSI Secretariat should investigate the provision of an easy-to- use, web-based change request and management system and train all TB support staff in its application and use  Recommendation 15:  OCG and The ETSI Board should commission the production of a "Managing Standards Engineering" handbook to provide guidance and direction on all aspects ETSI's standards engineering process

World Class Standards 44TD21: ETSI Standards Engineering Process: TC-MTS#44 March Conclusion  DTR/MTS has started MTS approval by correspondence. Planned completion 20 April 2007  OCG review in June 2007  Board review September 2007  If required, a follow-up STF in 2008 to develop an implementation plan