Poremba Consulting
Street address
San Francisco, CA Zip
415 819 9660



Date: Mon, 9 Dec 2002 15:55:09 -0800

03 00050 60 02121201




Mr. Rod Welch
rodwelch@pacbell.net
The Welch Company
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111 2496
..
Subject:   Agenda for Meeting on SDS

Dear Rod,

Here's a proposed meeting agenda, as you requested. Hope this format is easier for you to work with.
..
Feel free to modify as you see fit.

Sincerely,



Michael Poremba
michael_poremba@yahoo.com

..
Copy to:

  1. Johnson, Garold \(Gary\) L., dynalt@dynalt.com







..
Proposed agenda for Mike's second meeting with Rod Aiming for a meeting in December 2002.
..
Overview
  1. Feedback on the analysis I sent to you and Gary What are your thoughts on the following:
    ..
    Rewriting the two documents: POIMS and Communication Metrics Rod, what's your response to my suggestion of rewriting these documents?
    ..
  2. Conversation on status of SDS project

    Rod, I'd like to hear how things are progressing regarding SDS. As you know, I'm interested in what you've come up with, and would love to see it advanced beyond your own personal use.
    ..
  3. Brief report on the status of my own web application for collaborative writing

    To catch you up on what I've accomplished in the past half-year, and some key lessons that I've learned along the way.
..
Review progress regarding SDS
    ..
  1. Accomplishments to date
    ..
    Results of Gary's analysis and trial
    ..
  2. Current strategy

    1. Strategy for re-implementing SDS

      What kind of strategy is most appealing?
        ..
      1. Re-implement SDS as a Windows or Java application Targeted towards individual end-users.
        ..
      2. Integrate key functionality into more sophisticated tools For example, Knownspace Helium
        ..
      3. Focus on selling management consulting services What about SDS?
      ..
    2. Work plan

      What are your next steps?

      1. There are so many ideas in SDS that are worthy of re-implementing elsewhere Ease-of-use will be important.
        ..
      2. Porting SDS to another environment is, essentially, a rewrite There's no such thing as an application "port" that involves changing programming environments. These are called application "rewrites".
        ..
      3. A rewrite should progress in small steps Modern software development usually involves continuous incremental improvement through a series of many low-risk goals, rather than large ambitious projects.
        ..
      4. No one person can do it themselves You're talking about a multi-person project.
        ..
      5. Recouping on investment is challenging Covering the costs of creating such software applications is challenging. Profiting is even more difficult.
        ..
      6. Few people have such a practical vision of information management But how to exploit it?
..
Review Mike's progress

Developing a web-based collaborative writing tool Since we last met, I've made good progress on my web site for collaborative writing.
    ..
  1. Accomplishments to date
    1. Web-based outline editor

      Works in IE/Windows
      ..
    2. Backend database for storing outlines

      Relational database for storing managed content.
      ..
    3. Basic user registration and authentication system

      Allows user to create an account, log into secure web site, and maintain account.
      ..
    4. Secure spaces for collaborating on outlines

      Backend support for secure shared workspaces where users can collaborate on writings.
      ..
    5. User home page

      A user's index of their content.
    ..
  2. Current work plan
    1. Business strategy
      1. Meet with Eric Armstrong for his perspective Eric has offered to serve as a sounding board for ideas on how I should direct my focus to exploit the technology I've developed.
        ..
      2. Gain user base Goal is to get to 25 users who have logged in 25 times. Product can then be called successful, and worthy of following through on a business plan. Until then, it's all talk.
      ..
    2. Development
      1. Improve usability of user home page
        ..
      2. Finish tools for the creation and management of user workspaces
        ..
      3. Improve collaboration features
        ..
      4. Enhance existing editor to work in other browsers IE/Mac and Mozilla support.
        ..
      5. Add functionality for threaded discussions