Service Availability landscape described

In addition to developing specifications, the SA Forum provides educational resources  to promote and enable the adoption of these specifications as well as provide guidance to those implementing applications on the underlying service availability middleware. To date, the SA Forum has focused primarily on the telecommunications and military/aerospace markets, although its specifications are also applicable to mission-critical systems in other vertical markets such as finance, banking, and the enterprise. SA Forum specifications have been successful with multiple key implementations - proprietary and open source - appearing in the market and a growing list of customers using these implementations in their systems. 

In the last three years, the emergence of the OpenSAF (Open Service Availability Framework) Foundation has catalyzed an open source project that is providing an implementation of service availability middleware based on the SA Forum specifications. The OpenSAF Foundation  is an industry group that supports this open source project with marketing, educational and financial resources to accelerate the adoption of OpenSAF in commercial applications. As with other open source projects, there is also a growing set of companies offering commercial support of OpenSAF, very similar to how Red Hat, Wind River, MontaVista and others offer commercial support of Linux.

2010 Milestones

Last year, the SA Forum and OpenSAF witnessed several events that reflect acceleration of service availability solutions in the market. The first was a public statement by a major equipment manufacturer on commercial adoption and deployment of SA Forum specifications, when the OpenSAF Foundation announced Ericsson's deployment of OpenSAF technology in telecommunication networks.

Shortly following that announcement, SA Forum member GoAhead Software formally announced  its shift to an open source business model and commercial support of OpenSAF with the acquisition of the Aventellis(r) Product Line from Emerson Network Power. These events demonstrate that SA Forum implementations are moving into mission-critical deployments with commercial support available in the market.

One of the keys to success for new open source solutions is to demonstrate adoption and deployment in real environments. This can be a challenge, as companies are often reluctant to publicize their technology choices. This is why the public announcement of Ericsson's deployment of OpenSAF earlier this year is such a noteworthy event, demonstrating that SA Forum specifications can effectively address Ericsson's service availability requirements, while showing confidence that OpenSAF is a robust solution.

Educating a Broader Audience

At a higher level, the concept of service availability is becoming increasingly relevant in the business world, as customers today expect that services will be available continuously, without suffering any downtime. The SA Forum is educating a broader audience on the benefits of service availability and is sharing practical information about SA Forum specifications and implementations in new ways. Whether a service provider needs more information on service availability when negotiating a service level agreement (SLA) or a business manager is looking to differentiate a new online application, the SA Forum is working to make this information easily available and accessible.

No Upside to Downtime The Service Availability Forum is focused on growing awareness of service availability solutions and has launched a new cartoon series, "Walter's Moments," which uses relatable scenarios to demonstrate the need for service availability in our daily lives. Cartoon courtesy of SA Forum.

One approach the SA Forum is taking to grow awareness of service availability solutions is by educating audiences with its cartoon series.  "Walter's Moments" follows the life of an ill-fated executive who faces downtime in many different situations. The series conveys the critical importance of service availability in our everyday lives. Like the many consumers who experience the frustration of downtime, Walter learns the costs of using services that do not have a very high level of availability.

In addition to the newly launched cartoon series, the SA Forum has also added installments to the well-received Application Webcast Series. The latest installment, "An Introduction to Software Management Framework," provides a basic overview of one of the most recent specifications developed by the Forum and highlights how the SMF addresses what is considered a critical requirement for service availability - seamless upgrade/downgrade of software and hardware components.

It also explores SMF key features and benefits as well as the first real-world implementation  from the Open Service Availability Framework open source project.

With the measurable benefits offered by SA Forum specifications, including enabling an application development ecosystem, reduction of cost & risk, and faster time to market, the SA Forum and the OpenSAF Foundation anticipate continued momentum in deployments based on SA Forum specifications. Given the obvious synergy between their respective missions and goals, the two consortia have decided to cooperate even more closely in promoting, educating and proliferating the use of their work in the industry across a wide variety of markets.

Figure 1: Relationship between SA Forum and OpenSAF

The SA Forum has defined specifications for Service Availability middleware, and OpenSAF is one of multiple implementations of those specifications. Though separate organizations with distinct missions, both organizations share the common goal of furthering awareness of the need for elevated levels of high availability for different services. The two organizations plan to collaborate in 2011 to jointly sponsor marketing efforts to spur continued implementation of service availability specifications.

About the Author

Dr. Asif Naseem is a member of the OpenSAF Foundation and the Service Availability Forum. He is also President and Chief Operating Officer of GoAhead Software, Inc. in Seattle, Wash. He has more than 20 years of experience in the computer and communications industry. Dr. Naseem is a frequent speaker at industry and academia events and publishes regularly on computer and communication related. He has an M.S. in Electrical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from Michigan State University.