OSS/BSS apps for 5G

It'd be nice for enterprises, rather Digital Service Providers here, that they can wipe away existing apps entirely and start with whole new apps.  I feel it more when it comes to laying out applications for 5G.

In 5G, in additions to the innovations in the radio network to support higher density of devices, the application side is going more software controlled, more programmable.  Big vendors invest in creating their view of complete solutions, rather than investing on APIs and framework that can be learnt by DSP personnel and allowing them to code / deploy their own view point of solutions rapidly.  TMForum's OpenAPI comes to the rescue but the adoption by the industry is slow to come.

Unless vendors of the OSS/BSS apps are ready to provide API's based on commonly used technologies (such as Java, Python,..) and adhering to open standards like TMForum's OpenAPI, vendors become inhibitors to the DSP's dream of new revenue recognition, rather than catalysts.

Firmware upgrade for Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 GT-P3100.

I feared firmware upgrades till I tried upgrading samsung galaxy tab 2 GT-P3100 with android version 4.2.2.  Just followed the information in http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/3/?download=24140 and it was done in 30minutes.

1. You need to download two things.   One is the ODIN software that runs in windows PC.   This helps to install the firmware.  Download from Odin v3.09.  Extract the zip and run the executable.
2. You need to download the firmware itself and keep that in your local directory.   Download from the link http://androidromupdate.com/2014/01/16/install-p3100xwdmi1-4-2-2-update-galaxy-tab-2-7-0-gt-p3100/.  I downloaded the firmware available for Germany. 
3. Run ODIN in your windows PC and connect your GT-P3100 to PC  just to check whether it is recognized.  And then disconnect it.
4. There is no "Home" button in GT-P3100.  Shutdown you device, and then  press the Power Button and Volume Down button together at the same time.  The device will start with a firmware download screen.  Then connect the device to your PC and wait for that to be recognized.
5. Add the firmware file folder to the "AP" check box in ODIN.  Then just press "start" in ODIN.  That is it.  Job done.

I was thinking that all the existing apps and data will be wiped off.  To my surprise, all apps and information were there.  However, some apps stopped working.  I wonder why such a simple job requires Samsung to delay its release to India.

How to get TOGAF 9 Certified?

In May 2012, I got TOGAF 9 Certified.  Since then, I have been asked by many people on how to get certified.  There could be easier ways... I write here the process I followed that helped me to succeed with a neat 85% score.

TOGAF 9 Certification is provided based on Knowledge based exam.  No pre-requisite.  All you need to do is to study the TOGAF 9 Standards in depth, do some practice tests and then take the exam.

To become TOGAF 9 Certified, you need to take 2 exams.  TOGAF 9 Foundation (Part 1) and TOGAF 9 Certification (Part 2) exams.   If you pass Part 1 alone, you'll be given "TOGAF 9 Foundation" recognition. If you pass both Part 1 and 2, you'll be TOGAF 9 Certified.  It is NOT worth studying for Part 1 alone as the effort needed for Part 2 is just a little more.  The exam fees is also lesser if you take both the parts together.

Part 1 has 40 questions and Part 2 has 8 questions.  Part 1 tests the TOGAF "Book Knowledge" and Part 2 tests the TOGAF "Applied Knowledge".  Part 2 is scenario based questions.  All questions in Part 1 & 2 are in multiple choice format.  Part 1 requires 55% pass mark and part 2 requires 60%.  The exam questions are not hard at all.  Part 2 allows open book, but that won't help much in answering those scenario based questions.  The timing given  (Part 1 is 1 hour and Part 2 is 1:30 hours independently) is comfortable.   I finished each of the parts 30 min earlier in spite of taking ample time on each question.

Accredited TOGAF 9 Training Courses are provided by training institutes.  They charge around Rs. 80,000 (approx USD 1500 for the course fee and exam voucher).  The institutes usually conduct 5 day courses and provide examination vouchers.  I found this route very expensive and wastes annual leave.  So, decided on Self Study.  

Self study route costs about Rs. 3500 (USD 60) for the study materials and Rs. 28,000 (USD 495) for the exam fees.

Self Study guides can be purchased from The Open Group site  https://www2.opengroup.org/ogsys/jsp/publications/PublicationDetails.jsp?catalogno=b097.  Self Study Guide is a package of Practice Tests, Information Sheets, Reference Cards and the Self Study guide books.  The Practice Test questions in self study package are exactly like the real exam.  If you pass in those practice tests, there is a high chance of passing the real certification exam also.  

Studying for the exam wasn't hard.  But, it took significant effort to study the TOGAF 9 way of Architecture Processes.  I did preparation for about three weeks, 3 hours per day, totaling about 50 hours of preparation. Having some experience in Enterprise Architecture will  help to grasp the TOGAF 9 contents easier.

As for as TOGAF 9 benefits for an Individual is concerned,  the architecture work you may do will become more structured. The Certification logo in your resume will make it louder for the good.  

TOGAF is about Architecture Processes.  It certainly helps Enterprises to have a structure for Architecture Governance and gain the benefits of it.  It does not talk about making the technical architecture of enterprise applications better. 



This is the first test I have taken in Prometric test centers.  Just registered the previous day and appeared for the exam, the next day.  As soon as you finish, the score appears on the computer screen.  The exam center also provided a printed sheet indicating the score.   4 days later, e-mail notification came from opengroup.  By following processes mentioned in that e-mail, the TOGAF 9 certification got verified and names appear in the TOGAF 9 Certified people directory  http://www.opengroup.org/togaf9/cert/cert_archlist-short.tpl. It is optional to get your name published there.

The Open Group site has clear and comprehensive details.  You can start with this link http://www.opengroup.org/togaf9/cert/docs/indiv.tpl   to get the latest details as some of the information given here might change / age.  

(to make it all sound legally correct, should I state my disclaimer that I'm not responsible for any loss/gain you may face by reading the above information???  )


Many ask for the study material from me in comments below!!  It is so easy to purchase online.  I mentioned above the link for it.  Here again https://www2.opengroup.org/ogsys/jsp/publications/PublicationDetails.jsp?catalogno=b097. 

Apache 2.2.22 with PHP 5.2

It wasn't a cake walk to make Apache 2.2 and PHP 5 working together.  Apache 2 on windows require VC6 compilation of PHP.  The thread safe MSI installer (downloaded from http://windows.php.net/download/#php-5.2-ts-VC6-x86) did not have the php5apache2_2.dll.  This DLL must be loaded for Apache to process PHP files.  The solution is to download the PHP Zip (http://windows.php.net/downloads/releases/php-5.2.17-Win32-VC6-x86.zip) and then make necessary configurations in Apache's httpd.conf to make these two to work together.

This tip came through
How to Install and Configure PHP 5 to Run with Apache on Windows
 

TOGAF - useful for Enterprises?

The simple answer is "YES".  

Large & small enterprises create application capabilities by a simple route.  There is a budget for Business Units and that is used to sponsor projects and applications are created.  The end result is thousands of unmanageable, and rigid applications not only resulting in higher cost of maintenance, but also become hindrances for building new business capabilities.

TOGAF is nothing but an Architecture process including a defined responsibility for  Architecture Governance.  Architecture Governance is missing in most of the organizations.  Establishing it with high skilled resources is costly.  Keeping it alive with all the parties complying to Architecture Principles is even tougher.  But, missing this critical area would be comparable to "penny wise and pound foolish".  30% of savings in IT operations is something Enterprises can expect the least by establishing rigid Architecture Practice rather than letting Business Units build rigid silo applications.  The revenue growth due to App flexibility is something not easily quantifiable.  However Enterprises can target for 20% reduction in App Capability Creation cost and 30% improvement in Time-to-Market.

Collaborative BI

Surprised to see an article on Collaborative BI few days after I posted my previous blog.

http://www.information-management.com/infodirect/2011_245/collaboration-BI-Scorecard-consumerization-mobile-10022533-1.html?ET=informationmgmt:e3242:2123578a:&st=email&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=IM_IMD_052412

Will "Collaborative BI" mature to a new methodology?

Collaborative knowledge Management for Business Intelligence Applications

The most complex thing to keep up to date in any Business Intelligence Application environment is the Knowledge of Business logics. Not only the logics behind the codes, but documenting the reasons behind decisions is also essential to avoid trotting on petabytes of data later.

Often, Organizations use Word or Excel based documents for Knowledge Management.  These artifacts will have usually a defined set of owners identified who alone can edit.  This method will work well if the documentations are well maintained and kept up to date.  However, the volume of logics that get implemented and changed with business changes are huge in BI environment and not every detail gets into the documents.

In some decade plus old DWH environments knowledge exists as part of the "Inicidents" in ticket management system if ITIL based service management tools are used.  Searching through the tickets to find business logics is certainly not pleasurable.  Since all the Business Logics weren't existing in structured manner, resolving incidents would take longer time and it wastes energy.

In such cases, documenting all the knowledge from scratch using the fragmented sources such as Incident details will be difficult and may take years.  The easiest approach in such cases is to opt for Collaborative knowledge gathering as a continual process.  

Setup a structure such as wiki for such collaborative knowledge gathering.  People can add in knowledge as and when they find time during the course of the maintenance activities.

Business Intelligence applications need the following kind of documentation the least.
- Source Details (Source table or file name, content structure, field level details, applicable values, periodicity of data availability, mode of transfer such as ftp push/pull)
- Every table in DWH (and other DB objects such as views, procedures, etc.) should have adequate details about the business use, loading frequency, sources used to load the data, etc.
- Every field of a table need to have the following details: business use, logic used to load the field, valid values, historical decisions behind the logics used, the fixes done, etc.
- Business report details (who uses that, how important is that to business, what are the verifications that need to be done, etc.)

Create a structure (template) to capture the details relevant to the BI implementation.  Collaborative Knowledge Management for DWH may be the easiest and cheapest way to realize efficiency.