"heads up" on computer infrastructure To: "DC - All District Chiefs" cc: " , Computer Policy Advisory Committee, Reston, VA" Subject: "heads up" on computer infrastructure Date: Tue, 19 May 1998 11:00:17 -0400 From: "Carl R Goodwin, Subdistrict Chief, Miami, FL" Bob Davis and I are your representatives on the Computer Policy Advisory Committee (CPAC) and we want to make sure you are aware of some possible future computer infrastructure concepts that may have relevance to purchasing decisions using '98 funds. This preliminary information has been presented at NCTM and discussed at CPAC but has not, to our knowledge, been directly supplied to you. This should be viewed as a "heads up" in advance of more detailed information that will be contained in the FUTCOM3 report and an advisory memorandum from the Office of Information, both planned for mid June. Even though there is some level of uncertainty regarding our future computing environment, we feel you need to have our best information now to factor into your spending decisions this year. Most of the uncertainty is due to Bureau-level computer infrastructure decisions that should be made in the near future on e-mail, office automation, and the common financial desktop. In the next few years, the WRD computer infrastructure is expected to consist of: - SUN servers for corporate UNIX applications such as AIS, NWIS, and GIS server applications, less likely for GIS client applications. - NT servers to serve Windows/Intel applications and client GIS applications to the desktop - A mix of X-terminals, NetPCs, and PCs on desktops in a client-server configuration. Transition to this future vision will require significant but modest investments, in comparison to the DG system, and will be timed on several factors that include local needs for increased performance, conversion schedules for putting AIS and NWIS on the SUN platform, and District decisions on when to install corporate e-mail and office automation software that is expected to be NT based. We hope this brief note will alert you to the present status and encourage you to watch for the more detailed FUTCOM3 and Office of Information documents that will be forthcoming in a month or so. If you have any computer-related topics or concerns that you would like to have specifically addressed in these documents, please let Bob or me know, quickly.