MIGRATION SOLUTION FOR TRANSPARENT USER ACCESS TO INFORMATION SYSTEMS

THE DISTRIBUTION AND ACCESS OF DATA IN A HIGHLY DECENTRALIZED ORGANIZATION CREATES SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS AND INEFFICIENCIES IN MANAGEMENT, OPERATIONS, AND HUMAN RESOURCES. THREE STANDARDS PROGRAMS, IISS, PDES, AND GOSIP ADDRESS THE PROBLEM OF MULTI-VENDOR DATABASE ACCESS. THESE STANDARDS ARE ESSENTIAL, HOWEVER THEY CAN ONLY BE APPLIED TO "GREENFIELD" FACILITIES OR ISOLATED APPLICATIONS. BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND PRICELESS DATA THROUGHOUT GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR WILL BE ISOLATED FROM FUTURE SYSTEMS CONFORMING TO THESE STANDARDS WHICH PROMOTE FULL DATA TRANSPARENCY. WHAT IS NEEDED TO PROTECT THE INVESTMENTS IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS, AND TO PROVIDE A MIGRATION PATH FROM CURRENT VENDOR SPECIFIC ACCESS METHODOLOGIES TO A FULLY TRANSPARENT SYSTEM, IS A GATEWAY PROCESSOR FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS. THE FOCUS OF CIMSPEC'S PHASE I PROPOSAL IS THE RESEARCH AND PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF A GATEWAY PROCESSOR WHICH ALLOWS USER/APPLICATIONS TO TRANSPARENTLY ACCESS TARGETED DATABASES, AND PROVIDE A MIGRATION PATH FOR CURRENT SYSTEMS TO A FULLY TRANSPARENT ARCHITECTURE. THE OUTPUT OF PHASE I IS THE PLAN TO CONSTRUCT AND DEMONSTRATE A PROTOTYPE THAT IS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE NAVY'S CURRENT INSTALLED BASE OF SYSTEMS.