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[HCDX] At IBB, a Call for Rejuvenation
At IBB, a Call for Rejuvenation
http://www.rwonline.com/article/at-ibb-a-call-for-rejuvenation/23858
by Paul McLane
on 07.06.2011
If you´re a tech manager in a bureaucracy, you´ll appreciate the headaches that confront
engineers at the International Broadcasting Bureau.
Lack of standards, poor IT wiring, vulnerable points-of-failure, an inundation of new platforms
and low morale might plague any organization. But we get an unusually frank look at such
problems within the technical arm of U.S. international broadcasting thanks to an in-house
report that came to light recently.
It was written in 2010 by the new top engineer at the IBB, which supports the Broadcasting
Board of Governors. That in turn runs Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty,
Radio Free Asia, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks and the Office of Cuba
Broadcasting.
Andre' V. Mendes set out a plan of how to "transform" their technical and IT operations. As I
wrote on Radio World´s website, the attention-grabber is a recommendation to lay out a plan
to "sunset" U.S. shortwave operations; but there´s lots of interesting reading in the
"2010-2012 BBG Technology Strategic Plan." A Freedom of Information Act request led to its
publication on nonprofit governmentattic.org.
`Serious impediment´
Intriguing is how he paints issues within IBB´s two technology spheres - traditional
engineering and IT - and how those overlap, not always smoothly.
"Today´s effective separation and isolation between engineering and IT constitutes a serious
impediment to progress," Mendes wrote.
He laid out problems facing engineering staff, noting the proliferation of platforms they must
learn - AM, FM, satellite radio, satellite TV, Internet and telephone-based content
distribution - without cuts elsewhere (sound familiar?). He called it a "silent but ever-growing
burden of a burgeoning distribution methodologies portfolio."
He talks about the complexity of systems engineers must administer; declining financial
resources; a disorganized, incoherent Network Control Center; and lack of a solid business
continuity/disaster plan.
Poignantly, he described a shift in job skill relevance among engineers as BBG´s
dependence on shortwave shifts to third-party operations, satellite and other platforms. "This
issue is further compounded by the relatively difficult transition from a traditional RF, antenna,
transmitter design and maintenance knowledge base to the technologies involved in digital
satellite and IP-based networking systems."
He also identified a problem of low morale among engineers, calling the mood "palpable."
Meantime, while the IT side "manages to deliver a relatively high level of service," he
identified multiple single points of failure in critical IT infrastructure; poor layout and
maintenance; "nonexistent" business continuity and disaster recovery plans; and other
issues.
He wrote that the organization´s network was dependent on a single enterprise-class Cisco
core router whose failure would "severely cripple the entire agency" for an extended period.
He provided photos as evidence that "the cabling infrastructure that supports the BBG
network is in serious disarray," criticized past decisions regarding the agency´s e-mail
platform and spoke of "blurry lines of responsibility, finger pointing, morale issues and lower
overall performance" in IT.
Overall, and without accusing individuals, he wrote that various circumstances had created
an "organizational insularity" at IBB that called for a rejuvenation.
Playing catchup
On a broad level, he recommended that the organization consolidate platforms.
"In the engineering arena, this approach will be mostly focused on the usage of shortwave
and the pragmatic analysis of its expected lifespan and overall scope of global operations but
also will include continued migration to MPEG-4 compression technology and steady
introduction of IP transmission protocols. In the IT arena, this process will endeavor to quickly
reduce the number of computing and storage platforms."
He recommended use of server, storage and networking virtualization. He said BBG should
colocate systems into data centers with multiple redundancy layers, and eventually migrate
much of its application portfolio into cloud computing; he pointed out that BBG is already
using the cloud in some applications.
He also laid out operational recommendations, starting in the first year with changing the
name of the Office of Engineering and Technical Services (to Technology, Services and
Innovation); setting up a new tech management structure; creating an application and
database to manage transmission and content distribution assets; and creating a Security,
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Office.
He called for continued migration to MPEG-4 content encoding; an upgrade of the Network
Control Center; outsourcing of station operations in Bangkok and Udorn in Thailand; and
applying what they learn from that outsourcing to other shortwave operations. He
recommended a big IT consolidation effort; fixing IT wiring; eliminating single points of failure;
implementing a hosted e-mail, IM, conferencing and Blackberry server system; and
expanding the use of internal intranet sites.
It´s not clear how many of his goals, if adopted, were accomplished in the last 12 months. He
also laid out broader goals for the second year.
Slow sunset
I never met Andre' V. Mendes; indeed I learned while writing my online article that he is a
former contributor to Radio World´s sister publication TV Technology. But based on my
limited exposure to the subject, his report seems an intelligent discussion of real problems.
I can imagine he upset some apple carts. Who wants photos of their bad wiring spread
around the Internet? And whether Mendes and the staff have the chops to change an
entrenched technology culture embedded within a federal bureaucracy is hard to predict.
As far as shortwave, Mendes did recommend that the organization create a strategy to
"sunset" SW operations.
I think the term "sunset" is misleading because it suggests a finality that the report doesn´t
recommend. Mendes told me in a subsequent e-mail that shortwave "will remain an
important medium for the BBG where it is a viable one, but its use will be driven by audience
habits and the relative costs of transmission."
However, it´s noteworthy that a top technical executive is using that language, and it shows
the direction BBG management is likely to continue.
Expect more reductions of BBG-owned SW facilities; more outsourcing; more sharing of
resources with other broadcasters; and/or more leasing of capacity from third parties. If
you´re interested in the fate of U.S. shortwave, all the more reason to read his report, which
concluded among other things that "the decision process for station closing does not appear
to follow an overt decision and stated plan to reduce shortwave usage."
You can read it in PDF format; visit governmentattic.org, key phrase BBG Technology. Note
that it is followed by separate earlier information about the organization´s technology and new
media efforts.Standard rig : ICOM R75 / 2x16 V / m@h40 heads Sennheiser
Please read and distribute this 15 year research article http://tinyurl.com/5vzg7e
Please read my article on SINPO at http://tinyurl.com/yt7qjd
________________________
http://zlgr.multiply.com (radio monitoring site plus audio clips ) MAIN SITE
http://www.delicious.com/gr_greek1/@zach (all mypages !!)
........
Zacharias Liangas , Thessaloniki Greece
greekdx @ otenet dot gr ---
Pesawat penerima: ICOM R75 , Lowe HF150 , Degen 1102,1103,108,
Tecsun PL200/550, Chibo c300/c979, Yupi 7000
Antenna: 16m hor, 2x16 m V invert, 1m australian loop
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