Difference between revisions of "Service Provider Directory"

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''This page is under construction and does not represent the opinion or policy of the OSGeo!''
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#REDIRECT [[Archived]]
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''This page is under construction and does not represent official policy of OSGeo. Find the official Service Provider Directory at http://www.osgeo.org/search_profile''
  
 
= Introduction =  
 
= Introduction =  
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However, maintaining a list of service providers is fraught with peril for OSGeo.  It is important that we do so in a manner that is fair to the service providers (impartial), and aligns with the goals of the Foundation.
 
However, maintaining a list of service providers is fraught with peril for OSGeo.  It is important that we do so in a manner that is fair to the service providers (impartial), and aligns with the goals of the Foundation.
  
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= Prioritization =
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'''NOTE: See [[SPD Prioritization]] for a proposal to add contribution based prioritization to the service provider directory.'''
  
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It was decided at the [[Board Meeting FOSS4G2007]] that the Service Provider Directory should give searchers some guidance on which service providers are actually supporters of the foundation and projects.  This helps searchers highlight the more involved service providers, and provides an incentive for organizations to support development and the foundation.
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= Provider Details =
  
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One common way to do this is by issuing certificates. This is a slippery slope and therefore OSGeo will implement an alternative way of documenting competency and involvement by leveraging existing structures. This results in multiple benefits for the potential customer, the service provider and also the software project.
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WebCom maintains a service provider registry on the web site with the following attributes for each service provider:
  
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Prioritization is envisaged to involve placing the high priority organizations at the top of the search result, and to result in some sort of icons placed beside the provider indicating they are [[Foundation Sponsorship|foundation sponsors]], or have been identified as ''project contributors'' for a particular project.
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* Organization (or individual) name.
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* URL to service providers off-site web page with service details, etc. Tiny, one person, part-time consultants can add contact information to their OSGeo Wiki user page and link to that page.
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* A list of packages/technologies the service provider provides services for (from a predefined pick list).
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* A list of (human) languages the organization can provide service in.
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* A list of office locations (later with city/country with lat/long coordinates) for the service provider.
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* An employee count for the organization.
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* An email contact for the organization (not normally displayed - used for administrative purposes)
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* The date of last information update (not normally displayed - used for administrative purposes)
  
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Currently active [http://www.osgeo.org/sponsors foundation sponsors] and Project contributors will be listed higher up and highlighted with a small icon indicating the sponsorship level.
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== Range of Services ==
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== Examples ==
 
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Links to how others go about this. This may educate us and help find the middle way.
 
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* http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/topic,6856.0.html (just a list)
 
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* http://www.postgresql.org/support/professional_support (anybody can apply)
 
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* http://drupal.org/drupal-services (only contributors are listed)
 
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== General Rules ==
 
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Project contributors are to be determined by the project steering committees by what ever means a given project deems appropriate. This needs to be discussed with the project leads so that they can work out any foreseeable trouble with their projects beforehand. Project contributors can be organizations employing a [http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=ende&p=hPXz..&search=T%E4ter committer], employing PSC members, being a project sponsor, or any other criteria a PSC wishes. Criteria have to be worked out, published by the corresponding project and should be discussed and officially approved by the board prior to applying it. Then Projects will nominate organizations (or individuals) as contributors. The SPD management interface (tbd) would be used to "award" them contributor status.
 
  
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* Projects need to graduate before they are able to nominate organizations and individuals. This is to make sure that governance has been approved by OSGeo and PSCs are functioning correctly. Additionally it will be an incentive for projects to graduate.
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''The Range of Services'' topic seems to relate to additional information that we might add to service provider entries, but it is not currently active.''
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* PSC members are encouraged to nominate themselves (or their employing companies). Nominating oneself is a perfectly sound way of recognition.
 
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* Anybody from the single contractor to the multinational commercial enterprise can provide services for Free and Open Source Software.  
 
  
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== Range of Services ==
 
 
Service providers can select a range of services that they provide. This helps clients to better identify a potential provider and will prevent specialized providers to be asked for services they do not offer. The range of services includes any combination or all of the following:
 
Service providers can select a range of services that they provide. This helps clients to better identify a potential provider and will prevent specialized providers to be asked for services they do not offer. The range of services includes any combination or all of the following:
 
* Installation, administration, support
 
* Installation, administration, support
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* Other services (explain)
 
* Other services (explain)
 
* ''Add your own services''
 
* ''Add your own services''
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=== How to apply as a service provider (SP)? ===
 
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# Subscribe to the mailing list
 
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# Introduce yourself to the communtiy.
 
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# Collaborate by providing help, etc. (see below)
 
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# Add yourself to the OSGeo Wiki
 
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# Request PSC for nomination
 
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== Level of Involvement ==
 
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There are several ways in which a service provider can get involved:
 
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* Become active on the mailing lists
 
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* Write documentations
 
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* Translations (docs, interfaces)
 
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* Create Tutorials, educational material
 
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* Support systems architecture (OSGeo SVN, Trac, Mailing Lists, Web Site, etc.)
 
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* Become part of the core development team
 
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Vetting these activities will put an additional workload on the Project Steering Committee of the corresponding OSGeo project. This should be compensated by the positive effects resulting from higher exposure and so on. This should be broadly discussed if required. The additional work for the PSC should be compensated by higher attractivity to the project to new collaborators and sponsors.
 
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The spatial attribute (location of the SP) and language proficiency (which languages are spoken) are not controlled by OSGeo in any way but will have a high level of influence when it comes to spatial distribution. Therefore the number of staff available locally should be explicitly specified as one employee can only be in one place at a time.
 
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= Provider Details =
 
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WebCom maintains a service provider registry on the web site with the following attributes for each service provider:
 
−
 
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* Organization (or individual) name.
 
−
* URL to service providers off-site web page with service details, etc. Tiny, one person, part-time consultants can add contact information to their OSGeo Wiki user page and link to that page.
 
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* A list of packages/technologies the service provider provides services for (from a predefined pick list).
 
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* A list of (human) languages the organization can provide service in.
 
−
* A list of office locations (later with city/country with lat/long coordinates) for the service provider.
 
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* An employee count for the organization.
 
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* An email contact for the organization (not normally displayed - used for administrative purposes)
 
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* The date of last information update (not normally displayed - used for administrative purposes)
 
  
 
= Vetting =
 
= Vetting =
  
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''Prioritization (see above) may give some directions as to how vetting can be institutionalized. Meanwhile the community will have to watch out. ''
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''[[SPD Prioritization]] may give some directions as to how vetting can be institutionalized. Meanwhile the community will have to watch out. ''
  
 
OSGeo is a collaborative work place and information hub. It is essentially providing a mechanism for service providers to list themselves, but makes no specific effort to determine if the information they provide is correct.  
 
OSGeo is a collaborative work place and information hub. It is essentially providing a mechanism for service providers to list themselves, but makes no specific effort to determine if the information they provide is correct.  
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Implementation plan:
 
Implementation plan:
 
*Will be implemented using the edit entry page
 
*Will be implemented using the edit entry page
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Note: Currently the only accounts that can edit an entry (or delegate it to another user) are "Administrator", "warmerdam" and the current owner of the entry.  So ask Tyler, or Frank to help with entries otherwise lost.
  
 
= Online Link =  
 
= Online Link =  
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* http://www.osgeo.org/search_profile
 
* http://www.osgeo.org/search_profile
 
* http://www.osgeo.org/submit_profile
 
* http://www.osgeo.org/submit_profile
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=Business Processes=
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== Administrative Management ==
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The OSGeo Service Provider Directory administered by 1..n managers. OSGeo Service Provider Directory managers have the ability to make changes to entries as well as to search categories (country, language, technology expertise).
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==OSGeo Issue Tracker==
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The [http://trac.osgeo.org/osgeo OSGeo Issue Tracker] shall be used as the means of tracking the lifecycle of requests relevant to OSGeo Service Provider Directory management.  A component called "Service Provider Directory" shall be used to categorize/triage requests accordingly.
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= Business Processes =
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==Editing Entries==
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* service provider representative opens ticket on OSGeo Issue Tracker with Component=Service Provider Directory
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** Name of service provider
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* OSGeo Service Provider Directory management are alerted via email
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* if required, discussion / consensus are documented in the issue
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* OSGeo Service Provider Directory management make desired changes (update, delete)
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* Issue is closed by service provider representative
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==Search Category Management==
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* user opens ticket on OSGeo Issue Tracker with Component=Service Provider Directory
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** requested Category update
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* OSGeo Service Provider Directory management are alerted via email
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* if required, discussion / consensus are documented in the issue
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* OSGeo Service Provider Directory management make desired changes (add, update, delete)
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* Issue is closed by user
  
 
= Feedback =  
 
= Feedback =  
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Please use the discussion page [[Talk:Service Provider Directory]] for feedback.
  
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* It would be helpful to have options under the 'Technology Expertise' list for 'Geospatial Servers' and 'Systems Administration'.  It SEEMS these important services are in keeping with the goals of the directory.--[[User:Dougrenwick|Dougrenwick]] 19:27, 28 June 2007 (CEST).
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= See also =
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** This should be addressed by the additional section "type of service provided"
 
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* Perhaps a list of service types (e.g. end user application development, by language vs. data development vs. hosting vs. feature development) would help further differentiate providers. ''Change from "perhaps" to "must". I don't want to waste mine or anyone else's time turning down queries I'm not able or willing to provide.''
 
  
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* Add coordinates to a searchable map. Add colored symbols to represent different service types, size of symbol reflects level of sponsorship or project involvement. This will need to be addressed carefully by good cartographic layout.
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* [[Africa service providers]]
  
 
[[Category:Advocacy]]
 
[[Category:Advocacy]]

Latest revision as of 22:12, 6 May 2018

Redirect to:

This page is under construction and does not represent official policy of OSGeo. Find the official Service Provider Directory at http://www.osgeo.org/search_profile

Introduction

A frequent request of organizations wanting to use open source geospatial software, is for suggestions on individual consultants, or companies providing Commercial Services for the various software packages. In the past some projects have made an effort to list those offering services around the project, but a more holistic approach to this by OSGeo would be of substantial value to the projects, the service providers, and most importantly to the organizations looking to implement solutions.

However, maintaining a list of service providers is fraught with peril for OSGeo. It is important that we do so in a manner that is fair to the service providers (impartial), and aligns with the goals of the Foundation.

NOTE: See SPD Prioritization for a proposal to add contribution based prioritization to the service provider directory.

Provider Details

WebCom maintains a service provider registry on the web site with the following attributes for each service provider:

  • Organization (or individual) name.
  • URL to service providers off-site web page with service details, etc. Tiny, one person, part-time consultants can add contact information to their OSGeo Wiki user page and link to that page.
  • A list of packages/technologies the service provider provides services for (from a predefined pick list).
  • A list of (human) languages the organization can provide service in.
  • A list of office locations (later with city/country with lat/long coordinates) for the service provider.
  • An employee count for the organization.
  • An email contact for the organization (not normally displayed - used for administrative purposes)
  • The date of last information update (not normally displayed - used for administrative purposes)

Range of Services

The Range of Services topic seems to relate to additional information that we might add to service provider entries, but it is not currently active.

Service providers can select a range of services that they provide. This helps clients to better identify a potential provider and will prevent specialized providers to be asked for services they do not offer. The range of services includes any combination or all of the following:

  • Installation, administration, support
  • Bug fixing, Maintenance
  • Customization
  • Core Development
  • Consultation
  • Architecture planning, Integration
  • Performance Tuning
  • Translation
  • Other services (explain)
  • Add your own services

Vetting

SPD Prioritization may give some directions as to how vetting can be institutionalized. Meanwhile the community will have to watch out.

OSGeo is a collaborative work place and information hub. It is essentially providing a mechanism for service providers to list themselves, but makes no specific effort to determine if the information they provide is correct.

In order to protect the OSGeo brand the community might "vette" entries which can involve discussions on public mailing lists or edits in this Wiki. It is therefore in the best interest of service providers to only provide correct information. Service providers are invited to discuss questions on the WebCom (or VisCom or Advocacy) list prior to adding information about their Businesses.

It is possible that OSGeo will need an official mechanism to deal with complaints about the accuracy/appropriateness of a directory entry. Not anticipating many complaints, currently WebCom (Website Committee) is responsible for preliminary negotiation of complaints. If the complainant or service provider is not satisfied then the issue can be escalated up to the Board of Directors. If this turns out to be a frequent problem OSGeo will develop a more streamlined procedure.

Disclaimer

OSGeo does not guarantee that the information provided by this directory are correct and has no mechanism to check or control them. Information is provided as is. If you find information to be incorrect please contact us through the feedback link at the bottom of the Service Provider Search Interface.

Web Display

The web page for the service provider directory is still under development. If you are interested in helping design the page please feel free to add comments at the bottom of this page. Ultimately the directory should provide means to query based on each of the attributes (packages, languages, location), as well as the whole list. The directory can be ordered following the Prioritization.

Implementation plan:

  • Search page with all possible fields
  • Facility to see complete list
  • As a result, entries with very basic information as Name, Technology and may optional short description will be displayed
  • Each entry will lead to some more specific details on new page for the selected provider.
  • In future, we may have some comparison page for some (possibly not more than some number) selected search results on some criteria (to start with only for technology and language support).
  • Or search result will have proper pagination and search page itself will have all the details included so no need to navigate for each and every result.

Updates

Entries should be updated annually. On or near a year from the last update, the contact address should be emailed, and the service provider encouraged to update their page - even if only to save it "as is" updating the last update date. Any entry not updated for 24 months should be dropped, and the contact notified by email.

This all assumes the entries can be maintained by a logged in user to the Drupal site, and that an entry, once created, would be "owned" by a drupal user.

Implementation plan:

  • Will be implemented using the edit entry page

Note: Currently the only accounts that can edit an entry (or delegate it to another user) are "Administrator", "warmerdam" and the current owner of the entry. So ask Tyler, or Frank to help with entries otherwise lost.

Online Link

This version has been implemented by Gupteshwar Joshi on the OSGeo Drupal server. The implementation is tracked in a Trac Ticket #47 and has been switched to the production server beginning of May.

Business Processes

Administrative Management

The OSGeo Service Provider Directory administered by 1..n managers. OSGeo Service Provider Directory managers have the ability to make changes to entries as well as to search categories (country, language, technology expertise).

OSGeo Issue Tracker

The OSGeo Issue Tracker shall be used as the means of tracking the lifecycle of requests relevant to OSGeo Service Provider Directory management. A component called "Service Provider Directory" shall be used to categorize/triage requests accordingly.

Business Processes

Editing Entries

  • service provider representative opens ticket on OSGeo Issue Tracker with Component=Service Provider Directory
    • Name of service provider
  • OSGeo Service Provider Directory management are alerted via email
  • if required, discussion / consensus are documented in the issue
  • OSGeo Service Provider Directory management make desired changes (update, delete)
  • Issue is closed by service provider representative

Search Category Management

  • user opens ticket on OSGeo Issue Tracker with Component=Service Provider Directory
    • requested Category update
  • OSGeo Service Provider Directory management are alerted via email
  • if required, discussion / consensus are documented in the issue
  • OSGeo Service Provider Directory management make desired changes (add, update, delete)
  • Issue is closed by user

Feedback

Please use the discussion page Talk:Service Provider Directory for feedback.

See also

Retrieved from "http://wiki.osgeo.org/w/index.php?title=Service_Provider_Directory&oldid=114798"