Report of the Ad Hoc Committee to Council 28/09/02
Report of the ad hoc committee considering the SRS
1. The ad hoc committee met in the InternetNZ Board room at 5:00 pm, Wednesday 18 September to consider the report commissioned from Ad van der Tol on the status of the four parties involved in implementation of the SRS, and the overall status of the project.
2. The terms of reference of the ad hoc committee were to:
- Consider the report from Ad van der Tol;
- Determine any risks to the SRS implementation as scheduled for 14 October identified in the report;
- If necessary determine an appropriate course of action to remedy or otherwise address any risks;
- Report with appropriate recommendations to Council.
3. The ad hoc committee consists of
- Frank March: Chair, .nz Oversight Committee (Chair)
- Debbie Monahan: Domain Name Commissioner who is charged with ensuring that the SRS is implemented
- Doug Mercer: SRS Technical Project Manager
- Carol Stigley: Chair of the NZ Registry Company Board
- Nick Griffin: CEO NZ Registry Co
- James Scott: Member of the Domainz Board - standing in for the Chair of the Board
- Derek Locke: CEO Domainz
- Chris Streatfield: InternetNZ Treasurer - standing in for the President of InternetNZ
- Colin Jackson: Member of .nz Oversight Committee (at the invitation of the Chair of the ad hoc committee)
- Grant Forsyth: InternetNZ Councillor - observer
4. The report from Ad van der Tol was accepted, but is to be read along with supplementary notes from Derek Locke, Doug Mercer, and Ad.
5. The Readiness Review identified that as of the first week in September the status of the four parties to the SRS implementation could be summarised as all having outstanding issues to address but with:
- DNC procedures on track;
- NZ Registry System on track;
- SRS on track;
- Domainz having incomplete project documentation and being exposed due to an apparent lack of organisational readiness.
6. The report also:
- Exposed a lack of an umbrella or overall framework of control in the original design of the SRS implementation project; and
- Noted that planning for a communications strategy is incomplete; a positive implementation is in part dependent on an effective communications strategy since the project will be measured as much by perceptions as by the technical elements.
7. The ad hoc committee received assurances from all parties that they were confident that the 14 October deadline could and would be met, although the timeframe is tight, and does not allow for a major unforeseenevent such as any key individual being unable to complete their tasks.
8. The ad hoc committee resolved that:
- The DNC commission Ad van der Tol as early as possible to review with Domainz the areas noted in his initial report as needing attention and make a supplementary report on the current status of Domainz. Subject to a satisfactory supplementary report, the project should proceed according to the current timeline. Should any further outstanding matters be identified, the ad hoc committee will be reconvened if necessary to consider these. In any case, the ad hoc committee will continue to have a monitoring role and expects to be informed and consulted by the DNC when appropriate.
- The DNC should be empowered to provide overall project management and should maintain a current risk status for the overall project. The NZ Registry Company, the SRS Technical Project Manager and Domainz should provide weekly reports to the DNC on their status, progress towards project milestones and assessed risks. The DNC should compile a weekly summary status report for circulation to the ad hoc committee.
9. It is recommended that this report of the ad hoc committee be adopted by the Council of InternetNZ and the above resolutions of the committee be given immediate effect.
