Designing the system-of-system notifications program.

The following is another installment of our series on how to make a system of systems notification program really work. It's excerpted from the Galain Solutions, Inc. white paper "Notifications, Alerts, and Warnings: The Next Generation. (A copy is available upon request by emailing info@galainsolutions.com)

Once you have a good assessment of where you want to go with your "system of systems" notification program, design can begin. Without the Assessment, Design is really not possible. (See Assessing Your Notification Program.)

Design complexity can range from very simple to very complicated, depending on results of the Assessment. Regardless of degree of complexity, technology design should include a center point – the framework that controls the systems.

Elements of good technology design for notifications/alerts/warnings include:

• Architecture: Does it support the system-of-system approach? Does it provide bi-directional Application Program Interfaces (APIs) to interface to external systems? Does it cooperate with other systems such as incident management and dispatch?

• Functionality: Does the system-of-system” controller” do what it is supposed to do? What about the sub-systems? Are the sub-systems open-ended to allow customization and expansion? Would both public notification and first responder notifications be accommodated?

• Speed: Will the design support quick notifications and the capacity needed? (This could be a big challenge in serious events with widespread impact.)

• Usability: Is it easy to use for both entry-level as well as expert users? This is particularly important considering the challenging operational environment.

• Practicality: Does the design support concepts that can be implemented within a reasonable amount of time, and with available funds? Can existing infrastructure be used?

• Data Management: Does the design accommodate diverse and dynamic data sources? Can it support integration tools needed for extract/transform/load (ETL) operations? Can it feed-back information to external systems for synchronization? Will it accommodate citizen registrations?

• Evolving Technology: Does it support the fact the environment will change, particularly considering the evolution of communication preferences?

Depending on the complexity, outside resources may be required – perhaps a systems integrator who has expertise with notifications/alerts/warnings technologies. (We know some good ones with specific expertise in this area.) Also, note that this post only pertains to technical design. In effect, you'll need to develop "design" around operations, governance, and outreach.