Deploy360 24 July 2014

IETF 90: Operators and IETF Initial Survey Results & Discussion

By Jan ŽoržFormer Operational Engagement Programme Manager
Jan Zorz presenting at IETF90 OpsAWG

Jan Zorz presenting at IETF90 OpsAWG

Yesterday, July 23rd, at IETF 90, I presented a partial analysis of the data we gathered from our Operators and the IETF survey. The survey was open from January to July 2014. Since the survey closed just three weeks ago, we’ve really just started to analyze the data, and with this IETF presentation looming, we focused largely on the portion of the people who claimed they don’t participate in the IETF at all.

In the slides embedded below, you can see the initial results, including our key findings:

  • The majority of survey participants were Operators/Engineers/Architects; more than 90% hold primarily technical roles.
  • 50% of respondents claim to have a managerial role.
  • ~50% do not participate in the IETF in any form; ~30% participate just on mailing lists.
  • Many have heard of the IETF and know what it does, but do not know how to participate.
  • +50% believe operator input is welcome; 64% say they do NOT rely on vendors to represent them
  • A strong majority claim they are interested in IETF mailing lists, find the content relevant, believe it’s important to their jobs, but don’t have enough time to participate in mailing lists.
  • 82% say that they don’t have a travel budget for IETF meetings.

[slideshare id=37283632&doc=operators-ietf-survey-results-140723093958-phpapp02]

We have promised to continue analyzing the data and to write an I-D for the next IETF meeting in Hawaii. This will contain much more data and also suggestions on how to lower the bar for other operators to participate.

The presentation of these initial results was accepted quite well at IETF 90, and most importantly triggered a long queue at the microphone in the room. There were some great suggestions from the community that we will integrate into the I-D. This discussion has been ongoing without any real data to understand the issues, concerns, and obstacles, that prevented operators from participating in the standards making process.

We look forward to the rest of the data analysis and will report back when we have more to share.

Disclaimer: Viewpoints expressed in this post are those of the author and may or may not reflect official Internet Society positions.

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