CNM Cloud Project

CNM Cloud Project (hereinafter, the Project) is an endeavor to provide the Career Network Ministry with CNM Cloud in order to deliver services of CNM Digital. Friends Of CNM Cloud Administrator is responsible for this Project.

Requirements

Business requirements

Main wikipage: CNM Digital

Technical requirements

Main wikipage: CNM Cloud

A big portion of technical requirements is also published in Russian -- https://wiki.ksacerts.com/ru/Брацко_Облако

First phase -- beginnings

Initial user stories

Initial user stories were created by Loredana C. and are published at CNM Digital by Loredana C.

Software used in early stages

The first private cloud was built on an OpenStack instance. The applications included Opplet.net, Redmine, Apache Subversion (SVN), Moodle, MediaWiki, and WordPress. However, applications were not moved to the cloud because of its immaturity. Only Opplet.net and Redmine are still operational after the cloud was destroyed in order to cut costs.

History of the beginnings

Initial learning systems. Initial works that later contributed to the project were started as early as in 2007. The initial development team consisted of Mina Nizhnih as the code developer and product owner and Romanof as the PHP developer. Until 2014, solutions were presented by various combinations of MediaWiki and Moodle. A special solution to integrate those, called Opplet.net, was initiated and coded by Mina Nizhnih in 2014. Revisions by Zlomovsky completed its first sprint in 2015. The first version of Opplet.net used SimpleSAMLphp as its authentication tool.

First enterprise-wide systems. In 2015-2016, the concept of CNM Digital emerged. Loredana C. developed initial requirements for a complex system to serve patrons of Career Network Ministry (CNM). Later, the requirements were posted at CNM Digital by Loredana C. To implement those, Alexandrovich joined the team as the team architect and Natalia did so as the solution architect. Instances of Liferay and SuiteCRM were added and the platform was moved from DigitalOcean to Hetzner and newly based on Proxmox. Several instances of Odoo were also installed, but never integrated to the platform because Odoo didn't support SimpleSAMLphp. Romanof also installed an instance of Redmine separately from the platform. In addition, Romanof completed the second sprint of Opplet.net while moving its initial code from plain PHP to the Yii framework. In 2016, the platform collapsed and all developments, but Opplet.net and Redmine, were lost. At the moment of the crash, Opplet.net and Redmine were still stored at DigitalOcean.

First cloud. In 2016-2017, several projects were undertaken. Alexander was the primary technology vendor at that time, Eunice contributed to its requirements, and Wushnevska worked on Odoo and Redmine instances. Instances of Odoo were installed at careernetworkministry.org, theeconomicgroup.org, and worldopp.org. However, the main development was the private cloud based on OpenStack. However, inability to integrate installations on a single platform and, particularly, Wushnevska's move from the project, led the developments to be postponed. The cloud was destroyed in order to cut expenses, but Odoo instances are still alive.

WorldOpp initiative. Recruitment of administrators had been the greatest challenge since the project's inception. In 2016-2018, several endeavors to bring new administrators on the board were attempted primarily in Ukraine and Kenya. No candidates were found in Ukraine. Dozens of candidates from Kenya were tested, but no one has been eventually brought on the board so far.

• The majority of most motivated candidates were concentrated on their efforts instead of getting the results;
• If those candidates were oriented on some results, their desired results were not communicated with the product owner and, consequently, their efforts couldn't be funded.

Consequently, no candidate has accomplished more than a dozen of actions on CNM Wiki so far. The lack of recruitment and onboarding process is considered being the main challenge. Thus, the initiative was postponed until the process based on renewed technology is developed and, particularly, Careerprise Orientation, WorldOpp Placement Seminar, and Septem Artes Administrativi are launched and operational.

Deliverables of the beginnings

1. Opplet.net after two sprints.
2. A Redmine instance that was later used in CNM Productware.
3. CNM Digital by Loredana C

Second phase -- embryo

User stories for the embryo

Three user stories shall describe completion of the second phase:

• (first user story) As a NetAnyone, I shall be able to:
  1. Click the button, Get employed, at some website and get to some registration page;
  2. Fill in my login name, password, and, optionally, email address;
  3. Submit the info, automatically (a) become a NetConsumer, (b) obtain user's rights for CNM Wiki, and (c) obtain student's rights for CNM Campus, as well as get enrolled into Careerprise Orientation;
  4. Complete Careerprise Orientation and automatically become a CertAssociate.
• (second user story) As a CertAssociate, I shall be able to:
  1. Get enrolled into WorldOpp Developer Seminar;
  2. Complete WorldOpp Developer Seminar, automatically become a CertDeveloper and obtain user's rights for Fixett.
• (third user story) As a CertAssociate, I shall be able to:
  1. Get enrolled into WorldOpp Placement Seminar;
  2. Complete WorldOpp Placement Seminar, automatically become a CertFellow and obtain sysop's rights for CNM Wiki, and get enrolled into Septem Artes Administrativi.

Software used in the embryo

CNM software		Description	Service	Base(s)
Platform	Infrastructure	Hardware, operating system(s), environment for programming languages to operate, database management systems, web servers	Outsourced	Not important for the Project
	Middleware	In this phase, user management software that manages authorization of users and their access to CNM apps	Opplet.net	Written specifically for the Cloud using YII framework
Apps	Usernetware	User interface to allow end-users to interact with CNM Middleware
	Productware	Studio for CNM vendors to document their developments and store developed files	Fixett	Redmine, Apache Subversion (SVN), (possibly) containers
	Courseware	Learning management software to accommodate learning processes	Campus	Moodle
	Wikiware	Knowledge management software to develop corporate knowledge collaboratively and access the results	Wiki	MediaWiki
	Contentware	Content management software to empower CNM websites	FriendsOfCNM.org	WordPress

History of the embryo

Second cloud initiation. In 2018, Romanof as a PHP developer and PHP sub-project manager, Mina Nizhnih as the product owner, and Natalia as a vendor liaison initiated a new cloud endeavor. Its goal is to create the most simple system for onboarding employees and Careerprise vendors. The team called this system embrio.

Instead of SimpleSAMLphp, Romanof now implemented OpenLDAP for authentications. That development completed the third sprint of Opplet.net. A new instance of MediaWiki is used for CNM Wikiware, an instance of Moodle is used for CNM Courseware, instances of Apache Subversion (SVN) and Redmine are for CNM Productware. No private cloud itself is going to be launched in the second phase of the project.

The most comprehensive documentation for this attempt was originally created in Russian (using CNM Productware and the Russian part of CNM Wiki at https://wiki.ksacerts.com/ru); however, since the recruitment efforts are shifting to East Africa and the United States, new documents shall be posted at the English part of CNM Wiki.

Deliverables of embryo phase

1. A software system capable to execute the User stories for the embryo;
2. Contracts between Friends Of CNM and Careerprise vendors to run:
   • CNM Infrastructure;
   • CNM Productware;
   • CNM Courseware;
   • CNM Wikiware;
   • CNM Contentware.

Future phases

Third phase -- company

CNM Enterpriseware shall be the primary deliverable of the third phase. Other deliverables may include Eventtune, CNM Calendar, CNM Videoshareware, CNM Mailware, CNM Talkware. New sprints of Opplet.net are also expected.

Fourth phase -- independence

Private clouds such as Dev Cloud, Production Cloud, and Control Cloud shall be primary deliverables of the fourth phase of the Project.

Fifth phase -- federation

At the fifth phase of the Project, the initial requirements, CNM Digital by Loredana C, shall be revised and tested on the completion. This phase is also reserved for any developments, especially federations, that haven't been accomplished in the previous phases.

Current state

Team

Three team members are currently working on the Project:

1. Romanof. As the PHP sub-project manager and developer, Romanof developed all working parts of the existing technology. Romanof also documented in Fixett a deal of the work done;
2. Mina Nizhnih. As the product owner, Mina is drafting documentation in CNM Wiki on every software included in the second phase;
3. Natalia. As a vendor liaison, Natalia is working on CNM Wikiware documentation.

Completion rates

The DADI is the development cycle that includes 4 components: (1) discover, (2) analyze, (3) design, and (4) implement. No component is fully developed to the date. The following table presents estimates on every component of every software to be launched:

CNM software		Service	Sprint	DADI component
				Discover	Analyze	Design	Implement
Platform	Infrastructure	Outsourced	Second (requirements and designs are drafted in Russian in Fixett; DigitalOcean is temporarily used for implementations)	90%	90%	90%	90%
	Middleware	Opplet.net	Fourth (requirements and designs are drafted in Russian in Fixett; Opplet.net handles user management for CNM Cloud)	75%	75%	75%	75%
Apps	Usernetware
	Productware	Fixett	Second (requirements and designs are drafted in Russian in Fixett; the current implementation is located at a classified URL)	50%	50%	50%	50%
	Courseware	Campus	Second (requirements and designs are drafted in Russian in Fixett and English in CNM Wiki; the current implementation is located at https://campus.ksacerts.com)	25%	25%	25%	25%
	Wikiware	Wiki	Second (requirements and designs are drafted in Russian in Fixett and English in CNM Wiki; the current implementations are located at https://wiki.ksacerts.com and, in Russian, at https://wiki.ksacerts.com/ru)	90%	90%	90%	90%
	Contentware	CNM website	Second (requirements and designs are drafted in English in CNM Wiki; some implementations launched in the first sprint include worldopp.org and careernetworkministry.org)	25%	10%	10%	0%

Challenges

Lack of procurement documentation is the primary obstacle for the Project to move forward faster. There are a plenty of developers ready to implement technical requirements, but those requirements are needed to be documented. If some backup has been de-facto implemented, the state of cyber-security is either inappropriate or unknown.

Vacancies

• Urgently needed. Any assistance with documentation published at CNM Wiki for upcoming procurement or topics related to procurement of CNM Wikiware, CNM Courseware, CNM Productware, CNM Contentware, CNM Infrastructure is urgently needed. These topics may include any information on what needs to be done, how to select the best vendor, and how to make sure that the chosen vendor has delivered the requested product.
• Needed on an ongoing basis. As always, the current team is hiring staffers of WorldOpp Fellow Staff generally and Friends Of CNM Cloud Administrator specifically to expedite the project.