Date: October 29, 2007
To: Johna
Haefner
From: David Belany
Subject: IBM PROFS Inconsistencies at the SID Sites
I am writing to discuss my findings on a recent study I
conducted concerning inconsistencies in the IBM Systems
Integration Division's PROFS (Professional Office System),
the electronic mail system used throughout IBM. The purpose
of this memo is to illustrate the inconsistencies of each
site and to make recommendations for the migration to a
common system.
Functions
PROFS has many capabilities. Currently, 160 different
functions have been created by the PROFS developers. Each
function can be called by using a function key if one is
available on a menu, or by the function name on the command
line. As you can see in Table I, some sites have a much
more developed and useful system than others.
TABLE I.
|
PROFS Functions and Menu Usage |
|
IBM SID SITE
|
FUNCTIONS |
MAIN MENUS
|
|
|
AVAILABLE |
UNIQUE
|
SPACE USED
|
|
|
# |
% |
# |
% |
# |
% |
|
Boulder |
76 |
47.5 |
13 |
17.3 |
12 |
50.0 |
|
Gaithersburg |
118 |
73.8 |
40 |
53.3 |
19 |
79.2 |
|
Houston |
55 |
34.4 |
4 |
5.3 |
15 |
62.5 |
|
Manassas |
46 |
28.8 |
1 |
1.3 |
20 |
83.3 |
|
Oswego |
93 |
58.1 |
17 |
22.7 |
20 |
83.3 |
The Gaithersburg system has a total of 118 functions
available, utilizing 73.8% of the 160 commands known to
exist. In contrast, Manassas has only 46 commands, just
28.8% of the total available. The average number of
commands for these five sites is 78—half what it could be.
Within the 160 total functions, there are 75 unique to just
one site. In some cases, this is because tools needed at
one site may not be needed at another. Gaithersburg again
leads in this area with 40 functions unique to its system.
This represents 53.3% of the total. Manassas has only one,
and Houston has just four.
Menus
Menu usage also varies at each site. The PROFS system
includes three menus, and each has eight different spaces
that can be used for a command. This means that there is
space for 24 functions on the menus. Manassas and Oswego
uses 20 of the 24 spaces, or 83.3%. Boulder only utilizes
50.0% of the space available.
Recommendation
My recommendations would be to implement a PROFS system
similar to the one currently used at Gaithersburg since it
is the most developed. Also, commands that would be useful
to all sites, but are currently unique to one or two sites,
should be shared between systems. Menu space should also be
utilized to its capacity since it is easier to select a
command by using a function key, rather than typing in the
whole name.