Service Onboarding Process in Helmholtz Cloud¶
The Service Onboarding process describes how new services may be integrated into the Helmholtz Cloud.
The primary goal of this process is to integrate new services into the Helmholtz Cloud Service Portfolio in a structured and transparent way. The Onboarding of new services is performed continously - therefore service providers can apply for offering a service in Helmholtz Cloud at any time via Plony.
The roles involved in the Onboarding process are: the Service Owner (Service provider), the Service Portfolio Manager (HIFIS) and the Service Integration Manager (HIFIS). The main tool supporting the Onboarding process is Plony. However, there are also interfaces to the Helmholtz Cloud Portal.
In order to be able to evaluate whether a service can be integrated into the Helmholtz Cloud, an Application Form to gather some basic information about the potential service has been worked out. The first step for a service provider (in most cases the Service Owner) to start the Onboarding is to fill out this Application Form built in Plony. If all Exclusion Criteria included in the Application Form is fulfilled, the service joins the Service Pipeline and thereby becomes part of the Helmholtz Cloud Service Portfolio. If not, the Service Owner needs to adapt their application, if necessary using the feedback from HIFIS. Anyway, if the Service Owner cannot adapt the application (e.g. if adapting it would mean giving wrong information), they are free to withdraw their application and/or apply at a later point of time again. Withdrawn applications can be reactivated at any time.
The next step for the Service Owner is to give detailed service information via the Service Canvas. The Service Canvas is also built in Plony (you find screenshots of the full form here). The fields on the tab “Service Card (public)” form the service description which is later displayed as the service card in Helmholtz Cloud Portal. Service Information on the other tabs is only visible to dedicated persons from service provider as well as HIFIS’ side.
For the Service Integration process, please check the corresponding process visualization and step-by-step explanation. The Service Integration also includes the KPI Process.
As soon as all sprint tasks of Service Integration are completed, a preview of the service card in Helmholtz Cloud Portal Integration environment is generated and reviewed from service provider side as well as from HIFIS side. As soon as approved, the service will be published in Helmholtz Cloud Portal.
For the full Onboarding process, please check Onboarding process visualization. You can also have a look at the explanation for each process step, thus including all details on the Onboarding process.
The service selection criteria¶
In order to identify the services fitting into Helmholtz Cloud Service Portfolio, a bunch of objective service selection criteria (exclusion criteria) has been worked out.
Exclusion criteria are required to be fulfilled (otherwise the service cannot become part of the Helmholtz Cloud Service Portfolio). The information required to evaluate them are gathered during the Onboarding process: mostly via the Application Form, but some information are also collected via the Service Canvas.
Please remark that the applicability of service selection criteria may vary depending on the service type.
The following criteria list is currently handled as service selection criteria:
Exclusion criteria:
| # | Category | Criteria | Possible Answers | Required Value for Fully Integrated Service | Required Value for Pilot Service |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Overhead | Service is provided for free | Yes/No | Yes | Yes |
| 2 | Overhead | Service is provided by a Helmholtz center | Yes/No | Yes | Yes |
| 3 | Overhead | Service is ready to be integrated in less than one month | Yes/No | Yes | Yes |
| 4 | Overhead | The Service provider ensures the support for the service | Yes/No | Yes | Yes |
| 5 | Overhead | Regular measurement (Service Operation KPI) regarding the service usage and the number of users is provided | Yes/No | Yes | Yes/No |
| 6 | Technical | Service provider commits to fulfill quality standards in service provisioning | Yes/No | Yes | Yes/No |
| 7 | Technical | Service is (or will use) Helmholtz ID for Login (if Login is necessary to use service) | Yes/No/No Login necessary | Yes/No Login necessary | Yes/No/No Login necessary |
| 8 | Technical | Service has a procedure for user deprovisioning in place | Yes/No | Yes | Yes/No |
| 9 | Technical | Service provider has a backup strategy/process established | Free text | Backup strategy is well established | Backup strategy is well established |
For a detailed list on service selection criteria, please check here.
Application for becoming a Helmholtz Cloud Service¶
By filling out the Application Form in Plony the Service Owner can initiate the service Onboarding process for a potential Helmholtz Cloud Service. A service can only become part of the Helmholtz Cloud Service Portfolio when fulfilling the Exclusion criteria. Based on what is entered in Plony, the corresponding Service Type is automatically calculated. Anyway, it can be adapted by the Service Portfolio Manager and Service Integration Manager.
You can have a look at the Application Form directly in Plony (when logged in with Helmholtz ID) or in the screenshots stored here.
When having filled out the Application Form, the Service Owner can validate whether their service will fulfill the defined Exclusion criteria. If the service does not fulfill any criterion, Plony gives back an information on which value is required for each field. The Service Owner can save their application draft without requiring to pass validation. Anyway, for sending the application it is required to pass validation - otherwise Plony won’t let the Service Owner send the application.
Applications in all status’ can be overviewed in My Services. In order to support transparency on applications within each Helmholtz center, members of the center can see all Applications in draft or sent by some other member of their center in “My Services” on the tab “My center`s services”. This functionality may also be used to review Application Forms from colleagues before they are sent to HIFIS.
For a full instruction on the Application Form in Plony, please check here.
Services in pipeline - planned Services¶
If all Exclusion criteria in the Service Application are fulfilled and the Service Owner submitted the Service Application, the service switches to status “Service planned”. This is when the Service Owner is asked to give more information on their service via the Service Canvas in Plony. The Service Canvas asks for both rather organisational information (e.g. responsibilities, Helpdesk information, service value) and (partly quite detailed) technical information (e.g. architecture, user enablement, data storage). The Service Canvas is divided into three tabs: “Service Card (public)” which includes all public fields that are later displayed as the service card in Helmholtz Cloud Portal, “Service integration (not public) which includes mainly technical information required for Service Integration and “Organizational information (not public)” which includes information required for HIFIS (e.g. Responsibilities, Information to measure service quality). Service Information on the tabs which are named “not public” is only visible to dedicated persons from service provider as well as HIFIS’ side. It may depend on the Service Type which fields are mandatory and which ones are optional. Please check here for the full set of fields in the Service Canvas - it would be too much content to illustrate it here in a meaningful way.
Additionally, the Service Owner needs to work out general usage conditions for the service at this point. These general usage conditions are valid for all Helmholtz centers and are especially important for mass services regarding e.g. storage space or support times. The conditions are documented in the service description and are later displayed in Helmholtz Cloud Portal.
The Service Owner may use the “Validate” functionality in Plony to check whether all mandatory fields have been filled so that the service canvas can be send to HIFIS Service Portfolio Management. As soon service information is sent, HIFIS will review the information regarding completeness and consistency. It may be necessary to ask the Service Owner for clarification or extension of given information.
You find the current list of Services in Pipeline (as well as in Service Catalogue and Retired services) here.
Service Integration¶
The Service Integration process describes how services are integrated into Helmholtz Cloud Portal. Besides the technical integration this includes working out the KPIs for Operation.
When all sprint tasks are completed, the status in Plony switches to “Service Card Review”. The Service information which is marked as public in Plony is then automatically transferred to the Helmholtz Cloud Portal Integration environment where the Service Owner can preview the service card together with the Service Integration Manager. As soon as OK from service provider side, the HIFIS Team (Service Portfolio Manager, Service Integration Manager and Cloud Portal Manager) reviews the service card and gives feedback/ final approval for service publication. The Service Owner finally approves the service card (probably adapted by HIFIS team) and the service’s status in Plony switches to “Service Integration completed”. The last step for Go Live is changing the status in Plony to “Online”, performed by the Service Portfolio Manager. With go live in Helmholtz Cloud Portal and informing the Service Owner about successful go live, the Onboarding process is completed.
For more information on Service Integration, please get back to our Service Integration Team.
Next process in line¶
The next process is the Follow Up Onboarding process which describes the steps required to actually enable an using center to use a service.