This week we received some test data from Raytheon to test the security and metadata functionality of our ECM system. We’ve been working on adding the capability for the system to read the metadata whenever new files are added, and to prevent unauthorized access to those files based on the clearance level specified in the metadata. Every file that is added to the system has an associated file that lists all of these attributes (clearance level, clearance group, file type, date modified, etc.).

We’ve also been working on finalizing the group and role structure of the ECM system so that is is modular enough to support adding multiple groups and multiple roles within each group. On top of this, we are working on adding linking these groups and roles with Microsoft Active Directory, which will serve as the source of all user information.

Finally, we have been working on creating a frontend web application to demonstrate the ECM’s capabilities. It will allow users to see the group and role structure and edit them.

This week the team presented our first QRB presentation to the coaches. After working hard last week to ensure that our project gets back on track after losing our product licenses, we were happy to show off all of the hard work that we have been doing. We also worked to revise our project plan and risk mitigation strategies so that we can be more successful going forward. We all received some very valuable feedback from the event, and are looking forward to implementing the changes to our project workflow.

In terms of our project development, this week we continued working on integrating the new open source software package we are using. We’ve been working to add all of the systems that are in use at Raytheon and to develop the application to support the roles and security groups. We’ve also been working on moving the application from a containerized Docker project to a locally hosted one that will offer us much more flexibility to modify it in the future.

This week we’ve been working hard at finding and implementing a replacement ECM after the trial license for our previous ECM was revoked. We were unable to work with any vendors to receive extensions or new licenses, so we identified a free open-source ECM system that we will continue our development on. In our initial trade study, this ECM ranked 4th out of the 11 we evaluated. At first we were hesitant to work with an open source solution, but our liaisons assured us that there isn’t a problem with it and we have started to port our progress over to the new system.

This week we’ve been able to establish the basic user group / role structure that we had set up on our prototype. We’ve also made progress with setting up a remote database and running the ECM locally at our lab. Lastly, we’ve been working on creating a backend API library that will make it much easier for us when we eventually begin developing a custom web application that integrates with the ECM data. In terms of testing, we’ve been researching different testing platforms and we have been exploring the potential of testing the ECM using its API.

This week we’ve been focusing on getting quotes for the on-premises software licenses that we required to do our project work. We’ve already met with one of the vendors and discussed acquiring an extended trial license as well as getting us access to some demos that we can work on. Because of the problems we’ve been facing with obtaining licenses to the ECM software, we’ve been communicating heavily with our liaisons to discuss possible alternatives (open-source software, custom tools, etc.) that we can pursue. If we need to, the sales representative we met with said that it is possible for us to gain access to the software through only the API. This would enable us to perform some rudimentary development on the system without the need to pay the expensive license fees.

If there’s any positive to the challenges we are facing, they’ve given us some valuable experience with contacting and communicating with software companies to get product information and specifications. We’ve also gained a lot of experience with conducting a trade study, since we have been constantly iterating on our original study as we find new ECMs and gain more information from the software providers. We hope to have all these issues resolved by next week, and we are confident that we will find a solution that meets Raytheon’s requirements.

This week we started resuming work on our project from the previous semester. We’ve been working around our schedules to establish meeting times with our liaisons and coach. We’ve also been working on resuming our licenses for the ECM we were working on last semester. One of the main issues that we have encountered so far on the project is contacting the ECM software providers and getting the licenses we need.

This semester, our focus will be on working with our liaison to finalize the requirements we need for the software, gaining a license from on of the ECMs we identified in our trade study, creating custom applications to help interface with the software, creating tests to ensure the correct functionality and security requirements, and writing any additional documentation and guides that Raytheon will need to reproduce our work. We’re all very excited to resume work on the project and feel confident that we will have enough to present at our end-of-semester FDR presentation.