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(U//FOUO) S1221 Visit to MHS Spawns a Bonanza for MESSIAH Users
FROM:
Reporting and Tools Branch (S1221)
Run Date: 03/23/2005
This and a follow-on article will highlight ways in which a recent trip to Menwith Hill Station by
members of the Reporting Tools Branch spawned an enhancement of the MESSIAH reporting
tool and of the training options available to users of the tool. (U)
(U//FOUO) In June of 2004, members of the Reporting Tools Branch (S1221) visited Menwith
Hill Station (MHS) to discuss the site's concerns about using MESSIAH as their primary product
reporting tool. Station personnel cited a high-priority need to forward robust product report
source data and metrics to PLUS -- a need that MESSIAH did not then satisfy.
(U//FOUO) To be sure, MESSIAH allowed users to satisfy the minimum requirements of USSID
369; analysts could forward some 10 fields of source data to PLUS via Product Tip-Off (PTO)
Klieglight reports. This solution required, however, that all analysts be trained and proficient in
using MESSIAH both for product reporting and for Klieglights.
(U//FOUO) What the station needed and wanted was a feed mechanism similar to that used by
SKYWRITER , which employs a Secure File Transfer Protocol for handling sensitive-series reports
and allows forwarding of some 40 fields of data. The forwarded information includes report
histories, write-to-release tracking, and USSID 18 information. The latter was being stored in
manila folders at analysts' desks!
(U//FOUO) When the S1221 team returned home and began investigating options for solving
the problem, it became evident that many of the Extended Enterprise elements that will be
receiving MESSIAH as part of the HIGHCASTLE suite harbored the very same concerns as the
analysts at Menwith Hill Station. Moreover, some sites that were already using MESSIAH for
technical reporting were asking for SKYWRITER as well; they were willing to expend the
additional support and training effort that would be required for a second reporting tool, in order
to obtain less cumbersome access to PLUS.
(U//FOUO) Clearly, then, a solution similar to the mechanism used by SKYWRITER would satisfy
users' needs. Such a mechanism had the added advantage of standardizing the process across
multiple reporting systems, since it was also incorporated in the Content Preparation
Environment, or CPE (formerly SIGINT On Demand -- see related article ). S1221 set about to
design and implement the interface.
(U//FOUO) MESSIAH's PLUS Feed Service was completed in February 2005 and is currently
undergoing beta testing at USA-70. Initial test results are promising, and the service is expected
to be available as a standard MESSIAH option in the April-May 2005 time frame. The new
interface will mirror the service provided by both SKYWRITER and CPE; it will allow forwarding of
the same fields, in an identical format, using a mask template, provided by S1221, that will
require only minimal tailoring by each site.
(U//FOUO) The analysts and managers at Menwith Hill Station can be proud that the concerns
which they expressed to the visiting S1221 team have resulted in a significant expansion of
MESSIAH's capabilities. They can also be proud that the visit sparked a similar improvement in
the training offered to new MESSIAH users. A future article in SID today will highlight S1221's
development of a web-based MESSIAH training course for analysts and reporters -- a course that
was requested by MHS and is also undergoing beta testing, with roll-out expected in April 2005.
(U//FOUO) Menwith Hill Station
.
"(U//FOUO) SIDtoday articles may not be republished or reposted outside NSANet
without the consent of S0121 (DL sid_comms)."
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DERIVED FROM: NSA/CSSM 1-52, DATED 08 JAN 2007 DECLASSIFY ON: 20320108