Directory Service Maintenance

Understanding and Deploying LDAP Directory Services > 23. Case Study: Netscape Communications Corporation > An Overview of the Organization

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An Overview of the Organization

Netscape Communications Corporation is a leading supplier of client and server software that links people and information over the Internet and intranets . In addition, Netscape's Netcenter World Wide Web portal, located at http://home.netscape.com, is a leading rendezvous point for people wanting to navigate the net, access products and services, and communicate with others online.

Based in Mountain View, California, Netscape employs several thousand full-time employees and contractors. Most staff members are located on the Mountain View campus, which consists of a number of individual buildings connected via high-speed fiber- optic network connections. The Mountain View campus is connected to the Internet via a number of T3 connections, which are also used to support its World Wide Web presence.

In addition to the Mountain View campus, there are dozens of sales and support offices located throughout the United States and a number of European and Asian countries . Connections to each remote site vary depending on the number of employees, and they range from dial-up lines to higher-speed leased lines.

Organizationally, Netscape contains an Information Services (IS) division charged with providing computing services to the rest of the company. Netscape also contains a Human Resources (HR) division, which is responsible for personnel issues within the company. IS is responsible for developing and deploying the directory and directory-enabled applications, and HR provides the data about employees to IS for inclusion in the directory. HR uses software from PeopleSoft to manage information about its employees, contractors, and contingent workers. This information is used for business processes such as payroll and benefits enrollment.

Unlike some organizations (see Chapter 24 for a counter-example), Netscape's IS services are provided centrally rather than distributed throughout the various units within the company. This means that a high degree of control and centralization exists, so decision-making and deployment of new IS services are fast. This is a function of Netscape's size (moderate) and age (almost five years , as of this writing). Your organization may be much more "balkanized," especially if it is very large or has grown through mergers and acquisitions.

In addition to its use in Netscape's IS organization, directory technology ( specifically Netscape Directory Server) is also a core component of Netscape's leading Web portal site, Netcenter. Although Netcenter would certainly make an interesting case study itself, we don't discuss it here. Instead, we focus on how directory technology is used within Netscape to support and enhance basic business processes.

This case study represents a real-world deployment of directory technology. It is a snapshot of the state of directory technology in August 1998.

Understanding and Deploying LDAP Directory Services,  2002 New Riders Publishing

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Index terms contained in this section

case studies
          Netscape Communications Corporation 2nd 3rd
                    IS services
                    Netcenter Web site
directories
         case studies
                    Netscape Communications Corporation 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
Netcenter Web site (Netscape)
Netscape Communications Corporation
          case study 2nd 3rd
                    IS services
                    Netcenter Web site
          Web site
Web sites
          Netscape Communications Corporation
                    Netcenter

2002, O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.