Hello,
At 03:30 PM 05-01-2025, IETF Executive Director wrote:
After an extensive review of recent developments in the RFC Editor
function, the IETF Administration LLC (IETF LLC) and Association
Management Solutions LLC (AMS) have agreed that the IETF LLC will
assume management of existing RFC Production Center (RPC) staff,
under an Employer of Record arrangement with AMS, the employer of the RPC team.
# Background to the RPC
The RPC is the team of professional editors that prepares and
publishes the output of the Editorial, IAB, IETF, IRTF, and ISE
Streams, which make up the RFC Series. Once Internet-Drafts are
approved by the various streams, the RPC editors format and edit the
documents, and then work with the authors to produce
publication-ready RFCs per defined policies and guidelines.
The RPC has been hosted at several organizations since it began,
including ISI/USC, CNRI, and most recently AMS on contract to the IETF LLC.
# Need for change
The RFC Editor function has been going through a period of major
developments for the last two to three years, and this is likely to
continue for at least another two years. These developments include
the introduction of XML, the new RFC Editor model in RFC 9280 that
introduced the RSWG/RSAB and removed the RSE role, the RPC tools
modernisation, the ongoing requests for GitHub and Markdown editing,
and the need to develop a new SLA.
These developments have brought the RPC closer to the IETF community
by giving it more responsibility for editing decisions, more direct
contact with community members who want different services, and more
direct community reporting requirements. Ultimately, these
developments acknowledge the integral and vital role of the RPC, but
they have put the RPC leadership in a difficult position as
arms-length contractors.
# Changing how the RPC is managed
After an extensive review, the IETF LLC and AMS have concluded that
the best way to address these issues is for the IETF LLC to assume
management of existing RPC staff, under an Employer of Record
arrangement with AMS, the employer of the RPC team. This
arrangement will allow the IETF LLC to directly manage RPC strategic
direction, evolution, training, and resource allocation, while
ensuring that RPC staff retain the stability of the AMS home which
they have enjoyed over the past 15 years. This employment
arrangement is in line with how most of the LLC staff are employed,
including the Executive Director, not as direct employees of the LLC
but contracted through a professional services firm.
This will provide the RPC with the alignment and authority needed to
address these developments and so help to ensure the RFC Series
continued evolution and stability while providing management
oversight and appropriate resource allocation.
While the IETF LLC and AMS were conducting this review, AMS was also
reviewing the internal management of the RPC and the distribution of
the increased workload. AMS, the IETF LLC, and the staff concerned
have agreed to introduce a new management structure for the RPC,
starting at the same time as the transfer. This sees the role of
Director, RFC Production Center split into two; Director of RPC
Operations and Director of RPC Communications and Strategy.
# Change to cost structure
The new arrangement with AMS is forecasted to provide a cost savings
due to the transfer of management responsibilities to existing LLC staff.
# Implementation
The change is effective from Jan 1, 2025.
The IETF Administration LLC is expected to see that the performance
of the RPC is aligned with what's in the contract with the service
provider. It was not envisioned at the time of RFC 9280 to bring all
the service provider's employees under the wing of the IETF Administration LLC.
The above announcement sounds like a significant change to the RFC
9280 model. The announcement was made after the change was
effected. Is there a reason why there wasn't any consultation prior
to this structural change?
The Salaries and benefits item was $251,225 as at December
2021. That item was $1,500,977 as at December 2023. Is the change
because of the new responsibilities which the IETF Administration LLC
has been taking on?
Regards,
S. Moonesamy
