Today, we're going to take a step back at look at the big picture, once again. The reason being that SCORE OS has started talking to another group of "open" folks about uniting forces on the data side and those discussions raised some questions pertaining to the "core technology" that SCORE OS may be built upon. Don and I have been pretty open-minded about the paths we're taking and listening to some new ideas won't hurt a thing.

When Don and I sat down and started the discussion about what code to use, what database to utilize, what code style and models to choose, we focused on two key issues: 1) a lack of resources (time, people, expertise, money) and 2) a desire not to reinvent any wheels. As part of our decision-making, we laid out the various functionalities that we thought any solid Website Management System (WMS) should employ and the features that any solid Fantasy Game System (FGS) should have.

On the WMS side, this is a wheel that has been re-invented many times over (with good reason) and there are several iterations of these types of systems. On the FGS side, there are a limited number of systems out there, mostly proprietary, and usually with a strict functionality for a particular sport or fantasy style. Don and I, faced with our lack of resources, decided that we would rather find an already-built WMS and focus our efforts on developing the FGS piece...and then sewing the two systems together to form the overall Fantasy Sports Management System (FSMS).

So let's take a look at the various pieces of the puzzle that Don and I flushed out for what we consider a strong Fantasy Sports Management System:

• Website Management System Functionality
  
• Navigation/Menu Engine
• Theme/Style Engine
• Forum/Message Board Engine
• Newsletter Engine
• Blog/RSS Feed Engine
• Messaging/Alert System
• Security/Attack Management
• SPAM Management
• Localization/Language System
• Database Maintenance Interface
• Backup/Redundancy/Recovery System
• Scaling/Throttling System
• Traffic/Statistics Analytics
• Search Engine Optimization
• Tagging/Taxonomy System
• Advertising System
• Billing/Subscription System
• SSL Login/Password System
• User/Profile Management
• Administration System
• API System
• Documentation System
• Help/FAQ System
• Ticket/Support System
• Installation System
• Feature/Functionality Improvement System
• Performance System
  

• Fantasy Game System Functionality
• Grouping/Hierarchy System (Roles, Games, Leagues, Conferences, Divisions)
• Statistics Management
• Scoring Engine
• Draft Engine
• Player Profile/Search
• Waiver/Pickup Engine
• Reporting Engine

So, with the above functionalities laid out, our current level of resources, and a desire to build a solid foundation for an FSMS that can be used by anyone for at least a few technology cycles, what do people think about the options for the technology side of the platform? Should SCORE OS "start from scratch" with a framework, such as CakePHP, Zend, Django, Ruby? Or is the current idea of re-engineering a content management/social publishing system, such as Drupal, Plone, Joomla, etc the better option?


We are considering these factors:

• Longevity and support of the technical community around the technology
  
• Learning curve of the technology
• Options and expandability of the technology
• Scalability of the technologies
• Licensing/restrictions of the technologies
• Costs of the technology on both a license, server, and client level
• Speed of the deliverable
• Ability to add features down-the-road
  

We invite everyone to pipe in with their thoughts, because choosing this path is probably the most critical factor for the success of this project for its first release and beyond. We look forward to hearing from you.



Note: Before anyone states the obvious, this set of functionalities is NOT our first release goal, nor do all of the functionalities represent items we plan to custom-build for the system. We are simply saying that any good fantasy sports system needs the ability to have a system, such as advertising, that can hook into the FSMS. We'll be limiting the scope of the first release in due time.



rb