Building Enterprise Systems with ODP ─ An Introduction to Open Distributed Processing

The Reference Model of Open Distributed Processing (RM-ODP) is an international standard that provides a solid basis for describing and building widely distributed systems and applications in a systematic way. It stresses the need to build these systems with evolution in mind by identifying the concerns of major stakeholders and then expressing the design as a series of linked viewpoints.

Although RM-ODP has been a standard for more than ten years, many practitioners are still unaware of it. Building Enterprise Systems with ODP: An Introduction to Open Distributed Processing offers a gentle pathway to the essential ideas that constitute ODP and shows how these ideas can be applied when designing and building challenging systems. It provides an accessible introduction to the design principles for software engineers and enterprise architects. The book also explains the benefits of using viewpoints to produce simpler and more flexible designs and how ODP can be applied to service engineering, open enterprise, and cloud computing.

The authors include guidelines for using the Unified Modeling Language™ (UML) notation and for structuring and writing system specifications. They elucidate how this fits into the model-driven engineering tool chain via approaches, such as Model-Driven Architecture® (MDA). They also demonstrate the power of RM-ODP for the design and organization of complex distributed IT systems in e-government, e-health, and energy and transportation industries.

All concepts and ideas in the book are illustrated through a single running example that describes the IT support needed by a medium-sized company as it grows and develops. Complete UML models and more are available at http://theodpbook.lcc.uma.es/

Peter F. Linington is Emeritus Professor of Computer Communication at the University of Kent. He has been involved in the standardization of the ODP Reference Model and its various supporting standards since the activity started. He has also co-chaired WODPEC, the main workshop in this area, since its inception.
Zoran Milosevic is a principal of Deontik Pty Ltd., a consulting and software company specializing in business processes, business policies, complex event processing, and enterprise architectures. He was the founder of IEEE’s EDOC conference and was involved in the standardization of the ODP Enterprise Language.
Akira Tanaka is a founder of view5 LLC, a consulting company that applies viewpoints and model-based approaches to software development. He has been involved in RM-ODP standardization from its early days.
Antonio Vallecillo is a Professor of Languages and Information Systems at the University of Málaga. His research interests include open distributed processing, model-based engineering, componentware, and software quality. He was co-editor of ITU-T Rec. X.906 | ISO/IEC 19793 (UML4ODP) and the revised versions of RM-ODP Parts 2 and 3 (ITU-T X.902-X.903 | ISO/IEC 10746-2/3).

THE FRAMEWORKWhat Is ODP About?The ODP reference modelViewpointsFundamental concepts Useful building blocks Service orientationHuman computer interactionThe right tools for the job

THE VIEWPOINTSEnterprise ViewpointDesigning with communitiesIdentifying rolesOrganizational structureRoles and role fillingMore than one communityCommunity behaviorAccountability and related conceptsQuality of service and other constraintsIdentifying the system’s user interfacesWriting enterprise specifications

Information ViewpointThe primacy of information The elements of the information languageWriting information specificationsStructure of the information specificationRelationship with other viewpoints
Computational ViewpointDesigning with computational objectsComputational objectsBindingsInteraction between computational objectsEnvironmental contracts and transparenciesWriting computational specificationsRelationship with other viewpoints

Engineering ViewpointWhat is the engineering viewpoint for?Objects and distributionNode architectureChannel architectureCommon functions and processesWriting engineering viewpoint specificationsIncorporating current technologiesRelationship with other viewpoints

Technology ViewpointLinking to the real worldThe elements of the technology languageRelationship with other viewpoints

Correspondences—Joining It All Up The need for correspondencesDifferent kinds of correspondenceCorrespondences required by the ODP architecture Anatomy of a correspondence specification Taking a formal view Examples of correspondences Tool support for specifying correspondences

USING ODPConformance—Does It Do the Right Thing?Compliance and conformanceA conformance communityTypes of reference pointConformance to viewpoint specificationsClaiming compliance or conformance

Transparencies—Hiding Common ProblemsWhat is a transparency?Types of transparencyTransparencies and viewpoints

Policies—Tracking Changing RequirementsWhy do we need policies?What is a policy?Implementing policy

Federation—Talking to StrangersHow does interoperation work?Interpreting and sharing informationThe basis of interoperationEngineering the federationFederating type systemsFederating identityLegacy systemsInteroperability or integration?

Using Existing ProductsWhat does this product do for me?Supplier and user viewsCompeting sets of viewpoints
System Evolution—Moving the GoalpostsCoping with changeThe importance of tool supportMaking changes to viewpointsAvoiding synchronized transitionsEvolution of the enterpriseVersion control


MOVING ONModelling StylesThe importance of formal modelsWhat is a system?Modelling open or closed worlds?Capturing requirementsExpressing obligations Expressing semantics

Sharp ToolsWhat should a tool do? Model editors and analysis tools Model-driven approaches Model transformations Languages for transformations Viewpoints and transformations More integration
A Broader ViewWhere to look next Integration of other standards Uses of ODP Tools Comparing enterprise architecturesCoda
Appendix A: The PhoneMob SpecificationsAppendix B: Selected Exercises
Bibliography
Index