Enterprise modeling using the foundation concepts of the RM-ODP ISO/ITU standard

Enterprise architecture (EA) projects require analyzing and designing across the whole enterprise and its environment. Enterprise architects, therefore, frequently develop enterprise models that span from the markets in which the organization operates down to the implementation of the IT systems that support its operations. In this paper, we present SEAM for EA: a method for defining an enterprise model in which all the systems are systematically represented with the same modeling ontology. We base our modeling ontology on the foundation modeling concepts defined in Part 2 of ISO/ITU Standard "Reference Model of Open Distributed Processing” (RM-ODP). This work has two contributions to enterprise architecture: the SEAM for EA method itself and the use of Part 2 of the RM-ODP standard as a modeling ontolog

An RM-ODP Based Ontology and a CAD Tool for Modeling Hierarchical Systems in Enterprise Architecture

Enterprise Architecture (EA) requires modeling enterprises across multiple levels (from markets down to IT systems) i.e. modeling hierarchical systems. Our goal is to build a Computer Aided Design (CAD) tool for EA. To be able to build this CAD tool, we need an ontology that can be used to describe hierarchical systems. The Reference Model of Open Distributed Processing (RM-ODP) was originally defined for describing IT systems and their environment. RM-ODP can also be suited to general, hierarchical, system modeling and, hence, can be used to model enterprises. In this paper, we first give an overview of our CAD tool and we present then how Part 2 and Part3 of RM-ODP were integrated to define a computer-interpretable ontology that is used in the CAD tool. This ontology is formalized using the Alloy declarative language. Last, we illustrate how the CAD tool can render Unified Modeling Language (UML) diagrams by showing selected aspects of the hierarchical systems

SeamCAD: a hierarchy-oriented modeling language and a computer-aided tool for entreprise architecture

Modeling Enterprise Architecture requires representing multiple diagrams of an enterprise, which typically shows the multiples business entities, IT systems, even software components and the services they offer. This could be done by a team of stakeholders having different backgrounds. One way to do this is to structure the model into hierarchical levels each of which can be of interest of just some, not all, stakeholders. Due to the differences in their background, stakeholders – the modelers may not want to use a single modeling approach, even a widely-recognized one, to build the enterprise model, which can be shared by the whole team. Developing a modeling framework that can be applied uniformly throughout the entire enterprise model and that can be used by all stakeholders is challenging. First, the framework should have a uniform approach to specifying the services offered by business entities, IT systems and software components and to describing their implementation across hierarchical levels. Second, the framework should allow the stakeholders to represent the service specification and the service implementation of multiple business entities and IT systems, even within the same hierarchical level. Third, the services offered by those entities and systems should be represented at different levels of granularity. Last but not least, the modeling framework should maintain the well-formedness of the enterprise model and the consistency between different diagrams opened by different stakeholders of the team. Today, there exist a few modeling methods or development processes in the field of Enterprise Architecture, as well as in software and system modeling that can address these issues to some extent. Among them, Adora, KobrA and OPM best meet the aforementioned four criteria, although they were not initially developed for modeling Enterprise Architecture. As a study on the state of the art, we analyzed these methods with respect to the four aforementioned modeling challenges. In this thesis, we define a modeling language and present a computer-aided tool for modeling Enterprise Architecture hierarchically. This modeling language allows the modeler to structure an enterprise into hierarchical levels, in terms of both organization and services. The computer-aided modeling tool helps the modeler visually build her model across levels and brings all levels together to make a coherent, well-formed model. Enterprise models can be visually built and represented in a notation that is based on the Unified Modeling Language using this tool. The modeling language is formally defined in Alloy – a lightweight declarative language based on first order logic and set theory. The data manipulated in the tool is verified against the Alloy code that formalizes the language. The modeling language and the computer-aided modeling tool constitute a hierarchy-oriented framework called SeamCAD that specifically address the four aforementioned issues. This framework has been applied several projects, both in industry and academic settings. We evaluated it by inviting external practitioners, researchers and master's students in our university to use it and to give their feedback

Formal semantics for refinement verification of entreprise models

In this dissertation we investigate how Business/IT alignment in enterprise models can be enhanced by using a software engineering stepwise refinement paradigm. To have an IT system that supports an enterprise and meets the enterprise business needs, management seeks to align business system with IT systems. Enterprise Architecture (EA) is the discipline that addresses the design of aligned business and IT systems. SEAM is an Enterprise Architecture method, developed in the Laboratory of Systemic Modeling (LAMS) at EPFL. SEAM defines a visual language for building an enterprise model of an organization. In this work, we develop a theory and propose a technique to validate an alignment between the system specifications expressed in the SEAM language. We base our reasoning on the idea that each system (an organization, a business system, or an IT system) can be modeled using a set of hierarchical specifications, explicitly related to each other. Considering these relations as refinement relations, we transform the problem of alignment validation into the problem of refinement verification for system specifications: we consider that two system specifications are aligned if one is correctly refines the other. Model-driven engineering (MDE) defines refinement as a transformation between two visual (or program) specifications, where a specification is gradually refined into an implementation. MDE, however, does not formalize refinement verification. Software engineering (SE) formalizes refinement for program specifications. It provides a theory and techniques for refinement verification. To benefit from the formal theories and the refinement verification techniques defined in SE, we extend the SEAM language with additional concepts (e.g. preconditions, postconditions, invariants, etc). This extension enables us to increase the precision of the SEAM visual specifications. Then we define a formal semantics for the extended SEAM modeling language. This semantics is based on first-order logic and set theory; it allows us to reduce the problem of refinement verification to the validation of a first-order logic formula. In software engineering, the tools for the automated analysis of program specifications are defined. To use these tools for refinement verification, we define a translation from SEAM visual specifications to formal specification languages. We apply, using case studies, our theory and technique in several problem areas to verify: (1) if a business process design and re-design correspond to high level business process specifications; (2) if a service implementation corresponds to its specifications. These case studies have been presented to a group of domain experts who practice business/IT alignment. This inquiry has shown that our research has a potential practical value

Requirements modeling in SEAM: The example of a car crash management system

This paper presents how business and IT requirements are captured with the Systemic Enterprise Architecture Methodology (SEAM). The method is applied to the Car Crash Management System (CMS) - Software Product Line (SPL) case study. The existing business situation is analyzed. We identify the problems and list relevant solutions. We select one of these solutions for which we define the business and the IT requirements. We then present the two components of SEAM used in this paper, goal-belief and behavior modeling. We end the paper by presenting the systemic foundations of SEAM

Ontology for SEAM Service Models

A service system is a popular concept in academia and industry. At the same time, it is a challenging concept to represent, due to its recursive nature and difficulty to relate it to entities in reality. In this paper we present an ontology for modeling service systems using the SEAM systemic method. Our ontology represents an updated and minimalistic version of the existing SEAM service modeling language that puts an emphasis on the behavior. The research approach we used is the design science for information systems research and it resulted with the ontology artifact. As part of the ontology, we provide a meta-model, well-formedness rules and formalization in the Alloy language. We conclude with presenting the limitations and a brief discussion on the contribution of shifting the focus towards the behavior in service systems

Multi-level System Modeling Using the Foundation Concepts of RM-ODP

A specification in Enterprise Architecture (EA) requires the modeling of an enterprise across multiple levels, from the markets in which it operates down to the implementation of the IT systems that support its operations. Our goal is the development of a method and of a CAD tool that support such modeling. To achieve our goal, we need an ontology to represent systematically all the systems at the multiple levels identified in an enterprise. We base our ontology on the foundation modeling concepts defined in Part 2 of ISO/ITU Standard "Reference Model of Open Distributed Processing" (RM-ODP). In this paper, we present how multi-level systems can be represented using directly the concepts defined in Part 2 of the RM-ODP. Our modeling approach differs from that defined in Part 3 of the RM-ODP, which focuses on the specification of IT systems in terms of viewpoint models representing the IT system environment and its construction. The benefit of our approach is the capability to model systematically and consistently the multiple systems represented in a company

Animation-Based Service Specification, Verification and Validation

[Context] With the expansion of services and service science, service systems have become an important abstraction for the service revolution. Service is defined as the application of resources (including competences, skills, and knowledge) to make changes that have value for another (system). The service system is a configuration of people, technologies, and other resources that interact with other service systems to create mutual value. Many systems can be viewed as service systems, including families, cities, and companies, among many others. Therefore, services became very important for unifying concepts from various disciplines. Service specifications are used to represent service systems on different levels of abstraction: from business down to IT. [Motivation and Problem] Traditionally, high-level service specifications are used only for communication among different participants, to catalyze the discussions between them; but only the specifications modeling IT systems have enough details to be simulated and executed. As a consequence, it becomes difficult to create precise high-level specifications and make sure that the implemented services are those that correspond to the business needs, potentially leading to severe project problems. Therefore, the challenge is to create abstract, yet precise service specifications, while keeping the relation between specifications at different levels of abstraction. [Idea and Results] In this work, we use formal methods and code generation techniques to create service-prototypes from service specifications at any level of abstraction, keeping the relations between different specifications. Stakeholders can try out the prototypes and give feedback regarding services that are being provided. This way, prototypes are used to validate the specifications and detect inconsistencies and unexpected behavior. [Contribution] The contributions of our work are threefold. First, we provide the visual formalism for service specification and simulation, by adding the necessary concepts to the existing method SEAM. Second, we define two design spirals: for service specification and for service validation and verification. The service specification spiral enables us to keep the relation between several service specifications. It includes steps with explicit design decisions on how to refine high-level specifications in order to include all the details necessary for providing the identified services. The validation and verification spiral is used to validate and verify specifications at any level of abstraction. Finally, it provides an environment that enables the simulation and prototyping of service specifications that are then used for their validation and verification. [Relevance] In addition to the theoretical contribution to the knowledge base of service design, we also provide the tools and guidelines that help business and IT analysts create and validate the service model, as confirmed by a survey conducted with practitioners. We illustrate the application of this work with a case study based on a consulting project we conducted at EPFL

Designing, Aligning, and Visualizing Service Systems

Service is a concept that separates the concerns of an organization into (1) the value created for users and (2) the way the organization manages its resources to provide this value. The discipline of management of information technology (IT) uses services to coordinate and to optimize the use of IT resources (servers, applications, databases, etc.) in a way that brings value to users. The concrete application of the service concept is challenging due to its abstract, interdependent and recursive nature. We experienced this challenge while collaborating with the IT department of our university (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, EPFL) when the IT department adopted the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) best-practices framework for IT service management. As researchers, we have the goal of improving the understanding of services as a means to structuring what people and organizations do. In the context of the IT department, we studied how to apply the service concept internally within the IT department, and externally (as business services) in the overall organization. In this thesis, we model services by using systems thinking principles. In particular, we use and improve SEAM, the systemic service-modeling method developed in our laboratory. Our main result is an ontology for SEAM service modeling. Our contributions are the heuristics that define how the ontology relates to a perceived reality: for example, the heuristics focus on behavior rather than organization and they put an emphasis on service instances rather than service types. We also define alignment between service systems, based on the properties of the systems¿ behavior. We show how to model an organization by implementing the concept of service as defined by our ontology. This ontology supports the design of service systems that align across both IT and business services. During our work with over one hundred IT services, we developed several visualization prototypes of a service cartography; we use these prototypes to describe and to relate the different views required for managing services. Our results offer a concrete way to implement the abstract concept of services. This way could be of interest for any organization willing to embark on a large-scale service project

IT Service Alignment Verification of Quantitative Properties in Service Design

Despite many years of research, alignment of business and IT services remains a challenge. In this paper we show how to verify the quantitative properties of a service against stakeholder requirements during service design. We model the service with the Systemic Enterprise Architecture Method (SEAM). This allows us to specify the service alignment constraints with what we call a feasibility constraint. We translate the SEAM model into Scala code, where the feasibility constraint is mapped to a constraint of a Scala function. We then check the Scala function’s verification condition with the Leon verification tool. An alignment is achieved if no counterexample is found. If a counterexample exists, it allows to detect which service component is at the source of the misalignment