Saturday, September 23, 2006

Reference Architecture Models


With the OASIS RM 1.0 up for vote, I've found myself discussing RM/RA vocabulary again... I found a Momentum view of how we differentiate between views and their usage.

I've heard people tell me that the OASIS Reference Model has not been helpful in creating their Customer Specific Reference Architecture. Well, that doesn't surprise me - it wasn't meant to be used in that way. A reference model establishes a scope, goals and a vocabulary of abstract concepts. It is used by professional Conceptual RA developers.

In RA land there is a process of moving from very abstract to somewhat concrete. It is an evolutionary process. However, if you skip layers you'll probably find yourself confused. Professionals from OASIS have informed me that they've lost some contributors in the process of creating their specification. It doesn't surprise me - RM's are theoretical work and not for everyone. I have also been told that they intend to publish a users guide which hopefully will set the stage for its use patterns and anti-patterns.

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