From omg-list-errors@amethyst.omg.org Tue Aug 16 16:55:03 2005 From: Ed Barkmeyer To: "BERRISFORD, Graham" CC: OMG ADPTF Subject: Re: Executable UML & OCL formal semantics --> value of CIM RJLRef: $PH/05f523/uml2ocl_ed2gb050816.txt Graham wrote: > 1) Leaving aside embedded process control systems of the kind so beloved by > software desigjn book authors, my general view is that software systems (and > models of them) usually capture only a tiny, tiny, tiny part of the human > activity systems that they are designed to support. Very true. But I would point out that a) the descriptions of business organizations, functions and processes commonly called "business models" also "capture only a tiny, tiny, tiny part of the human activity systems" they supposedly model. b) the scope of erstwhile human activity that is automated has increased by two orders of magnitude over the last 30 years. A few technologies are true enablers; most technologies, and information technologies in particular, exist only to provide more "efficient" replacements for human activities. But over the years, the scope of the activity systems they replace grows ever larger and more significant to the enterprise. They remain a "tiny, tiny part" only because their efficiency enables humans to find ever grander activities to engage in. > We have to design systems from the outset to fit the computers we are given, > the 3rd party components we are given, and highly constraining > non-functional requirements that drive us towards specific technology > choices at the outset. The importance of this cannot be overstated. As Bernd Wenzel once observed of automotive design, the process of system design is half top-down and half bottom-up. And this is why it is impossible to talk about a modern "business enterprise" without identifying information technology components. -Ed -- Edward J. Barkmeyer Email: edbark@nist.gov National Institute of Standards & Technology Manufacturing Systems Integration Division 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8264 Tel: +1 301-975-3528 Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8264 FAX: +1 301-975-4694 "The opinions expressed above do not reflect consensus of NIST, and have not been reviewed by any Government authority."