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This chapter describes the Standards Information Base (SIB), the database of industry standards for populating an architecture.
This section describes the role of the SIB, and how to access it.
Previous sections of Part III: Enterprise Continuum have set the TOGAF Foundation Architecture in context to the Architecture Continuum, and described in detail one part of it, the TOGAF Technical Reference Model (TRM). This section describes the other part of the TOGAF Foundation Architecture, the Standards Information Base (SIB).
The SIB is a database of facts and guidance about information systems standards. The standards to which it refers come from many sources: from formal standards bodies such as ISO or IEEE; from authoritative standards makers such as the Internet Society; and from other consortia, like the World Wide Web Consortium (www.w3.org) and the Object Management Group (www.omg.org).
The SIB has three main uses:
For an organization that is creating an architecture for its information systems, the SIB provides a valuable source of information about standards that may be used to populate the architecture.
An organization that is planning a procurement (whether or not based on an architecture) will find that the SIB can help ensure that the procurement gives a clear statement of technical requirements, with an assurance of conformance.
Finally, it can simply be a source of information about relevant IT standards, for use by anyone at any time.
The standards listed in the various tables are all Open Group standards; that is, standards endorsed by The Open Group as fit-for-purpose in architecture specification and procurement. They have been approved by the members of The Open Group as appropriate for use in architecture and procurement.
The entries in the SIB are linked either to other Open Group databases and resources (in particular those relating to Product Standards and Registered Products) or, where relevant, to the web sites of other organizations.
In this way, the SIB provides the architect with a gateway to a uniquely powerful set of tools for defining the standards that an architecture is to mandate, and for checking the availability in the marketplace of products guaranteed to conform to those standards.
In the context of TOGAF, the SIB can be used to dynamically generate lists, structured according to the TOGAF TRM taxonomy, of the standards endorsed by The Open Group for use in open systems architectures.
For a detailed explanation of how the standards generated in this way are used, refer to Part II: Architecture Development Method (ADM) , which describes how to use the complete TOGAF Foundation Architecture as a basis for defining (by service) all the standards that make up the Target Technology Architecture, and all the Software Building Blocks (SBBs) that will be used to implement it.
Originally held as part of the TOGAF document set, the SIB is now held in a database with web-enabled user access:
This section looks at The Open Group standards, including technical processes, Product Standards, and the Open Brand.
Besides the fact that they are structured and made accessible in the SIB, using The Open Group standards to populate an architecture has a number of distinct advantages for the architect, and for the architect's organization:
Information on the different types of Open Group standards and publications is available from The Open Group Bookstore ( www.opengroup.org/bookstore).
The Open Group makes all of its standards published since January 1997 freely available in PDF and/or HTML. It also maintains a current list of The Open Group standards and other Open Group publications that are accessible in this way (www.opengroup.org/bookstore/catalog/web.htm).
The content of the SIB is determined by a consensus technical process (see The Open Group Technical Processes). In order to be included in the SIB, a standard needs to be recommended by a Program Group that has responsibility in the relevant technical area. At the same time, confirmation is sought that each new entry acceptably meets the criteria listed below.
Criterion |
Explanation |
---|---|
Non-discriminatory Implementation |
If the specification is taken from an existing product source licensable from a single vendor only, then implementations should be available to all companies on a non-discriminatory basis. This includes pricing and licensing conditions. |
Availability of Dependencies |
If an implementation requires other products or services to be usable (e.g., protocols), the complementary products or services must be publicly available, specified by The Open Group, or obtainable from multiple sources. |
Availability of Implementations |
Commercial availability of implementations. |
Completeness of Specification |
The interfaces to be adopted must be specified sufficiently that a conformant product may be implemented (and usable) using only:
|
Freedom to Develop |
Freedom for anyone to develop a practical product which either supports or utilizes the same specification, subject to the need to license any predisclosed patents. |
Future Access |
The contributor to give The Open Group access to all future versions of the material with no obligation on The Open Group to adopt them. |
Immunity from Liability |
An assurance that a person developing a product in accordance with the specification is immune from any liability to the contributor of the material in respect of the use by him or his customers of such material, other than through failure to properly license predisclosed patents. |
Market Need |
Evidence that there is a market need for the interface. For example:
|
No Proprietary Lock-in |
The interfaces to be adopted are complete, in that it is not necessary to use any additional interfaces, retained as proprietary, in order to create commercially usable products. |
Non-discriminatory Patents |
If the interfaces to be adopted are covered by patents, such patents must be licensed by their owners on a reasonable and non-discriminatory basis. |
Other Activities |
Understanding of activities in this area in other consortia and official standards bodies. |
Specification Availability |
The availability of a high-quality specification upon which The Open Group activities can be based. |
Test Suite Availability |
The availability of a test suite which could be used as the basis for conformance testing. |
The technical processes by which The Open Group produces its standards are long established and widely accepted throughout the industry.
They are also central to The Open Group's mission of delivering greater business efficiency by making it easier to integrate IT across the enterprise.
By means of these processes, The Open Group:
As a result, enterprise architects can design, and customer organizations procure, multi-vendor IT solutions that both meet the business needs, and integrate within and between enterprises, with reduced time, cost, and risk.
More information about The Open Group technical processes is available at www.opengroup.org/tech/procedures .
All individual standards adopted through The Open Group's technical processes are known as Open Group Standards, and are documented in its SIB.
The Open Group adds value to the standards in its SIB by integrating related standards into sets, known as Product Standards (analogous to Solution Building Blocks (SBBs) in TOGAF terms, or "technical profiles" in the formal standards world 1), which are designed to be used together.
This is a recursive process, the goal being the definition of "procurement-ready" Product Standards, whose functionality is strongly related to the needs of customers, and whose scope and structure is strongly related to real products that can be procured in the open market.
More information about Open Group Product Standards is available at www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/7501899/file4.htm .
The Open Brand is signified by the green "X" Device. It can be associated with, and used in relation to, IT systems that have been registered with The Open Group as being fully conformant with one or more Product Standards.
Anyone wishing to register a product, or products, and use the "X" Device, must first sign the Open Brand Trademark License Agreement and thereby "warrant and represent" that any products they register will fully conform to the identified Product Standard(s), and continue to do so.
Thus the Open Brand, when associated with a vendor's product, communicates clearly and unambiguously to a procurer that the software bearing the brand correctly implements the corresponding Open Group Product Standard.
Customers specifying the Open Brand in their procurements can therefore be certain that the branded products they buy will conform to the Product Standard at the time of purchase, and will continue to do so for as long as the product remains registered.
This section covers how to use the SIB, including examples and a list of URLs.
The database entries in the SIB are linked either to other Open Group databases and resources - in particular those relating to Product Standards and Registered Products - or, where relevant, to the web sites of other de facto and de jure standards organizations.
In this way, the SIB provides the architect with a gateway to a uniquely powerful set of tools for defining the standards that an architecture is to mandate, and for checking the availability in the marketplace of products guaranteed to conform to those standards.
First, go to the SIB home page (www.opengroup.org/sib). (It opens in a new window, to enable you to keep these instructions visible.) You may want to bookmark the home page after following the hyperlink.
The home page provides four hyperlinks:
The following examples are intended to provide an initial guide through the different resources available, and to provide readers with an understanding of the wide range of information available, starting from the SIB home page.
The examples are far from exhaustive, and readers are encouraged to investigate further for themselves after following the examples.
From the SIB home page (www.opengroup.org/sib), click the 'View it' hyperlink.
The result is a full summary listing of the SIB, represented as a series of tables, one for each of the major service categories
in the TOGAF TRM taxonomy. The hyperlinks at the head of the page provide links to the start of each service category table.
As you can see, the SIB contains hyperlinks to the web sites of many different standards organizations, both de jure and de facto .
The standards listed in the various tables are all standards adopted by The Open Group; that is, standards endorsed by The Open Group as fit-for-purpose in architecture specification and procurement.
Many of the standards listed in the SIB have been developed and published by The Open Group itself. There are also many Referenced Standards - standards developed and published by other organizations, and referenced from the SIB.
Data Interchange in particular is an area where The Open Group has elected not to duplicate the excellent work done in other organizations, and instead has adopted from those organizations the relevant standards with demonstrated industry consensus.
Now we will look at the facilities available in the SIB for the Technical Standards developed and published by The Open Group itself.
This time we will look at the facilities for the Product Standards developed and published by The Open Group.
As you can see, there is a wealth of information underpinning the entries for standards developed by The Open Group, particularly the Product Standards.
For this reason, Open Group Product Standards should be the first point of departure when considering open industry standards for architecture specifications and procurements.
Where Open Group Product Standards do not exist, individual Open Group standards will often be the next best thing.
A summary of URLs to key Open Group resources relevant to the architect is given below.
www.opengroup.org/sib |
Starting Point: the SIB home page. |
www.opengroup.org/sib.htm |
Direct link to the full listing of the SIB. |
www.opengroup.org/sib2/search_sib.tpl |
Direct link to the SIB search facility. |
www.opengroup.org/togaf |
The TOGAF public information home page. |
www.opengroup.org/bookstore |
Catalog of Specifications and Other Publications. |
www.opengroup.org/testing |
Testing Technology information. |
The TOGAF document set is designed for use with frames. To navigate around the document:
Downloads of the TOGAF documentation, are available under license from the TOGAF information web site . The license is free to any organization wishing to use TOGAF entirely for internal purposes (for example, to develop an information system architecture for use within that organization). A hardcopy book is also available from The Open Group Bookstore as document G063 .