Supporting Stakeholders in the MDA Process
Authors: Phalp, K.T., Jeary, S., Crowle, S., Vincent, J. and Kanyaru, J.M.
Conference: SQM 2007/INSPIRE 2007
Dates: 1-2 August 2007
Abstract:By providing a route from model to architecture, Model Driven Architecture (MDA) promises, among other things, to narrow the gap between business users and software developers. That is, the approach is intended to involve stakeholders in modelling, so that, by transformation from Computationally Independent Models (CIM), through Platform Independent Models (PIM), to Platform Specific Models (PSM), the resultant software systems will be aligned with the client’s business needs.
However, there has been little attempt to consider who the stakeholders in an MDA process would be, or whether the models and supporting tools used would be appropriate to their backgrounds, expertise and needs. In contrast, this paper suggests a classification of stakeholder roles and their relationship to MDA phases.
The paper then presents a brief review of existing toolsets, and ties the support offered to each of the MDA modelling levels; CIM, PIM and PSM.
In brief, we find that whilst there appears to be good support for what amounts to traditional development, at PIM and PSM, there is still relatively little support for CIM. Since a proportion of key stakeholder roles appear to be working at this level, it would appear that MDA is lacking in providing appropriate support for, a significant, and perhaps the most vital, subset of stakeholders.
Source: Manual
Preferred by: Sherry Jeary and Keith Phalp