Extending UML 2.0 to Augment Control Over Enterprise Information System Engineering Process

Enterprise Information Systems can be described according to the Open Distributed Processing Reference Model (RM-ODP), where five different viewpoints are specified analyzing various aspects of the system. Configuration issues are explored in the Engineering Viewpoint of RM-ODP. In practice, configuration issues are explored in discrete stages, supported by autonomous software tools, each of which adopts its own metamodel for system representation. We propose a platform independent framework, which focuses on the Engineering Viewpoint of Enterprise Information Systems managing application configuration and network design issues independently of application development progress. In order to apply this framework using existing tools, model exchangeability and tool coordination must be supported by standard, open methods. Thus, a common metamodel is proposed to generate enterprise information system models, which are stored in XML. A UML 2.0 profile is defined to visualize these models, facilitate the designer to interact with them and coordinate specific tool invocation.