Distributed information systems: an advanced methodology

Information systems ranging over wide areas show properties that must be carefully analyzed and designed in order to meet the needs of the customers. Thus the development of such information systems is to be guided by software engineering methods that address problems like distribution of data and processes, communication aspects and fault tolerance. This paper shows the basic modeling concepts and the development process employed by the BOS Engineering Method to meet these requirements. The BOS Engineering Method applies the concept of business transactions to specify behavior in the early analysis phase. Appropriate abstraction levels are defined to reduce the complexity of specifying distribution issues. The development of complex distributed information systems needs a rigorous life cycle model. The BOS Engineering Method relaxes the waterfall life cycle model to allow controlled look ahead and feedback up and down the abstraction levels