"Organizational formats are shifting toward flexible networks that use information to integrate organizations, expedite strategic changes, and improve customer service.... In the new economy, flexible work teams and information networks within and among economic institutions are the basic units of production."
Anthony
Carnevale
America and the New Economy
The changes underway in today's global economy and the way we work present providers and consumers of information technology with a clear message - flexible information systems are central to the success of organizations.
Because no one vendor has the best technology for all our system requirements, we need the ability to procure hardware and software as assuredly, for example, as we would buy and integrate audio components from different manufacturers into a complete system. We need the software to run regard less of which platform it is on. We need information to flow freely yet securely from machine to machine, from user to user, regardless of the underlying hardware or network. In other words, we need flexible, open information systems.
An open information system is one built upon products, from multiple sup pliers, which work together because they adhere to recognized international and industry standards. Some of these standards already are in place, but others are not. Basic technical incompatibilities still exist between systems and software from different suppliers, and all the technology we need is not yet in place. This limits our ability to create the open systems we need to support our organizations.
Today, the pressure is on to gain a competitive advantage through new information technology. Yet the rapid pace of technology innovation in our industry frequently upsets the balance between the stability of the tried and true and the possibilities of the new. Open systems, however, enable us to smoothly incorporate innovative, standards-compliant technology into our existing information technology architectures.
Information technology is at a critical point in its evolution. The ability of in formation systems to adapt to changing business requirements has become almost as important as their ability to process data. The systems we deploy must work together, but they don't always do so easily. Currently, we can spend more of our budget dollars on the integration of diverse platforms than on the computer systems themselves over the course of a given year. The industry must move forward to a collaborative, standards-based, customer-driven market a market where innovation and guarantees of interoperability are both essential. The industry formally acknowledged this new reality by forming The Open Group in February, 1996.
The Open Group was formed by merging the Open Software Foundation (OSF), with its expertise in technology research and collaborative development projects, and X/Open Company Ltd., with its expertise in requirements gathering, product standard specification, and management of the internationally recognized brand for open systems development and purchase. The Open Group was formed to help suppliers and consumers in the information technology industry accelerate the research, development, and deployment of open systems. Operating at the nexus of technology innovation and standardization, The Open Group, and its more than 300 member organizations, helps the industry advance technologically while managing the change caused by innovation.
The mission of The Open Group is to make multi-vendor open systems the preferred customer choice for the delivery of the right in formation to the right person at the right time. The Open Group's goals include
The Open Group operates in all phases of the open systems technology life cycle innovation, market adoption/product development, and proliferation. The Open Group's focus is on six strategic areas: open systems application platform development; architecture; distributed systems management; interoperability and distributed computing; security; and the information superhighway.
Research and advanced development. The Open Group Research Institute (RI) investigates software technology needed to improve the scalability, port ability, interoperability, security and usability of computer systems. The RI has made and continues to make significant contributions in the areas of operating systems, software portability, security for enterprise use of the World Wide Web/intranet technology, and web usability issues. The results of the RI's research and advanced development projects work their way into commercial releases as the RI's industrial research and development partners in corporate all or parts of the technology into their own products.
Requirements gathering. During the innovation phase, The Open Group works with its Customer Council and other portions of the industry to gather and prioritize technology requirements. Gathering requirements in this focused way early in the technology life cycle helps ensure that commercial open system products will meet user requirements.
As the first wave of technology adopters moves to incorporate new products into their information systems, The Open Group works to reach industry consensus on formal specifications for products built upon the new technology. Once consensus is reached, the specifications are published. Examples include:
At the same time, The Open Group, through its Professional Services division, assists organizations in the planning and deployment of open systems technology, and provides technology transfer services to assist vendors incorporating its technologies into commercial products.
Also during this phase, The Open Group coordinates focused development projects (PSTs, for Pre-structured Technologies) targeting specific open systems issues. These projects can be sponsored by an individual organization or a group of organizations sharing the same interest. Examples include:
For open systems technologies to be adopted by the market, users must have products that are compatible with and interoperate with their installed open systems. The Open Group provides test suites and certification and branding programs to give users this assurance. The internationally recognized brand for open systems, managed by The Open Group, allows vendors to guarantee their products' conformance to open systems standards. The Open Group consulting and software support further assists users with their open systems deployment.
The Open Group is about being able to choose the best solution for the problem at hand, regardless of vendor. For us to have this choice, however, re quires consensus on the basic standards and technology for open computing. The Open Group helps form and maintain a true partnership between buyers and suppliers in the open systems market, providing several processes open to industry participation aimed at accelerating technology development, deployment, and standardization.
These processes are endorsed by The Open Group's more than 300 member organizations, representing the world's major computer and software manufacturers, end user organizations, government agencies, universities, and research labs. They establish a cycle of activity that streamlines and optimizes consensus building as well as specification and technology research and development. By encouraging collaboration and shared investment, the cycle achieves a more rapid time-to-market and a greater return on investment than if each participating organization developed the technology on its own.
Guaranteed
open!
The X trust mark on products you buy is the supplier's guarantee
that the product conforms 100% to relevant open systems
specifications and will continue to do so for the life of the
product.
Research. The Research Institute provides the means for the rapid inclusion of advanced technology from industrial research labs and academia, as well as the RI's original work, in commercial open systems products.
User Requirements. The end user market identifies new and evolving requirements which are prioritized through the Open Group Customer Council.
Technical Process. Relevant application programming interfaces and subsequent specifications are agreed upon by the entire community of The Open Group. These specifications are drawn from international standards, de facto standards, and new technology widely agreed upon to meet market needs.
Implementation. The Open Group, where necessary, facilitates development of sample implementations of conformant technology that meet the needs of the marketplace through economical, efficient, shared development activities. The industry then builds products, based on the sample implementations, that comply with the relevant specifications.
Product Branding. The Open Group develops test suites and certification programs for ensuring that products claiming to comply with open systems specifications actually do so. Products passing the tests and receiving certification are eligible to receive The Open Group trust mark. Vendors of products displaying the mark guarantee that their products comply with the relevant open systems specifications and will continue to do so as the specifications evolve.
Product Adoption. Because all parties reach consensus on the important standards/specifications from the start, and because buyers have The Open Group trust mark as assurance of open systems compliance, the natural differences between customers and vendors can be bridged. Customers can give assurance to vendors that new open systems products developed in a timely manner will be adopted. Vendors can develop open systems products knowing that the expense of developing common technology will be shared by other vendors, and that customers are waiting for their products.
The Open Group closes the gap between customers and suppliers, between demand and supply. It provides a venue for efficient, cost-effective research and development of innovative technology to meet user needs. And it creates a way to bring the industry together to agree on standard specifications that enable users to tie together diverse information systems and securely share data and applications across those systems. The results of The Open Group open processes give you the flexibility to be in control of your information system architectures.
Participation in The Open Group allows you and your organization to con tribute to the direction and content of the information technology research, development, specification, and implementation which is becoming the foundation of open systems computing.
As an information technology
customer, you can take steps now within your organization to
build or enhance your open systems architecture. Insist on open
technologies backed by The Open Group trust mark in new
procurements. Then take the next step, join The Open Group. If
you are a supplier and not already part of The Open Group, join
us to work together to break the remaining barriers to a fully
open computing infrastructure.
October, 1996
TOG-OVERA-1096