Quality Principles

In order to present a unified set of standards and guides to the digital market, digital standards and guides of The Open Group must adhere to minimum principles of quality and consistency.

Name Consistent Terminology

Statement

Digital standards and guidance employ consistent terminology with clearly defined scopes in order to be used together effectively.

Rationale

Implementors of digital standards should expect consistent terminology with clear definitions when employing multiple digital standards. Consistent terminology will also improve clarity of communication and understanding.

Implications

  • Digital standards provide clear and referenceable terminology and definitions

  • Creators of digital standards should seek to re-use or build on terminology defined in other digital standards

  • Digital standards should not develop terminology that conflicts with other digital standards of The Open Group

    When a term has more than one meaning, give a definition for each context in scope of the standard. For example, the term “service” has two definitions:

    1. Business context: An act performed for the benefit of another.

    2. Software context: An encapsulated component that delivers its outcomes through well-defined interfaces.

  • To facilitate using digital standards together, a central and linkable cross-digital standard glossary should be developed to bridge terminology when needed; this should include support for context-dependant definitions
Name Cross Reference

Statement

Digital standards explicitly cross-reference relevant material.

Rationale

Consistent with The Open Group principle of “re-use, not re-invent” (Source: The Open Group Architecture Principles, Application Principles) digital standards must leverage existing definitions, concepts, processes, etc. defined in other standards and guides of The Open Group where possible.

Implications

  • Digital standards must provide clear and referenceable terminology and definitions

  • Creators of digital standards should explicitly identify and provide navigable links to concepts in other digital standards

  • The Open Group must provide a consistent and durable mechanism for such cross-document links
Name Strong Curation

Statement

Unified standards are consistently and strongly curated.

Rationale

Digital practices and standards are evolving, and therefore must have both criteria and mechanisms to keep them current with industry practices and trends, subject to evidence of verifiability, notability, and reasonable longevity.

Implications

  • Digital standards provide explicit curation criteria, either directly in the document or by reference, including the DPBoK curation approach and the principles for evolving the TOGAF Standard

  • Items in a standard should provide references (e.g., footnotes) showing current use in practice or adoption

  • Consensus among members on the value of an idea is a necessary but not sufficient basis for the inclusion of an idea in a standard; market use should be shown