2.3.0.0.3 operational level

The policy representation at this level is used for enforcing the management activities. A policy at the goal-orient level is split into two parts, the actual policy and necessary event definitions. Policies are described by a Policy Definition Language (PDL). Events used by policies are defined by an Event Definition Language (EDL).

The PDL combines the parts necessary for a policy definition. These are the event definition, the domains, the management interfaces, and the desired management activity. In addition to the policies as defined by the Imperial College, the PDL supports the explicit generation of events in successful and unsuccessful cases. The intention of this feature is the realisation of policy chains. New events can be triggered by a policy depending on the result of an action.

With EDL, the events are defined. The EDL influences the behaviour of the monitoring components and allows the creation of timing events. An event composition is also possible allowing basic event correlation. The chaining mechanism can be used in combination with the conditional creation of composite events to design complex activity chains.