The paper has shown a novel approach to management models for (distributed) applications. This approach is based on standardized concepts specified within RM-ODP, especially in the definition of languages for the computational and engineering viewpoints. It also takes into account general applicability to a wide range of applications as well as aspects of realization and implementation. Nevertheless, it is independent of specifics of the different existing management architectures. The models lead to management interfaces that are widely consistent across different applications; the goal of this consistency is to foster integrated application management. For example, fault management applications monitoring the status of systems and processes can be implemented in a much more efficient way when consistent interfaces are present. Another example of the benefits of our approach is the mentioned support for pre-installation tests in the field of software management. This has been demonstrated by a concrete example, the CICS transaction processing monitor: By applying the defined GAMOCs, we were already able to cover a wide range of CICS management use cases. This is due to the fact that these contain the knowledge about properties common to all kinds of (distributed) applications.
The technical realization of our approach was another target of the paper: We described how we applied an off-the-shelf CASE-tool to the problem domain of application management and how we successfully implemented a CORBA-compliant application management agent in the context of an inter-domain management scenario. The acquired solution permits management of applications across the boundaries of the OSI, Internet and CORBA management architectures and is therefore not only application-independent but also architecture-independent. Due to the heterogeneity of the underlying environments, we believe that these two properties (application-independence and architecture-independence) are the key issues for the success of integrated application management.