Fundamental Principles of Up ! Application System

• To each atomic activity corresponds a business interface.
  The business interfaces must stay rich enough to be shared between two applications in order to interconnect them, even if it entails to use business views.
  This is the corner stone of the logical planning of the information system.
  
• The business interface can be sorted in three groups according to the sharing potential:
  • Generic.
    For each enterprise or public service.
    
  • Specialized.
    For each enterprise or every public service belonging to a particular business line.
    
  • Specific.
    For a particular enterprise or a public service.
    
• To each atomic activity corresponds an explicit know how that is centralized into a micro expert system.
  Since the know-how is specific to the enterprise or the public service, it is the same for the business rules of the expert system.
  
• A business component is a particular set-up of a business interface.
  It exists two kinds of natural set-ups:
  • By embedding the existing - 80% of cases.
    The generic vertical software that is integrated or specifically developed for the enterprise or the public service.
    
  • By selecting it into a Up ! Virtual Business Machine's bank of components - 20% of cases.
    There is:
    • A generic bank for every enterprises and public services.
      
    • A specialized bank for every enterprises and public services belonging to a particular business line.
      
• The business component coming from Up ! Virtual Business Machine's bank is stable in time.
  It is independent of:
  • Any organization.
    It is characterized by a hierarchy, the definition of positions and responsibilities, the processes.
    
  • Any technical choice.
    The components are hosted into a business virtual machine that isolates them from any specificities of a particular technique family and that offers them the business services that were previously introduced. It is called Up ! Virtual Business Machine.
    
  • Any culture.
    The linguistic and cultural characteristics of applications are out of components.
• The business components are exposed in any leading standards for logically planning the information system.
  To interchange digital data and to call services in a client-supplier way.
  
• Up ! Application System is set on a unique and high-leveled language called Up ! Fifth Generation Language - Up ! 5GL.
  It is a pseudo-natural, multicultural, self-defining and extensible language. It is used for:
  • Designing applications.
    As the Unified Modeling Method (UML) norm to specify:
    • Business interfaces.
      
    • Business expertise rules.
      
  • Writing the scripts to build the business components or macros functions to automate repeating tasks.
    As Visual Basic Application (VBA).
    
  • Developing specific business components.
    As Visual Basic or Java.
    
  • Integrating functionalities of external applications that are exposed through the business interfaces.
    As C++.
    
  • Writing the scripts to operate the applications.
    As Perl or Shell.
    
• Up ! Application System uses a process-driven approach for the activities of the IT department.
  There are usually two processes:
  • Designing / realizing / integrating / deploying / maintaining.
    
  • Parameters setting / using / operating.
    
• Up ! Application System is also based on a multi facet application called Up ! Workbench that is setting up the process-oriented approach previously introduced.
  For each class of actors that are working on one of the two processes, it is possible to define profiles and habilitations limiting the view and the use of the application.

• Making standard the methods to pilot IT projects.
  
• Automatically programming for all the low value-added tasks of the Work Prime Contractor (WPC).