Metamodel of the it governance framework COBIT

Souza Neto, João; Ferreira Neto, Arthur Nunes

doi:10.4301/S1807-17752013000300004

Acessibilidade / Reportar erro

Brasil

JISTEM - Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management

Español English

Brasil

Español English

sumário « anterior atual seguinte »

Sumário

Original Article • JISTEM. 10 (3) • Sep-Dec 2013 • https://doi.org/10.4301/S1807-17752013000300004 copy

Metamodel of the it governance framework COBIT

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

This paper addresses the generation and analysis of the COBIT 4.1 ontological metamodel of IT Governance framework. The ontological metamodels represent the logical structures and fundamental semantics of framework models and constitute adequate tools for the analysis, adaptation, comparison and integration of IT best practice frameworks. The MetaFrame methodology used for the construction of the COBIT metamodel is based on the discipline of conceptual metamodeling and on the extended Entity/Relationship methodology. It has an iterative process of construction of the metamodel’s components, using techniques of modeling and documentation of information systems. In the COBIT 4.1metamodel, the central entity type is the IT Process. The entity type of IT Domain represents the four domains that group one or more IT processes of the COBIT 4.1. In turn, these domains are divided into one or more Activities that are carried through by one or more Roles which are consulted, informed, accounted for or liable for each Activity. The COBIT 4.1 metamodel may suggest adaptation or implementation of a new process within the framework or even contribute to the integration of frameworks, when, after the processes of analysis and comparison, there are connection points between the components and the logical structures of its relationships.

COBIT; Metamodels; Entity/Relationship; IT Governance; IT framework

Categories	Tipos	Justificativa
Purposes or goals	Methodological	Development of a methodology for building meta-frameworks of IT best practices (MetaFrame).
Purposes or goals	Applied	Several practical applications of the methodology and results of the research in organizations and professional applications: metamodels creation, analysis, adaptation, comparison and integration of frameworks of IT best practices.
Means of investigation or technical procedures	Bibliographical	Search of the best methodologies, strategies and guidelines for the creation of the methodology for this research. Use of the frameworks official guides for gathering and analyzing data.

TECSI Laboratório de Tecnologia e Sistemas de Informação - FEA/USP Av. Prof. Luciano Gualberto, 908 FEA 3, 05508-900 - São Paulo/SP Brasil, Tel.: +55 11 2648 6389, +55 11 2648 6364 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: jistemusp@gmail.com

Acompanhe os números deste periódico no seu leitor de RSS

[1] Address for correspondence / Endereço para correspondência João Souza Neto , Doctor of Science in Electrical Engineering, University of Brasilia – UNB, Professor at Catholic University of Brasilia, on the Master’s degree Program in Information Technology and Knowledge Management, Campus Avançado, SGAN 916 Asa Norte - Modulo B - Sala A121 - CEP:70.790-160 Brasília – DF, Brasil - Telefone: (61) 3448-6534 - E-mail: joaon@ucb.br.

Principles(P) / Guidelines(G)	Fulfillment

P1 - Adequacy of construction	The use of ontological metamodels to portray the COBIT 4.1 essential concepts and structures was adequated.

P2 - Adequacy of language	The purpose of the metamodel is suitable for the language used for the COBIT 4.1 metamodel does not include other symbols or different items from those already present in the model, i.e., there is consistency between the model and the metamodel.

P3 - Economic efficiency	The ontological COBIT 4.1 metamodel sustains this principle because it does not need any extension or modification in the language used, therefore it does not require an additional development for the organization.

P4 – Clarity	This principle is fulfilled by the guidelines and principles used in the metamodel creation, for example, the quality goals and criteria of the graphical formatting.

P5 – Systematic Design	This principle deals with the construction consistency between the metamodels. This principle is covered by the systematic creation of the metamodels of IT best practices frameworks through the use of the MetaFrame methodology.

P6 – Comparability	This principle handles the semantic comparison between two models according to their similarity or correspondence. This principle is met because the metamodels created using the MetaFrame methodology are comparable as they have in their documentation a metamodel data dictionary that allows a more effective comparison of the concepts presented.

O1 - Revelation of the Metaization Principle	This guideline is attained through the revelation that the type of the COBIT 4.1 metamodel is the ontological one and that the language components of the extended E/R methodology (rectangles - entity type, lozenges - relationship type etc.), used to represent the metamodel, are named according to the essential or primary concepts of the model, i.e., according to the concepts that classify the model.

O2 – Clear Mapping	The metamodel of the COBIT 4.1 meets this principle because the MetaFrame methodology demands the creation of an explanatory summary of the metamodel so the users may clearly understand the concepts used. Although those concepts are known to the users of the model, they may not be known to other professionals of the IT management area

O3 - Having rich semantic connections	This guideline is followed by the COBIT 4.1 metamodel, which is created according to the MetaFrame methodology because only the most significant relationships that express important concepts contained or created from the model are used. For every relationship there are two expressions naming the type of each relationship, depending on the direction in which the entity types are read. The names of the relationships are extracted from the official guides, with rare exceptions.