Standards Organizations

The Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12, accredited by the American National Standards Institute and comprised of cross-industry representation, develops robust e-business exchange standards in X12 EDI and XML formats that interact with a multitude of e-business technologies and serve as a premier tool for integrating electronic applications. Using its next generation framework called Context Inspired Component Architecture (CICA), ASC X12 members have developed a myriad of reusable syntax neutral components that can be expressed as XML documents and any future standards format. With more than 2,500 individuals representing 360+ corporate members, ASC X12 facilitates the effective exchange of electronic information through standards-setting and active participation in emerging and technically relevant initiatives. To learn more about ASC X12, visit https://www.X12.org or call 0011 +1 703-970-4480.

Sparx Systems gives X12 members access to Enterprise Architect (EA) UML 2.0 Modeling Tool for use in X12 standards development. EA enables users to model in UML 2.0 and to track key project information from requirements gathering, through the analysis stages, design models, and testing, maintenance and re-use cycles.

Health Level Seven International (HL7) is a not-for-profit, ANSI-accredited, standards developing organization. HL7 is dedicated to providing a comprehensive framework and related standards for the exchange, integration, sharing, and retrieval of electronic health information that supports clinical practice and the management, delivery and evaluation of health services.

HL7 is supported by more than 1,600 members from over 50 countries, including 500+ corporate members representing healthcare providers, government stakeholders, payers, pharmaceutical companies, vendors/suppliers and consulting firms.

For a decade Sparx Systems has supported the HL7 commitment to standards development. The Biomedical Research Integrated Domain Group (BRIDG) Model and Medicaid Information Technology Architecture (MITA Program) are examples of major initiatives in the health sector, that are represented in the Unified Modeling Language (UML) using Enterprise Architect, an award winning UML modeling tool from Sparx Systems.

More information on the HL7 can be found at www.hl7.org.

IIBA is the non-profit professional association serving the growing field of business analysis. As the voice of the business analysis community, IIBA supports the recognition of the profession and works to maintain standards for the practice and certification.

Through a global network, IIBA connects over 29,000 Members, over 115 Chapters and over 240 Corporate Members to unite a community of professionals to create better business outcomes.

More information on the IIBA can be found at www.iiba.org.

Over 60 years, International Air Transport Association (IATA) has developed the commercial standards that built a global industry and its mission is to represent, lead and serve the airline industry.

With a membership made up of 240 airlines, among them the world's leading passenger and cargo airlines, IATA represents 84% of total air traffic. It is against this backdrop that IATA has chosen Enterprise Architect to build the Aviation Industry Data model.

The data model will enable interoperability across the entire spectrum of services providers and agents, who work with airlines to provide a seamless travel experience.

More information on the IATA can be found at www.iata.org.

Sparx Systems is a Contributing Member of The Object Management Group (OMG) and is committed to actively supporting the development of open standards. Sparx Systems supports many OMG standards, including UML®, SysML, UPDM, CORBA®, MDA, BPMN, and DDS. Enterprise Architect, Sparx Systems’ flagship modeling tool, was among the first to implement OMG's UML 2.1 and SysML 1.2 specifications.

Established in 1989, the OMG is an international, non-profit information technology industry consortium. OMG’s membership includes hundreds of organizations, with half being software end-users in over two dozen vertical markets, and the other half representing virtually every large organization in the computer industry and many smaller ones.

OMG’s modeling standards, such as the UML and MDA enable powerful visual design, execution and maintenance of software and other processes, including IT Systems Modeling and Business Process Management. OMG’s middleware standards and profiles are based on the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA®) and support a wide variety of industries.

More information on the OMG can be found at www.omg.org

Sparx Systems is a Silver sponsor of the SOA Consortium – an advocacy group committed to the adoption of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) in enterprise.

The SOA Consortium comprises end users, service providers and technology vendors committed to helping the Global 1000, major government agencies and mid-market businesses successfully adopt SOA by 2010. Its adopted mission focuses on enabling the community of Enterprise SOA practitioners to realize the benefits of service-oriented architecture, based on greater business agility.

Stakeholders within the consortium need vendor support to equip them with highly scalable visual tools to service their SOA needs. With Enterprise Architect, Sparx Systems supports the various stakeholders including strategists, marketing and IT professionals, in implementing SOA within an organization.

Enterprise Architect enables these stakeholders to:

• Specify requirements for how the organization's SOA will be structured and how it will operate.
• Design and implement the SOA 'core', such as designing data schemas, service components, etc.
• Design and implement the business processes, using industry standard BPMN.
• Maintain traceability from strategic business processes to implemented IT services.

For more information, please visit www.soa-consortium.org

Sparx Systems is a Silver member of the Open Group – an organization dedicated to the integration of information within and between enterprises, based on open standards and global interoperability.

The Open Group works with customers, suppliers, consortia and other standard bodies. Together, they focus on understanding and addressing current and emerging requirements, establishing policies, facilitating interoperability, and integrating specifications and open source technologies.

The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF), developed in 1995, enables an in-depth approach to designing, planning, implementing and governing enterprise information architecture. Sparx Systems’ Model Driven Generation (MDG) suite now includes support for The Open Group Architecture Framework with MDG Technology for TOGAF.

MDG Technology for TOGAF facilitates alignment of business processes and IT to business strategies and goals. Users also receive support for modeling in all four architecture domains specific to TOGAF.

For more information on The Open Group, please visit https://www.opengroup.org/

Sparx Systems joined as a Member of the UCA International Users Group (UCAIug) in January, 2009.

The UCAIug, as well as its member groups, Common Information Model User Group (CIMug), Open Smart Grid, and IEC61850, comprises 125 members, who are represented by 29 countries. The user group is dedicated to promoting the integration and interoperability of electric, gas and water utility systems, through the use of international, standards-based technology.

Since the adoption of Enterprise Architect by the IEC TC 57 for the compilation of the Common Information Model (CIM), Sparx Systems works closely with the members of the CIM User Group (CIMug). CIMug’s mission is to manage and to communicate issues concerning the CIM model and to serve as the primary means for developing the CIM model consensus and consistency across the industry.

The current CIM release was constructed using Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect. The CIM model comprises two IEC standards 61968 and 61970, which together provide a comprehensive view of an electrical network – available as a single Enterprise Architect UML model. Sparx Systems supports users and maintainers of the CIM model who are associated with the evolution of CIM via model extensions.

For more information about UCAIug, visit: https://www.ucaiug.org

For information about CIMug and the CIM UML model, visit: https://cimug.ucaiug.org