Water Quality in Portuguese Pseudo-Separate and Combined Systems: A Conceptual Modeling Approach for Data Comparison

Information systems can be conceptualized in a number of ways. Most methodologies propose to analyze separately process and data semantics by projecting them into totally different diagram types. This system analysis and design tradition is very strong in most modeling approaches such as structured analysis as well as object-oriented design. Structural and behavioral aspects are complementary. They cannot be analyzed in isolation. Lack of a conceptual modeling approach, which can be used for verification of semantic integrity among various types of diagrams, is the cornerstone of frustration for information system architects. Inconsistency, incompleteness and ambiguity of conceptual views create difficulties in verification and validation of technical system architectures by business experts, who determine the organizational strategies. Consequently, the traditional information system methodologies are not able to bridge a communication gap among business experts and IT-system designers. Various interpretations of semantic relations in conceptual modeling approaches make the system analysis and design process more art than science. It creates difficulties to formulate comprehensible principles of decomposition and separation of concerns. Unambiguous definition of aggregation and generalization is necessary for breaking down information system functionality into coherent non-overlapping components. This article concentrates on conceptual modeling enhancements, which help to avoid semantic integrity problems in conceptualizations on various levels of abstraction. The presented conceptual modeling approach is based on a single type of diagram, which can be used for reasoning on semantic integrity between business process and data across organizational and technical system boundaries.

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An Approach for Intentional Modeling of Web Services Security Risk Assessment

Web Services Security and E-Business ◽

10.4018/978-1-59904-168-1.ch020 ◽

2007 ◽

pp. 363-379

Author(s):

Subhas C. Misra ◽

Vinod Kumar ◽

Uma Kumar

Keyword(s):

Risk Assessment ◽

Web Services ◽

Conceptual Modeling ◽

Security System ◽

Security Risk ◽

Security Risks ◽

Early Stages ◽

Modeling Approach ◽

Web Services Security ◽

Security Risk Assessment

In this chapter, we provide a conceptual modeling approach for Web services security risk assessment that is based on the identification and analysis of stakeholder intentions. There are no similar approaches for modeling Web services security risk assessment in the existing pieces of literature. The approach is, thus, novel in this domain. The approach is helpful for performing means-end analysis, thereby, uncovering the structural origin of security risks in WS, and how the root-causes of such risks can be controlled from the early stages of the projects. The approach addresses “why” the process is the way it is by exploring the strategic dependencies between the actors of a security system, and analyzing the motivations, intents, and rationales behind the different entities and activities in constituting the system.

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