An evaluation and selection framework for interoperability standards

There is a wide range of standards available for the integration and interoperability of applications and information systems, both on domain-specific and domain-neutral levels. The evaluation and selection of interoperability standards are necessary in the application development and integration projects, when there is a need to assess the usefulness of existing models or to find open solutions. In addition, standards have to be evaluated when recommendations are made for a given domain or when their quality is examined. The evaluation of the scope and other aspects of interoperability standards is usually performed against project-specific requirements, but generic frameworks can be used for supporting the evaluation. In this article, we present a conceptual framework which has been developed for the systematic evaluation of interoperability standards. We also present an overview of a process for the evaluation of interoperability standards. We illustrate the use of these models with practical experience and examples. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.