CORBA: Its Consortium, Competition, and Criticisms

by
Ellen Fischer

The Work of the Object Management Group

The Object Management Group (www.omg.org) is an industry consortium which "was formed to create a component-based software marketplace by hastening the introduction of standardized object software" (backgrnd.htm). The OMG, founded by eight companies, currently has over 800 members. These members have collaborated to create specifications in the areas of CORBA/IIOP, Object Services, Internet Facilities and Domain Interfaces (backgrnd.htm). Their work is guided by the Object Management Architecture, which encompasses the aforementioned specifications.

CORBA is at the center of the OMG’s work. While the OMA specifies Application Oriented, System Oriented, and Vertical Market Oriented segments, all communications in these segments are completed using CORBA (omaov.htm). These segments were delineated as part of an OMG reorganization in December 1995. In particular, the attention to vertical markets was added in order to better meet the needs of the end users of CORBA-compliant products (Cargill, p. 228). In addition, an Architecture Board was created "to oversee and maintain consistency in the OMG Technical Process" (omaov.htm); the work of the OMG was becoming difficult to track as the membership was becoming so large.

The OMG tries to drive the market toward accepting CORBA as an open standard for the development of interoperable distributed object-oriented applications. In 1992, Christopher M. Stone, President and CEO of OMG, wrote, "OMG is a technology-endorsement group, not a standards body. What we produce may become de facto standards, but we are not accredited to enforce them" (Stone, p. 125). The OMG has developed strong backing for its work, however, which may obviate the need to enforce standards. The large membership and accompanying CORBA implementations testifies to its success in leading the market toward the OMG’s vision. As well, CORBA has become an ISO Standard.

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Ellen Fischer, March 30, 1998