Resource

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A Resource is an identifiable person, Organization, asset, supply, or capability available for use by an Actor or activity.

A Resource can provide:

• Knowledge
• Skills
• Labor
• Authority
• Information
• Data
• Processing
• Storage
• Communication
• Execution
• Measurement
• Observation
• Control
• Physical capacity
• Material
• Energy
• Time
• Funding
• Another capability or supply required by an Actor or activity

A Resource can include:

• A person
• An Organization
• A User
• A Node
• A Node Set
• A service
• A software component
• A physical machine
• A virtual machine
• A container
• A network
• A storage facility
• A database
• An Artifact
• An Execution Facility
• A Deployment Target
• A facility
• A test instrument
• Material
• Energy
• Time
• Funding
• Another identifiable source of capability, capacity, information, material, or support

A Resource can identify:

• Its identity
• Its name
• Its description
• Its Resource type
• Its owner
• Its provider
• Its operator
• Its custodian
• Its applicable Roles
• Its provided capabilities
• Its available capacity
• Its configuration
• Its Version
• Its location
• Its availability
• Its status
• Its applicable cost
• Its allocation
• Its dependencies
• Its usage constraints
• Its applicable Policies
• Its applicable Governance Policies
• Its Provenance
• Its Traceability

An Actor or activity can:

• Own a Resource
• Provide a Resource
• Request a Resource
• Allocate a Resource
• Reserve a Resource
• Configure a Resource
• Use a Resource
• Consume a Resource
• Share a Resource
• Release a Resource
• Require a Resource
• Depend on a Resource

identifiable person, Organization, asset, supply, or capability available for use by an Actor or activity

Adapted from:

• ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2023, Systems and software engineering — System life cycle processes
• DIDO Reference Architecture
• DIDO Reference Implementation Conceptual Model
• DIDO-TE draft Requirements Register
• Operational Resource

ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 addresses resources used throughout system life-cycle processes, including people, information, infrastructure, facilities, materials, and enabling capabilities.

This definition provides a general Resource concept that supports human, organizational, informational, software, hardware, physical, financial, and service Resources.

A Resource is defined by its availability for use, not solely by ownership. An Actor or Organization can use a Resource owned or operated by another party.

A Resource can be:

• Human or nonhuman
• Physical or virtual
• Tangible or intangible
• Internal or external
• Permanent or temporary
• Dedicated or shared
• Renewable or nonrenewable
• Consumable or reusable
• Available or unavailable
• Allocated or unallocated

A Resource differs from an Artifact:

• A Resource is available for use by an Actor or activity
• An Artifact is an identifiable work product or managed item

An Artifact becomes a Resource when an Actor or activity makes the Artifact available for use.

A Resource differs from a capability:

• A Resource identifies the person, Organization, asset, supply, or capability available for use
• A capability identifies the ability to achieve an outcome or produce an effect

A Resource can provide one or more capabilities.

A Resource differs from an Operational Resource:

• A Resource is available for use by an Actor or activity
• An Operational Resource is a Resource used to perform or support an operational activity

Every Operational Resource is a Resource. A Resource is not necessarily an Operational Resource.

A Resource differs from a Deployment Target:

• A Resource is available for use by an Actor or activity
• A Deployment Target provides a destination for installing, configuring, or activating a deployable artifact

A Resource can qualify as a Deployment Target when it satisfies both definitions.

A Resource differs from an Execution Facility:

• A Resource is available for use by an Actor or activity
• An Execution Facility interprets or performs Executable Instructions

An Execution Facility is a specialized Operational Resource.

Treating a person as a Resource in an architectural or operational model does not reduce the person to an owned asset. The Resource relationship identifies the person’s availability, assigned Role, knowledge, skill, authority, or effort within the modeled context.

A change in ownership, availability, allocation, configuration, capacity, location, or status does not necessarily create a new Version of the Resource. The applicable identification and versioning policy determines whether the change creates a new Version or changes the state of the existing Resource.

A DIDO-TE Test Environment requires the following Resources:

• A User assigned the Test Operator Role
• Three Nodes forming a Node Set
• A communication network
• A container runtime
• An Artifact Repository
• A database
• A monitoring service
• Processing capacity
• Storage capacity
• An approved Test Definition
• Time allocated for Test Execution

When the Test Environment allocates and uses these Resources to conduct Test Execution, they act as Operational Resources.

The resulting Test Run identifies the applicable Resources, their configurations, their Versions when applicable, and their contribution to the Test Results and supporting Evidence.