A functional approach to a functional problem
As explained in the introduction, it is of utmost importance to use a functional approach to solve the problem of designing a pivotal format. In the four-layer CIGREF map, all layers are a consequence of the one above. Hence, starting with layer 3 (software) without having a correct design of the context studied in layer 2 (business capabilities) is bound to create malfunctioning software. This is made much worse by the fact that once turned into software, the error will be fixed in code and possibly shared through APIs used by many users and machines all over your information system or external ones, which may make it almost impossible to correct the design error.
The vast majority of IT problems come from this lack of business alignment that we have talked about a lot and, right now, we are at the root of the problem: the design of the business entities. When we do not have any dedicated standard to rely on and spare us of a complex...