Towards IT Platform Independence with pimUML : From Semantically Rich DEMO Models to Low Code

With the ever-growing complexity of modern enterprises, and their supporting IT systems, it becomes increasingly challenging to maintain good business-IT alignment. In recent work, we reported on a model-driven engineering approach to transform, (business) semantically rich, DEMO models to low-code software artifacts for the Mendix low-code platform, with the aim to improve business-IT alignment. The latter approach, however, heavily depends on the specifics of the chosen platform. To reduce IT platform dependence, the Model Driven Architecture approach suggests to discern three levels of models of a system: a business-oriented computation independent model (CIM), an (IT) platform independent model (PIM), and an (IT) platform specific model (PSM). In this paper, we present a more refined approach with the aim to increase the extensibility of the existing DEMO to Mendix transformation to other target IT-platforms, while also “opening up” for other CIMs besides DEMO models. The development of this approach is done in multiple (agile) design cycles, in which pimUML, a novel UML profile to express PIM models, is developed and evaluated for preservation of semantics in each transformation step.