Definition
A Capability is a governed description of an ability possessed or provided by an Object. Capabilities represent potential functionality rather than specific executions. A Capability may be provided by one or more Objects and may support one or more business objectives.
Purpose
This document defines Capability within the OCOM Specification.
Capability represents the ability of an Object to perform, provide, enable, or support one or more organizational functions.
Capabilities provide a technology-independent mechanism for describing what an Object can do without prescribing how it is implemented.
Business meaning
Capabilities allow organizations to model operational abilities independently of organizational structure, implementation technologies, or execution mechanisms.
They provide a stable representation of organizational functionality while implementations evolve over time.
Design principles
Every Capability shall:
- describe an ability
- remain implementation independent
- support governance
- support reuse
- support interoperability
- remain technology independent
Core characteristics
- Identifier
- Name
- Purpose
- Description
- Provider
- Consumer
- Constraints
- Policies
- Dependencies
- Maturity Level
- Availability
Relationship to other specifications
Capability interacts with:
ocom:Objectocom:Relationshipocom:Contractocom:Policyocom:Constraintocom:Workflowocom:Agentocom:Toolocom:Evaluation
Capabilities describe potential abilities rather than operational execution.
Compared with
- OCOM vs BPMN — Partial
Independence — does not prescribe
- organizational structures
- software architectures
- service models
- implementation technologies
Conformance
A compliant implementation shall ensure that every managed Capability:
- define Capabilities explicitly
- preserve Capability traceability
- support governance
- support evaluation
- remain technology independent
Provenance
Governance records: —
| Version | Date | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | 20 July 2026 | Initial draft |