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The reference model is based on functional groups, defining the typical types of non specialised computer activity in an Administration. This means that activities such as Project Management or Geographical Information Systems are not considered. The activities not considered should in general be the ones used by only a small proportion of the user population.
The functional groups are split into Principal and Subsidiary groups. The Principal groups represent functionality that is defined in business process terms. The Subsidiary groups provide support services to the Principal groups and therefore would not normally be implemented on their own.
This is the creation, modification and printing of files containing standard formatted business data such as letters and reports. Also the creation, modification and printing of spreadsheets and presentations. There must be utilities to manage these files. The de facto Microsoft file formats *.doc, *.xls and *.ppt must be able to be read and written with high accuracy. In addition open formats such as PDF need to be both readable and writeable. Local European languages and settings such as currency and alphabet must be supported.
This is the creation, receiving and displaying of electronic mail including support for secure mail as S/MIME.
This is the creation and management of personal and group calendars and address books. The calendars should allow meetings to be arranged and the booking of rooms. The address books should integrate with the other functional groups.
This is the ability to access Internet service protocols and display the results. This is normally done with a browser. In addition the ability to create content and make it available as both internally and externally.
This is the central storage of documents with efficient retrieval mechanisms.
The manipulation of structured data in both personal and central databases.
These groups are generally defined by technical services and would not normally be implemented on their own. They include:
operating systems
File servers
user management, authentication and authorisation;
virus and spam detection;
backup and recovery
print management.
The complete list is defined in Chapter 12 below.
Administrations have specific requirements over and above the needs of a standard office environment. Some of these are imposed by local, national or European legislation. In particular:
They have to be able to accept files from the public in formats which are commonly used. In reality this means at least accepting all of Microsoft's formats, but could also require, for instance, accepting WordPerfect and Lotus Notes formats.
Some applications exchange information between members of the public and the Administration, which needs to be done in a secure fashion with notification of delivery.