The thesis of this work is that management is fundamentally an information processing activity and the object model, as applied to action-based distributed systems and database systems, is an appropriate representation of the management information. In this approach, the basic concepts of classes, objects, relationships, and atomic transition systems are used for form object models of distributed programs. Distributed programs are collections of objects whose methods are structured using atomic actions, i.e. atomic transactions. Object models are formed of two submodels, each representing a fundamental aspect of a distributed programs. The structural submodel represents a static perspective of the distributed program, and the control submodel represents a dynamic perspective of it.
Structural models represent the program's objects, classes and their relationships.
Control models represent the program's object states, events, guards and actions - a transition system. Resolution of queries on the distributed program's object model enable the management system to control certain activities of distributed programs. Sensors are methods used to probe an object's state and actuators are methods used to change an object's state. The management program is capable to prod the application program into action by activating sensors and acturators available at the interface of the application program. Actions are determined by management policies that are encoded in the management program.