With DCE, OSF has established a standard set of services and interfaces that facilitate client-server applications. This is the basis for an open computing environment where networks of multivendor systems appear as a single system to the user.
Users can locate and share information safely and easily across the entire network of systems.
Your typical DCE customer is interested in ensuring that they are able to integrate all their systems into an existing DCE environment. Use of an established working environment with well-defined interfaces is key to their work environment. DCE is called middleware or enabling technology. It is not intended to exist alone, but instead will be used to integrate into a customer's existing distributed environment. DCE is not an application in itself, but is used to build custom applications or to support purchased applications.