The electronic version of this International Standard can be downloaded from the ISO/IEC Information Technology Task Force (ITTF) web site.

This Recommendation International Standard:
- gives an introduction and motivation for ODP;
- provides an overview of the Reference Model of Open Distributed Processing (RM-ODP) and an explanation of its key concepts;
- gives guidance on the application of the RM-ODP.
This Recommendation International Standard covers both overview and detailed explanation, and can be consulted in various ways when reading the standards:
a) if you intend to read only this Recommendation International Standard, to gain a general understanding of the importance of ODP to your organization, concentrate on clause 6;
b) if you intend to study the whole RM-ODP, you should also read clause 6 before moving on to ITU-T Rec. X.902 ISO/IEC 10746-2 and ITU-T Rec. X.903 ISO/IEC 10746-3;
c) as you read ITU-T Rec. X.902 ISO/IEC 10746-2 and ITU-T Rec. X.903 ISO/IEC 10746-3 you may wish to consult clauses 7 to 10, which give supporting explanation for the various concepts that these common texts define;
d) when you have completed a first reading of ITU-T Rec. X.902 ISO/IEC 10746-2 and ITU-T Rec. X.903 ISO/IEC 10746-3, read clauses 11 and 12 which discuss the use of standards in ODP system specifications, and provide some examples of applying the ODP concepts in the specification of systems.