Although component-based platforms and technologies such as CORBA, COM+/.NET and Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) are now widely used for implementation and deployment of complex systems, the component way of thinking is still immature. Current CBD best practices, concepts, approaches and methods do not provide a full and consistent support for various component concepts, and therefore are not able to provide a full benefit of the CBD paradigm. This paper defines a new approach to components through an Integrated Component- Oriented Framework that provides a comprehensive component-oriented support for enterprise systems development. The framework enables that the same component way of thinking and the same consistent set of technology- independent component concepts can be applied in different aspects of enterprise systems development, from business services to distributed components.
