Resources

Share the model.

Every diagram on this site is free to use, adapt, and redistribute under CC BY 4.0 — just credit theIOM.org. Put them in your deck, your blog post, your RFP. The more the model spreads, the faster the category forms.

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Start here · The specification

The IOM Standard

Before the diagrams, the document everything else illustrates: the normative IOM specification, with the conformance requirements implementations are measured against.

v1.0 draft · Proposed vendor-neutral standard · CC BY 4.0

Read the standard
The license

Free to share. Free to adapt.

These diagrams are released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. You can use them anywhere — including commercially — and you can modify them. The only requirement is attribution.

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“Infrastructure Operating Model — theIOM.org, CC BY 4.0”

The diagram library

Nine diagrams. Five formats each.

Each is available as SVG (scalable, editable), PNG (slides and docs), Social (1200×630) and Square (1080×1080) for posts, and PDF (print). All branded and attribution-ready.

WHAT ACTS ON INFRASTRUCTUREAIAutomationSecurityComplianceTHE AUTHORITY LAYERINFRASTRUCTURE OPERATING MODELDefines what is legitimate — before execution occurs.CloudNetworkComputeStorageTHE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT EXECUTES

The Infrastructure Authority Stack

The category in one image: AI, automation, security, and compliance all route through the IOM — the authority layer above cloud, network, compute, and storage.

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ERAOPERATING MODELMainframeOperationsClient / ServerSystems ManagementVirtualizationVM ManagementCloudCloud Operating ModelInfrastructure as CodeAutomationAI InfrastructureInfrastructure Operating Model

Era → Operating Model

The historical case in one table: every infrastructure era produced a new operating model. AI’s is the IOM.

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REPRESENTATIONDigital TwinObserveModelSimulateExplain“What exists?”AUTHORITYIOMIntentValidateAuthorizeGovern“What is legitimate?”

Representation vs. Authority

The category in one image: a digital twin observes, models, simulates, explains — “what exists?” An IOM declares intent, validates, authorizes, governs — “what is legitimate?”

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INFERENCEObservability · AIOps · Digital twins · DiscoveryAUTHORITYInfrastructure Operating ModelRuntime observationlogs · metrics · traces · flowsDeclared intentblueprints · ownership · constraintsProbabilistic modelinfers structure from signalsAuthoritative modelthe IOM“What probably happened”“What is legitimate”Advisory · Post-hoc · ProbabilisticGoverning · Pre-execution · DeterministicAuthority cannot be inferred from observation.It must be declared.

Inference vs. Authority

Why the IOM must exist: inference yields “what probably happened,” authority yields “what is legitimate.” The two cannot be substituted.

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INTENT — THE MODEL What exists What is intended What is legitimate EVERY PROPOSED ACTION Human change CI/CD pipeline AI agent THE AUTHORITY LAYER checks each action against intent — before it executes legitimacy ownership blast radius ADMITTED legitimate — passes to execution BLOCKED not what intent allows EXECUTION Cloud Network Identity On-prem

The Authority Layer

The gate: every proposed action — human, pipeline, or AI — validated against intent before it executes.

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