CIM

CIM = Common Information Model.

CIM is an open standard that defines how managed elements in an IT environment (such as computers, network objects, …) are represented as a common set of objects and relationships between them.

The standard is maintained by DMTF (Distributed Management Task Force).

CIM uses an object-oriented approach: the managed elements are modelled using classes and instances.

Microsoft's implementation of CIM is WMI.

WBEM is related to CIM.

A CIM class can be described in the Managed Object Format (MOF) language. Such a description is compiled with mofcomp.exe.