Model-Driven Architecture (MDA) is a registered trademark of the OMG. It describes an approach to separating business-level functionality from the technical nuances of its implementation. The premise behind MDA and other model-driven approaches is to enable business-level functionality to be modeled using standards, like Unified Modeling Language (UML) and Business Process Modeling Notation, to enable the models to exist independently of platform constraints and requirements, then to instantiate the models into specific runtime implementations.