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21 – 30 of over 17000Fotis Kitsios and Maria Kamariotou
Enterprise architecture (EA) is a means of a high level of abstraction of a business’ levels which helps organise planning and taking better decisions. Evidence has shown that the…
Abstract
Purpose
Enterprise architecture (EA) is a means of a high level of abstraction of a business’ levels which helps organise planning and taking better decisions. Evidence has shown that the scope of EA is not restricted to technology planning, but the lack of business strategy and processes is the most common problem of EA frameworks. Consequently, a challenge stems from the fact that the formulation of strategy should not be modelled separately but as a holistic approach. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the contemporary problems in existing EA modelling frameworks concerning the optimisation of business strategy concepts and to identify areas for improvement.
Design/methodology/approach
Studies were spotted using a three phased literature review methodology which was suggested by Webster and Watson (2002).
Findings
Although, previous studies have attempted to use tools and models to visualise the technological business planning, limited previous study has focussed on modelling strategic planning. Due to issues concerning the lack of guidelines for modelling business strategy, a holistic approach is needed to be made.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the existing literature by assessing the current EA modelling languages and their skilfulness to modelling strategy. Moreover, it contributes to the determination of difficulties in modelling, as well as to the examination of ease of use of language in the context of strategy. Second, this paper provides an overview to practitioners who would like to develop effective EA modelling projects, as well as to architects who try to solve the problems of business complexity.
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Marcus Fischer, Florian Imgrund, Christian Janiesch and Axel Winkelmann
Digital transformation has been changing the economic environment of enterprises in recent years. To remain competitive, they rely on an extensible software architecture, flexible…
Abstract
Purpose
Digital transformation has been changing the economic environment of enterprises in recent years. To remain competitive, they rely on an extensible software architecture, flexible workflow execution, and automated decision management. The concepts of service-oriented architectures (SOA), business process management (BPM), and business rules management (BRM) provide an adequate, yet isolated means of addressing many of these requirements. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adapts from established research frameworks to structure the current state of research on the integration of SOA, BPM and BRM. The authors highlight the current research scope, point to disregarded topics and sketch out multidisciplinary research approaches.
Findings
While the three concepts are often discussed only in isolation or pairwise, approaches that integrate them are scarce. Against this backdrop, this study defines three types of research opportunities and identifies several directions for future research that should be explored from a technological as well as organizational perspective. Given the breadth of open questions, the authors present sources for each area of our research framework, which can serve as starting points for future investigations.
Practical implications
Except for well-established support for separate tasks and technologies, there is a lack of integrated standards, methods and platforms, which for example enable integrated decision-making across BPM and SOA.
Originality/value
Our contribution builds on established frameworks and clearly shows that the discussion on the integration of SOA, BPM and BRM cannot yet be regarded as sufficient. The research agenda highlights which areas explicitly benefit from a more precise consideration.
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Irina Farquhar and Alan Sorkin
This study proposes targeted modernization of the Department of Defense (DoD's) Joint Forces Ammunition Logistics information system by implementing the optimized innovative…
Abstract
This study proposes targeted modernization of the Department of Defense (DoD's) Joint Forces Ammunition Logistics information system by implementing the optimized innovative information technology open architecture design and integrating Radio Frequency Identification Device data technologies and real-time optimization and control mechanisms as the critical technology components of the solution. The innovative information technology, which pursues the focused logistics, will be deployed in 36 months at the estimated cost of $568 million in constant dollars. We estimate that the Systems, Applications, Products (SAP)-based enterprise integration solution that the Army currently pursues will cost another $1.5 billion through the year 2014; however, it is unlikely to deliver the intended technical capabilities.
Frank Grave, Rogier van de Wetering and Rob Kusters
Despite the relevance of how enterprise architecture (EA) contributes to organizational performance in contemporary digital technology-driven strategic renewal, little is known…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the relevance of how enterprise architecture (EA) contributes to organizational performance in contemporary digital technology-driven strategic renewal, little is known about the position of EA artifacts. Therefore, this study aims to build an integrative model of EA artifact-enabled EA value supplemented with a research agenda to enhance our understanding further.
Design/methodology/approach
This study leveraged grounded theory techniques and a systematic review approach to develop the integrative model and research agenda.
Findings
We inductively build a model of the position of EA artifacts in EA value creation. Additionally, we elaborate a research agenda that proposes (1) an investigation of the role of an EA practice in successful strategic change, (2) an examination of how to manage EA practice value generation and (3) longitudinal research to gain insight into the evolution of value creation by EA practices.
Originality/value
This study presents a model of EA artifact-enabled EA value, thereby contributing to our understanding of the mechanisms, inhibitors and success factors associated with EA value. Following our model, the proposed research agenda contains future research areas to help us better understand the mechanisms and interrelatedness of EA practices in highly dynamic environments.
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Gitosree Khan, Sabnam Sengupta and Anirban Sarkar
Service composition phenomenon based on non-scenario aspects are become the latest issues in enterprise software applications of the multi-cloud environment due to the phenomenal…
Abstract
Purpose
Service composition phenomenon based on non-scenario aspects are become the latest issues in enterprise software applications of the multi-cloud environment due to the phenomenal increase in a number of Web services. The traditional service composition patterns are hard to support the dynamic, flexible and autonomous service composition in the inter-cloud platform. To address this problem, this paper aims to describe a dynamic service composition framework (SCF) that is enriched with various structural and functional aspects of composition patterns in a cloud computing environment. The proposed methodology helps to integrate various heterogeneous cloud services dynamically to acquire an optimal and novel enterprise solution for delivering the service to the end-users automatically.
Design/methodology/approach
SCF and different composition patterns have been used to compose the services present in the inter-cloud architecture of the multi-agent-based system. Further, the proposed dynamic service composition algorithm is illustrated using a hybrid approach, where service are chosen according to various needs of quality of service parameters. Besides, a priority-based service scheduling algorithm is proposed that facilitates the automation of delivering cloud service optimally.
Findings
The proposed framework is capable of composing the heterogeneous service and facilitate the structural and functional aspects of service composition process in enterprise cloud-based applications in terms of flexibility, scalability, integrity and dynamicity of the cloud bus. The advantage of the proposed algorithm is that it helps to minimize the execution cost, processing time and get better success rate in delivering the service as per customer’s need.
Originality/value
The novelty of the proposed architecture coordinates cloud participants, automate service discovery pattern, reconfigure scheduled services and focus on aggregating a composite services in inter-cloud environments. Besides, the proposed framework supported several non-functional characteristics such as robustness, flexibility, dynamicity, scalability and reliability of the system.
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Wilfried Lemahieu, Monique Snoeck and Cindy Michiels
At present, many companies rely on third‐party applications and application services for (part of) their information systems. When applications from different parties are used…
Abstract
At present, many companies rely on third‐party applications and application services for (part of) their information systems. When applications from different parties are used together, an integration problem arises. This paper describes an integration approach based on the construction of an enterprise layer. This approach is deliberately kept away from a document‐based, flow‐oriented approach, where business processes are hard coded into the application architecture. Interaction is based on the concurrent update of a shared underlying enterprise layer. At the same time, the application architecture becomes easily adaptable to re‐engineered business processes.
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V. Borja, J.A. Harding and K.T.K. Toh
Creation of new products from existing solutions (product re‐design) shortens new product introduction phases and reduces costs. The product re‐engineering process is a new…
Abstract
Creation of new products from existing solutions (product re‐design) shortens new product introduction phases and reduces costs. The product re‐engineering process is a new approach to the realisation of substitute components without the benefit of original design process documentation or any other documentation relating to the component. Re‐engineering comprises stages which are potentially applicable to many industries. This research applies an enterprise modelling architecture to modelling the re‐engineering process, producing descriptions of the process from several different descriptive views, namely function, information, resource and organisation. This results in a more complete description of the process, in which the model itself may be used as a reference for the implementation of a re‐design process in a particular company. This research also shows how the information modelling constructs of CIMOSA can be used to meet the particular unique requirements of the process of re‐design.
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Umit S. Bititci, Kepa Mendibil, Veronica Martinez and Pavel Albores
The purpose of this research paper is to demonstrate how existing performance measurement may be adopted to measure and manage performance in extended enterprises.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research paper is to demonstrate how existing performance measurement may be adopted to measure and manage performance in extended enterprises.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews the literature in performance measurement and extended enterprises. It explains the collaborative architecture of an extended enterprise and demonstrates this architecture through a case study. A model for measuring and managing performance in extended enterprises is developed using the case study.
Findings
The research found that due to structural differences between traditional and extended enterprises, the systems required to measure and manage the performance of extended enterprises, whilst being based upon existing performance measurement frameworks, would be structurally and operationally different. Based on this, a model for measuring and managing performance in extended enterprises is proposed which includes intrinsic and extrinsic inter‐enterprise coordinating measures.
Research limitations/implications
There are two limitations this research. First, the evidence is based on a single case, thus further cases should be studied to establish the generalisibility of the presented results. Second, the practical limitations of the EE performance measurement model should be established through longitudinal action research.
Practical implications
In practice the model proposed requires collaborating organisations to be more open and share critical performance information with one another. This will require change in practices and attitudes.
Originality/value
The main contribution this paper makes is that it highlights the structural differences between traditional and collaborative enterprises and specifies performance measurement and management requirements of these collaborative organisations.
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Shancang Li, Theo Tryfonas and Honglei Li
The purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth overview of the security requirements and challenges for Internet of Things (IoT) and discuss security solutions for various…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth overview of the security requirements and challenges for Internet of Things (IoT) and discuss security solutions for various enabling technologies and implications to various applications.
Design/methodology/approach
Security requirements and solutions are analysed based on a four-layer framework of IoT on sensing layer, network layer, service layer, and application layer. The cross-layer threats are analysed followed by the security discussion for the enabling technologies including identification and tracking technologies, WSN and RFID, communication, networks, and service management.
Findings
IoT calls for new security infrastructure based on the new technical standards. As a consequence, new security design for IoT shall pay attention to these new standards. Security at both the physical devices and service-applications is critical to the operation of IoT, which is indispensable for the success of IoT. Open problems remain in a number of areas, such as security and privacy protection, network protocols, standardization, identity management, trusted architecture, etc.
Practical implications
The implications to various applications including supervisory control and data acquisition, enterprise systems, social IoT are discussed. The paper will serve as a starting point for future IoT security design and management. The security strategies for IoT should be carefully designed by managing the tradeoffs among security, privacy, and utility to provide security in multi-layer architecture of IoT.
Originality/value
The paper synthesizes the current security requirements for IoT and provides a clear framework of security infrastructure based on four layers. Accordingly, the security requirements and potential threats in the four-layer architecture are provided in terms of general devices security, communication security, network security, and application security.
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Negin Banaeianjahromi and Kari Smolander
Constant changes in the environment seem to have become the biggest challenge of a modern enterprise, which emphasizes the constant need to integrate the enterprise into its…
Abstract
Purpose
Constant changes in the environment seem to have become the biggest challenge of a modern enterprise, which emphasizes the constant need to integrate the enterprise into its changing environment. Aiming at eliminating the integration challenges, EA is proposed as a solution. The purpose of this paper is to survey and analyse the available literature on determining the role of EA in EI and also to identify gaps and state-of-the-art in research.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents a systematic mapping study that found 50 papers in the intersection of EA and EI, these papers were surveyed, analysed, and classified with respect to research focus, research method, and paper type.
Findings
Based on the analyses of the final 50 articles, the authors realized that “EA framework” is the dominating research focus of these studies. “Evaluation research” is recognized as the most common paper type in this area. However, “Experience paper” was a rare paper type in this research domain. “Constructive research” and “Case study/multiple case studies” are widely applied as the research method. “Survey”, “Delphi study” and “Grounded theory” are the least employed research methods. The conclusion was that there is a need for empirical research in this area. After analysing the articles based on their publication year, the authors also noticed a significant growth between 2004 and 2010. After 2010 the number of publications had a downward trend.
Originality/value
To the knowledge of the authors, this study is the first systematic literature study regarding the role of EA in EI. There are several systematic literature reviews about the EA or EI separately but none of them has addressed the specific realm of the research. Hence, the goal of this study is to provide a map of existing literature to enable improvement of the practice with the known research results and to identify gaps for future research.
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