An approach to resource modelling in support of the life cycle engineering of enterprise systems

Enterprise modelling can facilitate the design, analysis, control and construction of contemporary enterprises which can compete in world-wide Product markets. This research involves a systematic study of enterprise modelling with a particular focus on resource modelling in support of the life cycle engineering of enterprise systems. This led to the specification and design of a framework for resource modelling. This framework was conceived to: classify resource types; identify the different functions that resource modelling can support, with respect to different life phases of enterprise systems; clarify the relationship between resource models and other modelling perspectives provide mechanisms which link resource models and other types of models; identify guidelines for the capture of information - on resources, leading to the establishment of a set of resource reference models. The author also designed and implemented a resource modelling tool which conforms to the principles laid down by the framework. This tool realises important aspects of the resource modeffing concepts so defined. Furthermore, two case studies have been carried out. One models a metal cutting environment, and the other is based on an electronics industry problem area. In this way, the feasibility of concepts embodied in the framework and the design of the resource modelling tool has been tested and evaluated. Following a literature survey and preliminary investigation, the CIMOSA enterprise modelling and integration methodology was adopted and extended within this research. Here the resource modelling tool was built by extending SEWOSA (System Engineering Workbench for Open System Architecture) and utilising the CIMBIOSYS (CINI-Building Integrated Open SYStems) integrating infrastructure. The main contributions of the research are that: a framework for resource modelling has been established; means and mechanisms have been proposed, implemented and tested which link and coordinate different modelling perspectives into an unified enterprise model; the mechanisms and resource models generated by this research support each Pfe phase of systems engineering projects and demonstrate benefits by increasing the degree to which the derivation process among models is automated

A Unified Enterprise-Wide Cost Modeling Framework for Engineering Applications Based on Systems Engineering Principles

In the present research the problem of enterprise-wide cost modeling is approached from a systems engineering standpoint. What this does is to use each stage of product life cycle to obtain useful information that helps in estimating the cost of the system. Once a generic framework is developed for estimating the core cost, layers of other factors that affect the cost are applied to the core cost, such as risk and uncertainty, maintainability, supply-chain and socioeconomic conditions. The cost model is expanded to accommodate a product domain ranging from a simple object to a system in the following hierarchy: System, Product, Assembly, Object. The cost model caters to the needs of cost estimation at every stage of the life cycle and for every kind of product, big or small, simple or complex. New process selection tools have been added to the field of cost estimation, which suggests the user with applicable processes given the material and production quantity. Attributes such as materials, fabrication processes etc… are ontology based. This enables a generic category to branch into increasingly specialized categories with each step. This is very useful, since in the preliminary stages of cost estimation, not much information is available as to what exact material or process is used. In such a case data pertaining to a more generalized material or process can be used. Earlier work in the field of cost estimation has focused on specific areas of cost estimation either in terms of concept or application. In the work so far, no single-framework has been proposed that deals with cost estimation that fits the requirements at all stages of product development. Most importantly the concept of systems engineering has not been fully exploited in the area of cost estimation. The framework that we have proposed is based on systems engineering and hence can be used at any stage of the product development. Some of the previous work on cost estimation has applications in specific industries. The framework guides the user in process selection at the lower levels based on material and quantity using a tool called PRIMA. If data is not available for a particular process, then a more generic form of the process can be chosen to collect cost data and estimate on the basis of that data. A more generic process is obtained by using the DCLASS tool. The cost can be revised to reflect more accurate process when the data and information is available. This is possible within the proposed framework. The economic, environmental and social impact of the product has also been taken into account through EIOLCA models to make the framework enterprise-wide in nature. The framework has the potential to be developed into umbrella-software that has capability of estimating cost of small parts as well as large systems. The software will also have the capability to determine the economic, environmental and social impact of the products. The decisions regarding the product, the materials used, the manufacturing processes and even the mechanics of the system, are all determined and weighed against the economic, environmental and social impact. Based on this analysis, the policy makers can make micro as well as macro decisions during the initial planning phase of the system. Since the framework relies on principles of systems engineering, it can be applied to systems irrespective of industry and application. As part of future work, suggestions have been made to turn the framework into a software suite along with other capabilities such as risk analysis and uncertainty

On Modeling and Analyzing Cost Factors in Information Systems Engineering

Introducing enterprise information systems (EIS) is usually associated with high costs. It is therefore crucial to understand those factors that determine or influence these costs. Though software cost estimation has received considerable attention during the last decades, it is difficult to apply existing approaches to EIS. This difficulty particularly stems from the inability of these methods to deal with the dynamic interactions of the many technological, organizational and projectdriven cost factors which specifically arise in the context of EIS. Picking up this problem, we introduce the EcoPOST framework to investigate the complex cost structures of EIS engineering projects through qualitative cost evaluation models. This paper extends previously described concepts and introduces design rules and guidelines for cost evaluation models in order to enhance the development of meaningful and useful EcoPOST cost evaluation models. A case study illustrates the benefits of our approach. Most important, our EcoPOST framework is an important tool supporting EIS engineers in gaining a better understanding of the critical factors determining the costs of EIS engineering projects

Situational Architecture Engineering (SAE) - Improving Strategic Change Through Architecture Methods

Market and environmental requirements call for constant changes in enterprises. To be able to record these changes in a structured way and to manage them it is helpful to use enterprise architectures as stable regulation frameworks. To support the development and the adaptation of the enterprise architectures there are numerous architecture methods (e.g. Zachman Framework, ARIS (Architecture of Integrated Information Systems), TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework), DoDAF (Department of Defense Architecture Framework), BEN (Business Engineering Navigator), Semantic Object Model (SOM)), however, they often lack the necessary flexibility to enable a construction process adaptable to the given situation. This article presents a first approach towards making architecture methods flexible: meta models of the architecture frameworks of selected methods are generated and integrated into a joint meta model. The latter supports the situational adaptability of the enterprise architecture as the architecture method applied has been adapted

IVLE4C a Conceptual Learning Environment for Teaching Enterprise Cybersecurity

The authors are working to improve students’ understanding of and classroom experience with enterprise cybersecurity. Central to this effort is development of the Integrated Virtual Learning Environment for Cybersecurity (IVLE4C), a teaching and learning tool intended for use by both teachers and students. The authors are endeavoring to incorporate into IVLE4C best practices from the knowledge domains of education, model-based systems engineering, and cybersecurity. A modern digital enterprise is a large-scale, complex system of systems. Enterprise cybersecurity is a special subset of the larger knowledge domain that merits special consideration when instructing students who lack relevant work experience. This lack of work experience creates a gap in students’ knowledge about the structure, operation, and control of a modern digital enterprise. Our guiding precept – coined Greer’s Rule of Thumb – is that: it is impossible to defend what cannot be visualized and described. Therefore, it is essential to address the student enterprise knowledge gap before attempting to teach the means for assuring enterprise cybersecurity. Viste and Skartveit (2004) propose using an interactive virtual learning environment with reality abstraction models when teaching the structure, operation, and control of a large-scale complex system. The creation of a virtual model enables a modern digital enterprise to be brought into the classroom. This allows for learning that is complementary to experiential learning that occurs during an internship and, possibly, a viable alternative when internships are unavailable or come later in a curriculum path. Once developed, a library of models representing different digital enterprise types can be used to accelerate student enterprise cybersecurity education in a controlled classroom environment. During the presentation, the authors will provide an update on the use of model-based system engineering practices and how they are being integrated into IVLE4C for developing a tailored, enterprise risk management strategy. This approach is consistent with guidance provided in the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. Research shows model-based systems engineering is increasingly being used for developing engineered cybersecurity solutions. An example of this is research performed by Robles-Ramirez et.al. (2020) on the application of model-based Cybersecurity Engineering for Connected and Automated Vehicles. Key is the notion of turning a cyber-attack surface into a trust boundary at targeted levels. IVLE4C version 1.0 is currently being used to teach Cyber Supply Chain Security at UNCW. Version 2.0 is a dynamic data driven web application, that is being developed for teaching Enterprise Security

Towards a framework for inter-enterprise architecture to boost collaborative networks

A complete Inter-Enterprise Architecture should be conformed to a framework, a methodology and a modelling language. In this sense, this paper proposes an initial Framework for Inter-Enterprise Architecture (FIEA), which organizes, stores, classifies and communicates in a conceptual level the elements of the Inter-Enterprise Architecture (IEA) and their relationships, ensuring their consistency and integrity. This FIEA provides a clear picture about the elements and perspectives that make up the collaborative network and their inter-relationships, supported for technology base on the Internet for its inter-operation.This research has been carried out for the project “Sistema de ayuda a la toma de decisiones ante decisiones no programadas en la planificación jerárquica de la producción (ADENPRO-PJP)” Ref. SP20120703 Universitat Politècnica de València.Vargas, A.; Boza García, A.; Cuenca, L.; Ortiz Bas, Á. (2013). Towards a framework for inter-enterprise architecture to boost collaborative networks. En On the Move to Meaningful Internet Systems: OTM 2013 Workshop. Springer Verlag (Germany). 179-188. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41033-8_26S179188Cuenca, L., Boza, A., Ortiz, A.: Enterprise Architecture Framework with Early Business/ICT Alignment for Extended Enterprises. In: Ortiz, Á., Franco, R.D., Gasquet, P.G. (eds.) BASYS 2010. IFIP AICT, vol. 322, pp. 11–18. Springer, Heidelberg (2010a)Vargas, A., Boza, A., Cuenca, L., Sacala, I.: Inter-Enterprise Architecture and Internet of the Future. In: Camarinha-Matos, L.M., Tomic, S., Graça, P. (eds.) DoCEIS 2013. IFIP AICT, vol. 394, pp. 25–32. Springer, Heidelberg (2013)Camarinha-Matos, L., Afsarmanesh, H.: Collaborative networks: Reference Modeling. Media, Springer Science + Business (2008)European Commission European Society and Media: Dygital Business Ecosystems. 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An Enterprise Architecture Framework for Information Management Improvement: Transforming Research into Practice

This paper reports how a SME in the Engineering Services sector was able to apply the ideas from research on enterprise wide information management to improve the coordination and control of its business processes. An established enterprise wide architecture framework regulated by essential e-business interactions and moderated by a customised portfolio of managerial issues is used to design a roadmap for the SME of future ICT implementations. The results of initial progress along the roadmap showed deliverables were validated and guided and by the three core activities of Business and IT alignment towards e-business transformation from emergent managerial issues