Towards an unified information systems reference model for higher education institutions

Higher education institutions are currently facing many challenges that are making them to start compete strategically, like other not-for-profit firm. To adequately support such new approach, their information systems and business strategies should be totally aligned. However, the current existing landscape of heterogeneous information systems and applications deployed in many institutions can compromise such aim. Recently, reference architectures and models have emerged as instruments suitable to help company’s decision-makers to cope with such tensions. However, whilst many of such architectural models already exist for several industries, little has been done so far in higher education. In this paper, we briefly review major existing developments in such way before to inductively derive a unified information systems reference model tailored for higher education institutions.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

What can AI do for you?

Simply put, most organizations do not know how to approach the incorporation of AI into their businesses, and few are knowledgeable enough to understand which concepts are applicable to their business models. Doing nothing and waiting is not an option: Mahidar and Davenport (2018) argue that companies that try to play catch-up will ultimately lose to those who invested and began learning early. But how do we bridge the gap between skepticism and adoption? We propose a toolkit, inclusive of people, processes, and technologies, to help companies with discovery and readiness to start their AI journey. Our toolkit will deliver specific and actionable answers to the operative question: What can AI do for you

ADAPTING IT SERVICE MANAGEMENT FOR SUCCESSFUL MULTI-SOURCING SERVICE INTEGRATION

Over the last years, IT outsourcing customers have shifted their focus to multi-sourcing. To cope with the ever-increasing complexity of their multi-provider portfolios, companies aim to develop and hone their service integration capabilities. They adapt their IT organizations to enable more efficient and effective service management for their broad service landscapes. Nowadays, most IT service management implementations build on best practice of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL). ITIL, however, does neither reflect multi-tenant sourcing models nor end-to-end service integration. IT service management needs to evolve to meet the new requirements of service integration. So far, however, there is a lack of guidance on how to adequately adapt IT service management for integration of multiple sourcing arrangements. Our research contributes to both theory and practice by developing a ranking of IT service management processes according to their importance for service integration success. For three important processes, we then reveal adequate implementations and process designs derived from real-life scenarios. Our results are developed during an multi-stage research study, incorporating insights from expert interviews, a quantitative questionnaire study, and case study research. The insights gained should enable multi-sourcing customers to build more successful service integration solutions, as well as academics to shape future research in this area

Climbing the Maturity Ladder in Industry 4.0: A Framework for Diagnosis and Action that Combines National and Sectorial Strategies

We present a framework to assist Industry 4.0 initiatives at countrywide and sector-specific levels. It was created using design-science research in the context of non-metal mineral industry - ceramic, glass, stone, and nanomaterials. Our findings suggest that (1) existing maturity models for Industry 4.0 do not fit all industrial contexts; (2) their use can be discouraging for small and medium-size enterprises planning digital strategies; (3) Industry 4.0 technologies should be considered as prescriptive solutions rather than descriptive dimensions, and (4) it is possible and desirable to consider Industry 4.0 maturity as a co-evolutionary growth of digital services and processes within supply chains. Our proposal provides staged and continuous representations of maturity that can be tailored for each industry. Maturity models can be a prime communication tool for managers and technology providers. Our contribution supports the European efforts to succeed in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, shared by millions of industries worldwide

Mapping domain characteristics influencing Analytics initiatives: The example of Supply Chain Analytics

Purpose: Analytics research is increasingly divided by the domains Analytics is applied to. Literature offers little understanding whether aspects such as success factors, barriers and management of Analytics must be investigated domain-specific, while the execution of Analytics initiatives is similar across domains and similar issues occur. This article investigates characteristics of the execution of Analytics initiatives that are distinct in domains and can guide future research collaboration and focus. The research was conducted on the example of Logistics and Supply Chain Management and the respective domain-specific Analytics subfield of Supply Chain Analytics. The field of Logistics and Supply Chain Management has been recognized as early adopter of Analytics but has retracted to a midfield position comparing different domains. Design/methodology/approach: This research uses Grounded Theory based on 12 semi-structured Interviews creating a map of domain characteristics based of the paradigm scheme of Strauss and Corbin. Findings: A total of 34 characteristics of Analytics initiatives that distinguish domains in the execution of initiatives were identified, which are mapped and explained. As a blueprint for further research, the domain-specifics of Logistics and Supply Chain Management are presented and discussed. Originality/value: The results of this research stimulates cross domain research on Analytics issues and prompt research on the identified characteristics with broader understanding of the impact on Analytics initiatives. The also describe the status-quo of Analytics. Further, results help managers control the environment of initiatives and design more successful initiatives.DFG, 414044773, Open Access Publizieren 2019 - 2020 / Technische Universität Berli

The Phoenix Imperative: An Alternative Maturity Model for Systems Engineering Service Providers

abstract: Providers of systems engineering services and their employees are not always able to be the masters of their own destiny. When working in staff augmentation roles under the auspices of another company, they are typically forced to operate within the corporate culture from which they derive their livelihood, following “foreign” processes and procedures, responding to orders and directives. This situation calls for an alternative maturity model for those that provide systems engineering services. While a client organization might be maturing according to any of several proposed models (SEI 1993, SEI 1995, EPIC 1995, ISO 1990, IEEE 1994), the services contractor cannot necessarily be said to be achieving a similar status. This should not, however, preclude significant maturation goals on the part of the service provider. The Phoenix Imperative is both a business model and maturity model that has worked effectively in several corporations providing system engineering services. It was developed in the context described above and honed over a period of several years with several customers. It provides not only an alternative to the other organizational maturity models that have been proposed, but also delivers the potential for adoption as a personal maturity model for individuals interested in increasing their effectiveness within the context of employment with a service provider

On the Road to Telemedicine Maturity: A Systematic Review and Classification of Telemedicine Maturity Models

Telemedicine, seen as a solution for growing healthcare problems, is still not reaching its full potential. Telemedicine pilots can result in high costs, without successfully increasing patients’ wellbeing as intended. Appropriate tools for scaling up telemedicine, like prescriptive maturity models, are needed. They can help people to assess the status quo and make progress with the scaling up process by presenting them with pre-defined improvement measures. Prior research has already led to the development of such tools, but an overview is still lacking as to which models fit which purpose and whether the measures presented are helpful and, if so, in what way. The aim of this research is to provide an overview and classification of existing prescriptive maturity models for telemedicine. A systematic literature review has been conducted and a classification scheme derived to assess the identified models. The resulting overview outlines a starting point for on-going research and presents a scheme for assessing existing models with regard to how fit they are for usage

Modern IT-Infrastructure and IT-Managment in Small and Medium Enterprises

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) face the same challenges in their IT-departments as their bigger counterparts. In this article, we will take a quick look at existing best practices to deal with those challenges. In addition we will discuss a generic approach to introduce IT-Structure and IT-Management in an actual SMEs using these best practice methods