Embedding agents in business applications using enterprise integration patterns

This paper addresses the issue of integrating agents with a variety of external resources and services, as found in enterprise computing environments. We propose an approach for interfacing agents and existing message routing and mediation engines based on the endpoint concept from the enterprise integration patterns of Hohpe and Woolf. A design for agent endpoints is presented, and an architecture for connecting the Jason agent platform to the Apache Camel enterprise integration framework using this type of endpoint is described. The approach is illustrated by means of a business process use case, and a number of Camel routes are presented. These demonstrate the benefits of interfacing agents to external services via a specialised message routing tool that supports enterprise integration patterns

Business to Business Enterprise Integration: An exploratory study to develop and test an implementation model for engineer to order organisations.

This research explores the managerial problems associated with adoption of business to business (B2B) enterprise integration in the UK engineer to order (ETO) manufacturing sector. Its aim is to develop a B2B enterprise integration hierarchy to overcome managerial problems and propose a model for implementation. The first part of the research developed an overview of the evolution of the B2B enterprise integration concept, a definition, perceived business benefits and its general status in the UK manufacturing sector. The research is grounded in the extant literature covering supply chain integration, information technology acceptance literature, crisis management and implementation success factors. A qualitative case study approach was selected comprising two phases. The first phase involved key informant interviews at eleven ETO companies in the UK. Three interviews with key informants were carried out at each company. This group triangulation approach mitigated any bias. Four managerial problems were identified: management awareness of the benefits and implementation challenges, risk in terms of return on investment and business continuity during implementation, information security risk associated with loss of competitive advantage and lack of relevant skills within the organisation. From these findings, a B2B de-coupled integration hierarchy was developed and an implementation model proposed. The second phase involved an in case participatory action research study over a one year budget cycle at one of the eleven companies during implementation of a B2B system. This case study tested the use of a B2B de-coupled integration hierarchy approach and refined the proposed implementation model. The outcome of the research recommends a B2B de-coupled integration hierarchy and an iterative implementation model for overcoming the four key inhibitors identified. This is significant for practitioners, particularly in the ETO sector, who are in the process of implementing B2B enterprise integration systems. It confirms that successful implementation can be achieved if senior management teams are fully aware of the potential benefits and the implementation challenges. Additionally, business and information security risks must be dealt with by appropriate de-coupling and the workforce should have the relevant skills to deal with the new systems. From an academic perspective, this research provides two significant contributions. This is the first study to explore the managerial problems associated with adoption of B2B enterprise integration by using a combination of interviewing key informants within an organisational setting and a participatory action case study. Furthermore, it is the first study to propose an iterative implementation model to overcome managerial problems associated with adoption of B2B enterprise integration in the UK ETO sector. It should be noted that this research is limited to key informant interviews at eleven companies and one case study. In order to provide unequivocal validation and generalisability, the research should be expanded to cover other manufacturing sectors

Towards an Evaluation Framework for Business Process Integration and Management

Process-awareness in enterprise computing is a must in order to adequately support business processes. Particularly the interoperability of the (process-oriented) business information systems and the management of a company’s process map are difficult to handle. Process-oriented approaches (like workflow systems and enterprise application integration tools) offer promising perspectives in this respect. However, a major problem for project managers is the accomplishment of economic-oriented assessments of such approaches. Currently, there exists no suitable evaluation framework. This position paper discusses important issues related to the introduction of such a framework. Doing so, we distinguish two evaluation areas: Business Process Integration and Business Process Management. While the former operates at the technical level of process and application integration, the latter addresses organizational process topics. Starting from those two perspectives we describe benefits, evaluation criteria and metrics that are relevant to set up an evaluation framework

A conceptual model of enterprise application integration in higher education institutions

Copyright @ 2013 EMCIS.It is eminent that several applications’ systems are deployed at different levels in Higher Education (HE), ranging from academic and administrative to staff and students record systems. Many of these systems suffer from different problems due to the lack of integration such as data redundancy, inconsistency and maintenance cost. Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) can provide substantial benefits to these systems, such as assisting with business process integration, facilitating e-service based transformation and supporting collaborative decision-making. However, some factors that influence EAI adoption process in HE will be defined. This paper introduces a conceptual model to explain the outcome of using EAI in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Analyzing the combination of the existing classification of EAI factors with the HE factors will enhance the implementation of EAI in HEI at both organizational and operational levels. A pilot study at King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be presented in this paper to show that the integration of the multiple information systems gives an integrated view to facilitate information access and reuse. Moreover data from different information systems is combined to gain a more comprehensive basis to satisfy the educational needs

Achieving enterprise integration through software customization: part I - evidence from the field

Achieving business and IT integration is strategic goal for many organisations – it has almost become the ‘Holy Grail’ of organisational success. In this environment Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages have become the defacto option for addressing this issue. Integration has come to mean adopting ERP, through configuration and without customization, but this all or nothing approach has proved difficult for many organisations. In part 1 of a 2 part update we provide evidence from the field that suggests that whilst costly, if managed appropriately, customization can have value in aiding organisational integration efforts. In part 2, we discuss in more detail the benefits and pitfalls involved in enacting a non-standard based integration strategy

Realising Benefits from Current ERP and CRM Systems Implementations: An Empirical Study

In this study we report on the benefits achieved from enterprise systems implementations. Building on the existing research this paper uses the expectation-benefits framework as an analytical lens to identify and understand realised benefits. The study comprises 14 empirical case studies that focus on projects to extend existing ERP and CRM implementations. The work serves two key objectives. First to gain greater insights into the range and scope of realised benefits and second to further validate the exp-ben framework. Benefits are identifed in all four areas of the exp-ben framework. Most notable is the continued focus on achieving integration and in the improvement of information quality and better business intelligence

An Implementation Strategy For Developing Interdisciplinary Professional Skills Within The Accounting Curriculum

Accounting students are aware of the increasing demand generated from the use of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems within the world’s major companies. This paper describes the use of this technology within an undergraduate accounting curriculum. The objective is to teach business processes and integration issues. Students simulated a manufacturing ERP implementation by organizing themselves as an implementation team, developing an implementation plan, designing a simple product and product structures, populating the master records, and executing a system walk-through. Students also script core business processes and develop a demonstration of their implementation system for interested parties in the business school. The paper evaluates the implementation project and offers suggestions for enhancing the benefits capable from such pedagogy

Yarra Valley Water: A Successful Change Programme for Corporatized Water Utility

Yarra Valley Water, a corporatised water utility achieved the significant efficiencies that are promised from the move towards privatisation. At the same time it substantially improved the quality of service delivery to its customers. It demonstrated that substantial benefits can be achieved with a minimal investment through leveraging existing information systems. The use of enterprise modelling that contributes to an “holistic” view of the organisation’s information and processing in Customer Services contributed greatly to successful integration of these existing systems. Crucial to all of this was the willingness of the organisation to transform itself to one dedicated to “best” customer service and asset management. The experience of Yarra Valley Water provides lessons relevant worldwide, but especially for developed economies. First, achieving efficiencies and improving service quality are not mutually contradictory. Second, these benefits can be accomplished with a minimal investment by leveraging off existing systems. Third, the use of enterprise modelling gives the necessary “holistic” view of the relevant information flows and processes to enable successful integration of disparate systems. Finally, realisation of the benefits of corporatisation ( privatisation) requires a paradigm shift in the business culture of the former utility

Enterprise 2.0 Research: Meeting the Challenges of Practice

Through an in-depth survey of scholarly research studies and practitioner reports this study examines the extent to which current scholarly research addresses the challenges and impacts of Enterprise 2.0 (E2.0) being faced by organisations. Our findings reveal that whilst there is a growing body of work about E2.0, the first stream of research has focused primarily on providing an overview of E2.0 and its adoption and use. Our analysis of the practitioner literature reveals a different set of imperatives clustered around information management and compliance issues, the identification and measurement of benefits and the integration of social software into organisational business processes and business software. To address this misalignment of research imperatives we propose a second stream of research that moves attention from the initiation and exploration of E2.0 to its institutionalisation and integration

Understanding the manifold forms of B2B integration - A transaction cost perspective

The need for collaboration within value chains is rapidly increasing and drives enterprise to align and electronically integrate their business processes with their business partners. As technologies evolve, manifold forms of B2B integration have emerged – from e-mail communication to customer or supplier portals, the exchange of EDIFACT- to XML documents, and Web Services. Although serviceoriented architectures (SOA) are considered the future of inter-organizational linkages, no empirical studies have been found which surveyed the impact of SOA on B2B integration costs and benefits. From a research perspective, we still lack a systematic analysis that explains how a specific B2B integration technology impacts the effectiveness of B2B integration. Building on transaction cost theory, this research analyzes the different forms of B2B integration with regard to their impact on connectivity and coordination costs. Based on a field study from the automotive industry, it demonstrates that there is economic rationale for preferring supplier portals to machine-to-machine integration based on EDIFACT or XML messages. Compared to prior technologies, SOA reduces the costs of external integration by eliminating separate B2B integration infrastructures and improving connectivity of internal applications. However, we find that prior literature tends to overestimate the impact of open Internet and Web service technologies on connectivity costs