AGILE PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT: DESIGN GOALS AND PRINCIPLES

Digital transformation and the resulting volatile and unpredictable business environments challenge traditional enterprises to continuously fulfill and surpass customers’ expectations. They need to become agile in its organization by proactively sensing the unpredictable change and responding accordingly with speed and dexterity. While many organizations are quite advanced in realizing adaptivity at the operational level, strategic agility in general and in portfolio management in particular as linking op-erations and strategy for satisfying the customer needs is in its nascence. To identify the baseline for portfolio management for achieving agility, we derive four design goals for an effective agile portfolio management system, six design principles on how to achieve these goals and show an exemplary setup with design features. Our results are based on a research study with empirical insights from six com-panies and theoretical input from thirteen existing case studies and eight frameworks for scaling agility to the portfolio level. By deriving design principles for an agile portfolio management system, our work closes a gap in existing research, which focuses on principles for adaptive IT portfolio management processes instead of proactive enterprise systems, insights on individual portfolio practices or non-generalizable blueprints for an agile organizational setup without showing alternative approaches

REQUIREMENT ANALYSIS FOR PROCESS-CENTRIC CONTINUOUS MONITORING

With the emergence of mission-critical real-time systems becoming ever more important to the competitive strategies of corporations and their e-business and supply-chain models, an increasing number of process controls are being embedded into information systems, and co-processed with business transaction thus providing for the continuous monitoring of business operations. A parallel trend in the auditing industry is towards continuous auditing, able to provide management with real-time auditing of the functioning of controls and of business transactions, thus enhancing significantly management’s ability to ensure compliance and make key business decisions. Continuous auditing requires that information systems are developed not only to fulfill business requirements but also continuous monitoring of transactions and other compliance and control requirements. This integration of business systems and their controls within a process-centric logic necessitates a likewise integration of their development processes. Subsequently existing tools and techniques for requirements analysis need to be recast within a hybrid and integrated approach dubbed requirement analysis for process-centric continuous monitoring or RA-PCCM, which consists of the concurrent analysis of operational systems, information systems, the control system, and the management system. Whilst efforts exist within the auditing community to outline a process-driven methodology for developing continuous auditing systems, this paper argues for integrating control development for continuous monitoring within the fold of information system development, hence restricting auditors to control monitoring assurance

INTEGRATING MACHINE LEARNING WITH SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT LIFECYCLES: INSIGHTS FROM EXPERTS

This paper examines the challenges related to integrating machine learning (ML) development with software development lifecycle (SDLC) models. Data-intensive development and use of ML are gaining popularity in information systems development (ISD). To date, there is little empirical research that explores the challenges that ISD practitioners encounter when integrating ML development with SDLC frameworks. In this work we conducted a series of expert interviews where we asked the informants to reflect upon how four different archetypal SDLC models support ML development. Three high level trends in ML systems development emerged from the analysis, namely, (1) redefining the prescribed roles and responsibilities within development work; (2) the SDLC as a frame for creating a shared understanding and commitment by management, customers, and software development teams: and (3) method tailoring. This study advances the body of knowledge on the integration of conceptual SDLC models and ML engineering

Design of a Business Resilience Model for Industry 4.0 Manufacturers

For Industry 4.0, characterized by a high level of complexity due to the network integration of productions, manufacturers have to take radical steps to transform their organizations enabling intelligent industrial operations. As this transformation is accompanied by unforeseen risks and extreme events, organization must build up resilience to withstand them. This research paper develops a practice-oriented model of business resiliency for Industry 4.0 manufacturers. A literature research was performed to illustrate the absence of research in information systems (IS). For a better understanding of the challenges organizations face, a study among 15 experts from Europe was performed. The obtained challenges, requirements and solutions were clustered and used to develop a resilience model. The model is divided into six major components which are used to achieve six resilience characteristics. The developed model enables organizations to get a holistic and practical overview about the transformation they face while adopting to Industry 4.0

Enhancing and integration of security testing in the development of a microservices environment

In the last decade, web application development is moving toward the adoption of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). Accordingly to this trend, Software as a Service (SaaS) and Serverless providers are embracing DevOps with the latest tools to facilitate the creation, maintenance and scalability of microservices system configuration. Even if within this trend, security is still an open point that is too often underestimated. Many companies are still thinking about security as a set of controls that have to be checked before the software is used in production. In reality, security needs to be taken into account all along the entire Software Development Lifecycle (SDL). In this thesis, state of the art security recommendations for microservice architecture are reviewed, and useful improvements are given. The main target is for secure to become integrated better into a company workflow, increasing security awareness and simplifying the integration of security measures throughout the SDL. With this background, best practices and recommendations are compared with what companies are currently doing in securing their service-oriented infrastructures. The assumption that there still is much ground to cover security-wise still standing. Lastly, a small case study is presented and used as proof of how small and dynamic startups can be the front runners of high cybersecurity standards. The results of the analysis show that it is easier to integrate up-to-date security measures in a small company

Supply Chain (micro)TMS development

Project Work presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Information Systems and Technologies ManagementThe rise of technology across many verticals has necessitated the company’s move to digitalization. Despite “XPTO” company a well know player on the retail and success on e‐commerce internal market, they aimed at the strategy of continuous innovation to drive business growth and strengthen their position as a premium brand. They decided to move forward into digitalism inside cloud based solutions to get all the advantages of microservices architecture: optimize logistics and supply chain management, speed up the workflow and maximize service efficiency. An agile organization is not achieved purely by shifting the focus from traditional functional/ technological oriented organizations. The new way to organize teams must reflect all the principles and right segregations of roles, which will be the most immediate and visible disruption and cutover from the traditional way of managing the IT. In this project we aim to use agile framework with development based in house cloud microservice solution for a (micro)TMS solution/system that address the immediate needs imposed by the market in order to use it has competitive advantage

Tensions and ambidexterity: a case study of an agile project at a government agency

Today’s dynamic business environment must continuously adapt its software development methods to changing technologies and new requirements on the part of customers. Therefore, Agile methods are being used more and more used because they emphasize both flexibility and the ability to change. However, at the same time, the business-driven need for predictability and control remains. The purpose of this case study is to explore and theorize on paradoxical tensions and ambidexterity during an Agile software development project at a government agency. The study empirically examines how tensions and the ambidextrous responses to these tensions are related to Agile values. Data was collected by conducting interviews and studying internal project documents. Four categories of tensions (learning, organizing, performing, and belonging) were used for analytical purposes. The findings suggest that most of the tensions perceived were in the categories of learning and performing. There are, furthermore, several connectionsbetween the ambidextrous responses to these tensions and Agile principles. A deeper understanding of Agile values and principles is required in order to make projects successful. The contribution made by the study, therefore, is of great importance because Agile methods are for leading projects, not only in Agile software development, but also in other industries and sectors

Leading Teams in Today\u27s Dynamic Organizations: The Core Characteristics of Agile Leadership

Agile leadership (AL) is essential for leading agile transformations. So far, a conceptualization of AL is still lacking. To investigate its core characteristics, we conduct an exploratory single case study. Our study examines a senior executive training program within a young European automotive software company, with the objective of establishing AL throughout the organization. Our study’s primary findings reveal that AL can be categorized into five perspectives: person-based, purpose-based, result-based, position-based, and process-based. Agile leaders are humble, adaptable, visionary, and engaged. AL focuses on aligning employees with a clear vision, fostering a learning organization, increasing transparency, and establishing decision-making in teams. It is practiced by executives, agile accountabilities, and team members. Agile leaders operate as experimenters, collaborators, facilitators, enablers, and resilient leaders. Our findings provide a foundational basis for organizations to implement AL, thereby enhancing their adaptability and overall success