Enterprise systems: the upgrade process model

Purpose Enterprise systems (ES) upgrade is a complex undertaking that recurs throughout the systems’ life span, therefore, organisations need to adopt strategies and methodologies that can minimise disruptions and risks associated with upgrades. The purpose of this paper is to explore the processes undertaken during upgrading ES, to identify the upgrade project stages. Design/methodology/approach This research is grounded in a qualitative survey approach, and utilises a web-based survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews as methods for data collection. The data were gathered from 41 respondents’ and analysed using qualitatively inductive content analysis principles to derive meaning and to identify the trends about upgrade processes. Findings The study findings stress the importance of adopting a methodical approach to ES upgrades. Also, it suggests that due consideration should be given to the impact of new version features and functionality, the risks and the effort required for supporting upgrade projects. Research limitations/implications The five-stage upgrade process model can be utilised as a strategy to minimise complexity and risks associated with upgrade projects. However, this study only proposes logical generalisations; therefore, future studies could explore these stages in-depth to offer generalisable arguments applicable to ES upgrade phenomenon. Originality/value The study proposes a five-stage upgrade process model that offers a systematic approach to support upgrade projects. The proposed model extends previous models by proposing alternative strategies to support ES upgrade projects

Technological, Organisational and Environmental Drivers for Enterprise Systems Upgrade

Purpose Enterprise systems (ES) upgrade is a complex phenomenon, yet it is possible to reduce the complexity through understanding of the upgrade drivers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the various upgrade drivers, in order to provide a detailed understanding of the factors driving upgrade decisions. Design/methodology/approach This research is grounded in a qualitative survey design. It utilises a web-based survey questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to collect data from 41 respondents representing 23 large organisations. The data were qualitatively analysed and coded to identify the various drivers and their influence on ES upgrade decisions. Findings The findings suggest that the upgrade decisions are dependent on establishing the need to upgrade, which is influenced by various drivers and stakeholders interests. In addition, the findings suggest that organisations would only opt to upgrade when benefits are aligned with the upgrade and when the decision makes business sense. Research limitations/implications In this paper, the authors propose that there is a relationship between the upgrade drivers and the upgrade strategy. However, qualitative studies can only formulate logical generalisations. Hence, future research could explore these associations through a quantitative study in order to provide probabilistic generalisation that offers either similar or conflicting arguments applicable to ES upgrade phenomenon. Originality/value This paper provides an alternative classification of upgrade drivers, and conceptualises an association between upgrade drivers and the upgrade strategy, which in turn facilitates minimising disruptions and upgrade risks

Cloud computing and context-awareness: A study of the adapted user experience

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Today, mobile technology is part of everyday life and activities and the mobile ecosystems are blossoming, with smartphones and tablets being the major growth drivers. The mobile phones are no longer just another device, we rely on their capabilities in work and in private. We look to our mobile phones for timely and updated information and we rely on this being provided any time of any day at any place. Nevertheless, no matter how much you trust and love your mobile phone the quality of the information and the user experience is directly associated with the sources and presentation of information. In this perspective, our activities, interactions and preferences help shape the quality of service, content and products we use. Context-aware systems use such information about end-users as input mechanisms for producing applications based on mobile, location, social, cloud and customized content services. This represents new possibilities for extracting aggregated user-centric information and includes novel sources for context-aware applications. Accordingly, a Design Research based approach has been taken to further investigate the creation, presentation and tailoring of user-centric information. Through user evaluated experiments findings show how multi-dimensional context-aware information can be used to create adaptive solutions tailoring the user experience to the users’ needs. Research findings in this work; highlight possible architectures for integration of cloud computing services in a heterogeneous mobile environment in future context-aware solutions. When it comes to combining context-aware results from local computations with those of cloud based services, the results provide findings that give users tailored and adapted experiences based on the collective efforts of the two

Upgrade Decision Support Model (UDSM) for enterprise systems: drivers and processes

Enterprise Systems (ES) have matured over the years, offering continuous improvement to the underlying technology and functionality, hence, it is reasonable to anticipate that organisations would upgrade their systems to realise the benefits of these improvements. However, the range of benefits and risks involved within upgrade projects, motivates only few organisations to upgrade; indicating that upgrade decision-making is not trivial, and requires a comprehensive consideration of the impacts, efforts, and benefits. To date, research on ES upgrade recommends practical guidance for managing and supporting upgrade projects, with few studies focusing on upgrade decision-making, yet the upgrade decision process remains one of the areas in post-implementation that is least explored. This research investigates the interrelated aspects of ES upgrade phenomena to explore the drivers and decision processes. A qualitative survey design was adopted to explore ES upgrade decision-making process and through web-based questionnaires and semistructured interviews, qualitative data from 41 respondents representing 23 organisations was collected, coded, and analysed. Drawing from the Technology-OrganisationEnvironment (T-O-E) framework and process view of decision-making to theorise the findings, this research proposes an Upgrade Decision Support Model (UDSM) to represent ES upgrade decision-making process. The model comprises of two phases namely exploration and evaluation. The evaluation phase consists of two processes, which are objective assessment and strategy selection. In addition, objective assessment includes three sub-processes these are technical analysis, functional gap-fit analysis, and impact assessment. The study findings indicate that the decision to upgrade is an outcome of understanding the upgrade need, possible impacts, and benefits. Thus, asserting the importance of assessing the level of change, effort required and modifications to be reapplied prior to the upgrade decision. Additionally, the findings advocate that there is a relationship between upgrade drivers and the selection of an upgrade strategy, which guides the processes undertaken during the decision-making. This research contributes key insights on ES upgrade decisionmaking offering a thorough understanding of the drivers and processes. In addition, it presents decision makers with a methodical strategy for approaching upgrade decisions; hence, enables the identification of possible challenges and measures to overcome these issues

NASA Tech Briefs, August 1995

There is a special focus on computer graphics and simulation in this issue. Topics covered include : Electronic Components and Circuits; Electronic Systems; Physical Sciences; Materials; Computer programs, Mechanics; Machinery; Fabrication Technology; and Mathematics and Information Sciences. There is a section on for Laser Technology, which includes a feature on Moving closer to the suns power

Cloud computing and context-awareness : a study of the adapted user experience

Today, mobile technology is part of everyday life and activities and the mobile ecosystems are blossoming, with smartphones and tablets being the major growth drivers. The mobile phones are no longer just another device, we rely on their capabilities in work and in private. We look to our mobile phones for timely and updated information and we rely on this being provided any time of any day at any place. Nevertheless, no matter how much you trust and love your mobile phone the quality of the information and the user experience is directly associated with the sources and presentation of information. In this perspective, our activities, interactions and preferences help shape the quality of service, content and products we use. Context-aware systems use such information about end-users as input mechanisms for producing applications based on mobile, location, social, cloud and customized content services. This represents new possibilities for extracting aggregated user-centric information and includes novel sources for context-aware applications. Accordingly, a Design Research based approach has been taken to further investigate the creation, presentation and tailoring of user-centric information. Through user evaluated experiments findings show how multi-dimensional context-aware information can be used to create adaptive solutions tailoring the user experience to the users’ needs. Research findings in this work; highlight possible architectures for integration of cloud computing services in a heterogeneous mobile environment in future context-aware solutions. When it comes to combining context-aware results from local computations with those of cloud based services, the results provide findings that give users tailored and adapted experiences based on the collective efforts of the two.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

ERP system upgrades: the impact of ERP system upgrades on business changes and organisational capabilities; a view from the Thailand business context

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are packaged suites of business application software widely deployed by organisations in all industry sectors to support both local and global business operations. ERP systems comprise a whole set of business functions including finance and accounting, procurement, production and inventory planning, and sales and marketing, as well as the distribution and return of goods and services. Since their release in the 1990s, ERP systems are now being upgraded, with improved system performance abilities, to better support new business demands for the management of increased volumes of data, enhanced multi-technology integration functions, efficient management of global operations and for improved decision making. Although research on initial ERP systems addressing numerous technological, organisational and management issues is vast, studies on ERP upgrades are sparse. Although upgrading ERP systems is a large investment for organisations this is a necessary requirement to replace old ERP systems to manage changing business demands. Upgraded ERP systems lead to improved performance abilities in many respects, including the capacity to handle large volumes of data from multiple sources, the capacity to integrate and process data across different fixed and mobile technologies with ERP modules and the enhanced capacity to efficiently process and disseminate data in real time. The upgraded systems also have the power to more effectively support global operations, thus allowing more effective data driven decision-making. ERP systems are being upgraded at an increasing rate to meet the demands of business growth and global expansion as well as big data management. However, due to lack of extensive and comprehensive research on ERP upgrades processes, upgrade types, motivations and requirements for upgrade, and outcomes achieved from upgrading the system such as enhanced organisational capabilities, there is limited understanding of how effective organisational capabilities are achieved through ERP upgrades. Since the cost of ERP system upgrades range from two to ten million dollars, upgrading ERP systems without identifying the requirements for, and expected outcomes from, these new and more capable systems can not only be a costly exercise for the adopting organisations, but the system may also not be fully utilised for more effective business management. Therefore the aim of this study is to explore ERP upgrades with specific reference to the core motivations for upgrade, types of upgrade commonly adopted, the necessary requirements for effective upgrade and the outcomes, in terms of enhanced organisational capabilities. The research is developed based on the underpinning theories of the Dynamic Capabilities and Benefits Dependency Network. A comprehensive review of existing literature is undertaken in order to appropriately frame the research aims and objectives. An ERP Upgrade Productivity Network is developed to establish the relationship between ERP upgrades (IT Enabler), business changes required for the upgraded system (Change Enablers), enhanced organisational capabilities (Capabilities) and outcomes (Benefits) achieved from the upgraded ERP systems. Since little is known about ERP system upgrades, this is an exploratory study undertaken in two phases, which employs a qualitative mixed method approach. Phase One involves an online discussion panel with international ERP upgrade experts. The online panel discussions were developed in order to extract expert views on ERP upgrade issues. The panel comprised ERP consultants, vendor representatives and managers of organisations that recently upgraded their ERP system. After three rounds of discussion and an interpretive analysis of their responses, a set of ERP upgrade issues were identified that, alongside the literature review, helped formulate the interview tool for the second phase of the study. The second phase involved qualitative case studies developed around a selection of organisations identified to have recently upgraded their ERP systems. Five organisations were identified from vendor publications and organisational websites. Data for the case studies was collected through face-to-face interviews with a total of 24 middle and senior managers. More data was extracted from content analysis of organisational annual reports from the five large organisations. All data was interpretively analysed, guided by Miles, Huberman and Saldaña (2013) to understand ERP upgrade issues of types and motivation for upgrades, requirements and resulting outcomes. The findings of this study show that upgrading ERP systems is necessary to support business growth, which requires management of the increased number of subsidiaries, larger volumes of data and increased number of employees. It is also noted that, with an upgraded ERP system, organisations gain ongoing vendor support for the system which is also a necessary requirement and very costly if outsourced. This study highlights that to take advantage of new business functions supported by the upgraded system business process changes is an important requirement to align business functions with the upgraded business modules. The most notable enhanced organisational capabilities achieved from upgraded ERP systems is improved data management for business decisions. Upgraded ERP systems allow for greater data visibility and analytics for timely reporting and decisions, better sharing of knowledge and information throughout the organisation, and enhanced flexibility to meet changing business and customer demands. This research extends the knowledge on ERP systems by highlighting issues of types of and requirements for ERP upgrades, as well as resulting outcomes achieved from ERP upgrades. Since upgraded ERP systems are a type of new technology implementation, this research also contributes to theory on new technology implementation. It expands on the theories of the Dynamic Capabilities and Benefits Dependency Network from general IT system implementations to upgrading large IT systems. Practical implications of the ERP Upgrade Productivity Network are that business leaders upgrading ERP systems can use this as a guide to manage changes required in the organisations to gain maximum benefits from upgraded ERP systems. This research on ERP upgrades is generally from one region of the world Thailand; therefore further research on ERP upgrades is required to understand the following: if the issues from this research are similar to those faced by organisations upgrading ERP systems in other regions of the world, if there might be cultural issues to consider when upgrading ERP systems and if the requirements for achieving enhanced capabilities and productivity outcomes from new IT systems are always dependent on process changes

NASA Tech Briefs, October 1995

A special focus in this issue is Data acquisition and analysis. Topics covered include : Electronic Components and Circuits; Electronic Systems; Physical Sciences; Materials; Life Sciences; Mechanics; Machinery; Fabrication Technology; and Mathematics and Information Sciences. Also included in this issue are Laser Tech Briefs and Industry Focus: Motion Control/ Positioning Equipmen

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Second International Conference on Sustainable Futures: Environmental, Technological, Social and Economic Matters (ICSF 2021). Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, May 19-21, 2021.Друга міжнародна конференція зі сталого майбутнього: екологічні, технологічні, соціальні та економічні питання (ICSF 2021). Кривий Ріг, Україна, 19-21 травня 2021 року