OPTIMIZING SERVER CONSOLIDATION FOR ENTERPRISE APPLICATION SERVICE PROVIDERS

In enterprise application environments, hardware resources show averagely low utilization rates due to a provisioning practice that is based on peak demands. Therefore, the consolidation of orthogonal workloads can improve energy efficiency and reduce total cost of ownership. In this paper, we address existing workload consolidation potential by solving a bin packing problem, where the number of servers is to be minimized. Since dynamic workloads, gathered from historical traces, and priorities of running services are considered, we formulate the Dynamic Priority-based Workload Consolidation Problem (DPWCP) and develop solution algorithms using heuristics and metaheuristics. Relevance is pointed out by an analysis of service resource demands and server capacities across four studied cases from productively operating enterprise application service providers. After a classification of related work, seven algorithms were developed and evaluated regarding their exploited optimization potential and computing time. Best results were achieved by a best-fit approach that uses a genetic algorithm to optimize its input sequence (GA_BF). When applying the GA_BF onto the four studied cases, average utilization rates could be increased from 23 to 63 percent within an average computing time of 22.5 seconds. Therefore, the overall server capacity was reduced significantly by up to 83%

Business intelligence as the support of decision-making processes in e-commerce systems environment

The present state of world economy urges managers to look for new methods, which can help to start the economic growth. To achieve this goal, managers use standard as well as new procedures. The fundamental prerequisite of the efficient decision-making processes are actual and right information. Managers need to monitor past information and current actual information to generate trends of future development based on it. Managers always should define strictly what do they want to know, how do they want to see it and for what purpose do they want to use it. Only in this case they can get right information applicable to efficient decision-making. Generally, managers´ decisions should lead to make the customers´ decision-making process easier. More frequently than ever, companies use e-commerce systems for the support of their business activities. In connection with the present state and future development, cross-border online shopping growth can be expected. To support this, companies will need much better systems providing the managers adequate and sufficient information. This type of information, which is usually multidimensional, can be provided by the Business Intelligence (BI) technologies. Besides special BI systems, some of BI technologies are obtained in quite a few of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems. One of the crucial questions is whether should companies and firms buy or develop special BI software, or whether they can use BI tools contained in some ERP systems. In respect of this, there is a question if the modern ERP systems can provide the managers sufficient possibilities relating to ad-hoc reporting, static and dynamic reports and OLAP analyses. A one of the main goals of this article is to show and verify Business Intelligence tools of Microsoft Dynamics NAV for the support of decision-making in terms of the cross-border online purchasing. Pursuant to above-mentioned, in this article authors deal with problems relating to managers´ decision-making, customers´ decision-making and a support of its using the BI tools contained in ERP system Microsoft Dynamics NAV. A great deal of this article is aimed at area of multidimensional data which are the source data of e-commerce systems.Business Intelligence, decision-making, e-commerce system, cross-border online purchasing, multi-dimensional data, reporting, data visualization

Cloud manufacturing system for sheet metal processing

Cloud computing is changing the way industries and enterprises run their businesses. Cloud manufacturing is emerging as an approach to transform the traditional manufacturing business model, while helping the manufacturer to align production efficiency with its business strategy, and creating intelligent factory networks that enable collaboration across the whole enterprise. Many production planning and control (PPC) problems are essentially optimisation problems, where the objective is to develop a plan that meets the demand at minimum cost or maximum profit. Because the underlying optimisation problem will vary in the different business and operation phases, it is important to think about optimisation in a dynamic mechanism and in a number of interlinked sub-problems at the same time. Cloud manufacturing has the potential to offer decision support as a service and medium of communication in PPC. To solve these problems and produce collaboration across the supply chain, this paper provides an overview of the state of the art in cloud manufacturing and presents a model of cloud-based production planning and production system for sheet metal processing.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Internet of Things (IoT) Embedded Future Supply Chains for Industry 4.0: An Assessment from an ERP-based Fashion Apparel and Footwear Industry

In this competitive business world most of the supply chains are struggling to sustain competitively in the global supply chain due to its increasing complexity in each phase of the supply chain operations. Many companies are facing financial difficulties and some have shut down due to poor supply chain management practices. Companies have to be smarter by incorporating the necessary technologies to be more competitive and sustain in the global supply chain, that processes can be better managed and automated where necessary. Most companies fail due to poor integrations of technology in their supply chain. It is important that companies be smarter in order to strive hard to reduce cost, improve customer services and to increase return of investments throughout the supply chain. While a few industries are taking a major leap; it is vital for other companies to adopt to the changing nature of the digital supply chains and embrace industry 4.0, leveraging Internet of Things (IoT). The primary goal of this study is to improve inbound and outbound operations to better manage and optimize and automate operations in an ERP system through the use of RFID technology and Business Application Programming Interface (BAPI) technology in SAP. The existing ERP system was thoroughly analyzed using mixed method approach and was followed-up in assessing how transactions can be better executed in the system. The study derives a conceptual framework to enhance inbound and outbound operations in ERP for Fashion Apparel and Footwear Industry

Influence of Cloud-Based Computing on User Productivity

Cloud computing is a rapidly expanding IT paradigm for providing computational resources to enterprises and end-users. In recent research conducted by Garrison, he concludes that the key enablers of cloud deployment success are chiefly dependent upon relational (trust), technical, and managerial dependencies primarily borne by the firm contracting cloud computing services. In this document we expand upon their research to consider key metrics for the enterprise to consider in the successful adoption of cloud computing with a focus on the end-user. We review of applicable theories which were utilized during previous major IT shifts and well as investigate key user perspectives. The intent is to provide a model which will focus on cloud computing end-user success

Workflow Integrated ERP: An Architecture Model for Optimized Coordination of Intra- and Interorganizational Production Planning and Control

Although coordination deficiencies in production planning and control (PPC) systems, which are a subset of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, still exist and even increase with progressing intra-organizational cooperation, workflow management systems (WfMS) could not yet be successfully established in PPC processes. This can be attributed to the complex structures of PPC tasks and the data they process, posing significant conceptual and technical problems to coupling ERP/PPC systems with other coordinating systems. Nevertheless, coordination mechanisms provided by workflow management technology and PPC functionality can complement each other. To that end, a workflow management system must fully “comprehend” the planning and control logic of industrial processes. This includes domain-specific knowledge on interdependencies of planning tasks, resources and capacity. On the other hand, PPC systems must cede some of their coordinating functions to the WfMS. Starting from a comparison of coordination in PPC systems and in WfMS, the paper suggests a model of integrated coordination of PPC processes by means of workflow management. The model is presented both on architectural and on detailed level, and is exemplarily applied to an order scheduling process