CrossFlow: Cross-Organizational Workflow Management for Service Outsourcing in Dynamic Virtual Enterprises

In this report, we present the approach to cross-organizational workflow management of the CrossFlow project. CrossFlow is a European research project aiming at the support of cross-organizational workflows in dynamic virtual enterprises. The cooperation in these virtual enterprises is based on dynamic service outsourcing specified in electronic contracts. Service enactment is performed by dynamically linking the workflow management infrastructures of the involved organizations. Extended service enactment support is provided in the form of cross-organizational transaction management and process control, advanced quality of service monitoring, and support for high-level flexibility in service enactment. CrossFlow technology is realized on top of a commercial workflow management platform and applied in two real-world scenarios in the contexts of a logistics and an insurance company

Process capability assessments in small development firms

[Abstract}: Assessment-based Software Process Improvement (SPI) programs such as the Capability Maturity Model (CMM), Bootstrap, and SPICE (ISO/IEC 15504) are based on formal frameworks and promote the use of systematic processes and management practices for software development. These approaches identify best practices for the management of software development and when applied, enable organizations to understand, control and improve development processes. The purpose of a SPI assessment is to compare the current processes used in an organization with a list of recommended or ‘best’ practices. This research investigates the adoption of SPI initiatives by four small software development firms. These four firms participated in a process improvement program which was sponsored by Software Engineering Australia (SEA) (Queensland). The assessment method was based on SPICE (ISO/IEC 15504) and included an initial assessment, recommendations, and a follow-up meeting. For each firm, before and after snapshots are provided of the capability as assessed on eight processes. The discussion which follows summarizes the improvements realized and considers the critical success factors relating to SPI adoption for small firms

EXTENDED ENTERPRISE AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS GOVERNANCE IN AN INTER-ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

Flexibility, openness, and cooperation are fundamental tendencies that positively mark the ensemble of private and public sector organizations. For a sustainable development in a more and more complex globalized and competitive business environment, the ee-business, extended enterprise, inter-enterprise cooperative information systems, workflow, corporate governance, IS governance

Collaborative improvement as an inspiration for supply chain collaboration

The battlefield of competition is today moving from the level of\ud individual firms to the one of the extended enterprises, that is, networks of customers and their suppliers. This paper discusses how learning and continuous improvement today take place in processes based on daily collaboration at intercompany level, i.e. Extended Manufacturing Enterprises (EMEs). The purpose of the paper is to present a preliminary theory on Collaborative Improvement (CoI), i.e. continuous improvement at the EME level. Based on a literature review on Supply Networks, and Continuous Improvement and on evidence from two explorative case studies, the paper proposes a model for Collaborative Improvement in EMEs and discusses a research approach based on Action Research and Action Learning to further develop preliminary theory and actionable knowledge on how to foster and sustain CoI in EMEs

Review of IT Service Management Tools Currently in Use in Finland : ITIL®, Implementation and Functionality

This thesis was carried out for itSMF Finland, an IT Service Management (ITSM) cooperation forum. The itSMF Finland is a non-profit organization dedicated to the development and promotion of best practice ITSM. ITSM is about providing a framework to structure IT-related activities and the interaction of IT technical personnel with business customers and users. ITSM practices have existed for some time already, but the technology to support it has only recently become more advanced and comprehensive. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the requirements for ITSM tools and to create a “snapshot” of the current situation of the ITSM tool market in Finland. IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL®) was chosen as a framework for this thesis, which is considered as de-facto best practice model in ITSM. This research investigates the requirements stated in ITIL® for the ITSM technologies. Nine tools were chosen for interviews. The object of the interviews was to gain information about what functionalities are included in the tools, how the vendor supports the customer in the implementation project, and what the customer experiences are regarding the implementation and use of the tool. These results were then compared to the ITIL® framework. ITIL® recommends the tools to be utilized in the organization to provide data for analysis and improvement of the service provision and also to support the service lifecycle. All tools in this study were ITSM suites that have functionalities to support the service lifecycle widely. Based on the interviews the study shows that the tools are important for the organizations, but are not as widely used as they could be. The implementation projects varied greatly, but were relatively successful in all cases. All in all, the tools were considered beneficial for the organizations in all cases. This thesis provides important key-points to be kept in mind when selecting, implementing and using an ITSM tool. When selecting an ITSM tool it is extremely important to identify the benefits that it will bring to the organization. In the implementation phase it is essential to have clear goals, good design work and sufficient training. This ensures that the tool will be used as it was designed and opposition in the organization toward this change will be minimal.Tutkimus tehtiin itSMF Finlandille, IT-palveluhallinnan yhteistyöfoorumille, joka pyrkii parantamaan IT-palvelunhallinnan toimintatapoja Suomessa ja maailmalla. IT-palvelunhallintaan kuuluu muun muassa loppukäyttäjille tarkoitetut tukipalvelut, tietojärjestelmien vikatilojen selvittäminen ja yhteydenpito tietojärjestelmien toimittajiin. IT-palvelunhallinnan käytännöt ovat olleet käytössä jo kauan, mutta käytäntöjä tukeva teknologia on kehittynyt ja tullut entistä monipuolisemmaksi. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää IT-palveluhallinnan työkalujen vaatimuksia sekä tutkia Suomen markkinoilla käytössä olevien IT-palvelunhallinnan työkalujen toiminnallisuuksia sekä niiden käyttökokemuksia. Tutkimuksen viitekehykseksi valittiin IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL®) -malli, josta on muodostunut parhaiden käytäntöjen ohjeistus IT-palvelunhallinnalle. Tutkimuksessa selvitettiin ITIL®:n suosituksia IT-palvelunhallinan teknologioiden osalta. Tämän lisäksi tutkimukseen valittiin yhdeksän työkalua. Kaikkien työkalujen käytöstä haastateltiin sekä toimittajaa että yhtä heidän asiakastaan. Haastattelujen perusteella selvitettiin työkalujen toiminnallisuuksia ja kuinka implementaatioprojektia tuetaan toimittajan puolelta sekä käyttäjäkokemuksia työkalun käytöstä ja implementointivaiheesta asiakkaan puolelta. ITIL® suosittelee IT-palvelunhallinnan työkalua organisaatioille tukemaan jokapäiväisiä toimintoja ja tuottamalla tietoa organisaation palveluista sekä tukemaan yrityksen koko elinkaarimallia. Tutkimuksessa mukana olleet työkalut olivat IT-palvelunhallinnan-ohjelmistoja eli työkaluja, jotka tukevat elinkaarimallin monta osaa. Tutkimuksessa ilmeni, että työkalut ovat tärkeitä yrityksille, mutta niitä ei kuitenkaan käytetä koko laajuudessaan. Käyttöönottoprojektit työkaluille olivat hyvin erilaisia, mutta usein hyvin menestyneitä. Jokaisessa tapauksessa työkalu auttoi organisaatiota toimimaan paremmin. Tämä tutkimus esittää asioita, jotka on hyvä pitää mielessään IT-palvelunhallinnan työkalua valitessa, implementoitaessa ja käytettäessä. Työkalua valitessa on tärkeää ymmärtää, mitä työkalun tulee tuoda yritykseen. Työkalun käyttöönotossa tärkeitä asioita ovat selkeät tavoitteet, hyvä suunnittelu sekä onnistunut koulutus. Nämä edesauttavat työkalun omaksumista yrityksessä sekä vähentävät mahdollista muutosvastarintaa

Web Services Support for Dynamic Business Process Outsourcing

Outsourcing of business processes is crucial for organizations to be effective, efficient and flexible. To meet fast-changing market conditions, dynamic outsourcing is required, in which business relationships are established and enacted on-the-fly in an adaptive, fine-grained way unrestricted by geographic distance. This requires automated means for both the establishment of outsourcing relationships and for the enactment of services performed in these relationships over electronic channels. Due to wide industry support and the underlying model of loose coupling of services, Web services increasingly become the mechanism of choice to connect organizations across organizational boundaries. This paper analyzes to which extent Web services support the dynamic process outsourcing paradigm. We discuss contract -based dynamic business process outsourcing to define requirements and then introduce the Web services framework. Based on this, we investigate the match between the two. We observe that the Web services framework requires further support for cross - organizational business processes and mechanisms for contracting, QoS management and process-based transaction support and suggest ways to fill those gaps

An EPIIC Vision to Evolve Project Integration, Innovation, and Collaboration with Broad Impact for How NASA Executes Complex Projects

Evolving Project Integration, Innovation, and Collaboration (EPIIC) is a vision defined to transform the way projects manage information to support real-time decisions, capture best practices and lessons learned, perform assessments, and manage risk across a portfolio of projects. The foundational project management needs for data and information will be revolutionized through innovations on how we manage and access that data, implement configuration control, and certify compliance. The embedded intelligence of new interactive data interfaces integrate technical and programmatic data such that near real time analytics can be accomplished to more efficiently and accurately complete systems engineering and project management tasks. The system-wide data analytics that are integrated into customized data interfaces allows the growing team of engineers and managers required to develop and implement major NASA missions the ability to access authoritative source(s) of system information while greatly reducing the labor required to complete system assessments. This would allow, for example, much of what is accomplished in a scheduled design review to take place as needed, between any team members, at any time. An intelligent data interface that rigorously integrates systems engineering and project management information in near real time can provide substantially greater insight for systems engineers, project managers, and the large diverse teams required to complete a complex project. System engineers, programmatic personnel (those who focus on cost, schedule, and risk), the technical engineering disciplines, and project management can realize immediate benefit from the shared vision described herein. Implementation of the vision also enables significant improvements in the performance of the engineered system being developed