Metamodels of information technology best practices frameworks

This article deals with the generation and application of ontological metamodels of frameworks of best practices in IT. The ontological metamodels represent the logical structures and fundamental semantics of framework models and constitute adequate tools for the analysis, adaptation, comparison and integration of the frameworks of best practices in IT. The MetaFrame methodology for the construction of the metamodels, founded on the discipline of the conceptual metamodelling and on the extended Entity/Relationship methodology is described herein, as well as the metamodels of the best practices for the outsourcing of IT, the eSCM-SP v2.01 (eSourcing Capability Model for Service Providers) and the eSCM-CL v1.1 (eSourcing Capability Model for Client Organizations), constructed according to the MetaFrame methodology

Adapting IT Governance Frameworks using Domain Specific Requirements Methods: Examples from Small & Medium Enterprises and Emergency Management

IT Governance methods and frameworks have been applied in most large for-profit organizations since these enterprisesrealize the benefits of IT Governance for their business. However, former research and our own surveys show thatframeworks such as ITIL and COBIT are not very well established in Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) as well as inEmergency Management (EM) organizations. Thus, we investigated what kind of barriers can be the cause for the lowadoption rate. These results built the basis for our Domain Specific Engineering (DSE) approach. The research is based onthe data of two research projects. The first project investigated the utilization of ITSM methods in European SMEs, and thesecond has researched different emergency management organizations. This paper defines similarities and differences of thetwo domain specific solutions, describes the engineering approach, and gives guidelines for further research in otherdomains

Towards a framework for developing visual analytics in supply chain environments

Visual Analytics (VA) has shown to be of significant importance for Supply Chain (SC) analytics. However, SC partners still have challenges incorporating it into their data-driven decision-making activities. A conceptual framework for the development and deployment of a VA system provides an abstract, platform-independent model for the whole process of VA, covering requirement specification, data collection and pre-processing, visualization recommendation, visualization specification and implementation, and evaluations. In this paper, we propose such a framework based on three main aspects: 1) Business view, 2) Asset view, and 3) Technology view. Each of these views covers a set of steps to facilitate the development and maintenance of the system in its context. The framework follows a consistent process structure that comprises activities, tasks, and people. The final output of the whole process is the VA as a deliverable. This facilitates the alignment of VA activities with business processes and decision-making activities. We presented the framework's applicability using an actual usage scenario and left the implementation of the system for future work

Representing IT Performance Management as Metamodel

Many empirical studies have shown that the business value from investment in IT projects can be greater than the one being currently achieved. Thus it calls for specific focus on IT governance in order to reach fusion between business and IT goals. Good IT performance management should enable the business and IT executives to understand how IT is contributing to the achievement of business goals. The paper addresses the issue of representing IT governance best practice frameworks as ontological metamodels. Special attention is dedicated to VAL IT framework, which represents a comprehensive framework to maximize business value from IT investments. The paper points out the necessity of analyzing, comparing and integrating IT governance frameworks in order to complement different knowledge and generate ontological metamodel of IT performance management. Scope ofour work is in the static aspect of the framework and as the metalanguage Extended Entity/Relationship model is used

Towards a framework for developing visual analytics in supply chain environments

Visual Analytics (VA) has shown to be of significant importance for Supply Chain (SC) analytics. However, SC partners still have challenges incorporating it into their data-driven decision-making activities. A conceptual framework for the development and deployment of a VA system provides an abstract, platform-independent model for the whole process of VA, covering requirement specification, data collection and pre-processing, visualization recommendation, visualization specification and implementation, and evaluations. In this paper, we propose such a framework based on three main aspects: 1) Business view, 2) Asset view, and 3) Technology view. Each of these views covers a set of steps to facilitate the development and maintenance of the system in its context. The framework follows a consistent process structure that comprises activities, tasks, and people. The final output of the whole process is the VA as a deliverable. This facilitates the alignment of VA activities with business processes and decision-making activities. We presented the framework\u27s applicability using an actual usage scenario and left the implementation of the system for future work

Facing Business-IT-Alignment in Healthcare

The ongoing reform efforts and an aftermath of increasing regulation in the Swiss healthcare sector make it imperative for hospitals to develop strategies to work more efficiently and have better control over their medical, nursing, and administrative processes. These endeavors make hospitals to enhance and integrate concepts of Business-IT-Alignment and IT Governance, IT Risk management, and IT Compliance (IT GRC). This paper proposes a novel method for the management of IT with respect to closely-meshed organizational and social structures within hospitals. One key contribution of this method is its hybrid approach to combine collective know-how of the CObIT 5 framework with an iterative process model approach. The application of this method under real-world conditions within different Swiss hospitals has led to a positive outcome whereby all hospitals concurred that the method allows for the adoption of IT GRC principles while taking into consideration the individual styles and patterns of behavior

Towards a structured application of IT governance best practice reference models

The perceived importance of the topic IT governance increased in the last decade. Best practice reference models (like ITIL, COBIT, or CMMI) promise support for diverse challenges IT departments are confronted with. Therefore, the interest in best practice reference models (BPRM) grows and more and more companies apply BPRM to support their IT governance. But there is limited knowledge about how BPRM are applied and there is no structured method to support the application and lift the full potential of BPRM. Therefore, this paper proposes a structured method for the application of BPRM. Intention of this research is to reduce the inefficiencies caused by inconsistent and ad-hoc use of BPRM. The scientific adequacy as well as the practical applicability is critically discussed by using practical experiences out of an ongoing research project