Virtual Decoupling for IT/Business Alignment - Conceptual Foundations, Architecture Design and Implementation Example

IT/business alignment is one of the main topics of information systems research. If IT artifacts and business-related artifacts are coupled point-to-point, however, complex architectures become unmanageable over time. In computer science, concepts like the ANSI/SPARC three-level database architecture propose an architecture layer which decouples external views on data and the implementation view of data. In this paper, a similar approach for IT/business alignment is proposed. The proposed alignment architecture is populated by enterprise services as elementary artifacts. Enterprise services link software components and process activities. They are aggregated into applications and subsequently into domains for planning/design and communication purposes. Most design approaches for the construction of enterprise services, applications and domains are top-down, i.e. they decompose complex artifacts on a stepwise basis. As an alternative which takes into account coupling semantics, we propose a bottom-up approach which is demonstrated for the identification of domains. Our approach is evaluated using a telecommunications equipment case stud

Disentangling the Digitality of Startups from an Enterprise Architecture Perspective

In this paper, we pick up the recent discourse on “digital x” and advance the field of digital entrepreneurship by disentangling the digitality of startups from an enterprise architecture (EA) perspective. In doing so, we provide a taxonomy based on the development process of Nickerson et al. (2013) and Kundisch et al. (2022) to better distinguish between startups with a high and a low degree of digitality. Here, by drawing on architectural layers, related design objects, and their dependencies, we differentiate between two primary (i.e., distinctive) and three secondary (i.e., supportive) dimensions of digitality. Finally, we demonstrate the taxonomy’s applicability to real-world startups

The Digital Twin – Birth of an Integrated System in the Digital Age

Today we live in a time where new technologies are developing rapidly. Digitalization and automation are finding their way into various industrial sectors, especially in the area of Industry 4.0. As in previous digitalization efforts in the manufacturing sector, it can be observed that the discourse is strongly concentrated on technological themes, neglecting the overall integration of technologies into the organization. In this paper, we conduct a literature review on the concept of a digital twin, i.e. a simulation-oriented closed loop system consisting of physical and digital components. We map the identified themes to the elements of a socio-technical system to show which issues in the discourse are underrepresented from a managerial point of view in order to provide indications for a more holistic discourse

Visualizing and Measuring Enterprise Application Architecture: An Exploratory Telecom Case

We test a method for visualizing and measuring enterprise application architectures. The method was designed and previously used to reveal the hidden internal architectural structure of software applications. The focus of this paper is to test if it can also uncover new facts about the applications and their relationships in an enterprise architecture, i.e., if the method can reveal the hidden external structure between software applications. Our test uses data from a large international telecom company. In total, we analyzed 103 applications and 243 dependencies. Results show that the enterprise application structure can be classified as a core-periphery architecture with a propagation cost of 25%, core size of 34%, and architecture flow through of 64%. These findings suggest that the method could be effective in uncovering the hidden structure of an enterprise application architecture

Enterprise architecture alignment

An Enterprise Architecture (EA) is an instrument that focuses on coherence between business processes, information distribution, and technology infrastructure of an organization. In practice, we see that architects are not well equipped to manage the interrelationship between architectural business-, information- and technology-aspects in an integrated fashion. EA frameworks are mostly informal by nature, and there is a lack of knowledge and tools to support architects to check alignment formally. Due to the volume and complexity of holistic enterprise spanning architecture, it is increasingly challenging for organizations to maintain overview and coherence of architectural elements. This research enables automated, rule-based monitoring consistency and coherence between elements within an EA. It does so by creating an artifact that provides architects with the capability of monitoring validity within ArchiMate EA models. We validate models against formalized rules specified in Relation Algebra with which coherence can be mathematically proven. We also plot a set of applied rules onto a quality framework that calculates an overall alignment score of an EA model. Every single rule violation that influences the score is explicitly identified. Monitoring EA quality using formalized rules enables organizations to manage and control the process of EA change and thus contributes to Business/IT-alignment

Reconceptualizing platforms in information systems research through the lens of service-dominant logic

Platforms have gained significant attention in the field of information systems (IS) research. However, the concept of platforms remains fluid and complex due to the diverse phenomena associated with it. Research to date tends to cluster around two predominant perspectives: the economic network perspective and the architectural design perspective. To reconcile the divergent perspectives of platforms and establish a more cohesive foundation for IS theorizing, we undertake an interpretive literature review through the lens of service-dominant (S-D) logic. Drawing on an extensive analysis of the literature, we develop an S-D Platform Framework that provides a deep understanding of the multifaceted nature of platforms as a vital IS capability for value co-creation. This framework sheds light on the fundamental facets of relationality, ambidexterity, and cooperativity, which explain the deep structure of platforms in the realm of IS research. Building on our proposed framework, we put forth an agenda that aims to guide future studies towards a more theoretically compelling trajectory

Modularization Approaches in the Context of Monolithic Simulations

Qualitätsmerkmale eines Software-Systems wie Zuverlässigkeit oder Performanz können über dessen Erfolg oder Scheitern entscheiden. Diese Qualitätsmerkmale können im klassischen Software-Ingenieurswesen erst bestimmt werden, wenn der Entwurfsprozess bereits vollendet ist und Teile des Software-Systems implementiert sind. Computer-Simulationen erlauben es jedoch Schätzungen dieser Werte schon während des Software-Entwurfs zu bestimmen. Simulationen werden erstellt um bestimmte Aspekte eines Systems zu analysieren. Die Repräsentation des Systems ist auf diese Analyse spezialisiert. Diese Spezialisierung resultiert oft in einer monolithischen Struktur der Simulation. Solch eine Struktur kann jedoch die Wartbarkeit der Simulation negativ beeinflussen und das Verständnis und die Wiederverwendbarkeit der Repräsentation des Systems verschlechtern. Die Nachteile einer monolithischen Struktur können durch das Konzept der Modularisierung reduziert werden. In diesem Ansatz wird ein Problem in kleinere Teilprobleme zerlegt. Diese Zerlegung ermöglicht ein besseres Veständnis und eine bessere Handhabung der Teilprobleme. In dieser Arbeit wird ein Ansatz präsentiert, um die Kopplung von neu entwickelten oder bereits existierenden Simulationen zu einer modularen Simulation zu beschreiben. Dieser Ansatz besteht aus einer Domänenspezifischen Sprache (DSL), die mit modellgetriebenen Technologien entwickelt wird. Die DSL wird in einer Fallstudie angewendet, um die Kopplung von zwei Simulationen zu beschreiben. Weiterhin wird die Kopplung dieser Simulationen mit einem existierenden Kopplungsansatz gemäß der erzeugten Beschreibung manuell implementiert. In dieser Fallstudie wird die Vollständigkeit der Fähigkeit der DSL untersucht, die Kopplung von mehreren Simulation zu einer modularen Simulation zu beschreiben. Weiterhin wird die Genauigkeit des Modularisierungsansatzes bezüglich der Verhaltensbewahrung der modularen Simulation gegenüber der monolithischen Version evaluiert. Hierfür werden die Resultate der modularen Simulation mit denen der monolithischen Version verglichen. Zudem wird die Skalierbarkeit des Ansatzes durch die Betrachtung der Ausführungszeiten untersucht, wenn mehrere Simulationen gekoppelt werden. Außerdem wird der Effekt der Modularisierung auf die Ausführungszeit in Relation zur monolithischen Simulation betrachtet. Die erhaltenen Resultate zeigen, dass die Kopplung der beiden Simulationen der Fallstudie, mit der DSL beschrieben werden kann. Die Resultate bezüglich der Evaluation der Genauigkeit weisen Probleme bei der Interaktion der Simulationen mit dem Kopplungsansatz auf. Nichts desto trotz bleibt das Verhalten der monolithischen Simulation in der modularen Version insgesamt erhalten. Die Evaluation zeigt, dass die modulare Simulation eine Erhöhung der Ausführungszeit im Vergleich zur monolithischen Version erfährt. Zudem deutet die Analyse der Skalierbarkeit darauf hin, dass die Ausführungszeit der modularen Simulation nicht exponentiell mit der Anzahl der gekoppelten Simulationen wächst