Complementing approaches in ERP effort estimation practice: an industrial study

Projects implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions are characterized by specific context factors such as high level of reuse, scope of the ERP modules, interdependent functionality, and use of vendor-specific standard implementation method, all of which impose risks known to cause various degrees of project failure. We suggest a remedy to this issue by tackling it from a portfolio management perspective. Our solution rests on earlier work by other authors and is a combination of a classic cost estimation method (COCOMO II), a Monte Carlo simulation process, and a portfolio management model. We report on the results of a case study done in a company site in the telecommunication sector

Cloud computing security requirements: a systematic review

Many publications have dealt with various types of security requirements in cloud computing but not all types have been explored in sufficient depth. It is also hard to understand which types of requirements have been under-researched and which are most investigated. This paper's goal is to provide a comprehensive and structured overview of cloud computing security requirements and solutions. We carried out a systematic review and identified security requirements from previous publications that we classified in nine sub-areas: Access Control, Attack/Harm Detection, Non-repudiation, Integrity, Security Auditing, Physical Protection, Privacy, Recovery, and Prosecution. We found that (i) the least researched sub-areas are non-repudiation, physical protection, recovery and prosecution, and that (ii) access control, integrity and auditability are the most researched sub-areas

A coordination complexity model to support requirements engineering for cross-organizational ERP

Cross-organizational information systems projects, such as ERP, imply an expensive requirements engineering (RE) cycle. Little is known yet about how to carry it out with more predictable alignment results and chances for success. We propose an approach that allows incremental, systematic improvement of crossorganizational RE. It builds on organizational network research, coordination theory, ERP misalignments, and existing RE improvement standards

Relational-model based change management for non-functional requirements: approach and experiment

In software industry, many organizations either focus their traceability efforts on Functional Requirements (FRs) or else fail entirely to implement an effective traceability process. NonFunctional Requirements (NFRs) such as security, safety, performance, and reliability are treated in a rather ad hoc fashion and are rarely traced. This is mainly because of the unique nature of NFRs. They are subjective, relative and they tend to become scattered among multiple modules when they are mapped from the requirements domain to the solution space. Furthermore, NFRs can often interact, in the sense that attempts to achieve one NFR can help or hinder the achievement of other NFRs at particular software functionality. Such an interaction creates an extensive network of interdependencies and tradeoffs among NFRs which is not easy to trace. In a previous work, we proposed a conceptualization of NFRs through the NFRs Ontology. In this paper, we extend the previous work by proposing a change management mechanism for tracing the impact of NFRs on the other constructs in the ontology such as FR or NFR operationalization and vice versa, and providing a traceability mechanism using Datalog expressions to imp lement queries on a relational model-based representation for the ontology. The proposed traceability queries are then evaluated through a multiproject variation quasi-experiment on regression testing conducted in the industry

Validating the domains of an inter-organizational business-IT alignment assessment instrument: A case study

CIOs can judge the effectiveness of their business-IT alignment activities by assessing maturity of processes in domains relevant to alignment. Currently, assessment instruments that support this are being developed. This paper reports on a case study aimed at validating four process domains we deemed necessary for inclusion in an assessment instrument that focuses on business-IT alignment at the level of inter-organizational collaboration. Our case study research draws on empirical evidence from an inter-organizational collaboration among different government departments within the state of Tamaulipas in Mexico. The case study revealed that the domains included in the alignment assessment instrument are the most important ones to address when achieving business-IT alignment in inter-organizational collaborations