Основні проблеми розвитку українського газового ринку на сучасному етапі

Successful implementation of an enterprise strategy, the reorganization of an enterprise, the successful enterprise-wide adoption of a new enterprise resource planning system, or simply being able to manage the daily operations at an enterprise in general are all common examples of organizational actions that are strongly interrelated with the achievement of goals related to these actions. From the research as presented in this paper, it becomes clear that it is not elementary to clearly formulate goals and to understand how to achieve them. In two use scenarios, it is described how the executive board of a mid-sized bank in Germany wants to achieve their overall goal to increase the bank appraisal. The first scenario deals with determining who is responsible for goal creation and accomplishment, while the second scenario deals with describing a concrete goal system. A domain-specific modelling language (DSML) for designing goal models is proposed that provides solutions for requirements that are derived from the described scenarios. This DSML is coined the ‘goal modelling language’ (GoalML), which enables the development of goal models from multiple perspectives in order to relate goals with their context and vice versa

Waiting list procedure improvements for master program courses in Information and Computing Sciences

In higher education, at times it happens there are limited places in courses because of, for example, staffing and classroom shortages which can lead to students being waitlisted. Previous research indicates there are numerous waiting list prioritization methods in health care and public housing, whereas research in waiting list prioritization methods for course registration in higher education is very limited. Results of a literature study and interviews with domain experts have been conducted and analyzed to determine how course waiting list procedures can be improved. This has resulted in an improved waiting list procedure including prioritization methods for master program courses in Information and Computing Sciences at Utrecht University, the Netherlands

A Comparative Analysis of Green ICT Maturity Models

Maturity models have become a common tool for organisations to assess their capabilities in a variety of domains. However, for fields that have not yet been researched thoroughly, it can be difficult to create and evolve a maturity model that features all the important aspects in that field. It takes time and many iterative improvements for a maturity model to come of age. This is the case for Green ICT maturity models, whose aim is typically to either provide insight on the important aspects an organisation or a researcher should take into account when trying to improve the social or environmental impact of ICT, or to assist in the auditing of such aspects. In fact, when we were commissioned a comprehensive ICT-sustainability auditing for Utrecht University, we not only faced the need of selecting a Green ICT maturity model, but also to ensure that it covered as many organisational aspects as possible, extending the model if needed. This paper reports on the comparison we carried out of several Green ICT maturity models, how we extended our preferred model with needed constructs, and how we applied the resulting model during the ICT-sustainability auditing

Approaches for Documentation in Continuous Software Development

It is common practice for practitioners in industry as well as for ICT/CS students to keep writing – and reading ­– about software products to a bare minimum. However, refraining from documentation may result in severe issues concerning the vaporization of knowledge regarding decisions made during the phases of design, build, and maintenance. In this article, we distinguish between knowledge required upfront to start a project or iteration, knowledge required to complete a project or iteration, and knowledge required to operate and maintain software products. With `knowledge', we refer to actionable information. We propose three approaches to keep up with modern development methods to prevent the risk of knowledge vaporization in software projects. These approaches are `Just Enough Upfront' documentation, `Executable Knowledge', and `Automated Text Analytics' to help record, substantiate, manage and retrieve design decisions in the aforementioned phases. The main characteristic of `Just Enough Upfront' documentation is that knowledge required upfront includes shaping thoughts/ideas, a codified interface description between (sub)systems, and a plan. For building the software and making maximum use of progressive insights, updating the specifications is sufficient. Knowledge required by others to use, operate and maintain the product includes a detailed design and accountability of results. `Executable Knowledge' refers to any executable artifact except the source code. Primary artifacts include Test Driven Development methods and infrastructure-as-code, including continuous integration scripts. A third approach concerns `Automated Text Analysis' using Text Mining and Deep Learning to retrieve design decisions

Competencies outside Agile Teams’ Borders: The Extended Scrum Team

According to the Scrum process framework a Scrum team should have all necessary competencies to accomplish its work. Fragmented and anecdotal evidence hints at Scrum teams still needing additional, external competencies. To contribute to theories on Scrum team composition and practitioner's concerns in staffing a Scrum team we investigated Scrum teams' cross-functionality: To whom do Scrum teams turn for additional competencies, which competencies are involved and how are Scrum teams aware of additional competencies they need? To this extent we analysed the communication in three Scrum teams during one of their Sprints. Our results show that additional competencies are called for, not only on an ad hoc basis, but also on a structural basis. To include those structural competencies the notion of an extended Scrum team is introduced

Towards an E-Government Enterprise Architecture Framework for Developing Economies

The growth and uptake of e-government in developing economies are still affected by the interoperability challenge, which can be perceived as an orchestration of several issues that imply the existence of gaps in methods used for e-government planning and implementation. To a great extent, various counterparts in developed economies have succeeded in addressing the method-related gaps by developing e-government enterprise architectures, as blueprints for guiding e-government initiatives in a holistic and manageable way. However, existing e-government enterprise architectures are country-specific to appropriately serve their intended purpose, while enterprise architecture frameworks or methods are generic to accommodate several enterprise contexts. The latter do not directly accommodate the unique peculiarities of e-government efforts. Thus, a detailed method is lacking that can be adapted by developing economies to develop e-government enterprise architectures that fit their contexts. To address the gap, this article presents research that adopted a Design Science approach to develop an e-Government Enterprise Architecture Framework (EGEAF), as an explicit method for guiding the design of e-government enterprise architectures in a developing economy. EGEAF was designed by extending the Architecture Development Method of The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF ADM) to address requirements for developing interoperable e-government solutions in a developing economy. EGEAF was evaluated using two scenarios in the Ugandan context, and findings indicate that it is feasible; its design is understandable to enable its adoption and extension to accommodate requirements for developing interoperable e-government solutions in other developing economies

A Shared Vision for Digital Transformation: Codification of The Operating Model Canvas Approach

Digital transformations are essential for organisations to stay competitive in modern economy. A digital transformation demands the business and IT departments of an organisation to be aligned and have a shared vision on the organisation’s future. To aid the generation of a shared vision as a basis for digital transformation, we propose the Operating Model Canvas (OMC) Approach. Its result is the OMC, a model that visualises the organisation’s value propositions, primary and supporting business activities, channels, and actors. We have performed a retrospective case study to codify the process and deliverables of the OMC Approach, to define its scientific fundamentals, and demonstrate its results. We found that the OMC provides a shared language for business and IT departments and subsequently generates them a shared vision. The key elements for generating a shared vision during the approach are the usage of existing client documentation and the active client participation throughout the entire process. We think the OMC can therefore be a solid starting point for a digital transformation project. The scientific contribution of this paper is to add to the theory of digital transformation design by codifying the OMC Approach

Designing a data quality management framework for CRM platform delivery and consultancy

CRM platforms heavily depend on high-quality data, where poor-quality data can negatively influence its adoption. Additionally, these platforms are increasingly interconnected and complex to meet the growing needs of customers. Hence, delivery and consultancy of CRM platforms becomes highly complex. In this study, we propose a CRM data quality management framework that supports CRM delivery and consultancy firms to improve data quality management practices within their CRM projects. We develop the framework by extracting best practices for CRM data quality management by means of a literature study on data quality definition and measurement, data quality challenges, and data quality management methods. In a case study at an IT consultancy company, we investigate how CRM delivery and consultancy projects can benefit from the incorporation of data quality management practices. The results translate into a framework that provides a high-level overview of data quality management practices incorporated in CRM delivery and consultancy projects. It includes the following components: Client profiling, project definition, preparation, migration/integration, data quality definition, assessment, and improvement. The framework is validated by means of confirmatory focus groups and a questionnaire

Towards an e-government enterprise architecture framework for developing economies

The growth and uptake of e-government in developing economies is still affected by the interoperability challenge, which can be perceived as an orchestration of several issues that imply the existence of gaps in methods used for e-government planning and implementation. To a great extent, various counterparts in developed economies have succeeded in addressing the method-related gaps by developing e-government enterprise architectures, as blueprints for guiding e-government initiatives in a holistic and manageable way. However, existing e-government enterprise architectures are country-specific to appropriately serve their intended purpose, while enterprise architecture frameworks or methods are generic to accommodate several enterprise contexts. The latter do not directly accommodate the unique peculiarities of e-government efforts. Thus, a detailed method is lacking that can be adapted by developing economies to develop e-government enterprise architectures that fit their contexts. To address the gap, this article presents research that adopted a Design Science approach to develop an e-Government Enterprise Architecture Framework (EGEAF), as an explicit method for guiding the design of e-government enterprise architectures in a developing economy. EGEAF was designed by extending the Architecture Development Method of The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF ADM) to address requirements for developing interoperable e-government solutions in a developing economy. EGEAF was evaluated using two scenarios in the Ugandan context, and findings indicate that it is feasible; its design is understandable to enable its adoption and extension to accommodate requirements for developing interoperable e-government solutions in other developing economies

A data quality management framework to support delivery and consultancy of CRM platforms

CRM platforms heavily depend on high-quality data, where poor-quality data can negatively influence its adoption. Additionally, these platforms are increasingly interconnected and complex to meet growing needs of customers. Hence, delivery and consultancy of CRM platforms becomes highly complex. In this study, we propose a CRM data quality management framework that supports CRM delivery and consultancy firms to improve data quality management practices within their projects. The framework should also improve data quality within CRM solutions for their clients. We extract best practices for CRM data quality management by means of a literature study on data quality definition and measurement, data quality challenges, and data quality management methods. In a case study at an IT consultancy company, we investigate how CRM delivery and consultancy projects can benefit from the incorporation of data quality management practices. The design of the framework is validated by means of confirmatory focus groups and a questionnaire. The results translate into a framework that provides a high-level overview of data quality management practices incorporated in CRM delivery and consultancy projects. It includes the following components: Client profiling, project definition, preparation, migration/integration, data quality definition, assessment, and improvement