The Partner Ecosystem Evolution from On-premises Software to Cloud Services: a case study of SAP

The application software enterprise market is facing a fundamental change from onpremises software products to cloud-installed services based on ‘pay-per-use’ subscriptions. We propose a novel conceptual framework to analyze this transformation from an ecosystem perspective. Through a case study of SAP, we demonstrate that the cloud platform ecosystem differs from the on-premises software product ecosystem, with changed roles, responsibilities, patterns, and key stakeholder relationships. The findings suggest that the traditional product platform ecosystem has evolved in three directions: 1) the structures of partner ecosystems are changing, with partners and platform leaders forming a new micro-ecosystem as a basic unit to interact with customers; 2) the role and function of the traditional distribution channel have been eroded and weakened; and 3) the growing importance of platforms has changed the value relationships amongst stakeholders. Based on these findings, we discuss the managerial implications for the stakeholders in the cloud platform

Linking Coping Emotions to IT Events: A Conceptual Framework

Many studies in the IS field have been devoted to the emotional adoption of technology and its impact on the user’s selected coping strategy. However, research on which IT events trigger which emotions is seldom reported in existing literature. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework that classifies IT events based on the emotions they trigger. Our research will potentially have two contributions. First, we would develop a framework that classifies IT events based on the emotions it triggers, which helps predict users selected coping strategy based on the IT event occurring. Second, by identifying which IT events trigger which emotions, we would extend existing cognitive-based models and help predict and explain the impact of different IT events

Now and Next: A Maturity Model to Guide Analytics Growth

Maturity models concerning the analytics function within organisations cover several characteristics such as data, leadership support, processes, data management, governance, technology and people. Existing models, however, focus on diagnosis rather than guiding future developments, and overlook the importance of IT/Analytics-Business alignment. This paper presents a maturity framework which addresses these two shortcomings and distinguishes between two aspects of maturity – a “state” aspect which is used to access the present situation in the company, and a “management” aspect which analyses existing processes to establish the next stage of the company’s growth in the analytics area. The framework’s utility has been demonstrated through obtaining feedback from a number of managers, who have praised the ability of the framework to integrate diagnosis of the current situation with guidance on the next steps necessary to develop analytics maturity

Devolved Ontology in Practice for a Seamless Semantic Alignment within Dynamic Collaboration Networks of SMEs

The lack of a semantic alignment between collaborating small and medium enterprises causes frequent misinterpretations when exchanging information in the form of documents. If these companies are to achieve a seamless semantic alignment by exchanging documents, we should employ a conceptual model which does not rely on agreeing in advance on a centralised standard for document contents and format, but instead allows individual companies to maintain localised ontologies structuring their own documents allowing the companies to automatically establish a semantic alignment between pairs of collaborating companies, taking into account the ripple effects that such an alignment could trigger. In this article we demonstrate how the conceptual model of devolved ontology is engineered and tested to support such a scenario: we show how we have engineered the devolved ontology through a case study, and present experimental results on the document alignment intrinsically needed for this