The Review of Non-Technical Assumptions in Digital Identity Architectures

The literature on digital identity management systems (IdM) is abundant and solutions vary by technology components and non-technical requirements. In the long run, however, there is a need for exchanging identities across domains or even borders, which requires interoperable solutions and flexible architectures. This article aims to give an overview of the current research on digital identity management. We conduct a systematic literature review of digital identity solution architectures and extract their inherent non-technical assumptions. The findings show that solution designs can be based on organizational, business and trust assumptions as well as human-user assumptions. Namely, establishing the trust relationships and collaborations among participating organizations; human-users capability for maintaining private cryptographic material or the assumptions that win-win business models could be easily identified. By reviewing the key findings of solutions proposed and looking at the differences and commonalities of their technical, organizational and social requirements, we discuss their potential real-life inhibitors and identify opportunities for future research in IdM

Between the Rock and the Hard Place - Conflicts in Implementing Integration Platforms

The world is digitalizing in fast pace and the number of connections between different digital systems, i.e. integrations, is growing at the same time. That has created a need for more efficient integration management. For that reason, many companies are now implementing modern integration platforms to manage their external and internal integrations. Although these platforms are fast and easy to take in use technically, the main problems tend to be organizational. In this research, we study the experiences of the professionals, who have gone through an integration platform adoption project in their company recently. In our analysis, we found out that the technical challenges of the companies were easier to solve. However, if the organization does not have clear management, strategy or understanding on how to get the most from the new integration platforms, the capabilities of the integration platform are not used in their full scale. In the paper, we make visible the intervention points for a successful integration project

Responding to Healthcare Emergency Outbreak of COVID-19 Pandemic with Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

During the complex emergency of COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare sector experienced challenging pressure surge, related to rapid increase in the number of infections, patient inquiries, and demand of immediate treatment. Such situation, experienced also in Finland at the Welfare Division of Turku City, required quick decision making and fast implementation of a reliable and secure technological solution that can take some of administrative burden off the shoulders of nurses’ personnel. The case presents the implementation of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) technology that has already been recognized as an efficient tool at multiple business organizations, allowing to automate various commercial processes with quick returns and scalable results. The presented case discusses the drivers and outcomes of automating non-commercial, healthcare processes, as well as its impact on emergency response, operations, and society

What are the requirements of a successful ERP implementation in SMEs? Special focus on Southern Africa

Many international Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems were developed based on the best practices of organizations in which they were developed. These organizations are usually large, and in developed countries. However, small organizations in other parts of the world are also implementing ERP. Implementing a system based on different practices that differ from yours is certainly bound to come with issues. The objective of the study is to identify challenges experienced by SMEs when implementing ERP systems, and to suggest requirements of achieving successful implementations in SMEs in Southern Africa. A thematic analysis methodology was used to explore identified challenges from fourteen SMEs and to identify themes within the data. The study suggested that a successful ERP implementation requires sufficient and appropriate training, reliable internet connection, involvement of end-users, change management, as well as sufficient demonstration of the prospective ERP system

Dialectic Tensions in the Context of Inter-organizational Integration

This study compares the perspectives on inter-organizational integration of information between stakeholders of the architecture, engineering, construction, and facilities management (AEC/FM) industry in Finland. Our findings are grounded on semi-structured interviews with practitioners that participated in a project of the Finnish government. Applying the theoretical framework of dialectical analysis, we identified six dimensions where conflicting points of view may arise regarding shared information: Ontology, standards, storage, openness, monetization and the involvement of the public sector. We argue that stakeholders will have stronger motivation to integrate with new actors if they share the same vision about one or more of such challenge areas. Awareness of these tensions helps to understand and guide the development of inter-organizational information systems in networked industries

Quest for Control: Managing Software Development in Networked Operating Environments

Instead of developing software purely within the confines of one company, software companies increasingly procure many of the functionalities of their software from external entities and actors via system integrations and utilizing resources provided by external application programming interfaces (APIs). In addition to the benefits that can be reaped via integrations and working in cooperation with other companies, this type of networked software development leads to a reduction of control for the individual companies. As a result, companies need to resort to specific strategies and practices that reduce the risks emerging from lack of control. By utilizing data collected from Finnish software companies, we map the factors that cause reduction of control, study why companies give away control, and identify the challenges surfacing from it. To tackle these issues, we identify two strategies that software companies can take to counter the reduction of control

Local software development in industry globalization

This paper presents the results of a research project, in which the situation of local software organizations operating with global industrial customers were examined. The prospects of locally operating software organizations have been lately dimmed by the processes of globalization, IT outsourcing, and offshore software development. The current situation of local software organizations is analyzed, and also trends and challenges that they face in the future are described. In the study, qualitative analysis with grounded theory was used as the research method. The analysis identified three types of local software organizations.Using business processes, technologies, and types of customer relationships and cooperation as the basis, these types can be labelled as Anticipator, Specializer and Collector. Local software organizations had recognized their inability to compete with globally operating software enterprises and they had difficulties in coping with changes in competition caused by outsourcing, mergers, and offshore development. The analysis of future trends produced three possible models of cooperation between asymmetrical partners, tailored solutions provider, software producer, and capacity provider

The Life Cycle Challenge of ERP System Integration

To serve its purpose as a backbone for business integration, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems need to be integrated with other information systems inside and outside the boundaries of an enterprise. An inductive case study was made to examine a long-term ERP system of a large manufacturing enterprise to better understand the nature and importance of ERP system integration. Our results can be summarized as four findings about the current life cycle models: 1) integration should be a major consideration when choosing ERPs, 2) deployments are continuous, 3) external integration is not just an extension phase after the project and 4) integration remains as a continuous challenge which is never fully achieved due to the constantly changing business requirements and organizational landscape. The results can help managers when making decisions on integration issues, yet effective approaches for integration governance are needed in order to avoid the increased costs and complexity

EXPLAINING AN E-IDENTIFICATION FRAMEWORK IMPLEMENTATION USING DIALECTICS

This article analyses the challenges of implementing a new electronic identification (eID) framework in Finland. We employ the theoretical lens of dialectics to explain how two opposing forces in the form of public and private actors, the government and banks respectively, engaged in a process of resistance and acquiescence. By interviewing the key organizations from both sides, we identify the rationale of the conflict, mechanisms that have led and may lead to further conflict, and the outcome. The root cause of the problems with the framework include the conflicting goals of the government and banks: the regulators’ interests to create more competition in the market, generate cost savings, decrease the dependence on banks vs. the objectives of the banks to maintain the status quo. Moreover, the framework implementation practices, such as the hard enforcement strategy, an inherent infrastructuring mindset of the government and communication problems, have considerably contributed to further conflict development. As a result, divergent views on the framework architecture and the pricing models are the outcomes of the confrontation. Our findings emphasize the importance of strategic and operational coherence in the governance of a changing ecosystem with a proprietary banking platform playing a role in a national eID scheme