On the State of the Art of Coupling and Cohesion Measures for Service-Oriented System Design

Service-oriented computing has encountered an increasing importance for enterprises over the last years. With Web services, the major underlying technical basis is already in an advanced state. The service design area, on the other hand, still provides several research gaps such as the field of service identification and in particular the determination of an optimal granularity level for services. Granularity, assessed through coupling and cohesion considerations, is yet a rather unexplored domain when it comes to service-orientation, although several results from earlier design principles are available. In this paper we summarize the current state of the art in granularity measures and identify the implications emerging for practice and re-search. As we reveal, several existing measures for other paradigms, which might be adapted for service-orientation, are left unconsidered. Further research gaps, as the mainly missing empirical evaluation or a tighter inclusion in the development process, are also detected

A SEMI-AUTOMATED APPROACH TO SUPPORT THE ARCHITECT DURING THE GENERATION OF COMPONENT-BASED ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURES

In today?s volatile business environments, enterprises need to be able to flexibly adapt their information systems and add new functionality quickly. Component-based enterprise architectures promise to help solving these challenges by structuring information systems landscapes into modular business components. However, the derivation of business components from conceptual models still poses research challenges as current methods do not adequately involve the architect and his/her situational preferences. In this paper, we propose an advanced method that facilitates a systematic, reflected derivation of business components. The novel contribution of this paper thereby is to show (i) how the architect can define the derivation of business components from conceptual models as a multi-criteria decision-making problem according to his/her situational preferences and (ii) how the architect can systematically verify the stability of the derivation results. We demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method by demonstrating its implementation as part of the SeaCoAST tool and applying it to the after-sales processes of a world-wide leading automobile manufacturer

Is BPMN the Better UML for Domain Experts? Discussion, Evaluation and Comparison - An Empirical Study

The increased demand for a more comprehensive approach to Business Process Management, amongst others, led to the development of the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) as a proposed industry standard. Today, BPMN has not only become popular, it has also been adopted by the Object Management Group (OMG) as core standard to create a new business modeling framework. The OMG intentionally decided not to build upon the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and its process modeling notation – the Activity Diagram (AD) –, because BPMN was presumed to be more applicable by domain experts. Consolidated findings in this direction, however, are missing. In this paper, we present results from an em-pirical study, in which the application of BPMN and AD by domain experts was examined. Based on a comparative discus-sion of BPMN and AD, we describe the study design and highlight central outcomes which are then being evaluated in detail. This evaluation leads to an extensive comparison of the applicability of BPMN and AD based on empirical indications

An Empirical Comparison of the Usability of BPMN and UML Activity Diagrams for Business Users

The widespread implementation of Business Process Management (BPM) strategies has increased the demand for an integral approach to business process modeling, in which all stakeholders can effectively participate and together shape a company’s business processes. Amongst others, this demand was a basis for the development of the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) as a proposed industry standard. It does not only provide technical advantages such as a support for serviceoriented computing, but also claims to be readily usable for business users. Following this presumption, BPMN is even used by the Object Management Group (OMG). It adopted BPMN instead of the Activity Diagram (UML AD) as the core standard to create a business modeling framework. For companies, however, changing to a new process modeling language is a significant expense factor. Furthermore, consolidated findings on whether BPMN is indeed more usable for business users than UML AD are missing. In this paper, we present results from a comprehensive empirical comparison of both languages, in which we examined the application by business users during a model creation task. Results indicate that the UML AD is at least as usable as BPMN, since BPMN did neither differ significantly in effectiveness, efficiency, nor user satisfaction

On the Developer Adoption of Scrum: A New Acceptance Model for Agile Methodologies

In recent years, the agile Scrum methodology has become a popular software development approach. It significantly differs from traditional approaches as it promotes communication, self-organization, flexibility, and innovation instead of extensive planning and codified processes. While such a paradigm shift promises to better support the timely delivery of high-quality software in turbulent business environments, its success considerably depends on the willingness of developers to adopt the agile methodology. In this paper, we present a framework with drivers and inhibitors to the developer acceptance of Scrum. It combines analytical with empirical findings and can be used as a theoretical basis to empirically evaluate the actual support of Scrum in concrete scenarios. The introduced framework is based on the extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which has been proven to be also applicable to describe the intention of developers to use a methodology. Building upon results from qualitative in-depth interviews with six experienced Scrum experts of a German DAX-30 company, we refine the general determinants of adoption contained in the TAM with several observed factors that influence the willingness of developers to use Scrum in practice

Generic Business Process Model for SMEs in M-Commerce Based on Talabat’s Case Study

SMEs face a variety of challenges in their attempts to keep up with the cyber revolution, even though SMEs are a major part of the world economy. In a previous publication, the authors established that ‘B2C’ model does not accurately represent or support SMEs in M-Commerce. Instead, the authors reviewed SMEs and SME supporting apps from mobile app marketplaces and suggested a model called ‘B2i2C’. In this model, the ‘i’, in the form of intermediary business entity are playing a vital role in SMEs breakthrough into M-Commerce. Following on, this paper reviews business processes to generate a generic model adaptable to a variety of SME related products and services. This paper presents the case study of Talabat, one of the most successful GCC e-business models that supports SMEs to have come out from Kuwait. The information collected from online resources, student placements and feedback from operation managers attempt to emulate the business process model for a variety of ‘B2i2C’ business models. The generic model is then tested against three different scenarios to identify the level of similarity. The results demonstrate a high degree of adaptability of the model and a major opportunity to explore in the area of SME supporting app in M-Commerce

Sind Ereignisgesteuerte Prozessketten besser für Fachanwender geeignet als UML Aktivitätsdiagramme? Eine empirische Untersuchung

Die Modellierung und Verbesserung von Geschaftsprozessengehort zu den zentralen Aufgaben in Unternehmen. Umdiese Aufgabe ezient umzusetzen, ist es erforderlich, dassdie eingesetzte Modellierungssprache neben Analysten undEntwicklern auch Fachanwendern eine aktive Beteiligung erlaubt.Im Rahmen des Beitrags werden zwei weitverbreiteteSprachen, Ereignisgesteuerte Prozessketten und UMLAktivitatsdiagramme, empirisch untersucht. Im Mittelpunktsteht dabei die Frage, welche Notation fur Fachanwenderbesser zur Abbildung von Geschaftsprozessen geeignet istund durch welche sprachlichen Eigenschaften Unterschiedeentstehen. Grundlage der Untersuchung ist eine Studie,in der 73 Teilnehmer Geschaftsprozesse unter kontrolliertenBedingungen mit beiden Sprachen modellierten. Die Ergebnisseder Studie werden explorativ ausgewertet, um wissenschaftlichgesicherte Erkenntnisse uber die Eignung beiderSprachen zu gewinnen und zur Theoriebildung beizutragen