Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
  • Publication
    Service Lifecycle Management
    Service-oriented architectures (SOA) are an intensively discussed architectural paradigm in science and practice. Originally grounding in software modularization efforts, SOA is increasingly part of the discourse on business models. For example, software providers no longer offer their solutions solely as complete packages, but rather allow customers to use them in parts or as a whole on a pay-per-use basis (Software as a Service, Platform as a Service). SOA's contribution within these business models is a flexibility gain obtained by abstracting from the underlying implementation. This abstraction leads to a decomposition of applications into fine-granular services. For example, a core banking system might offer a credit worthiness check, while a customer relationship management system processes the customer data. However, these applications are frequently based on different SOA models (e.g., SAP, Oracle). Consequently, increasing modularity causes higher complexity, due to heterogeneous service specifications, service development processes, service implementations, and operating models. Adding to this, often several suppliers with heterogenous SOA platforms are involved. Without a dedicated management of services along their life cycle (Service Lifecycle Management - SLM), additional alignment efforts would be necessary. Thus, the management of services as well as service portfolios arising from the modularization of monolithic applications plays an important role. However, SLM approaches are just as heterogeneous as the different applications and their SOA models. The numerous facets exhibit a clear dichotomy between technical and business-oriented approaches. This article suggests an integrated SLM model to overcome this dichotomy.
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    Scopus© Citations 13
  • Publication
    Enhancing Service Lifecycle Management - Costing as Part of Service Descriptions
    (Association for Information Systems, 2013-08-15) ; ;
    Outsourcing of IT and business processes results in an increased exchange of services. For inter-organizational service exchange to be successful, the participating network players have to establish unified and thus interoperable means of service description. An analysis of contemporary approaches identified a deficit of almost all approaches to address monetary aspects of a service, especially costs. This paper argues that costs are prevalent in almost all stages of a services' lifecycle, and thus its' role within Service Lifecycle Management (SLM) is paramount. Recognizing this discrepancy, the paper proposes a basic version of a costing model that allows for a multi-periodic depiction of service-related costs as part of a service description. It is modeled and implemented as an extension of USDL, the Unified Service Description Language. A case example from the financial services industry demonstrates the artifact's applicability.
  • Publication
    Enhancing SOA with Service Lifecycle Management : Towards a Functional Reference Model
    (Association for Information Systems, 2013-06-05) ; ;
    Service-orientation is a paradigm aiming at decomposing monolithic application systems into services, i.e. functional units that adhere to certain criteria such as standardized interfaces and the ability to be flexibly combined with each other. With the growing importance and diffusion of this paradigm, the management of an increasing number of services along their lifecycle (Service Lifecycle Management - SLM) is becoming a success factor. Although comprehensive IT support is not the only ingredient for successfully managing services, it is a contribution to compensate for the growing complexity. Surprisingly, the topic of software application support in SLM has not yet received systematic coverage in the literature from a functional perspective. Consequently, this paper proposes a functional reference model for SLM and describes the underlying design process. The model supports practitioners in analyzing, designing and implementing software support for SLM. Further it enables to compare and evaluate existing software solutions and as such it supports IT investment decisions. Scientifically the model represents an approach towards designing information systems in the area of SLM. The paper argues that companies should pursue a best-of-breed approach, as there is no single solution available that comprehensively supports the entire lifecycle. Further, the lack of application support of SLM in practice mainly stems from the absence of integrated solutions and missing knowledge on how to evaluate potential applications.
  • Publication
    Supporting Service Management with Graph-based Service System Visualization, Manipulation and Analysis
    (Association for Information Systems, 2013-08-15) ; ;
    The ability to establish and maintain connections to business partners has become a critical success factor in many businesses. Service-oriented architectures are being intensively discussed as an enabler on both business- and technical level. The management of services in a SOA requires comprehensive information about the managed services. Several approaches for unified service descriptions emerged, e.g. the Unified Service Description Language. Even small service systems can comprise a considerable number of different services, relationships and resources, which in turn requires (semi-)automated means supporting the analysis and manipulation. This paper builds on the Unified Service Description Language and derives a model for the graph-based visualization, manipulation and analysis of service systems. The proposed model supports service management tasks, including but not limited to redundancy detection and documentation, make-or-buy simulations and service costing. The results are prototypically implemented and applied to a case example from the financial services industry.
  • Publication
    Towards an Interdisciplinary View on Service Science The Case of the Financial Services Industry
    In the last decade service science has received considerable attention in the research community. Most research regards services either from a business or a technical perspective. This paper argues that existing approaches still lack detailed models for the application of the inter-disciplinary nature of Service Science as well as an application of these concepts in practice. This paper describes a first attempt to apply the characteristics of service-oriented architectures from the information systems discipline to the business domain. It depicts autonomy and modularity, interoperability and interface orientation as major design principles that promise potentials when transferred to the business domain. The proposed inter-disciplinary approach was applied at the case of Zürcher Kantonalbank in Switzerland that realized a company-wide Service Management concept according to the presented design principles.
  • Publication
    Transformation zur Bank 2015 : Marktstudie
    (CC Sourcing, 2010)
    Moewes, Till
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    Eckert, Clemens
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    Etter, Walter
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    Kohlmann, Falk
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    Kutsch, Oliver
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    Mansfeldt, Ken
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