Reference Modeling for Business Systems Analysis |
|
|
|
| Peter Fettke (Editor), Peter Loos (Editor) |
| October 2006, Idea Group Publishing, Paperback, 389 pages, ISBN 1599040557
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| Conceptual models play an increasingly important role in all phases of the information systems life cycle. Despite being vital for developing information systems, the modeling process is often resource consuming and faulty. Reference Modeling for Business Systems Analysis addresses the problems by covering methodological issues and reference models for several industries, and introduces concepts and techniques with concrete examples. Reference Modeling for Business Systems Analysis covers all aspects of reference modeling, and provides foundations for model-driven systems development. This book helps to efficiently reuse conceptual models and explains best practice models for manufacturing, retail, and electronic business.
|
 |
|
Chapter I
- Perspectives on Reference Modeling
- Peter Fettke, Institute for Information Systems (IWi) at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Saarbrücken, Germany
- Peter Loos, Institute for Information Systems (IWi) at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Saarbrücken, Germany
-
-
- Part A: Reference Modeling Languages
-
Chapter II
- Configurable Reference Modeling Languages
- Jan Recker, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
- Michael Rosemann, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
- Wil van der Aalst, Queensland University of Technology and Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands
- Monique Jansen-Vullers; Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands
- Alexander Dreiling; SAP Research CEC Brisbane, SAP Australia Pty Ltd; Australia
-
Chapter III
- Design Principles for Reference Modelling – Reusing Information Models by Means of Aggregation, Specialisation, Instantiation, and Analogy
- Jan vom Brocke, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany
-
-
- Part B: Reference Modeling Methods
-
Chapter IV
- Process Model for an Empirically Grounded Reference Model Construction
- Frederik Ahlemann, Universität Osnabrück, Germany
- Heike Gastl, Universität Osnabrück, Germany
-
Chapter V
- Business Modeling in Process-Oriented Organizations for RUP-based Software Development
- Francisco J. Duarte, Blaupunkt Auto-Rádio Portugal (Bosch Group) and Universidade do Minho, Portugal
- João M. Fernandes, Universidade do Minho, Portugal
- Ricardo J. Machado, Ricardo J. Machado, Universidade do Minho, Portugal
-
Chapter VI
- Evaluation of Reference Models
- Ulrich Frank, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
-
Chapter VII
- Using Reference Models in Enterprise Architecture: An Example
- Ovidiu Noran, Griffith University, Australia
-
-
- Part C: Reference Models
-
Chapter VIII
- A Reference Model for Industrial Enterprises
- August-Wilhelm Scheer, IDS Scheer AG, Germany
- Wolfram Jost, IDS Scheer AG, Germany
- Öner Güngöz, Institute for Information Systems (IWi) at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Saarbrücken, Germany
-
Chapter IX
- A Reference Model for Retail Enterprises
- Jörg Becker, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany
- Reinhard Schütte, Dohle Handelsgruppe GmbH & Co. KG, Germany
-
Chapter X
- A Reference Model for Saving Banks
- Annett Mäuser, IBM Business Consulting Services, Germany
-
Chapter XI
- A Reference Model for Strategic Supply Network Development
- Antonia Albani, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
- Nikolaus Müssigmann, University of Augsburg, Germany
- Johannes Maria Zaha, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
-
Chapter XII
- E-Business Reference Models
- Vojislav B. Mišić, University of Manitoba, Canada
- J. Leon Zhao, University of Arizona, USA
-
Chapter XIII
- Evaluation of Selected Enterprise Reference Models
- Jean-Paul Van Belle, University of Cape Town, South Africa
-
-
-
- Part D: Reference Modeling Context
-
Chapter XIV
- Reference Model Management
- Oliver Thomas, Institute for Information Systems (IWi) at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Saarbrücken, Germany
-
Chapter XV
- Configuration Management for Reference Models
- Robert Braun, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany
- Werner Esswein, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany
- Andreas Gehlert, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany
- Jens Weller, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany
-
Chapter XVI
- Interchange Formats for Reference Models
- Jan Mendling, WU Wien - Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Austria
- Gustaf Neumann, WU Wien - Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Austria
- Markus Nüttgens, University Hamburg, Germany
-
Chapter XVII
- Lessons Learned in Reference Modeling
- Wolfgang Höhnel, PPI Consulting Group GmbH, Germany
- Daniela Krahl, PPI Consulting Group GmbH, Germany
- Dirk Schreiber, University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, Germany
|
|
 |
|
Within the Information Systems field, conceptual modeling is a promising instrument to develop information systems. However, the modeling process is often resource-consuming and faulty. As a way to overcome these failures and to improve and accelerate the development of enterprise-specific models, the concept of reference modeling has been introduced.
Research on reference modeling has become quite popular in the 1990s. Interest in reference modeling, both in industry and in academia, has grown rapidly over the past decade, and continues to grow. The output of the various research streams is documented in the literature. However, non-experts cannot easily access most of this work because it is spread around in different conference proceedings, scholar journals, project reports, etc. The objective of this book is to consolidate the already-available knowledge in this area and to point to open problems. The book will provide insights and support for:
- Professionals and researchers working in the field of conceptual modeling in general and reference modeling in particular, and
- Practitioners and managers concerned with business systems analysis.
We want to stimulate further research and provide one building block for an international community on reference modeling with the help of this book.
At the beginning of the year 2005, we published a call for chapters and invited several experts in the reference modeling field to provide us with proposal chapters for this book. The response to our book was indeed overwhelming. We received 27 full chapters, which forced us to spend a very considerable amount of time on the selection process. All chapters received have been reviewed by at least two experts in the field of conceptual modeling or reference modeling respectively. Finally, we selected 16 chapters for inclusion in our book.
Chapter I by Fettke and Loos motivates research on reference modeling and introduce the chapters of this book on using reference models for business systems analysis. Their discussion is based on a framework for research on reference modeling that consists of four elements: reference modeling languages, reference modeling methods, reference models, and reference modeling context (cf. Figure 1). Each element of the framework is discussed with respect to prior research, the contributions of chapters in this book, and future research opportunities.
Figure 1. Reference Modeling Framework Used in the Book
Part A of the book consists of Chapters II and III. In Chapter II, Recker, Rosemann, van der Aalst, Jansen-Vullers, and Dreiling reflect on the area of configurable reference modeling languages. Their Chapter discusses typical requirements for and the development of a reference modeling language. The proposed approach is discussed against the background of ERP systems and exemplified by so-called Configurable Event-driven Process Chains (C-EPCs), an extension of a well-known process modeling language in the area of business process management. The usefulness of their approach is demonstrated by applications in the area of SAP Enterprise System configuration, Process Mining, and integration of configurable data and process models.
Chapter III by vom Brocke provides an excellent summary of well-known design principles for reference models. In his Chapter, he proposes a framework for reuse relations between conceptual models. The framework presented does not only stress the need for configuration concepts to reuse conceptual models, but other design principles such as instantiation, aggregation, specialization, and analogy are elaborated as well. As a special feature, a precise meta model defines each design principle. Furthermore, vom Brocke discusses the trade-off between the costs of designing reference models for reuse and the costs of designing reference models with reuse. Some guidelines for applying the design principles complete this Chapter.
Part B of the book consists of Chapters IV to VII. In Chapter IV, Ahlemann and Gastl introduce a process model for the construction of reference models. The proposal describes how to base the model construction process on empirical data. To achieve this objective, typical empirical data gathering methods such as interviews, systems analysis, etc. are used. The construction process of reference models consists of four phases: (1) planning the reference model project, (2) model construction, (3) practical testing, and (4) documentation. Each phase is described in detail. Furthermore, the authors present many concrete examples illustrating how the proposed process model can be applied in reality.
In Chapter V, Duarte, Fernandez, and Machado investigate methods for business modeling in process-oriented organizations from a software development perspective. The authors propose a generic framework for process-oriented software houses. The framework can be understood as a particular reference model and describes important software development processes such as management, support, and add-value processes. The instantiation of this framework is demonstrated with the well-known Rational Unified Process (RUP). Additionally, it is explained how the framework can be used with other kinds of processes. The Chapter concludes with the results from a case study investigating a real software development project.
It can be assumed that the effectiveness and efficiency of the application of a reference model is strongly determined by the quality of the model. To evaluate the quality of reference models, Frank develops a multi-perspective framework in Chapter VI. This framework consists of four perspectives. (1) Costs and benefits of reference model use are assessed from an economic perspective. (2) The deployment perspective describes criteria for the ability and willingness of users to deal with a reference model. (3) From an engineering perspective, a reference model is viewed as a design artifact that has to fulfill particular requirements. (4) Finally, reference models can be assessed from an epistemological point of view. Additionally, the Chapter explains a generic process model for performing a reference model evaluation.
Noran demonstrates in Chapter VII how reference models can be used in the area of enterprise architecture. The complete description of the methodology used is beyond the scope of this Chapter. Instead, the author exemplifies the usefulness of his approach with a particular example. This example shows how to assess and organize reference models into a structured repository using a generalized architecture framework. Further, the Chapter provides guidance for the selection of an appropriate reference model. The paper concludes with reflections on improving the quality of reference models and some interesting aspects used to structure and select reference models.
Part C of the book consists of Chapters VIII to XIII. In Chapter VIII, Scheer, Jost, and Güngöz summarize the results of 20 years of research on developing and applying a reference model for industrial enterprises. The so-called Y-CIM reference model is established and recognized as the standard reference model in the industrial sector and is also more and more being deployed by other industries. This Chapter focuses on the development of CIM and how the Y-CIM reference model can implement it. Some particular features of the Y-CIM reference model are discussed. Additionally, the applicability of the model in the service industry is investigated.
In Chapter IX, Becker and Schütte give an overview of a reference model for retail enterprises, the so-called “Retail-H model”. This reference model provides a structural framework for information systems for the retail sector. The reference model and its graphical representation aim at enhancing the orientation within the numerous conceptual models applied in the retail sector. These conceptual models are pivotal for the management of information systems and business processes. Furthermore, the authors describe some exemplary reference data models in the retail sector.
In Chapter X, Mäuser describes the SKO data model, a reference model for the Sparkassenorganisation (the organization of German Saving Banks). The SKO data model was initially developed approximately 15 years ago and is derived from the Financial Services Data Model, which had been provided by IBM. Currently, the model is probably the most extensive reference data model in the banking area with more than 17,000 well-defined modeling objects. Until now, this reference model has been utilized in about 30 projects. The model is organized around five abstraction layers that provide different levels of modeling granularity. A dedicated software tool guarantees the efficient use of the SKO data model.
Faced with changing market conditions and higher pressure on cost and productivity, enterprises have started to concentrate on their core competencies. This results in a paradigm shift in the domain of strategic sourcing from a supplier centric to a supply network scope. In order to support the paradigm shift, Albani, Müssigmann, and Zaha have developed a reference model for the domain of strategic supply network development in Chapter XI. This reference model extends the traditional frame of reference in strategic sourcing to a supply network perspective. Additionally, the authors describe the development of a prototype that is based on the proposed reference model.
While the Y-CIM and Retail-H reference models as well as the SKO data model primarily address traditional business areas, numerous reference models have been proposed in the meantime to facilitate the development of electronic business systems and applications. Mišic and Zhao conduct a comparative analysis of existing electronic reference models in Chapter XII. Such an analysis is the first step in selecting the right foundation for the system that is being developed. This Chapter presents some results of a comparative analysis of four well-known reference models for electronic businesses. Their analysis is primarily conducted from the viewpoint of a reference model’s suitability to support the development of flexible and interoperable electronic business applications.
In Chapter XIII, Van Belle presents the results of the evaluation of 10 reference models that are well-known in theory and practice. His analysis is based on an evaluation framework, which encompasses syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic aspects. Most evaluation criteria used allow a quantitative evaluation of reference models. However, not all criteria proposed can be measured using clear or unambiguous metrics. To overcome these limitations, the author suggests some novel, exploratory approaches. The Chapter does not only evaluate selected reference models but also provides some insights into the methodological problems of reference model evaluation.
Part D of the book consists of Chapters XIV to XVII. In Chapter XIV, Thomas explores the idea of reference model management. His work is motivated by the fact that today’s reference modeling processes are not well supported by software tools. Of course, there are tools that support a particular reference modeling activity. However, there is no integrated approach to computer-supported management of reference models. Such an approach is developed by the author. The proposed system is described with the help of particular data structures and system architectures. Additionally, experiences from a prototypical implementation of a reference model management system are reported.
In Chapter XV, Braun, Esswein, Gehlert, and Weller investigate the topic of configuration management for reference models. They argue that the modification of reference models should be systematically supported by a model configuration management system, which has to address versioning and referencing. Versioning is needed to trace changes made to reference models over time. The concept of referencing describes the relationship between a generic reference model and a particular enterprise model. The Chapter discusses several requirements of configuration management and shows how these requirements can be supported by an adequate system.
In Chapter XVI, Mendling, Neumann, and Nüttgens discuss interchange formats for reference modeling. Interchange formats build on isomorphic mapping between a domain-specific meta model and the scheme of the interchange format. First, the authors explain general aspects of interchange formats including their pragmatic, economic, and conceptual efforts and present general design guidelines for interchange formats. After that, they illustrate interchange formats for EPCs and Unified Modeling Language (UML), two frequently used modeling languages for reference modeling. Additionally, the authors illustrate the benefits of interchange formats for three important areas of reference modeling: model interchange, separation of process modeling and execution as well as model transformation.
Finally, in Chapter XVII, Höhnel, Krahl, and Schreiber report about several lessons learned in reference modeling. The authors gained their experience from more than 40 reference modeling projects in different industries. The lessons learned described by the authors can be grouped into five critical success factors: open communication, open construction principles and quality criteria, tool support, business justification, and “use what you bought”. Each success factor is derived from their practical experience and is extensively discussed. Furthermore, the authors especially demonstrate which factors are of particular importance for successful reference modeling during which phases.
We hope that you will enjoy this book as much as we have enjoyed the effort involved in preparing it. May this book and the work reported in it be of guidance for your work and stimulation for your own research.
Peter Fettke & Peter Loos
|
 |
|
| Peter Fettke obtained a Masters Degree in Information Systems (Diplom-Wirtschaftsinformatiker) from the University of Münster, Germany. Since April 2006 he is a Senior Researcher in Information Systems, Institute for Information Systems (IWi) at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Saarbrücken, Germany. Peter has taught and researched previously at the Technical University of Chemnitz and the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, both Germany. His research interests include information systems analysis and design, especially the use of conceptual modeling and component-based system paradigm. Peter has published numerous articles on reference modeling, conceptual modeling and component-based engineering in both national and international journals and conference proceedings. He is also a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Cases on Information Technology (JCIT) as well as the Journal of System and the Management Sciences (JSMS) and serves as a regular reviewer for the Information Resources Management Journal (IRMJ), Data & Knowledge Engineering (DKE), and International Journal of Interoperability in Business Information Systems (IBIS). Recently, he has finished his PhD thesis on structuralist foundations for the ontological evaluation of reference models. Professor Dr. Peter Loos (1960) is director of the Institute for Information Systems (IWi) at the German Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and head of the Chair of Business Administration and Information Systems at Saarland University. His research activities include business process management, information modeling, enterprise systems, software development as well as implementation of information systems. Professor Loos studied business administration and information systems at the University of Saarland and completed his degree (Dipl.-Kfm.) in 1984. He wrote his PhD thesis on the issue of data modeling in manufacturing systems awarded with the Dr.-Eduard |
|
