Alta van der Merwe

Knowledge Asset Management Pertinent to Information Systems Outsourcing

Organisations have over time realised that leveraging their already-accumulated knowledge assets are the most cost effective way to increase their competitive standing and to harness innovation. In choosing to outsource their information systems (IS), they may unintentionally fragment their knowledge assets by missing critical learning opportunities, with a resulting loss of ensuing business gains. Organisations should manage knowledge exploitation effectively, especially in the context of IS outsourcing arrangements, where the planning, management and operation of all or a part of the IS function, are handed over to an independent third party. There is, however, currently a lack of applied research to explain how knowledge asset dynamics happen in organisational value creation mechanisms, especially in the context of IS outsourcing. This paper analyses and describes knowledge asset management relevant in such an IS outsourcing arrangement. By understanding the requirements to manage knowledge assets, an organisation may optimise the relationships among critical knowledge assets as well as the knowledge sharing mechanisms required to meet knowledge demands in the context of IS outsourcing.

Secure cloud computing: Benefits, risks and controls

Cloud computing presents a new model for IT service delivery and it typically involves over-a-network, on-demand, self-service access, which is dynamically scalable and elastic, utilising pools of often virtualized resources. Through these features, cloud computing has the potential to improve the way businesses and IT operate by offering fast start-up, flexibility, scalability and cost efficiency. Even though cloud computing provides compelling benefits and cost-effective options for IT hosting and expansion, new risks and opportunities for security exploits are introduced. Standards, policies and controls are therefore of the essence to assist management in protecting and safeguarding systems and data. Management should understand and analyse cloud computing risks in order to protect systems and data from security exploits. The focus of this paper is on mitigation for cloud computing security risks as a fundamental step towards ensuring secure cloud computing environments.

A functional semantic web architecture

A layered architecture for the Semantic Web that adheres to software engineering principles and the fundamental aspects of layered architectures will assist in the development of Semantic Web specifications and applications. The most well-known versions of the layered architecture that exist within literature have been proposed by Berners-Lee. It is possible to indicate inconsistencies and discrepancies in the different versions of the architecture, leading to confusion, as well as conflicting proposals and adoptions by the Semantic Web community. A more recent version of a Semantic Web layered architecture, namely the CFL architecture, was proposed in 2007 by Gerber, van der Merwe and Barnard [23], which adheres to software engineering principles and addresses several of the concerns evident from previous versions of the architecture. In this paper we evaluate this recent architecture, both by scrutinising the shortcomings of previous architectures and evaluating the approach used for the development of the latest architecture. Furthermore, the architecture is applied to usage scenarios to evaluate the usefulness thereof.

A new paradigm for the continuous alignment of business and IT

We propose a new paradigm for next generation enterprise information systems for the continuous alignment of business and IT for the agile enterprise.The metamodelling approach supports both human-interpretable enterprise architecture models and machine-interpretable enterprise ontologies.Semantic lifting transforms metamodels for the enterprise architectures into machine-interpretable enterprise ontologies.Semantic metamodels express the semantics of all modelling concepts by an ontology. The ontology is extended by a metamodel, which defines the notation and syntax of the graphical modelling language.Examples of next generation enterprise information systems are described, which embed modelling tools and algorithms for model analysis, identification of adaptation needs, and risk assessment. The paper deals with Next Generation Enterprise Information Systems in the context of Enterprise Engineering. The continuous alignment of business and IT in a rapidly changing environment is a grand challenge for todays enterprises. The ability to react timeously to continuous and unexpected change is called agility and is an essential quality of the modern enterprise. Being agile has consequences for the engineering of enterprises and enterprise information systems. In this paper a new paradigm for next generation enterprise information systems is proposed, which shifts the development approach of model-driven engineering to continuous alignment of business and IT for the agile enterprise. It is based on a metamodelling approach, which supports both human-interpretable graphical enterprise architecture and machine-interpretable enterprise ontologies. Furthermore, next generation enterprise information systems are described, which embed modelling tools and algorithms for model analysis.

Critical success factors for information systems outsourcing management: a software development lifecycle view

Information systems (IS) outsourcing is a serious commitment -- a formal relationship underpinned by a contractual agreement, with long-term consequences among two or more organisations. Many organisations end up frustrated as they learn that their attempts at IS outsourcing have failed. However, some failures could be avoided with knowledge of common pitfalls and critical success factors of such IS outsourcing contracts. This paper investigates essential aspects of IS outsourcing management during the software development life cycle. The survey results are reported in conjunction with findings in the literature of similar studies in other markets, and unique contributors to IS outsourcing in this particular context in the South African corporate market, are identified.

A framework and methodology for knowledge management system implementation

Knowledge assets are of far greater value than any tangible asset and provide organisations with the basis for creating a sustainable competitive advantage. The nature of knowledge and knowledge management have given rise to a range of different definitions of knowledge management systems that enable organisations to convert their knowledge into actionable information that provides them with a competitive edge and innovative capability. Such an implementation process is a comprehensive course of action that requires focus and commitment through-out the organisation in order to achieve results, yet no universally accepted framework or methodology for such a process exists. This paper analyses and describes enhancements to a 12-step process derived by Calabrese and Orlando [6] to implement a knowledge management system aimed at providing a more comprehensive framework and methodology for knowledge management system implementation. These enhancements are based on findings relating to a knowledge management proof of concept implementation conducted at one of the major mobile telecommunication operators in South Africa.

Exploring the future of enterprise architecture : a Zachman perspective

Abstract Today, and for the foreseeable future, organizations will face ever-increasing levels of complexity and uncertainty. Many believe that enterprise architecture (EA) will help organizations address such difficult terrain by guiding the design of adaptive and resilient enterprises and their information systems. This paper presents the “Grand Challenges” that we believe will challenge organizations in the future and need to be addressed by enterprise architecture. As a first step in using enterprise architecture as a solution for overcoming identified challenges, the Zachman Enterprise Architecture Framework is used to guide and structure the discussion. The paper presents the “Grand Challenges” and discusses promising theories and models for addressing them. In addition, current advances in the field of enterprise architecture that have begun to address the challenges will be presented. In conclusion, final thoughts on the future of enterprise architecture as a research field and a profession are offered.

Securing Virtual and Cloud Environments

Organisations have to adapt quickly to changes, continuously investigate innovations and be flexible in order to remain competitive. The information technology (IT) landscape has evolved to enable organisations competitive advantage and to meet targets such as reduced costs, scalability, flexibility, capacity utilisation, higher efficiencies and mobility. Many of these benefits are achieved through the utilisation of technologies such as cloud computing and virtualisation. In many instances cloud computing builds on the capabilities of a virtualised computing infrastructure enabling multi-tenancy, scalability and a highly abstracted cloud model. Even though cloud computing and virtualisation provide significant benefits and cost-effective options for IT hosting and expansion, cloud and virtual IT systems are not risk-free. Risks must be understood to ensure adequate security not only for cloud computing, but also for the underlying technologies enabling cloud computing. The focus of this paper is on mitigation for virtualisation and cloud computing security risks as a fundamental step towards ensuring secure cloud computing environments.

A framework for the identification of reusable processes

A significant challenge that faces IT management is that of aligning the IT infrastructure of an enterprise with its business goals and practices, also called business-IT alignment. A particular business-IT alignment approach, the foundation for execution approach, was well-accepted by practitioners due to a novel construct, called the operating model (OM). The OM supports business-IT alignment by directing the coherent and consistent design of business and IT components. Even though the OM is a popular construct, our previous research detected the need to enhance the OM, since the OM does not specify methods to identify opportunities for data sharing and process reuse in an enterprise. In this article, we address one of the identified deficiencies in the OM. We present a process reuse identification framework (PRIF) that could be used to enhance the OM in identifying process reuse opportunities in an enterprise. We applied design research to develop PRIF as an artefact, where the development process of PRIF was facilitated by means of the business-IT alignment model (BIAM). We demonstrate the use of the PRIF as well as report on the results of evaluating PRIF in terms of its usefulness and ease-of-use, using experimentation and a questionnaire.

An exploratory survey of design science research amongst South African computing scholars

The debate ensues as to whether the traditional focus of computing research on theory development and verification and therefore has adequate immediate practical relevance. Despite increasing claims of the potential of design science research (DSR) to enhance the utility of the IT artifact and consequently practical relevance of research, many computing researchers seem to be reticent to accept this paradigm as a legitimate form of scholarly research. DSR is a relatively new paradigm in computing and little is known about its uptake in South Africa. In this paper, we investigate the opinions about DSR among South African computing scholars. Findings from a survey of 53 respondents indicate low adoption rates. The paper also investigates some of the key barriers preventing the uptake of DSR. The paper concludes with some implications as well as suggestions for building a local DSR community.