Miguel Mira da Silva

Representation and analysis of enterprise models with semantic techniques: an application to ArchiMate, e3value and business model canvas

Enterprise models assist the governance and transformation of organizations through the specification, communication and analysis of strategy, goals, processes, information, along with the underlying application and technological infrastructure. Such models cross-cut different concerns and are often conceptualized using domain-specific modelling languages. This paper explores the application of graph-based semantic techniques to specify, integrate and analyse multiple, heterogeneous enterprise models. In particular, the proposal described in this paper (1) specifies enterprise models as ontological schemas, (2) uses transformation mapping functions to integrate the ontological schemas and (3) analyses the integrated schemas with graph querying and logical inference. The proposal is evaluated through a scenario that integrates three distinct enterprise modelling languages: the business model canvas, e3value, and the business layer of the ArchiMate language. The results show, on the one hand, that the graph-based approach is able to handle the specification, integration and analysis of enterprise models represented with different modelling languages and, on the other, that the integration challenge resides in defining appropriate mapping functions between the schemas.

Using ArchiMate to model a process assessment framework

The Tudor IT Service Management Process Assessment, also known as TIPA, is a process assessment framework that meets two standards: the ISO/IEC 15504 Process Assessment and ITIL. The main benefits of a TIPA for ITIL assessment are to provide an IT service management plan and a management framework for process improvement. However, this framework does not have any relationship between EA principles that are useful in understanding organizations and the business. Meaning, it is difficult not only to assess the process maturity based on EA principles but also to relate the process improvement plan presented in TIPA with these EA principles. By using the EA modeling language ArchiMate, we can provide a graphical notation and therefore, creating a bridge between EA and this framework making it easier for organizations to improve their processes and achieve desired process maturity levels.

IT Governance Patterns in the Portuguese Financial Industry

Information Technology (IT) has been used in large organizations since the 1950s for internal and external purposes. The pervasive use of technology in organizations has created a critical dependency on IT that calls for a specific focus on IT Governance (ITG). However, determining the right ITG mechanisms remains a complex endeavor. In this paper we propose to perform an exploratory research and analyze several ITG case studies to elicit possible ITG mechanisms patterns. Then, we performed six interviews in Portuguese financial services organizations and compare the results. Our goal is to build some theories (ITG mechanisms patterns), which we believe will guide financial services organizations about the advisable ITG mechanisms given their specific context. We also intend to elicit conclusions regarding the most relevant ITG mechanisms for Portuguese financial services organizations. The research methodology adopted was Design Science Research (DSR). We finish our work with limitations, contribution and future work.

Analysis of Federated Business Models: An Application to the Business Model Canvas, ArchiMate, and e3value

Enterprise models contribute to the understanding, communication and analysis of how business processes are performed, the goals they achieve, the information they use, as well as the applications that support the business, and the underlying technological infrastructure. The analysis of these different domains requires combining different enterprise models, often described with different domain specific modelling languages. This paper explores the application of computational semantic techniques to specify, integrate and analyse multiple enterprise models. The models are individually specified and federated using ontological schemas, and analysed using computational inference and graph analysis. The paper describes (1) how to specify enterprise models as ontological schemas, (2) how to integrate the ontological schemas using transformation maps, and (3) how to analyse the integrated models. This solution is demonstrated through the specification, integration and analysis of a business model landscape comprising three enterprise modelling languages: the Business Model Canvas, e3value, and Archi Mate.

Validating Value Network Business Models by Ontologies

Different meta-models allow modeling the business of an organization from different perspectives. The Business Model Canvas focus is close to the strategy of the organization. E3value allows modeling of value networks and ArchiMate allows alignment from business models to IT infrastructure. When models of these three meta-models coexist for a certain value network, they must be consistent. Currently, there is no way to validate such consistency automatically. We propose a solution, using ontologies and ontology mapping techniques (OWL, OWL.DL, SPARQL) that helps to validate instantiated models automatically, based on a set of mapping rules between the three meta-models. In this work, the mappings between Business Model Canvas, e3value and ArchiMate are identified and formalized through ontologies. The formalized mapping is then applied to a case study and exploited, together with reasoning techniques.

Analysis of Business Processes with Enterprise Ontology and Process Mining

This paper describes a business process analysis method that helps determining if a business process complies with the requirements put forward by enterprise ontology’s transaction pattern. The method starts by discovering the business process through the application of process mining techniques to the events that are generated by the applications that support the execution of the process. This step discovers the actual implementation of the process from its event trace. Next, the discovered process is analysed against enterprise ontology’s transaction pattern to determine whether the process complies with the structure and sequencing of its coordination and production acts. The paper shows that combining process mining with enterprise ontology contributes to the analysis of business processes, especially in terms of determining the boundaries of authority and responsibility of the process. The feasibility and the limitations of the method are discussed using a case study that analyses a semi-automated business process.

CMMI-DEV v1.3 Reference Model in ArchiMate

Reference models allow the verification of existing concepts of a model and how these concepts relate to each other, giving an idea of how a model works. The purpose of this paper is to address the problem of the perceived complexity of Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) by proposing a graphical reference model using ArchiMate as the chosen Enterprise Architecture (EA) modeling language. This paper will focus on the part of CMMI related to the development of both products and services, more known as CMMI-DEV in the version 1.3. With ArchiMate as the EA modeling language, we develop using the Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM) the CMMI-DEV v1.3 reference model to reduce the perceived complexity of the framework by representing their concepts and relationships with graphical concepts of ArchiMate. In this paper, we demonstrate our proposed reference model (artifact) with the use of an EA of an organization and evaluate it with well know techniques to evaluate design science artifacts. The paper concludes with some findings and future work on this topic.

An Ontology-Based Model for ITIL Process Assessment Using TIPA for ITIL

Researchers agree that ITIL is among the most valuable and popular frameworks currently being adopted and adapted by organizations. For ITIL, as a Process Reference Model (PRM), process management requires each process to be controlled to remain compliant with the objectives of both IT and business. PRMs are always related to a process assessment model (PAM) which holds all details to assess a specified process quality characteristic based on one or more PRM. In the literature, it is possible to find different ontology-based models for the ITIL PRM but, as far as the authors are aware, no ontology was proposed to represent an ITIL related PAM. This research intends to shed some light in this area by proposing an ontological approach using the METHONTOLOGY methodology for describing TIPA® for ITIL. This ontology provides a common vocabulary that solves some issues of consistency, conciseness, and completeness.

Assessing IT Governance Processes Using a COBIT5 Model

COBIT5 process assessments are conducted to support process improvement and thus enable business-IT alignment. For providing an assessment, assessors engage in planning, data collection, and data validation activities. Typically, these activities are assisted by spreadsheet-like artifacts, that are used for recording the COBIT5 Process Assessment Model (PAM) entities, as well as the corresponding assessment evidence. However, spreadsheet-like artifacts are not an optimal solution for assisting assessment activities, since they do not form part of an integrated and up-to-date enterprise architecture (EA) repository. Contradicting the COBIT5 recommendation of using EA – namely for improving alignment, increase agility, and generate potential cost savings – COBIT5 assessors often do not practice what they preach, i.e. that they do not use EA in their own business activities. Some EA tool vendors provide solutions for addressing this gap, but they are proprietary and lack scientific validation, thus presenting interoperability and adoption barriers. In this paper, we propose a set of COBIT5 viewpoints, based on standard ArchiMate extensions to enable interoperability and ease adoption. We designed and tested the solution using a Design Science Research Methodology process model. We demonstrated the EA proposal in two public sector organizations, and evaluated its efficacy, consistency, and structural quality.

Using event logs and the Ψ-theory to analyse business processes

The development of information technologies (IT) has increased the number of IT dependent business processes within organisations, enforcing the crucial role of IT in todays enterprise implementations. In spite of IT advances, human beings still constitute the most valuable asset of any enterprise and the cooperation between them is indispensable for the operation of business processes. Traditional business process modelling techniques have limitations regarding the acquisition process which is time-consuming and do not take fully advantage of IT to represent updated process models. Besides, these techniques are limited concerning the analysis and improvement of the resulting models. This paper proposes a method to analyse updated business processes in terms of the collaboration between the participant actor roles, taking into account the importance of IT and human beings at those processes. The method receives as input event logs extracted from the application and technological infrastructure that supports the business processes and combines techniques from both Process Mining and the Ψ-theory to analyse enterprise ontology models against the mined processes, detecting opportunities for business process reengineering. The method was applied to analyse a VPN access approval process within a national defence governmental institution. The evaluation was performed using the Osterle principles.