Rafi Ashrafi

E-business: issues, challenges and architecture

At present, a large number of organisations are spending huge amounts of their budget on Information Technologies infrastructure. It has been found that most of these investments are not utilised efficiently and effectively. This paper reviews some of the major challenges, and management and technical issues related to an e-business architecture design and implementation. It discusses the importance of alignment of e-business strategy with e-business architecture, reasons for failures of e-businesses, success factors and risks. The paper also proposes a high-level Web Service-Oriented Architecture (WSOA) for e-business. The proposed architecture specifies a methodology to progressively deploying e-business through instantiations for each business interaction (e.g., B2B), and the requirements for its implementing technology platform. Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) has emerged as a better methodology for Enterprise Architecture (EA). The WSOA is composed of three layers: business processes, an interactions manager and disparate information systems. This approach offers significant advantages over the traditional e-business architectures.

Examining the Impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on Enterprise Practices: A Preliminary Perspective from Qatar

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are widely used by organizations to enhance enterprise competitiveness. This study provides an overview of the current state of affairs of the ICT adoption in SMEs in private and public organizations in Qatar. It investigates ICT infrastructure, productivity and business application software used, drivers for ICT investment, perceptions about business benefits of ICT, outsourcing trends and availability of help and advice on ICT adoption. The study also has investigated major barriers in ICT adoption with the findings of the study are being consistent with other similar studies. The study identified the need for more training facilities for adopting ICT in SMEs. Additionally, the study identified that there is a need for the Government to provide guidance on suitable ICT products and services at an affordable cost as well as provide incentives to promote ICT investment and usage e.g. soft loans, availability of professional advice and consulting at no/low cost to SMEs. This is the first study on the status of ICT adoption and usage by SMEs in Qatar. The findings of this research will provide a foundation for future research and will help policy makers in designing policies to further enhancing usage and ICT adoption in SMEs in Qatar resulting improved productivity and competiveness.

E-commerce practices in the Arabian Gulf GCC business culture: utilisation and outcomes patterns

With the growth of e-commerce related activities and practices in recent years, the role of culture in promoting such growth has been brought to question. Cultures that tend to foster e-commerce practices have been labelled as e-cultures. In contrast, cultures that hinder e-commerce growth have been labelled as traditional cultures. Most of our knowledge related to e-commerce applications and frameworks for implementation is based on studies from e-cultures. The study, at hand, examines e-commerce activities and practices in the traditional Arab culture. The results obtained from this study tended to be similar to the results obtained from the US e-culture. Thus, the growth of, or lack of, e-commerce may not be explained solely based on cultural factors. Perhaps, other factors such as informational infrastructure may be more relevant in explaining the acceptability and growth of e-commerce than the cultural context. Research examining the impact of these factors on e-commerce growth is needed towards establishing frameworks for the implementation of e-commerce and guidelines for managers in a global context.

IT disaster recovery: Oman and Cyclone Gonu lessons learned

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the issues of information technology (IT) disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity planning (BCP) in light of Cyclone Gonu in Oman.Design/methodology/approach – The paper includes a survey of the latest literature on the subject, then documents a study of public and private sector organizations together with their DR and BCP practices.Findings – The paper investigates how public and private organizations in Oman plan to respond to disasters. It shows that while some organizations pay attention to the need for DR/BCP, many do not. A significant finding is that while organizations have disaster related plans, almost half of those surveyed do not rehearse them. Nevertheless, organizations surveyed indicate that they have learned valuable lessons from Gonu. It remains to be seen whether these lessons will be turned into effective and properly deployed DR/BCP plans.Originality/value – This paper draws lessons from the experiences and challenges raised by Gonu, and con...

Delineating IT Resources and Capabilities to Obtain Competitive Advantage and Improve Firm Performance

This article develops a research model of the relationships between IT resources, IT capabilities, IT competitive advantage, and the financial performance of an organization. This model is empirically tested with data collected from IT managers and executives in the U.S. The results suggest that while tangible IT resources offer little competitive advantage, intangible IT resources are positively associated with IT capabilities that ultimately lead to IT competitive advantage and the improved financial performance of the organization.

The key success factors to mobile commerce for Arab countries in Middle East

A number of studies have been conducted on the diffusion of mobile commerce, its challenges, opportunities, issues and obstacles. However, few have emphasized on its adoption within Middle East countries. This paper reviews the current literature in order to assess the mobile commerce adoption in Arab countries within Middle East and identify the key success factors in mobile commerce adoption in them.

Strategic value of IT in Private Sector Organisations in a Developing Country: Oman

Information Technology (IT) as a strategic asset is as important for developing countries as it is for the developed countries. Literature in this area suggests that a number of factors contribute to the strategic value of IT. Based on the literature review, we developed a framework of IT assets and capabilities that contribute to the strategic value of IT in organizations. We tested this framework with IT managers in Oman and asked their opinion on the relevance and importance of those factors in their organizations. The results of the survey show that most of the factors that contribute to the strategic value of IT in developed countries are also valid for a developing country‐Oman. However, the importance level of some of the factors is different than those of developed countries. The paper provides some interesting results and insights on the IT practices in a developing country Oman. There is very little research about the IT practices in emerging economies such as Oman. This paper attempts to fill this gap in the knowledge.