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E-volution ii roadmap for e-business implementation in extended entreprises

Deliverables

The website e-vol.net is conceived/developed as the communication and information platform for the e-Volution partners, the Interest and Reference Group (IRG) as well as the public and has different functionalities. The website provides general information about the e-Volution project and the project partners. It offers a closed workspace for its members, including an online forum for virtual discussions and a newsletter is in development. The event calendar provides information about regional and international events, workshops seminars etc with special focus on e-business related issues for SMEs. The linkage and integration of the European e-commerce information portal e-gateway to the e-Volution website offers a wide range of high value e-business information and news. Companies, institutions and networks which want to participate from the results of the project in an early stage and want to design the e-Volution toolkit to their own demands have the possibility of online registration which gives access to the membership area. In the further development of the e-Volution project the implementation of additional functionalities like integration of the Content Service Provider (CSP) is planned. At the end phase of project the website will serve as the portal for the dissemination and exploitation of e-Volution results.
The main objective of this work is to provide an integration platform capable of extracting the results of the analysis conducted from the two analysis modules, the Organisation and Market module. Following the existing developed methodology, the platform is capable at connecting the two modules employing ADO connectivity mechanisms capable of providing connection to MSDE 2000 DBMS, on which the two distinct modules applications are developed. The platform offers apart from the connection functionality, a graphical editing framework with which the user can build graphical entities: concepts, attributes and relationships between the concepts, in order to form business scenarios to be used for mapping the specific business situation. These graphical representations of scenarios form ontologies, which offer a common conceptualisation of the potential analysis to be performed, based on the identified scenario. These ontologies can then be mapped with the actual data from the two databases giving the user the freedom to build and apply simple operations on these data through the ontologies. Through these simple operations, which are governed by the specification of OWL ontology language, the user is able to view the desired data and use them in the appropriate way, based on the e-Volution methodology. The constructed ontologies can then be published to be available to other users inside the SME. After constructing the business scenario the user identifies the business process with highest importance, based on the identified Goals from the Organisation Module. A Swot Analysis is then constructed specific to this business process, the outcome of which is the identification of a preliminary strategy. This strategy is then focused on the e-enabled techniques and practices of the business process under analysis using the e-strategy - application matrix. The results of this identification are further exploited by a creative process for defining the business roadmaps.
The e-business road mapping methodology is a methodical approach for the development of a well-founded e-business strategy, which is the basis for the implementation of IT-supported, more effective, and efficient business processes in a single or extended enterprise. E-business road mapping is a planning process, driven by the needs of tomorrow¿s markets. It identifies, selects and develops strategic alternatives to satisfy future service, product and operational needs. It brings together a team of experts to develop a framework for organising and presenting the information to make the right decision. It provides a way to leverage investments and the information needed to make trade-offs among different alternatives. The methodology uses a Reference Process Model (RPM) for the strategy planning process as a living content base of state of the art management knowledge. The methodology includes numerous standard methods and instruments. The application of the methodology is expected to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the e-business strategy planning process in SMEs. The innovative aspects of this approach are the systemisation and formalisation of the e-business strategy development process in a RPM, open for individual use and case specific customisation, and the application and combination of the road mapping method with the Stage-GateTM idea. The target customer group (1) for the methodology is the small and medium sized enterprise (SME) and more concrete the enterprise management and specialist departments in the enterprise. Customer group1 is expected to apply the methodology for themselves, directly for its own purposes. Beside this, a further customer group (2) for the methodology are business consultants who do strategy consultancy for SMEs within the scope of e-business implementation. Customer group 2 will apply the methodology as a service for SMEs, i.e. customer group 1, if they are not willing or capable of doing it. The result of using the methodology is an e-business road map as an extended look at the future of e-business in the single or extended enterprise. The e-business road map is the representation of an enterprise¿s strategic e-business scenarios over time. The methodical preparation of e-business implementation is expected to result in a more efficient e-business strategy planning process and more effective e-business implementation process (prevention of false investments, faster ROI). This will contribute to the sustainable and competitive growth of a single enterprise or extended enterprise. In dynamic markets, where the demands of customers are changing fast, enterprises must keep an effective position over rapidly evolving technological innovations and active business transactions. In the last few years, e-business evolved from website to a major subject within the framework of the strategic positioning of an enterprise. A winning e-business strategy, as an element of the corporate strategy, is actually the main factor of a successful business nowadays. Although SMEs have realised that e-business is of strategic importance, they often shrink from taking action due to the lack of a well-founded strategy. Many times, e-business is treated as equivalent only to selling over the Internet. But this narrow way of looking at e-business not only misjudges the opportunities that are offered to the old economy, but also underestimates lurking dangers. E-business is an issue that SMEs must not escape, so as not to fall behind sooner or later. Thoughts on this issue must come from an intrinsic comprehension of e-business use that spreads from the potential use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to the whole value chain. But at the same, the know-how for developing e-business strategy turns out to be insufficient in many SMEs. As far as e-business is concerned, companies must be aware of the external opportunities and threats, as well as their internal strengths and weaknesses. In order to justify long-term targeted investments in e-business, a fundamental e-business strategy is needed. Exactly at this point, e-volution comes up with its project. Barriers to overcome are the dissemination and acceptance of the methodology by the industry. A management methodology is an abstract thing and there is no direct monetary result of using it. The acceptance of the methodology will depend on its content and quality (methods, instruments, best practices) and on the dissemination and exploitation concept (e.g. management paper, training concept).
The training materials enable and support the use of the e-Volution tool kit and are addressed to SMEs using the e-Volution methodology and tool kit as well as any other potential customers like i.e. consultants, distributors and e-business service companies. The e-Volution methodology covers the wide and complex range of business processes within Extended Enterprises (EE). For the full exploitation of the e-Vo methodology and tool kit an efficient training is necessary and helpful, adapted to the different needs and requirements of the various users. A clear understanding of the basic ideas and concept of e-Volution facilitates the use of e-Volution tool kit and avoids mistakes in application. The training materials ensure the usability of software and methodology and facilitate the application of the toolkit. The training materials include brochures, software user manuals and/or software help functionalities for self studies, trainings via internet/web based trainings, workshops and are now in the first planning phase. Commercial value is possible by licensed workshops and consulting trainings. According to the work plan, the development of the material has not been started yet.
The content service provider (CSP) will be based on the existing e-gateway.net portal. The CSP will provide the user with background information on how to develop company e-business strategy, and also targeted information on specific sectors. This information will be used as an input for the market module of the e-Vo tool kit. The information will be provided through a web-portal and will be retrieved thanks to intelligent agents. It will be kept updated in order to create a growing knowledge repository that will be marketed to European SMEs after the end of the project.

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