Electronic Business: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (4-Volumes) P126

Application Integration the four EAI vendors appeared suitable partners for Jwon Bank. The other two EAI vendors had limited experience in working with clients in the ¿QDQFLDOVHUYLFHVGRPDLQDQGGLGQRWDSSHDUWR have as good an understanding of the domain as compared with the two short-listed vendors. The EAI tools for the two short-listed EAI vendors were closely matched in functionality. However, a consensus was reached amongst the assess how well they partnered with each other. A 6-month time frame was agreed for the pilot project to see what could be achieved. 0HNRQ¿HOGHGDWHDPRIIRXURILWVFRQVXOWDQWV to work with the team from Jwon Bank to develop the FPS prototype. Mekon followed their recom-mended methodology for implementing EAI solu-WLRQVZKLFKLQYROYHGWKHIROORZLQJ¿YHVWHSV team to work with Mekon, an EAI vendor with a VWURQJ$VLD3DFL¿FSUHVHQFHDQGDQHVWDEOLVKHG WUDFNUHFRUGZRUNLQJZLWK¿QDQFLDOLQVWLWXWLRQV on the implementation of large-scale EAI solu-tions. The VP for technology at Jwon Bank agreed with Mekon that as a trial, they should conduct a pilot project based on a selection of the use cases ,GHQWL¿FDWLRQRIEXVLQHVVJRDOV 2. Business process modeling and improvement (BPMI) 0DSSLQJRIEXVLQHVVLQIRUPDWLRQÀRZV 4. Systems connection 5. Business process execution LGHQWL¿HGLQWKHUHTXLUHPHQWVJDWKHULQJSKDVH If the pilot project was successful, it would lead to the continued engagement with Mekon on the full project. Pilot Project The main objective of the pilot project was to de-velop an FPS prototype with partial functionality based on a selected number of use cases. It was decided that the FPS prototype would focus on WKHVSHFL¿FLVVXHRIWKHFXVWRPHUSUR¿OHHQVXU-LQJWKDWFRQVLVWHQWFXVWRPHUSUR¿OHGDWDH[LVWHG across the different IT systems at Jwon Bank. 7KH)36SURWRW\SHZDVFRQVLGHUHGVXI¿FLHQWO\ challenging in that it involved integration between DVLJQL¿FDQWQXPEHURI,7V\VWHPVDFURVVGLI-ferent business units with Jwon Bank, and was nontrivial in nature. The intention was that the FPS prototype would not be made immediately available to Jwon Bank’s customers. Rather, the FPS prototype would enable the team at Jwon Bank to develop a proof of concept and, importantly, evaluate the utility, performance, and reliability of the EAI solution that would address the bank’s enterprise-wide integration needs. Furthermore, the pilot project would provide an opportunity for Jwon Bank and Mekon to work together and The teams from Jwon Bank and Mekon agreed on a project plan based on the above steps and worked together to execute the project. As part of Step 1, further interviews were held with stakeholders in the various business units at Jwon Bank both to clarify the scope of the pilot project and identify the ways in which each business unit KDQGOHGFXVWRPHUSUR¿OHGDWD)XUWKHUVHVVLRQV followed during BPMI (Step 2), in which business process models were created with each business unit. These described, for example, how custom-ers changed their address and contact details, and WKHZRUNÀRZWKDWZDVLQYROYHGLQHDFKEXVLQHVV unit. What became apparent during BPMI was that although each business unit had an intimate understanding of the business processes within their own business unit, the understanding of business processes across business units was less well-understood. In other words, intrabusi-QHVVXQLWSURFHVVHVZHUHZHOOGH¿QHGEXWQRW interbusiness unit processes. Such interbusiness unit processes, however, were central to the de-velopment of an FPS. 7KHPDSSLQJRIEXVLQHVVLQIRUPDWLRQÀRZV 6WHSLQYROYHGHVWDEOLVKLQJWKHÀRZRIFXVWRPHU data from one IT system to the next. The business LQIRUPDWLRQÀRZVZHUHPRGHOHGLQWKH($,WRRO and it was determined how information would be 1184 Application Integration sent via the integration hub from one IT system to another. In some cases, data would be sent to multiple IT systems. For example, if a customer changed his or her address, this information would need to be propagated to the IT systems that held address information in other business units. Importantly, this step in the methodol-ogy also highlighted where customer data were duplicated across multiple IT systems, leading to possible data inconsistency. Furthermore, information was stored in individual IT systems where the primary key was the account number RUSROLF\QXPEHU+HQFHLWZDVGLI¿FXOWIRU-ZRQ Bank to identify all the accounts or policies that any particular individual held. This holistic view of the customer was central to the development of the FPS and Jwon Bank’s business strategy in general. The team therefore designed the FPS around a database that captured a centralized SUR¿OHRIHDFKFXVWRPHU The systems connection step (Step 4) involved the installation of the EAI tool and the adapters that were needed to connect the bank’s IT systems to the integration hub. For some of the bank’s IT systems, such as the call-centre system, which was based around the Seibel packaged system, prebuilt adapters already existed. However, for several of Jwon Bank’s custom-built IT systems, prebuilt adapters were unavailable and so custom adapters had to be developed. For example, the Internet banking system was custom developed using Java. The EAI tool included an adapter software development kit (SDK) with a Java API that enabled a custom adapter to be created for the Internet banking system. The IT staff at Jwon Bank did not have the necessary techni-cal knowledge to undertake the development of custom adapters, so this work was outsourced to the development services group at Mekon who had done many such custom adapter development projects before and so were well-versed in this type of specialized work. A development team at Jwon Bank worked on the development of other aspects of the FPS prototype in conjunction with the work on the installation of the EAI tool and custom adapter development. Extensions were added to the Internet banking system to create the FPS prototype. After 6 months, the original planned dura-tion of the project, it was clear that the prototype FPS was someway off being complete. The main reason for this related to the custom adapters that QHHGHGWREHVSHFL¿FDOO\GHYHORSHGWRLQWHJUDWH the bank’s custom IT systems. Unlike prebuilt adapters, custom adapters were like mini applica-tions in their own right and required their own life cycle of specifying, developing, and testing. The development services group at Mekon had not originally anticipated that they would be so involved in the FPS prototype, so the manpower shortages on their side were also a constraining factor. Without the custom adapters ready, the team could not proceed to conduct full end-to-end testing of the FPS functionality. This delayed the project a further 3 months, and it was only after 9 months that the FPS prototype and EAI solution were ready. Although the user interface of the FPS prototype was rudimentary, the main objective was to test the functionality of the FPS prototype and the robustness of the EAI solution. A suite of functional tests were run with satisfactory results. Performance testing also revealed that response times of the FPS prototype under high loads was satisfactory for a system of this kind that would be accessed over the Internet. Evaluation of Pilot Project The VP of technology at Kwon Bank considered the pilot project a mild success. The EAI solu-tion proved to be robust and the prototype FPS was a system that could be taken further into full development. Furthermore, the teams from Jwon Bank and Mekon appeared to work well together and complemented each other. The team at Jwon Bank possessed the domain knowledge associated 1185 Application Integration ZLWK¿QDQFLDOVHUYLFHVDQG-ZRQ%DQN¶VEXVLQHVV processes, while the team at Mekon provided the EAI solution implementation know-how. However, the pilot project was not without problems that the VP of technology knew posed potential risks in moving forward with a full project. The prototype FPS implemented only about 10% of the full functionality of the FPS, yet took 9 months to develop, so an FPS with full functionality could conceivably take over 90 months. It was clear, therefore, that the develop-PHQWRIDQ)36ZDVDVLJQL¿FDQWXQGHUWDNLQJDQG not something that could be delivered quickly. Rather, it was better to view the FPS as a project that would need to be divided into stages, with functionality released incrementally over a long period of time. Such an incremental approach would also allow Jwon Bank to better manage project risks. The team had already agreed that they should extend the Internet banking system to become the FPS. However, a challenge remained in deciding what functionality of the FPS should EHLPSOHPHQWHG¿UVW$OWKRXJKWKLVZDVHVVHQ-tially a matter of business priorities, each of Jwon Bank’s business units would claim that the FPS functionality pertaining to their respective areas was high on the priority list. One of the most worrying aspects of the pilot project for the Kwon Bank team was the time and effort needed to develop custom adapters. Many of the IT systems in the IT architecture at Kwon Bank were custom developed, so it was clear that DVLJQL¿FDQWQXPEHURIFXVWRPDGDSWHUVZRXOG need to be developed. The pilot project, however, had demonstrated that the development of custom adapters was probably the area that represented greatest risk and effort. On the other hand, the pilot project had been an extremely useful exer-FLVHDVLWKDGJLYHQ-ZRQ%DQNVRPH¿UPLGHD of the resources and costs required to deliver an FPS with full functionality. In particular, where custom adapters needed to be developed, costs ZRXOGLQFUHDVHVLJQL¿FDQWO\7KHWHDPHVWLPDWHG that every custom adapter would require about $60,000 in development, testing, and installation costs. In comparison, the costs associated with the licensing of the EAI tool were relatively minor. CURRENT CHALLENGES AND PROBLEMS FACING THE ORGANISATION Jwon Bank faces a number of challenges in going beyond the pilot project and developing an FPS with full functionality, and implementing a full EAI solution to address their enterprise-wide integration needs. One challenge is bridging the organisational silos that have emerged as a consequence of having separate business units UHVSRQVLEOHIRUGLIIHUHQWVHWVRI¿QDQFLDOVHUYLFHV 6DZKQH\UHFRJQL]HVWKLVDVDVLJQL¿FDQW LVVXHLQPDQ\ODUJHRUJDQLVDWLRQVZKHUH³LVODQGV of applications” tend to emerge from business units creating their own IT systems without thinking about the broader needs of the organisation as a whole. In addition, the team discovered that intrabusiness unit processes, that is, business processes within a particular business unit, were well-understood, but not interbusiness unit processes. However, it is the interbusiness unit processes that are central to the development of the FPS because it involves taking a customer YLHZDFURVVPXOWLSOH¿QDQFLDOVHUYLFHV8QWLOQRZ WKHUHKDVEHHQQRVSHFL¿FXQLWRUWHDPZLWKLQ Jwon Bank that has examined interbusiness unit processes. Jwon Bank may consider addressing this void by reviewing the organisational struc-ture of the bank and creating a working group comprising of representatives from each of Jwon Bank’s business units. A further challenge is managing a project of this sheer scale. It took the team 9 months to create a prototype FPS with 10% of the over-all functionality required. It has already been recognized by Jwon Bank that a broader plan 1186 Application Integration will need to be devised in which the functional-ity of the FPS will be rolled out in stages over a period of time. Jwon Bank must determine what functionality should be rolled out in which release, and the basis upon which this is to be determined. For example, is some functionality considered more urgent than others in terms of business need? Should functionality that is simpler to implement be rolled out before functionality that is more complex? Or is some functionality dependent upon other functionality already being implemented? Jwon Bank must consider all such issues in the formulation of a broader rollout plan for the FPS. There are also many other factors that need to be taken into account, including staff availability at Jwon Bank, adapter development capacity at Mekon, the impact of other IT projects in the business units, and business priorities for Jwon Bank. Furthermore, there are also potential internal political sensitivities to navigate, where the choice of some FPS functionality over oth-ers may be construed as favourtism toward a particular business unit. It is clear that the development of the FPS will require input and involvement from many different stakeholders, including representatives from the respective business units. There are es-sentially many internal customers for the project, all of which have their own requirements to be VDWLV¿HGZLWKLQWKH)367KHPDQDJHPHQWRI stakeholder expectations is therefore critical to the success of the project. Clearly, the amount RISODQQLQJLQYROYHGLVVLJQL¿FDQWDQGDSURMHFW RIWKLVQDWXUHZLOOUHTXLUHDVLJQL¿FDQWOHYHORI coordination. It may be sensible for Jwon Bank to treat the development of an FPS as a program, within which separate projects are organised and initiated. Within the umbrella of a program, some overall level of control can be maintained across projects and common standards applied. Jwon Bank might consider establishing a program steer-ing committee for this purpose and developing a suitable governance structure. Jwon Bank must also pay close attention to the management of project costs. IT projects are notoriously known for cost overruns (The Standish Group, 1994). The experience from WKHSLORWSURMHFWKDVVKRZQWKDWVLJQL¿FDQWFRVWV (and risks) are associated with the development of custom adapters. Unlike prebuilt adapters that FDQEHLQVWDOOHGDQGFRQ¿JXUHGFXVWRPDGDSWHUV PXVWEHVSHFL¿FDOO\GHYHORSHGIRUDFXVWRP,7 system and therefore treated like a mini project in its own right. Jwon Bank will need to identify which adapters need to be custom developed and estimate development costs to formulate an ap-propriate budget. If the functionality of the FPS is to be rolled out incrementally, then a budget will need to be formulated for each release. Given its lack of in-house expertise, it would be sensible for Jwon Bank to outsource custom adapter develop-ment to Mekon as an integral part of the overall partnership between the two organisations. The partnership with Mekon is crucial to the success of the FPS project for two reasons. First, the EAI tool of Mekon is the centerpiece of Jwon Bank’s enterprise-wide integration solution. Second, Jwon Bank lacks the in-house skills and expertise to undertake such a project alone. Hence, Jwon Bank is very much dependent on Mekon to provide much of the required expertise. While this may be acceptable in the short term, Jwon Bank needs to think about building up its in-house skills and expertise and becoming less dependent upon Mekon in the longer term. In addition, although the pilot project suggested that both teams at Jwon Bank and Mekon worked well together, it remains to be seen whether this good working relationship is one that will be maintained over the course of time. One strategy that Jwon Bank may consider is to institute a staff development and training plan to build up in-house expertise. Another strategy is to consider a knowledge management initiative to capture, share, and disseminate knowledge and best practices with the organisation (Davenport, De Long, & Beers, 1999). 1187 Application Integration ACKNOWLEDGMENT The author wishes to thank employees at the real Jwon Bank for their support and assistance in the writing of this case. REFERENCES Brodie, M., & Stonebraker, M. (1995). Migrating legacy systems. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers. Cockburn, A. (2004). Writing effective use cases. London: Addison-Wesley Professional. Davenport, T. H., De Long, D. W., & Beers, M. C. (1999). Successful knowledge management proj-ects. Sloan Management Review, 39(2), 43-57. Lam, W. (2005). Exploring success factors in McKeen, J. D., & Smith, H. A. (2002). New de-velopments in practice II: Enterprise application integration. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 8, 451-466. Sawhney, M. (2001). Don’t homogenize, synchro-nize. Harvard Business Review. Sharif, A. M., Elliman, T., Love, P. E. D., & Badii, A. (2004). Integrating the IS with the enterprise: Key EAI research challenges. The Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 17(2), 164-170. The Standish Group. (1994). CHAOS report. Retrieved from http://www.standishgroup.com/ sample_research/chaos_1994_1.php ENDNOTE enterprise application integration: A case-driven analysis. European Journal of Information Sys-tems, 14(2), 175-187. Linthicum, D. (2001).B2B application integration. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley. 1 The case is based on a real-life organization, although the identity of the organisation has been disguised at the organization’s request. This work was previously published in Enterprise Architecture and Integration: Methods, Implementation and Technologies, edited by W. Lam and V. Shankararaman, pp. 284-291, copyright 2007 by Information Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global). 1188 ... - tailieumienphi.vn