Final Exam - Ch. 8-9

Enterprise Application Integration (EAI)

connects the plans, methods, and tools aimed at integrating separate enterprise systems

The three core ERP Components

1. Accounting and finance 2. Production and materials management 3. Human resource

Disruptive Supply Chain Technologies

3D printing RFID Drones Robotics

Function and strategic importance of CRM systems

CRM = Customer Relationship Management, a means of managing all aspects of a customer's relationship with an organization to increase customer loyalty and retention and an organization's profitability. Strategic Goals of CRM: don't need to memorize but be able to recognize them - Identify sales opportunities. - Classify low-value customers and create marketing promotions to increase consumer spending. -Classify high-value customers and create marketing promotions to increase consumer loyalty. -Analyze marketing promotions by product, market segment, and sales region. -Identify customer relationship issues along with strategies for quick resolution. Operational CRM = Supports traditional transactional processing for day-to-day front-office operations or systems that deal directly with the customers.

Supply Chain Execution System

Ensures supply chain cohesion by automating the different activities of the supply chain

How ERPs facilitate integration

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) = integrates all departments and functions throughout an organization into a single MIS system (or integrated set of MIS systems) so employees can make decisions by viewing enterprise-wide information about all business operations. The primary purpose of an ERP system (as a whole) is integration. However, ERP can be costly and often risky, especially when the ERP is customized. Reengineering = a complete review of the organization's critical business processes to make them more efficient and able to deliver higher quality.

Integration Tools

Enterprise Systems replace multiple siloed systems with a single application, thus integrating the systems. Enterprise Application Integration, EAI, is an alternative that uses middleware to connect legacy applications.

Three Types of Outsourcing (Onshore, Nearshore, Offshore)

Onshore Outsourcing = engaging another company within the same country for services. Nearshore Outsourcing = contracting an outsourcing arrangement with a company in a nearby country. Offshore Outsourcing = using organization from developing countries to write code and develop systems.

The benefits and challenges of outsourcing

Outsourcing = an arrangement by which one organization provides a service or services for another organization that chooses not to perform them in-house. Benefits of Outsourcing: -Increased quality and efficiency -Reduced operating expenses -Access to outsourcer's expertise, economies of scale, best practices, and advanced technology -Increased flexibility Challenges of Outsourcing: -Length of Contract (difficult to break, forecasting is difficult, and if fails is costly) -Threat to Competitive Advantage (outsources could share trade secrets) -Loss of Confidentiality

3 business areas of supply chain management

Procurement Logistics Materials Management

The need for project management

Project Management = the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. This is necessary for executing the entire project and defining the project scope that links the entire project to the organization's overall business goals. Many software development processes and methodologies are now used in Project Management everyday. ??? Triple Constraint for Project Management = the quality of work is constrained by Time, Scope, and Cost. The project manager can trade between constraints.

The importance of understanding requirements

Requirements determination and management is critical to any system development project. Requirements are handled in the SDLC through agile methods. Within the Analysis stage: Requirements Management = the process of managing changes to the business requirements throughout the project. Requirements Definition document = prioritizes all of the business requirements by order of importance to the company. Sign-Off = the users' actual signatures indicating they approve all of the business requirements. NOTE: changing and unclear requirements are unavoidable and must be dealt with!

The three technology concepts of SOA (Service, Loose Coupling, Interoperability)

Service = a business task. Loose Coupling = the capability of services to be joined together on demand to create composite services, or disassembles just as easily into their functional component. Interoperability = the capability of two or more computer systems to share data and resources, even though they are made by different manufacturers.

The nature and goals of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) = a business-driven enterprise architecture that supports integrating a business as linked, repeatable activities, tasks, or services Service = tasks that customers will buy to satisfy a want or need. A business task. Loose coupling = the capability of services to be joined together on demand to create composite services, or disassembled just as easily into their functional component. Allows for a much more flexible and dynamic exchange. Also is a way of ensuring that the technical details such as language, platform, and so on are decoupled from the service.

Supply Chain Management

Supply Chain = all parties involved, directly or indirectly, in obtaining raw materials or a product. Effective Supply Chain Management can reduce the power of market forces and affect strategy. IS (information systems) is important in supporting supply chain management.

Why integrations are important (the silo problem)

The Silo Problem: The Silo Effect refers to a lack of information flowing between groups or parts of an organization. On a farm, silos prevent different grains from mixing. In an organization, the Silo Effect limits the interactions between members of different branches of the company, thus leading to reduced productivity. More common in larger organizations. How Silos come about: from decreased integration efforts. Why Data Duplication is undesirable: causes misinformation when companies try for integration. Data Redundancy from Ch. 6 is a similar idea.

Why project management, the SDLC and other development methodologies are needed

There are inherent challenges and risks in system development projects. The primary reasons projects fail include: -Unclear or missing business requirements -Skipped SDLC phases -Changing technology -The cost of finding errors -Balance of the triple constraints (time, resources, scope) Systems Development Life Cycle [SDLC] = the overall process for developing information systems, from planning and analysis through implementation and maintenance.

Supply Chain Planning System

Uses advanced mathematical algorithms to improve the flow and efficiency of the supply chain while reducing inventory.

Agile vs. Waterfall and the historical context

Waterfall methodology = a sequence of phases in which the output of each phase becomes the input for the next. Agile methodology = aims for customer satisfaction through early and continuous delivery of useful software components developed by an iterative process using the bare minimum requirements. Iterative Development = consists of a series of tiny projects. Advances in technology have made this more practice, i.e. Effecting Prototyping. The Waterfall Method is the earliest SDLC approach that was used for software development. The waterfall Model illustrates the software development process in a linear sequential flow. This means that any phase in the development process begins only if the previous phase is complete. In this waterfall model, the phases do not overlap.

Systems Development Life Cycle [SDLC] phases

[P.A.D. - D.T.I.M.] Planning - brainstorm, prioritize, set the project scope, and develop the project plan Analysis - gather the business requirements and define any constraints Design - design technical architecture and system models Development - build technical architecture, database, and applications Testing - write test conditions and perform system testing Implementation - write detailed user documentation and provide training for system users Maintenance - build help desk and provide an environment to support system changes

Prototyping

a modern design approach where the designers and system users use an iterative approach to building the system

Waterfall Methodology

a sequence of phases in which the output of each phase becomes the input for the next. move from step to step sequentially (old methodology)

Agile Methodology

aims for customer satisfaction through early and continuous delivery of useful software components developed by an iterative process using the bare minimum requirements.

Supply Chain

all parties involved, directly or indirectly, in obtaining raw materials or a product

Integration

allows separate systems to communicate directly with each other, eliminating the need for manual entry into multiple systems.

Legacy System

an old system that is fast approaching or beyond the end of its useful life within an organization

Intangible Benefits

difficult to quantify or measure

Tangible Benefits

easy to quantify and typically measured to determine the success or failure of a project.

Enterprise System

provides enterprise-wide support and data access for a firm's operations and business processes

Middleware

several different types of software that sit between and provide connectivity for 2 or more software applications

Analytical CRM

supports back-office operations and strategic analysis and includes all systems that do not deal directly with the customers

Operational CRM

supports traditional transactional processing for day-to-day front-office operations or systems that deal directly with the customers

Supply Chain Visibility

the ability to view all areas up and down the supply chain in real time.

Feasibility

the measure of the tangible and intangible benefits of an information system

Business Requirements

the specific business requests the system must meet to be successful