used in a stepwise acquisition process for large software systems to reduce ... Business process management is a concept to deal with the complexity of the.
Software Acquisition based on Business Models Peter Regner, Thomas Wiesinger, Josef Küng and Roland Wagner Institute For Applied Knowledge Processing (FAW) University of Linz Austria {pregner, twiesinger, jkueng, rrwagner}@faw.uni-linz.ac.at
Abstract. In this paper, we present an approach based on hierarchically structured business models as artifacts of business process modeling that are used in a stepwise acquisition process for large software systems to reduce complexity and to increase efficiency and effectiveness. These models are abstract enough so that the scope for ideas of the suppliers is not unnecessarily narrowed. But, they can be detailed and deeply technical if this is necessary. An adequate degree of abstraction allows the public authority to benefit from the ideas of the supplier in a collective learning process. The business models are furthermore a lingua franca for all parties concerned in the acquisition process and a valuable source of information for the time after.
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Motivation
Since the beginning of electronic government, business process management and modeling have played an important role in the public sector, and still do. They offer comprehensive procedures and techniques to receive a clear picture of the processes and the associated objects in this field, improve them if necessary and select appropriate forms of IT support [4]. The selection and procurement of IT support is not as trivial as it is in the private sector. The acquisition of services in the public sector is subjected to European directives and national laws. These directives and laws have a great deal of influence on the process and the artifacts that are necessary to obtain IT services [5]. Hierarchically structured business models as artifacts of business process management are used to deal with complexity. In our approach these different levels of detail play an important role as information parcels in a multilevel acquisition process to decrease the complexity of the acquisition process. In an analysis of acquisition documents we have observed, that the information and the criterions built on this information to select the appropriate supplier, are too detailed and technical although this seems not to be necessary. This narrows the scope for an effective solution and increases the complexity of the acquisition process. Our approach is to solve these problems through a stepwise information flow based on business models integrated into a legal acquisition process. The acquisition of IT based services in the public sector, especially the acquisition of software systems, is not a core area in the field of electronic government. But, we
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Peter Regner, Thomas Wiesinger, Josef Küng and Roland Wagner
think that the improvement of this process is an important and valuable contribution on the way to increase the efficiency of administrative processes and their IT support and so on the way to electronic government.
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Hierarchically structured Business Models
Business process management is a concept to deal with the complexity of the administrative domain through structured processes. On the one hand the model design is characterized by a high degree of process complexity and on the other hand the information model is characterized by a high degree of object complexity [2]. Different views on information objects like for example organization view, data view, function view or control view in ARIS [10] and different levels of abstraction are common in business process modeling to handle object complexity. There are two dimensions of abstraction in business models. The first is from a global view like a value chain or business process map to a detailed view like a process diagram as shown in [9]. The second is from business domain to technical representation as it is implemented for example in the ARIS house: requirements definition, design specification, implementation description [10].
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Public Service Acquisition
The acquisition of services in the public sector encompasses the acquisition process with its artifacts on the one hand and the criterions to determine the appropriate supplier on the other hand. The European directives on service acquisition basically provide three types of award procedures, the open procedure and the restricted procedure that allow a one shot acquisition and the negotiated procedure that allows a flexible and stepwise approach [1]. The fact that the negotiated procedure allows the negotiation of the contracts with the services providers renders it unnecessary to have a complete specification of services in advance. The specification is then completed and detailed by the public authority and a service provider during the acquisition and software development process. The criterions are not determined by directives in detail. A classification based on [6] and [11] could be the following: • Business Models. This criterion comprises the frame within the software system to procure is accomplished. It covers the processes and the organization structure to support, the information objects necessary to these processes and the other information systems. • Vendor’s ability to execute. This criterion consists of two aspects. These are the financial execution capabilities like investments in research and development and in sales and marketing and the technical execution capabilities like the relative quality of the personnel within the key departments or references on similar projects.
Software Acquisition based on Business Models
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• Vendor services and support. This criterion includes the quality, availability and reliability of the value added services offered by the vendor like installation, training or maintenance. • Product and service costs. This criterion evaluates the relative cost of the services.
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A Stepwise Approach
For us, business process management is an enabler for the efficient acquisition of software systems, not solely in the public sector. A long term concern of an organization with its processes and the involvement of the staff of all levels within the scope of organizational-learning [3] create a better understanding of what happens and pinpoints the aspects for process and IT change. An upcoming acquisition demand for a software system is a good time to introduce procedures of business process management in an organization if this opportunity has been missed so far. When considering the aim of the modeling (selection of software) it is necessary to determine the object of modeling and the modeling methods and tools as described in [2] or [4]. With business process management as a pathfinder, a concrete acquisition project should start in an optimized environment with documented process information. The first part of an acquisition project using the negotiated procedure, consists of steps of formal communication in terms of structured documents. It is fundamental not to oversize the information parcels in these first steps and to use a communication notation that is adequate in dealing with complexity and that is understood by all stakeholders (lingua franca). The first major step in an acquisition project is the posting of the prior publication that is used to inform potential candidates about the planned project so that they can decide if they are qualified and capable. The business models used in this step are giving an overview of the domain on a high level. Value chain models or business process maps are used in this document. Based on the prior publication the candidates send in a request for participation that is used to shortlist the most eligible candidates primarily based on vendor’s ability to execute criterions. The second major step that is conducted with the selected candidates is the request for proposals that are the foundation for the negotiations afterwards. In this step the business models have to be detailed enough to create a first proposal. The degree of detail depends on the problem. The candidates have to make assumptions if information is missing that are discussed in the negotiation step. The proposals encompass a specification based on the candidate’s system architecture and details about service and support and a price. Based on the offers the public authority starts negotiations with the candidates about the offers. This step is used to fix details and prove the technical execution capabilities through prototypes. The negotiations are based on the business models that are refined in this process. More detailed and technical models based on system architecture are added if necessary. Variants of business models exist for each candidate. The goal of the negotiation step is a contract that is used to select the most eligible candidate, the supplier.
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Peter Regner, Thomas Wiesinger, Josef Küng and Roland Wagner
Beyond the acquisition project the business models are used during the development and the transition of the software system and as organizational documentation that is continuously maintained.
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Conclusion
The information transferred from the public authorities to the service providers during an acquisition project is in the majority of cases too complex and detailed. This narrows the range for an effective solution from the beginning of the project. Our approach is based on hierarchically structured business models as artifacts of process modeling that are used as adequate information parcels in a stepwise acquisition process. This enables a collaborative and evolutionary process between the public authority and the service provider with a maximum of flexibility. The method presented in this paper fits into a wider concept based on business process management, software engineering and the directives and laws on public service acquisition, to increase the efficiency and the effectiveness off the acquisition of software system in the public sector so that the acquisition process is an efficient enabler for electronic government (see [7], [8] and [9]).
References 1. Council Directive 92/50/EEC of 18 June 1992 relating to the coordination of procedures for the award of public service contracts, Official Journal L 209 , 24/07/1992 P. 0001 – 0024 2. Becker, J., Algermissen, L., Niehaves, B.: Processes in E-Government Focus: A Procedure Model for Process Oriented Reorganisation in Public Administrations on the Local Level; Proceedings of EGOV 2003; Springer Lecture Notes 2739; 2003 3. Falck, M.: Business Process Management – As a Method of Governance; Proceedings of EGOV 2002; Springer Lecture Notes 2456; 2002 4. Klischewski, R., Lenk, K.: Understanding and Modeling Flexibility in Administrative Processes; Proceedings of EGOV 2002; Springer Lecture Notes 2456; 2002 5. König, W., Reichel-Hozer, C.: Bundesvergabegesetz 2002, Kurzkommentar und Leitfaden für die Praxis, Linde, Wien; 2002 6. Murphy, T.: Analytical Hierarchy Process/Analysis in Achieving Business Value from Technology; Wiley; New Jersey; 2002 7. Regner, P., Wiesinger, T., Küng, J., Wagner, R.: Towards a Process Model for Efficient Advertised Bidding in the Field of Software Projects; Proceedings of EGOV 2003; Springer Lecture Notes 2739; 2003 8. Regner, P., Wiesinger, T.: Extreme Advertised Bidding; Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Extreme Programming and Agile Processes in Software Engineering, Springer Lecture Notes 2675; 2003 9. Regner, P., Wiesinger, T., Wagner, R.: Geschäftsprozessmanagement und -modellierung zur Steigerung von Effektivität und Effizienz bei der öffentlichen Ausschreibung von Softwareentwicklungsprojekten; Tagungsband der EMISA; 2003 10. Scheer, A.-W.: Architektur integrierter Informationssysteme – Grundlagen der Unternehmensmodellierung; 2. Auflage; Berlin et al.; 1992 11. Schreiber, J.: Beschaffung von Informatikmitteln; 4. Auflage; Haupt; Bern et al.; 2003
