Category: IT-Enabled Services and Process Innovations

Ready or not, new IT paradigm requires knowledge sharing — part two

A paradigm shift has rocked the information technology world, changing the way companies acquire the technical capabilities to complete business processes. Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is changing the way IT professionals work together, challenging them to find ways to confidently share information across workgroups, departments or even corporate boundaries. For some companies, success in this new environment might mean organizational change. Part Two of Knowledge@W. P. Carey’s series on changes in the IT industry examines new research about the ways firms can prepare to succeed in an SOA world.

ERP may fall short of evolving business process agility goals

Business-process agility is top-of-mind for many business and technology executives these days. But just what is it? Why do companies need it? How do they get it? And what role does technology play? Once heralded as revolutionary, the bulky Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software packages that enabled companies to better manage internal functions are at the center of a debate over the best way to achieve agility. Whether firms retrofit their ERP systems or commit to the new on-demand model, it’s certain that success in the global markets will be hooked to agility.

RFID technology gaining popularity with suppliers, retailers

Companies in the tech and pharmaceutical industries are increasingly adopting Radio Frequency Identification to track products from their manufacturing plants through the supply chain. Taking the first steps toward savvy use of RFID serves to both satisfy mandates from major customers (such as Wal-Mart and the U.S. Department of Defense), and boost internal supply chain efficiencies. Though the technology itself is still fairly immature, it is quickly winning hearts and minds among retailers and suppliers, according to Mark Barratt, a supply chain management professor at the W. P. Carey School of Business.

New IT paradigm: Software evolves from product to service

A sea change is reshaping the information services/information technology (IS/IT) industry. Managers accustomed to creating value and solving problems for their companies by writing code or purchasing and implementing software packages are now focused on managing services in a dynamic Web environment. A research team at the W. P. Carey School of Business is proposing a new orientation for IS/IT managers, one that applies the principles of supply chain management.

Keep options open with a ‘best-of-breed’ software strategy

While integrating different software applications is always a challenge, it is easier when the different components come from the same vendor and are designed to fit together. But don’t assume the path of least resistance is always best for your organization, says Julie Smith David, associate professor of information systems at the W. P. Carey School of Business. David has been studying whether it is better for a company to buy its enterprise systems from a single source or to choose a composite. Her study shows that in many cases, using one vendor’s offerings to provide all of an enterprise’s functionality is not always the best for the bottom line.