EAI Implementation Project and Shakedown: An Exploratory Case Study
Nina Reiersgaard, Hilde Salvesen, Stig Nordheim, Tero Päivärinta
Agder University College, Dept. of Information Systems
PO Box 422, 4604 Kristiansand, Norway
Phone +47 5594 6788, +47 9018 6572, +47 3814 1610, +47 3814 1662
nina.reiersgaard@intelcom.no, [email protected], [email protected],
Abstract
Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) is a
pertinent approach to integrating core business
processes and data processing in the organization.
Based on a generic enterprise system experience cycle
model and previous research on EAI and enterprise
resource planning (ERP) projects, we propose an
initial framework for the EAI implementation process.
The framework is then applied in an exploratory case
study of an EAI implementation project in a Norwegian
energy group. As a result, we suggest a revised
framework for the EAI implementation process. The
revised framework identifies ten new factors based on
the findings from the case study, which affect core
business process integration by EAI,: two in
connection to the chartering phase, six related to the
project phase, and two for the shakedown phase of the
enterprise system experience cycle. The framework
provides guidance for practitioners when planning for
EAI implementations.
1. Introduction
Several corporations invest significant development
resources to achieve standardized, corporate-wide data
and process architectures to support their business
strategies – preferably in a flexible manner [1]. Until
recently, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems
have been regarded as a common way of achieving
such a level in the development of corporate
information technology architecture, which has also
been coined as rationalized data architecture [1].
Lately, enterprise application integration (EAI)
technology has, however, emerged as an alternative or
a complementary addition to ERP in order to build
integrated enterprise-wide information systems [2][3-
5].
In an EAI solution, middleware offers connectivity
to information processing services, workflow
technology provides process management, and
transformation products offer data transformation
services [5].
In contrast to ERP implementations, a limited body
of empirical research on EAI implementations exists.
So far, mainly the initial stages of introducing EAI
technologies in organizations have been studied [5].
This paper contributes by exploring an EAI
implementation project from the project chartering
phase, via the project phase until the shakedown phase,
thus covering three of the four phases of the “enterprise
system experience cycle” [6].
Based on a combination of ERP and EAI
implementation literature, an initial framework for the
EAI implementation process is proposed. The
proposed framework is then applied to the analysis of a
case study [7] in a Norwegian energy group. Based on
our findings from the case study, we propose a revised
framework with ten new factors. These factors are
new, both with regard to the issues identified in the
ERP literature and previous EAI research.
The discussion focuses on how EAI implementation
in this case differs from ERP implementations. The
revised framework should provide guidance for
practitioners when planning for EAI implementations
by focusing management issues that were found
important in our case, especially in the project phase.
We conclude with suggesting issues for future research
on EAI implementations.
2. Theoretical Foundation
The enterprise system experience cycle model by
Markus and Tanis [6] “provides a theoretical
framework for analyzing, both retrospectively and
prospectively, the business value of enterprise
0-7695-2268-8/05/$20.00 (C) 2005 IEEE
Proceedings of the 38th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2005
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