The future of Enterprise IT

Team members

• Giorgos Roussakis
  
• Reyner Karnali
  
• Christian Wittenberg
  
• Adi Kentsch

Introduction

Information Technology represents a crucial asset to business, being regarded as the backbone of most corporate companies worldwide. Enterprise IT underwent major developments by improving business processes and adding strategic value to businesses. Its increasing complexity however started to backfire and put further developments in difficulty. In a fundamental basis the concept behind IT remained the same, data manipulation. The emergence of collaborative/integrative web services is expected to reduce this complexity, shaping the future of Enterprise IT. However, this approach is not a panacea. We shall explore various scenarios, that will include Semantic Web, Business Intelligence, Work Streaming, Information Engineering, Human-Computer Interaction and Service networks, to name but a few.

Research Questions

Defining Enterprise IT

1. What is Enterprise IT?
2. What are legacy systems?
3. Any common global standard for Enterprise IT?
4. How do you categorize and/or classify Enterprise IT?
5. How long does it take for firms to implement these solutions (e.g. ERP system)?
   

Technologies

1. Artificial Intelligence with Enterprise IT?
2. How does the emergence of virtualization impact Enterprise IT?
3. What are the Impacts of Internet in the future development of Enterprise IT?
4. What are interesting technologies for improving the way Enterprise IT is applied
5. Why is the Hardware keeps on improving rapidly, while software not? What is fundamentally different?

Financial and Economic

1. What is the GDP market for enterprise IT?
2. What is the average cost that firms pay for implementing Enterprise IT (in this case, ERP)?

Market & Environment

1. Who are the Primary Target Markets?
2. Who are dominating the Enterprise IT industry?
3. How does Enterprise IT affect the organization?
4. What are relevant trends that influence the future of enterprise IT?
5. How will Outsourcing of Enterprise IT will develop in time?

Problems

1. What are the problems of current Enterprise IT?
2. Does user experience matter in Enterprise software? What are the caveats?
3. How catastrophic will the future development of programming language will be for Enterprise IT (Impact of it)?

Solutions

1. What are known solutions to solve Legacy problems in Enterprise IT?
2. How can consolidation of solutions be beneficial?
3. What is the most viable future of Enterprise 2.0 ?

Driving Forces

Technological forces

1. Programming Languages
2. Cloud Computing and the Enterprise
3. The innovative Open alternative
4. The shift towards Semantics in Business Intelligence
5. Content Delivery in Location Aware Applications from converged 3G/Wireless Internet
6. Increasing Human-Computer Interaction

Social forces

1. Dynamic Mobile Workspace
2. The increasing use of Social Software
3. R&D and Innovation programs

Economical forces

1. The Economic Climate and SMEs
2. The Rise of BRIC Economies
3. Sustainable Development & Global Economy

Systems Diagram

Systems Diagram

In the presented diagram, the colors and shapes have the following meaning:

Colors

• Purple :: Business Core Elements
• Navy Blue :: IT Core Elements
• Aqua Blue :: In-House IT Department
• Deep Blue :: External IT
• Indigo :: B2B Party
• Green :: Outsource/Offshore Party
• Orange :: Key Influences

Shapes

• Big Circle :: Internal Process
• Oval :: Internal Position
• Small Circle :: Provision
• Square :: External Process
• Rectangular :: External Position
• Cloud :: Intangible Presence

Scenarios

Scenarios

1. Star Wars
2. 007 - James Bond
3. Slumdog Millionaire
4. Reservoir Dogs