An Android Tablet Tool for Enterprise Architecture Modeling in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Abstract

Abstract. Throughout recent years a lot of research has been done to develop enterprise architecture (EA) approaches for large and complex enterprises. Consequently, an array of tools has been developed for these large enterprises to aid in EA management. However, traditional small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are very important for economy, have to a great extent been neglected. Recently research has been done towards a new EA approach for SMEs. The approach is called CHOOSE. As tool support is almost indispensable in complex environments, the need for tool support was quickly experienced while doing case studies in SMEs. Unfortunately, tool support is already rated low on usability by EA practitioners in large companies. A different approach was required to provide tool support for managers in SMEs. The developed software tool already received positive feedback from managers.

CHOOSE: Towards a metamodel for enterprise architecture in small and medium-sized enterprises

“…1) (Bernaert et al 2013a;Dumeez et al 2013;Ingelbeen et al 2013). One such tool was installed in the SME in the last round and enabled it to manage its EA model after the end of the action research programme.…”

“…As no business rules have been expressed so far in the SME, this concept of business rules is not yet explicitly represented in the CHOOSE metamodel. Nevertheless, the tool support we are developing for CHOOSE (Bernaert et al 2013a;Dumeez et al 2013;Ingelbeen et al 2013) does make it possible to check such rules, by means of queries of the model level.…”

“…According to the Object Management Group (OMG) (2013, 2012b) standards, the metamodel presented in this research is a computation independent model (CIM) at M2-level. Since it is described as a unified modelling language (UML) class diagram (OMG 2011b, c), this model can also serve as a platform independent model (PIM) for software tool support development (Bernaert et al 2013a;Dumeez et al 2013;Ingelbeen et al 2013). The models made with this metamodel, and thus instantiating it, will be at M1-level and will be EA models for the specific SME being modelled.…”

“…They are to be determined at metamodel definition time, checked at model-building time when enough model elements are available in each view, and rechecked at model evolution time when the linked items are changed. Most rule-based checks can be fully automated through queries on a model database structured according to the metamodel, for instance in further software tool development efforts (Bernaert et al 2013a;Dumeez et al 2013;Ingelbeen et al 2013). The main advantage of having constraints is that constraint violations drive models towards structural consistency.…”

“…At the same time, though, CHOOSE also increased communication and interaction among employees and other stakeholders, as it was also used to discuss parts of the model with them. Although the terminology may not be clear to all users right now, this will definitely be remedied by the software tools we are developing (Bernaert et al 2013a;Dumeez et al 2013;Ingelbeen et al 2013). A final advantage could be that employees may become more motivated if they know how their role is situated within the bigger picture of the whole SME.…”