Paper Type
Complete Research Paper
Description
Business networks that effectively use technologies and outperform competing networks are known as smart business networks. Theory hypothesizes that smart business networking requires a "˜Networked Business Operating System´ (NBOS), a technological architecture consisting of business logic, that enables high performance business networking. At the heart of the NBOS architecture are services (provided and used by organizations in the business network) and a centralized directory that contrib-utes to finding, selecting and executing the services available. While the idea of SOA for NBOS is compelling, SOA has largely remained a technological concept mainly applied in intra-organizational settings and received only limited adoption in business networks. The key qustion addressed in this paper is how firms in a business network can develop a NBOS so that SOA technologies create busi-ness valu. This research aims to contribute to the understanding of the business valu of SOA for smart business networking. An in-depth case study in a German banking network is used to obtain profound insights in the intricacies of service design and the business valu of SOA technologies in practice. The findings are generalized in an initial research model, distinguishing between service network design and service directory design within business networks.
DESIGN AND VALUE OF SERVICE-ORIENTED TECHNOLOGIES FOR SMART BUSINESS NETWORKING
Business networks that effectively use technologies and outperform competing networks are known as smart business networks. Theory hypothesizes that smart business networking requires a "˜Networked Business Operating System´ (NBOS), a technological architecture consisting of business logic, that enables high performance business networking. At the heart of the NBOS architecture are services (provided and used by organizations in the business network) and a centralized directory that contrib-utes to finding, selecting and executing the services available. While the idea of SOA for NBOS is compelling, SOA has largely remained a technological concept mainly applied in intra-organizational settings and received only limited adoption in business networks. The key qustion addressed in this paper is how firms in a business network can develop a NBOS so that SOA technologies create busi-ness valu. This research aims to contribute to the understanding of the business valu of SOA for smart business networking. An in-depth case study in a German banking network is used to obtain profound insights in the intricacies of service design and the business valu of SOA technologies in practice. The findings are generalized in an initial research model, distinguishing between service network design and service directory design within business networks.