Enterprise Analyzer: Electronic assistance for redesigning organizational processes.

Abstract

The Enterprise Analyzer methodology combines techniques and tools from the GroupSystems electronic meeting system (EMS), a repository, and several customized software tools to support the meetings which are essential for enterprise modeling and organizational process redesign. Enterprise Analyzer supports the facilitated face-to-face meetings between cross-functional design teams and has been evaluated and improved through a series of field studies over a period of eighteen months. Eight teams from the United States Army used the Enterprise Analyzer system for requirements definition and a team from the International Business Machines Company used the system to redesign business processes. The methodology, tools, and repository worked effectively during the prototype evaluations. These groups were able to produce their deliverables faster and cheaper than the estimates for meetings without EMS support. When organizations freeze their business routines with formal procedures or automated systems, the resulting processes may remain mostly unchanged even if the assumptions, goals, and environment that spawned them become obsolete. Enterprise analysis is an approach that helps organizations tackle complex problems such as redesigning business processes and their associated information systems. In enterprise analysis, multi-level, multi-disciplinary teams model current operations to understand the needed changes. These teams work to develop models, diagnose quality and performance problems, and identify opportunities for improvements. Enterprise Analyzer provides support for cross-functional teams whose members may have different perspectives of the organization, little experience with modeling, no history of working together, or consensus about problem solving procedures. This research provides improved support for the enterprise analysis process by integrating some of the benefits of computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tools and business planning methods. A repository has been developed to help groups of business experts build an enterprise model and describe the requirements of the system in their own language, without requiring them to learn a modeling language syntax, or requiring analysts to translate their specifications into a model. The team members are able to recognize conflicting requirements and reconcile them on the basis of their contribution to the strategic goals of the organization.