The diploma thesis focuses on assessment of the information system and possible proposals for ICT modification. The first part of the thesis is focused on theoretical background, which is needed to clarify basic concepts and methods used during the analysis and solution proposal. In the second part is realized analysis of company with emphasis on parts of information system. Based on findings from analytical part are proposed possibilities and ways how to achieve improvements of company information system compared to current conditions.

Die stetig voranschreitende Dezentralisierung und Internationalisierung von Organisationen sowie die zunehmende Digitalisierung führen zu erheblichen Veränderungen beruflicher Arbeitsprozesse (Staar, 2014). Dabei ermöglicht vor allem die steigende Virtualisierung von Geschäftsprozessen durch den Einsatz vielfältiger Technologien eine dynamische Vernetzung der beteiligten Personen (ebd.): Statische vordefinierten Strukturen weichen zugunsten der Bearbeitung problembezogener, dynamischer, vernetzter Zusammenarbeit (Picot, Reichwald, & Wigand, 2003, S. 420). Die beteiligten Personen arbeiten dabei nach einem „anytime-anyplace-Prinzip“ (Offelmann & Zülch, 2006., S. 118) vermehrt an ganz unterschiedlichen geografischen Standorten. Die Zusammenarbeit und Koordination der beteiligten Mitglieder wird dabei zu einem großen Teil oder vollständig durch eine Reihe verschiedener Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien wie z.B. E-Mail, Videokonferenzsysteme, oder Groupware-Systeme ermöglicht (Schaper, 2011). Mit diesen Veränderungen in Kontext und Kommunikation verändert sich auch die Zusammenarbeit der beteiligten Personen insgesamt (Huxham & Vangen, 2001). Besonderes Augenmerk kommt vor allem der Gestaltung von Führung in virtuellen Kontexten zu (Hertel & Konradt, 2007). So werden für diese Formen der Zusammenarbeit, die oft projektbezogen und wenig hierarchisch organisiert sind, alternative Führungsmodelle wie das der „Shared Leadership“ (Hoch & Kozlowski, 2014) oder der „Emergent Leadership“ diskutiert (Yoo & Alavi, 2004). Entlang dieser Thematik ist folglich zu untersuchen, wie und durch wen in überwiegend heterarchisch organisierten Formen virtueller Zusammenarbeit Entscheidungen getroffen werden, Führung beurteilt und durch Führer und Geführte geteilt wird. Insbesondere die Frage, wer aus welchen Gründen eine Führungsrolle im Team übernimmt, ist dabei Gegenstand aktueller Forschung und wird sowohl aus Führer als auch aus Geführtenperspektive untersucht (z.B. Staar, 2014). [Aus der Einleitung.]

Syftet med denna studie var att förstå kriterier, barriärer, kostnader och fördelar som är förknippade med implementering av blockchain-teknik, och utifrån detta utforska hur blockchain-teknik kan förbättra BPM. Studien är av kvalitativ karaktär och gjordes sekventiellt genom att först genomföra en omfattande tvärvetenskaplig litteraturöversikt och därefter intervjua personer med erfarenhet från blockchain-teknik. Analysen gjordes med både en induktiv och deduktiv ansats där tematisk analys tillämpades. Resultaten från studien visar att blockchain-teknik kan minska transaktionskostnader, förbättra avstämning och verifiering, förbättra samarbetsprocesser och skapa förtroende och öppenhet samtidigt som de stöder organisationer med styrning av datasäkerhet, korrekthet av data, och minskade IT-kostnader till följd av förbättrad hantering med säkerhetskopiering av data, servrar och lagring. Stort fokus ligger för tillfället på smarta kontrakt där integrering av affärslogiken tillsammans med en förbättrad databasstruktur möjliggör förbättrat samarbete och automatisering av standardiserade affärsprocesser. Resultaten indikerar också brist på blockchain-ingenjörer, vilket påverkar utveckling och tillväxt. Studien belyser ett behov av ytterligare implementeringsstudier och att bättre skilja mellan de olika blockchain-typerna och de problem de kan lösa. Säkerhet, hållbarhet och interoperabilitet nämns ofta som utmaningar i den pågående diskussionen om blockchain. Detta är inte unikt för blockchain-teknik och mer nyanserade förklaringsmodeller krävs. Blockchain-teknik kan vara framtiden, och kan ersätta befintlig infrastruktur, i slutändan måste organisationer överväga vid vilken tidpunkt de bör börja tänka på att sätta blockchain på sin agenda, med de olika avvägningar som detta innebär. / The purpose of this study was to understand criteria, barriers, costs and benefits that are associated with implementing blockchain technology, and from this explore how blockchain technology can improve BPM. The study is of qualitative nature and was done sequentially by conducting an extensive cross-disciplinary literature review first, and then interviewed people with experience from blockchain technology. The analysis was done with both an inductive and deductive approach by doing a thematic analysis. The results from this study show that blockchain technology can reduce transactional costs, improve reconciliation, improve collaborative business processes and bring trust and transparency while supporting organizations with governance of data security, data consistency and reducing associated IT-costs with managing back-up of data, servers and storage. A lot of focus is currently centered around smart contracts, where incorporating the business logic together with an improved database structure allows for improved collaboration and automation of standardized business processes. The results also indicate a shortage of blockchain engineers, consequently impacting development and growth. The study highlights a need for further implementation studies and to better distinguish between the different blockchain types and the problems they can solve. Security, sustainability and interoperability are often mentioned as challenges in the current discourse on blockchain. This is not unique for blockchain and more nuanced explanation models are required. Blockchain technology may be the future and replace existing infrastructure, ultimately organizations have to consider at what point in time they should start thinking about putting it on their agenda and the associated trade-offs that comes with this. / <p>2021-06-06</p>

Workflows are a well-established concept for describing business logics and processes in web-based applications and enterprise application integration scenarios on an abstract implementation-agnostic level. Applying Business Process Management (BPM) technologies to increase autonomy and automate sequences of activities in Cyber-physical Systems (CPS) promises various advantages including a higher flexibility and simplified programming, a more efficient resource usage, and an easier integration and orchestration of CPS devices. However, traditional BPM notations and engines have not been designed to be used in the context of CPS, which raises new research questions occurring with the close coupling of the virtual and physical worlds. Among these challenges are the interaction with complex compounds of heterogeneous sensors, actuators, things and humans; the detection and handling of errors in the physical world; and the synchronization of the cyber-physical process execution models. Novel factors related to the interaction with the physical world including real world obstacles, inconsistencies and inaccuracies may jeopardize the successful execution of workflows in CPS and may lead to unanticipated situations. This thesis investigates properties and requirements of CPS relevant for the introduction of BPM technologies into cyber-physical domains. We discuss existing BPM systems and related work regarding the integration of sensors and actuators into workflows, the development of a Workflow Management System (WfMS) for CPS, and the synchronization of the virtual and physical process execution as part of self-* capabilities for WfMSes. Based on the identified research gap, we present concepts and prototypes regarding the development of a CPS WFMS w.r.t. all phases of the BPM lifecycle. First, we introduce a CPS workflow notation that supports the modelling of the interaction of complex sensors, actuators, humans, dynamic services and WfMSes on the business process level. In addition, the effects of the workflow execution can be specified in the form of goals defining success and error criteria for the execution of individual process steps. Along with that, we introduce the notion of Cyber-physical Consistency. Following, we present a system architecture for a corresponding WfMS (PROtEUS) to execute the modelled processes-also in distributed execution settings and with a focus on interactive process management. Subsequently, the integration of a cyber-physical feedback loop to increase resilience of the process execution at runtime is discussed. Within this MAPE-K loop, sensor and context data are related to the effects of the process execution, deviations from expected behaviour are detected, and compensations are planned and executed. The execution of this feedback loop can be scaled depending on the required level of precision and consistency. Our implementation of the MAPE-K loop proves to be a general framework for adding self-* capabilities to WfMSes. The evaluation of our concepts within a smart home case study shows expected behaviour, reasonable execution times, reduced error rates and high coverage of the identified requirements, which makes our CPS~WfMS a suitable system for introducing workflows on top of systems, devices, things and applications of CPS.:1. Introduction 15 1.1. Motivation 15 1.2. Research Issues 17 1.3. Scope & Contributions 19 1.4. Structure of the Thesis 20 2. Workflows and Cyber-physical Systems 21 2.1. Introduction 21 2.2. Two Motivating Examples 21 2.3. Business Process Management and Workflow Technologies 23 2.4. Cyber-physical Systems 31 2.5. Workflows in CPS 38 2.6. Requirements 42 3. Related Work 45 3.1. Introduction 45 3.2. Existing BPM Systems in Industry and Academia 45 3.3. Modelling of CPS Workflows 49 3.4. CPS Workflow Systems 53 3.5. Cyber-physical Synchronization 58 3.6. Self-* for BPM Systems 63 3.7. Retrofitting Frameworks for WfMSes 69 3.8. Conclusion & Deficits 71 4. Modelling of Cyber-physical Workflows with Consistency Style Sheets 75 4.1. Introduction 75 4.2. Workflow Metamodel 76 4.3. Knowledge Base 87 4.4. Dynamic Services 92 4.5. CPS-related Workflow Effects 94 4.6. Cyber-physical Consistency 100 4.7. Consistency Style Sheets 105 4.8. Tools for Modelling of CPS Workflows 106 4.9. Compatibility with Existing Business Process Notations 111 5. Architecture of a WfMS for Distributed CPS Workflows 115 5.1. Introduction 115 5.2. PROtEUS Process Execution System 116 5.3. Internet of Things Middleware 124 5.4. Dynamic Service Selection via Semantic Access Layer 125 5.5. Process Distribution 126 5.6. Ubiquitous Human Interaction 130 5.7. Towards a CPS WfMS Reference Architecture for Other Domains 137 6. Scalable Execution of Self-managed CPS Workflows 141 6.1. Introduction 141 6.2. MAPE-K Control Loops for Autonomous Workflows 141 6.3. Feedback Loop for Cyber-physical Consistency 148 6.4. Feedback Loop for Distributed Workflows 152 6.5. Consistency Levels, Scalability and Scalable Consistency 157 6.6. Self-managed Workflows 158 6.7. Adaptations and Meta-adaptations 159 6.8. Multiple Feedback Loops and Process Instances 160 6.9. Transactions and ACID for CPS Workflows 161 6.10. Runtime View on Cyber-physical Synchronization for Workflows 162 6.11. Applicability of Workflow Feedback Loops to other CPS Domains 164 6.12. A Retrofitting Framework for Self-managed CPS WfMSes 165 7. Evaluation 171 7.1. Introduction 171 7.2. Hardware and Software 171 7.3. PROtEUS Base System 174 7.4. PROtEUS with Feedback Service 182 7.5. Feedback Service with Legacy WfMSes 213 7.6. Qualitative Discussion of Requirements and Additional CPS Aspects 217 7.7. Comparison with Related Work 232 7.8. Conclusion 234 8. Summary and Future Work 237 8.1. Summary and Conclusion 237 8.2. Advances of this Thesis 240 8.3. Contributions to the Research Area 242 8.4. Relevance 243 8.5. Open Questions 245 8.6. Future Work 247 Bibliography 249 Acronyms 277 List of Figures 281 List of Tables 285 List of Listings 287 Appendices 289

Literature indicates that strategic planning is an effective method for serving as a basis for technology planning. Strategic planning calls for the description of resources needed to support the goals and objectives of the plan. From these descriptions, technology planners may develop a technology plan. This study sought to determine, in Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) institutions, the extent to which strategic planning served as a guide for technology planning. In a quantitative survey administered online to 150 invited participants, 92 or 61% responded. Results indicated that TBR schools valued the strategic plan as a method of communicating technology needs. Demographic data collected indicated that there were little to no differences among respondents from two or four year schools or between or among respondents holding different job titles with regard to the value of the strategic plan as a technology planning guide. The study invited open-ended comments for each closed-ended question asked. The questions and comments led to the following conclusions. The budget drives the planning process. Plans are made and priorities set. At budget time, money for technology may be cut, but very little change in goals takes place.The planning process or results of the planning process do not permeate to every level in institutions.Chief information officers know more about strategic planning than chief academic officers or deans/directors/coordinators know about the technology planning process.

As a part of this study a solution is being developed to evaluate the effectiveness of the components of the MES system. The bottom line is to assess the degree of use of standard functionalities (taking into account their weight ratio) as compared to design modifications for different projects. Analysis of the data provided to the user allows making clear, based on real indicators conclusions about the effectiveness of each component (or module) of the system, allowing to highlight the weak points of the system and determine the trajectory of the further development of each component and the entire software product. / В рамках данной работы разрабатывается решение для оценки эффективности компонентов MES-системы. Суть заключается в оценке степени использования стандартных функциональностей (с учетом коэффициента их весомости) по сравнению с проектными доработками для разных проектов. Анализ предоставляемых пользователю данных позволяет делать четкие, основанные на реальных показателях выводы об эффективности каждого компонента (или модуля) системы, позволяя выделять слабые места системы и определять траектория дальнейшего развития как каждого компонента, так и всего программного продукта в целом.

Цель диссертации заключается в разработке системы, имитирующей работу сети снабжения строительных магазинов г.Екатеринбург и Свердловской области. Для достижения поставленной цели была исследована предметная область, в частности проведен сравнительный анализ средств имитационного моделирования, который выявил преимущество AnyLogic над другими системами. Согласно постановке задачи проектирования, были смоделированы процессы принятия заказа на базе поставщика, его обработки, этапа погрузки и транспортировки. Проведен ряд экспериментов над моделью, с целью нахождения наиболее эффективных условий работы системы, в частности количество времени и ресурсов, затрачиваемых на выполнение заказов, в последствии чего предложены дальнейшие пути ее изменения и развития. Созданная модель может быть интегрирована в работу не только компании г. Екатеринбурга и Свердловской области, но и любой транспортно-логистической и торговой компании в любой точке страны и мира, специализирующуюся на любых товарах. / The purpose of the dissertation is to develop a system that simulates the operation of the supply chain of construction stores in Yekaterinburg and the Sverdlovsk region. To achieve this goal, the subject area was investigated, in particular, a comparative analysis of simulation tools was carried out, which revealed the advantage of AnyLogic over other systems. According to the statement of the design problem, the processes of order acceptance based on the supplier, its processing, loading and transportation stages were modeled. A number of experiments have been conducted on the model in order to find the most effective operating conditions of the system, in terms of the amount of time and resources spent on fulfilling orders, and subsequently further ways of your change and development are proposed. The created model "can be integrated into the work of not only company G. Yekaterinburg and the Sverdlovsk region, there is no favorite transport, logistics and trading company anywhere in the country and the world specializing in your favorite products. Further ways of its change and development. The created model can be integrated into the work of not only a company in Yekaterinburg and the Sverdlovsk region, but also any transport, logistics and trading company anywhere in the country and the world specializing in any goods.

В ходе работы была проанализирована предметная область, сделан обзор аналогов, на основании которого был выбран подходящий инструмент для разработки, согласно постановки задачи проектирования смоделированы процессы принятия заказа и обработки, логистический процесс, проведены результаты моделирования и последующие эксперименты. По результатам экспериментов удалось найти оптимальное количество персонала, решающего поставленные задачи эффективнее, тем самым увеличив доходы предприятия. / In the course of the work, the subject area was analyzed, an overview of analogues was made, on the basis of which a suitable development tool was selected, according to the formulation of the design problem, the processes of order acceptance and processing, the logistics process were modeled, the simulation results were carried out and subsequent experiments. According to the results of the experiments, it was possible to find the optimal number of personnel who solve the tasks more efficiently, thereby increasing the income of the enterprise. Further ways of its change and development. The created model can be integrated into the work of not only a company in Yekaterinburg and the Sverdlovsk region, but also any transport, logistics and trading company anywhere in the country and the world specializing in any goods.

Körperschaften öffentlichen Rechts im Bildungsbereich zeichnen sich durch eine zunehmende Digitalisierung der Geschäftsprozesse aus. Dies trifft auch für Hochschulen zu, wobei die Produktion der Bildung (hier unter dem Begriff eLearning) ein intensiv untersuchtes Themenfeld ist, sowohl betreffen die Lehre selbst (Fischer et al., 2006)) als auch die dafür erforderlichen Services (Neumann, 2006). Weniger intensiv debattiert wird die Betreuung der IT-Administration als Thema der Organisationsentwicklung. ... Beispielhaft anhand des Bereiches Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften der Technischen Universität Dresden thematisiert der Beitrag die aktuell anstehenden Gestaltungserfordernisse vor dem Hintergrund der Zielestellung, ein virtuelles Serviceteam für die Aufgaben der IT-Administration in Lehre, Forschung und Verwaltung über mehrere Fakultäten hinweg zu konzipieren. ... [Aus: Einleitung]

Geschäftsprozesse stellen ein wichtiges Gut eines Unternehmens dar. Für den Unternehmenserfolg sind nicht einmalig optimal gestaltete Prozesse entscheidend, sondern die Fähigkeit, schnell auf neue Entwicklungen reagieren und die betroffenen Prozesse flexibel anpassen zu können. In vielen Unternehmen ist eine aktuelle Beschreibung ihrer Prozesse als wesentliche Voraussetzung für die Prozessverbesserung jedoch nicht oder nur unzureichend gegeben. Nicht selten wird ein erstelltes Prozessmodell nicht weiterverwendet, so dass es nach kurzer Zeit von der betrieblichen Realität abweicht. Diese fehlende Übereinstimmung kann durch die Nutzung von Prozess-Mining-Technologien verhindert werden, indem das in den Informationssystemen implizit vorhandene Prozesswissen automatisiert extrahiert und in Form von Prozessmodellen abgebildet wird. Ein weiteres wichtiges Element für die effiziente Gestaltung und Steuerung von Prozessen bilden Referenzmodelle, wie z. B. ITIL und CobiT. Die Prozessverbesserung durchläuft in der Regel mehrere Analyse-, Design-, Implementierungs- , Ausführungs-, Monitoring-, und Evaluierungsschritte. Die Arbeit stellt eine Methodik vor, die die Identifizierung und Lösung der auftretenden Aufgaben unterstützt und erleichtert. Eine empirische Untersuchung zeigt die Herausforderungen und die Potenziale für den erfolgreichen Einsatz von Process-Mining-Techniken. Auf der Basis der Resultate dieser Untersuchung wurden spezielle Aspekte der Datenaufbereitung für Process-Mining-Algorithmen detailliert betrachtet. Der Fokus liegt dabei auf der Bereitstellung von Enterprise- und RFID-Daten. Weiterhin beleuchtet die Arbeit die Wichtigkeit, die Referenzprozessausführung zu überprüfen, um deren Einhaltung in Bezug auf neue oder geänderte Prozesse zu sichern. Die Methodik wurde anhand einer Reihe von Praxisbeispielen erprobt. Die Ergebnisse unterstreichen ihre generelle unternehmensübergreifende Anwendbarkeit für die effiziente kontinuierliche Prozessverbesserung. / The dissertation at hand takes as its subject business processes. Naturally they are subject to continual improvement and are a major asset of any given organization. An optimally-designed process, having once proven itself, must be flexible, as new developments demand swift adaptations. However, many organizations do not adequately describe these processes, though doing so is a prerequisite for their improvement. Very often the process model created during an information system’s implementation either is not used in the first place or is not maintained, resulting in an obvious lack of correspondence between the model and operational reality. Process mining techniques prevent this. They extract the process knowledge inherent in an information system and visualize it in the form of process models. Indeed, continual process improvement depends greatly on this modeling approach, and reference models, such as ITIL and CobiT, are entirely suitable and powerful means for dealing with the efficient design and control of processes. Process improvement typically consists of a number of analysis, design, implementation, execution, monitoring, and evaluation activities. This dissertation proposes a methodology that supports and facilitates them. An empirical analysis both revealed the challenges and the potential benefits of these processes mining techniques’ successful. This in turn led to the detailed consideration of specific aspects of the data preparation for process mining algorithms. Here the focus is on the provision of enterprise data and RFID events. This dissertation as well examines the importance of analyzing the execution of reference processes to ensure compliance with modified or entirely new business processes. The methodology involved a number of cases’ practical trials; the results demonstrate its power and universality. This new approach ushers in an enhanced continual inter-departmental and inter-organizational improvement process.