ABSTRACT
Component-based information systems focus on building information systems by combining and matching predeveloped components and leveraging the investments in legacy systems. Although component-based systems have many advantages, most organizations are reluctant to adopt them. Many companies do not understand the opportunities and advantages of componentbased systems and lack sufficient insight into how to identify components and align them with business processes.
Business engineering approaches are crucial for aligning information systems within their organizations’ context, assessing the value of information systems, and communicating implications to stakeholders. The business engineering approach aims at defining business processes, mapping processes to components, evaluating the pros and cons of component-based systems, and helping stakeholders to create a shared understanding. This chapter presents a business engineering approach aimed at formulating, specifying, and evaluating organizational and technological aspects of component-based systems within a particular organizational context.
The approach is described, applied, and tested in a case study. A simulation is used to demonstrate visually how a component-based architecture could allow for more flexible, customer-driven service provisioning as opposed to the current situation. The case study highlights (1) the need for identifying components based on existing and future business processes and interdependencies between tasks in business processes, and (2) the need for modeling and visualizing technical infrastructure, applications, components, and business processes along with their interdependencies.
