Enterprise Information System

Pengertian Enterprise
Enterprise adalah sebuah sistem dari manusia, peralatan, material, data, kebijakan dan prosedur
yang muncul untuk menyediakan sebuah produk atau pelayanan , dengan tujuan mendapatkan
keuntungan. Sistem enterprise mendukung struktur organisasi yang sebelumnya tidak mungkin
untuk menciptakan budaya organisasi yang lebih disiplin.
Pengertian Enterprise Information Sistem
Enterprise Information System (EIS) merupakan pengembangan konsep CBIS dan DSS yang
dioptimasi untuk menyelesaikan permasalahan perusahaan atau organisasi secara menyeluruh,
dengan batasan-batasan: corporate wide system, holistic information, business intelligent.
Adapun kemampuan yang dimiliki oleh EIS yang baik, adalah : drill down path, critical success
factor, status access, analisis, navigasi informasi, audio dan visual, dan komunikasi.
Hal mendasar dari EIS adalah platform teknologi yang bisa menyatukan semua informasi dari
berbagai bagian menjadi satu (single) informasi secara logikal, sehingga Enterprise
(perusahaan/organisasi) bisa mendapatkan informasi yang dibutuhkan dengan mudah. Dalam
hal ini, tidak hanya sekedar penggunaan teknologi jaringan misal LAN (local area network)
sehingga antar divisi terhubung secara fisik tapi juga integrasi proses bisnis masing masing
divisi. Dibutuhkan juga penyatuan semua database secara logikal, sehingga bukan hanya antar
divisi tapi juga pengaksesan informasi untuk semua level di organisasi baik dari staf
operasional, manajer maupun direktur.
Untuk menjawab tantangan kebutuhan informasi dan pengambilan keputusan yang semakin
butuh kecepatan dan ketepatan, Sistem informasi konvensional tampaknya belum cukup.
Orang berpikir bagaimana membuat sebuah sistem informasi dengan domain informasi seluruh
bagian perusahaan, baik dalam satu lokasi maupun di lokasi yang terpisah. Hal inilah yang
melatarbelakangi konsep enterprise Information System. EIS sebenarnya merupakan
pengembangan dari konsep yang sudah ada yaitu Executive Information system dan DSS yang
diperluas untuk domain seluruh perusahaan.
Intinya begini:
Enterprise Information System adalah Sistem berbasis komputer yang dapat melakukan semua
tugas akuntansi standar untuk semua unit organisasi secara terpadu dan terkoordinasi . Tujuan
sistem ini adalah untuk mengumpulkan dan menyebarkan data ke semua proses organisasi.
Mengapa Perlu Enterprise Information System
Selaras
Arsitektur enterprise sesuai dengan kebutuhan manajemen
Integrasi
Aturan bisnis harus konsisten dan terpadu dari seluruh komponen enterprise

 Perubahan
Memfasilitasi segala perubahan setiap aspek enterprise
Waktu pemasaran
Mengurangi pembangunan sistem, generasi aplikasi, dan kebutuhan sumber
daya
Convergence
Menghasilkan portofolio produk TI yang standar
Fungsi Dari Enterprise Information System
Mendukung aktivitas bisnis
Meningkatkan daya saing dengan aktivitas bisnis sejenis
Interorganizational System (IoS)
-

Transmisi informasi secara elektronik antar perusahaan

Fokus Aplikasi Secara Internal Aktivitas Utama

Aktivitas Utama
- Logistic di dalam perusahaan
- Operasi dan produksi
- Logistic di luar perusahaan
- Pemasaran dan penjualan
- Pelayanan konsumen
Aktivitas Pendukung
- Infrastruktur
- Sumber daya manusia
- Pengembang teknologi
- Pengadaan barang
Fokus Aplikasi Secara Eksternal
Mengintegrasikan aplikasi internal dengan pihak luar: pemasok, rekan bisnis, dan
pelanggan
Upstream information: Menerima informasi dari organisasi lain
Downstream Information: Mengirim informasi ke organisasi lain
Tipe Sistem Enterprise
1. Enterprise Resource Planning
- Aplikasi terintegrasi
- Sistem: SAP, Oracle, Baan
Implementasi:

- Modul-modul
- Customizations
- Best Practice
- Rekayasa ulang proses bisnis (BPR-Business Process Reengineering)
2. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- Peluang baru untuk keunggulan kompetitif
- Sistem: Sales Force Automation (SFA)
Contoh:
- American Airlines
- Marriot International
3. Manajemen Rantai Pasokan
- Jaringan pemasok
- Rantai pasokan
produsen menyediakan barang yang digunakan oleh perusahaan
Manfaat Implementasi:
-

Mempercepat pengembangan produk

Mengurangi pembiayaan dengan pemasok

Batasan Enterprise Information System

Corporate wide system
Mencakup seluruh bagigan perusahaan
Dari satu sistem bisa mendapatkan informasi bagian keuangan, SDM,
pemasaran, produksi, dll secara terintegrasi
Holistic information
Informasi bersifat menyeluruh untuk kepentingan pengambilan keputusan
perusahaan secara umum
Business intellgence
Seluruh aktifitas sistem digunakan untuk mendukung kebijakan yang diambil
dalam bisnis perusahaan
Meningkatkan business intelligence dari pengguna sistem (eksekutif)
Business Intellegence
-

Sistem dan aplikasi yang berfungsi untuk mengubah data-data dalam suatu
perusahaan atau organisasi (data operasional, data transaksional, atau data lainnya)
ke dalam bentuk pengetahuan.

Aplikasi ini melakukan analisis data-data di masa lampau, dan menggunakannya

sebagai pengetahuan untuk mendukung keputusan dan perencanaan organisasi

Sering disebut dengan Decision Support System (DSS)

Kemampuan Enterprise Information System

Drill down path
Mengakses informasi dari informasi paling puncak ke informasi pendukung di
level bawah untuk menjamin kelengkapan informasi yang akan digunakan
Critical success factor
Informasi strategis, managerial, operasional
Sumber daya: sumber daya organsisasi, industri dan lingkungan
Informasi yang bisa dimonitor misalnya berupa laporan yang terinci
Status access
Laporan haruslah berupa data terbaru
Analysis
Terintegrasi dengan DSS
Navigasi informasi
Data yang banyak bisa dianalisa dengan navigasi yang jelas dan mudah
Audio dan visual
Pemanfaatan multimedia untuk mendukung informasi yang diberikan
Komunikasi
Dilengkapi media komunikasi baik secara synchronous maupun asynchronous

Karakteristik Enterprise Information System

Kualitas Informasi
Fleksibel
Menghasilkan informasi yang benar
Menghasilkan informasi yang relevan
Menghasilkan informasi yang valid
Menghasilkan informasi yang komplit
User Interface
Dilengkapi GUI yang baik
UI harus user-friendly
Memungkinkan akses yang aman ke informasi
Dapat diakses dari banyak tempat
Menyediakan cara pengaksesan informasi yang cepat dan mudah
Kemampuan Teknis
Akses ke informasi global
Akses melalui email
Hypertext dan hypermedia
Analisis
Informasi yang ditampilkan secara hirarki
Penggunaan grafik dan report
Pengorganisasian CSF
Filter, kompress, dan pelacakan data-data kritis
Keuntungan dari EntIS
Memfasilitasi pencapaian tujuan organisasi
Memfasilitasi akses ke seluruh informasi
Meningkatkan kualitas dari pengambilan keputusan
Menyediakan keuntungan kompetitif
Mempercepat waktu pencarian informasi
Meningkatkan kemampuan komunikasi

 Meningkatkan kualitas komunikasi

Teknologi Pendukung Enterprise Information System
Software
Web, XML
Database Management System
Programming Language
Hardware
Computer
Network
Brainware
Metodologi pengembangan berbasis objek
Enterprise Information System and The Web
Ease of Use
Web browsers are a viable interface for EntIS
Users dont have to learn a new interface
WWW can provide a portal for an ERP vendors applications
Organization can be given location in an electronic mall provided by vendor
Benefits entities outside the boundaries of the organization
Customer Concerns
EntIS are large and complex
Challenge to EntIS firms is to standardize sales processes
Organizations may choose to only allow business-to-business transactions to
interface with their EntIS
Enterprise Information System and Business Procces
Proses bisnis (business process) dapat didefinisikan sebagai kumpulan dari proses yang
mendukung proses-proses operasional dalam perusahaan. Proses bisnis berisi kumpulan
aktifitas (tasks) yang saling berelasi satu sama lain untuk menghasilkan suatu keluaran yang
mendukung pada tujuan dan sasaran strategis dari organisasi. Suatu proses bisnis dapat dipecah
menjadi beberapa subproses yang masing-masing memiliki atribut sendiri tapi juga
berkontribusi untuk mencapai tujuan dari super prosesnya.
Untuk meluncurkan produk yang baik tidak pernah terlepas dari standar proses bisnis
perusahaan yang baik pula. Proses bisnis yang benar dapat menekan biaya operasional suatu

perusahaan dalam memproduksi produk keluarannya, karena perusahaan sudah tidak perlu lagi
berimprovisasi dalam menyusun standarisasi proses bisnis mereka.
Suatu proses bisnis yang baik harus memiliki tujuan-tujuan seperti mengefektifkan,
mengefisienkan dan membuat mudah untuk beradaptasi pada proses-proses didalamnya.
Artinya proses bisnis tersebut harus merupakan proses bisnis yang berorientasikan pada jumlah
dan kualitas produk output, minimal dalam menggunakan sumber daya dan dapat beradaptasi
sesuai dengan kebutuhan bisnis dan pasar.
Pengelolaan proses bisnis yang baik yang didukung dengan EIS akan memberikan keuntungankeuntungan pada organisasi perusahaan, yaitu :
-

Organisasi dapat lebih memfokuskan diri pada kebutuhan customer.

Organisasi mampu mengendalikan dan memprediksi setiap perubahan yang terjadi di
lingkungan dalam ataupun luar.
Organisasi mampu melakukan pengukuran pada setiap perubahan pada kondisi
perusahaan.
Organisasi mampu memperbaiki tingkat penggunaan sumber dayanya sehingga dapat
menekan biaya pemakaian serendah mungkin.
Organisasi dapat mengelola dengan baik integrasi proses-proses antar bagian yang ada.
Organisasi dapat memonitor secara sistematik aktifitas-aktifitas pada setiap proses
operasional dalam perusahaan.
Organisasi dapat dengan mudah menemukan kesalahan dalam proses dan
memperbaikinya secepat mungkin.
Organisasi dapat memahami setiap proses dan metode dari proses yang benar.

Manajemen Proses Bisnis (BPM) memiliki empat komponen utama:

Pemodelan
Pengguna dapat mendefinisikan dan mendesain struktur dari setiap proses bisnis secara grafis.
Manajer Proses dapat mendesain sebuah proses beserta seluruh elemen, aturan, sub-proses,
parallel proses, penanganan exception, penangan error, dan workflow dengan mudah tanpa
perlu memiliki kemampuan programming khusus dan tanpa membutuhkan bantuan dari staf
IT.
Pengintegrasian
BPM dapat menghubungkan setiap elemen dalam proses sehingga elemen-elemen tersebut
dapat saling berkolaborasi dan bertukar informasi untuk menyelesaikan tujuannya. Pada level
aplikasi, hal ini bisa diartikan sebagai penggunaan Application Programming Interface (API)
dan messaging. Bagi pengguna, hal ini berarti tersedianya sebuah workspace pada
komputernya ataupun perangkat wireless-nya untuk mengerjakan tugas sesuai dengan
perannya pada suatu proses bisnis.
Pengawasan
Pengguna dapat mengawasi dan mengontrol performansi dari proses bisnis yang sedang
berjalan dan performansi dari setiap personil yang terlibat dalam proses bisnis tersebut.
Pengguna juga dapat memperoleh informasi mengenai proses yang tengah berjalan, maupun
yang telah selesai, beserta data-data yang ada di dalamnya.

 Optimalisasi
Pengguna dapat menganalisa dan memonitor suatu proses bisnis, melihat ketidakefisienan, dan
juga memungkinkan pengguna untuk mengambil tindakan dengan cepat dan merubah proses
tersebut untuk meningkatkan efisiensinya.
Hubungan EIS dalam bisnis proses akan memberikan suatu keuntungan yang luar biasa
besarnya dalam pencapaian tujuan dan target perusahaan/instansi, karena penggunaan fasilitas
dan sistem informasi (EIS) sangat menunjang dan mendukung dalam berbagai hal seperti;
kecepatan, keakuratan,dan kualitas dari informasi dan produk yang dihasilkan.
Enterprise Information System dan Hirarki Manajemen
Hirarki adalah alat yang paling mudah untuk memahami masalah yang kompleks dimana
masalah tersebut diuraikan ke dalam elemen-elemen yang bersangkutan, menyusun elemenelemen tersebut secara hirarkis dan akhirnya melakukan penilaian atas elemen-elemen tersebut
sekaligus menentukan keputusan mana yang akan diambil. Proses penyusunan elemen-elemen
secara hirarkis meliputi pengelompokan elemen-elemen dalam komponen yang sifatnya
homogen dan menyusun komponen-komponen tersebut dalam level hirarki yang tepat.
Hirarki juga merupakan abstraksi struktur suatu sistem yang mempelajari fungsi interaksi
antara komponen dan juga dampak-dampaknya pada sistern. Abstraksi ini mempunyai bentuk
saling berkaitan, tersusun dan suatu puncak atau sasaran utama (ultimate goal) turun ke subsub tujuan tersebut, lain kepelaku (aktor) yang memberi dorongan, turun ketujuan-tujuan
pelaku, kemudian kebijakan-kebijakan, strategi-strategi tersebut. Dengan demikian hirarki
adalah sistem yang tingkatan-tingkatan (level) keputusannya berstratifikasi dengan beberapa
elemen keputusan pada setiap tingkatan keputusan. Secara umum hirarki dapat dibagi dua jenis
(Bambang Permadi, AHP Pusat Antar Universitas Studi Ekonomi, Ul, Jakarta, 1992, hal.3),
yaitu:
1. Hirarki Struktural, menguraikan masalah yang kompleks diuraikan menjadi bagianbagiannya atau elemen-elemennya menurut ciri atau besaran tententu sepenti jumlah,
bentuk, ukuran atau warna.
2. Hirarki Fungsional , menguraikan masalah yang kompleks menjadi bagian-bagiannya
sesuai hubungan essensialnya Misalnya masalah pemilihan pemimpin dapat diuraikan
menjadi tujuan utama yaitu mencari pemimpin, kriteria pemimpin yang sesuai dan
alternatif pemimpin-pemimpin yang memenuhi syarat. Penyusunan hirarki atau
struktur keputusan dilakukan untuk menggambarkan elemen sistem atau alternatif
keputusan yang teridentifikasi.
Tingkatan Manajemen
1. Manajer pada tingkat tertinggi hirarki organisasi , seperti direktur dan para wakil
direktur, sering disebut berada pada tingkat perencanaan strategis. Bertanggung jawab
atas pengelolaan organisasi secara keseluruhan.
2. Manajer tingkat menengah mencakup manajer wilayah, direktur produk dan kepala
divisi, berada pada tingkat pengendalian manajemen. Bertanggung jawab atas
pengelolaan organisasi berdasarkan departementalisasi, wilayah, produk atau divisi.
3. Manajer tingkat bawah, mencakup kepala departemen, supervisor, pimpinan proyek,
berada pada manajen tingkat pengendalian operasional. Bertanggung jawab atas
pelaksanaan rencana dan sasaran operasional, membuat keputusan jangka pendek

berdasarkan arah kebijakan, prosedur dan pedoman yang telah ditetapkan, serta
mengendalikan transaksi harian.
PERAN MANAJEMEN menurut Henry Mintzberg :
1. Peran Interpersonal : peran hubungan personal dapat terdiri dari :
-

figur kepala (figur head): manajer mewakili organisasi untuk kegiatan-kegiatan di luar
organisasi.
pemimpin(leader): manajer mengkoordinasi, mengendalikan, memotivasi, dan
mendukung bawahan- bawahannya.
Penghubung (liaison): manajer menghubungkan personal-personal di semua tingkatan
manajemen.

2. Peran Informational : peran dari manajer sebagai pusat syaraf (nerve center) organisasi
untuk menerima informasi yg paling mutakhir dan sebagai penyebar ( disseminator)
informasi keseluruh personal di organisasi. Peran informasi lainnya adalah manajer
sebagai juru bicara (spokesman) untuk menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan tentang
informasi yg dimilikinya.
3. Peran decisional : yang dilakukan oleh manajer adalah sebagai entreprenuer, sebagai
orang yg menangani gangguan, sebagai orang yg mengalokasikan sumber2
dayaorganisasi, dan sebagai negosiator jika terjadi konflik di dalam organisasi.
Hubungan EIS dan hirarki maanajemen mempunyai manfaat : dapat meningkatkan kuantitas
dan kualitas informasi yang tersedia bagi para eksekutif dan Kebutuhan Informasi akan
menjadi:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.

Informasi yang tepat waktu

Akses lebih besar ke data operasional
Informasi relevan yang lebih singkat
Informasi baru
Informasi lbh banyk tentang lingkungan eksternal
Informasi yang lebih kompetitif
Akses lebih cepat ke database eksternal
Akses lebih gepat ke informasi
Mengurangi biaya kertas

Enterprise Information System Berbasis Web

Web
Brosser

User

Database

Web
Server

Database
Server

Minimizing Enterprise Information System Failures

Aplication
Server

1. Understand the organizations span of complexity

2. Recognize processes where value cannot be maintained if standardization is imposed
3. Achieve a consensus in the organization before deciding to implement an enterprise
information system
Future of Enterprise Information System
Enterprise Information System industry is currently growing at a rate exceeding 30%
per year
Two directions
Rapid development
Enterprise resource management
User-friendly software
Converging database and Enterprise systems
SDLC
System Development Life Cycle
Metodologi pengembangan sistem informasi
Jenis metodologi
Waterfall
Prototype
Component
Incremental

Formula Sistem Enterprise yang Sukses

Dukungan jaminan dari eksekutif

Bantuan ahli dari pihak luar
Melatih pengguna dengan cermat dan teliti
Menggunakan pendekatan multidisciplinary pada saat implementasi

Types of Information Systems

In the previous section, we defined information system. Many types of information systems
exist on the market. To illustrate this, this section first provides a broad classifi- cation of
information systems. We then narrow our view to enterprise information systems and present
for this class of information systems an overview of existing types of software systems.
Moreover, we provide examples of typical enterprise information systems in various industries.
Classifying Information Systems
It is ambitious to classify the many types of information systems that have emerged in practice.
Many classifications for information systems exist in the literature; see classi- fications by Alter
(2002), Dumas, Van der Aalst, and Ter Hofstede (2005), and Oliv (2007), for instance. The
problem is that classification is in flux; that is, a classification developed a few years ago is not
necessarily current. As another and main limiting factor, the categories of a classification are
typically not disjointed: one type of information system belongs to multiple categories. Given
these problems, we present a high-level classification that distinguishes three classes of
information systems.
The first class of information systems is personal information systems. Such an information
system can manage and store information for a private person. Examples are an address book
or address database and an audio CD collection.
Enterprise (or organizational) information systems are the second class of information systems.
An enterprise information system is tailored toward the support of an organization. We
distinguish between generic types and technologies of information systems and information
systems for certain types of organizations. The former class of enterprise information systems
supports functionality that can be used by a wide range of organizations. Examples are
workflow management systems, enterprise resource planning systems, data warehouse
systems, and geographic information systems. In contrast, information systems for certain
types of organizations offer functionality that is tailored toward certain industries or
organizations. Examples are hospital information systems, airline reservation systems, and
electronic learning systems.
The third class of information systems is public information systems. Unlike personal
information systems, public information systems can manage and store information that can be
accessed by a community. Public libraries, information systems for museums, Web-based
community information systems, and Web-based stock-portfolio information systems are
examples of public information systems.
In this book, we concetrate on enterprise information systems. These systems play a crucial
role in a wide variety of organizations and have an enormous economic value. The complexity
and importance of such systems provide serious challenges for IT professionals ranging from
software engineers to management consultants. Business processes and business process
models play a dominant role in enterprise information systems. This explains why business
process modeling is the focus of later chapters.
Types of Enterprise Information Systems

There are many types of enterprise information systems in practice. This section gives an
overview of the most important types.
Enterprise Resource Planning Systems
An enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is an information system that supports the main
business processes of an organization for example, human resource management, sales,
marketing, management, financial accounting, controlling, and logistics. In the past, each
business process was encapsulated in a separate information system. As most of these business
processes use related data, much redundant data had to be stored within the respective
information systems. The increasing number and complexity of information systems forced
organizations to spend much effort in synchronizing the data of all information systems.
An ERP system is a solution to overcome these synchronization efforts by integrating different
information systems. It is a software system that is built on a distributed computing platform
including one or more database management systems. The computing platform serves as an
infrastructure on which the individual business processes are implemented. First-generation
ERP systems now run the complete back office functions of the worlds largest corporations.
ERP systems run typically in a three-tier client/server architecture consisting of a user interface
(or presentation) tier, an application server tier, and a database server tier. ERP systems provide
multi-instance database management, configuration management, and version (or
customization) management for the underlying database schema, for the user interface, and for
the many application programs associated with them. As ERP systems are typically designed
for multinational companies, they have to support multiple languages, multiple currencies, and
country-specific business practices. The sheer size and the tremendous complexity of these
software systems make them complicated to deploy and maintain.
ERP systems are large and complex software systems that integrate smaller and more focused
applications; for example, most ERP systems include functionality that is also present in other
enterprise information systems, such as procurement systems, manufacturing systems, sales
and marketing systems, delivery systems, finance systems, and workflow management
systems. We introduce these systems in the following discussion.
The market leader in the ERP market is SAP, with 43,000 customers for its system SAP ERP
(data from 2009). Other important vendors are Oracle, Sage Company, and Microsoft.
Procurement Systems
A procurement system is an information system that helps an organization automate the
purchasing process. The aim of a procurement system is to acquire what is needed to keep the
business processes running at minimal cost. With the available inventory, the expected arrival
of ordered goods, and forecasts based on sales and production plans, the procurement system
determines the requirements and generates new orders. At the same time, it tracks whether
ordered goods arrive. The key point is to order the right amount of material at the right time
from the right source. If the material arrives too early, money for buying the material and
warehouse space to store the material will be tied up. If, in contrast, the material arrives too

late, then production is disrupted. Hence, the goal is to balance reducing inventory costs with
reducing the risk of out-of-stock situations.
Procurement is an important ingredient of supply chain management (SCM), in which
coordination of the purchasing processes is not limited to two actors. Instead, SCM aims at
closely coordinating an organization with its suppliers so that inefficiencies are avoided by
optimizing the entire purchasing process. For example, by synchronizing the production
process of an organization with its suppliers, all parties may reduce their inventories. The
market leader in the SCM market is SAP with SAP SCM; competitors are Oracle and JDA
Software (data from 2007).
Procurement is related to electronic data interchange (EDI), the electronic exchange of
information based on a standard set of messages. EDI can be used to avoid delays and errors
in the procurement process as a result of rekeying information. In the classical (pre-EDI)
situation, a purchase order is entered into the procurement system of one organization, it is
printed, and the printed purchase order is sent to the order processing department or to another
organization. The information on the printed purchase order is then reentered into the
procurement system. By using EDI or technology such as Web services, organizations can
automate these parts of the procurement process. The purchase order is electronically sent to
the processing department or to the other organization. This automation makes the overall
procurement process faster and less error-prone, thereby reducing the costs for each purchase
order.
Manufacturing Systems
Manufacturing systems support the production processes in organizations. Driven by
information, such as the bill of materials (BOM), inventory levels, and available capacity, they
plan the production process. With increasing automation of production processes,
manufacturing systems have become more and more important. For example, most steps in the
production line of a car, such as welding the auto body, are performed by robots. This requires
precise scheduling and material movement and, hence, a manufacturing system that supports
these processes.
Material requirements planning (MRP) is an approach to translate requirements (i.e., the
number of products for each period), inventory status data, and the BOM into a production plan
without considering capacities. Successors, such as manufacturing resources planning (MRP2),
also take capacity information into account. Software based on MRP and MRP2 has been the
starting point for many ERP systems.
Consider an organization that produces different flavors of yogurt (e.g., strawberry, peach, and
pear). The organization has several machines to produce yogurt; each machine can produce any
flavor. Production planning means scheduling each machine for the flavor of yogurt it must
produce. The production plan depends on the demand for each flavor and on the delivery of
ingredients. Furthermore, each machine has to be cleaned at regular intervals and when the
production changes to a new flavor. Calculating a production plan is a complex optimization
problem, often depending on several thousand constraints. Consequently, the aim is to find a
good solution rather than an optimum solution.

Sales and Marketing Systems

Sales and marketing systems need to process customer orders by taking into account issues
such as availability. These systems are driven by software addressing the four ps: product,
price, place, and promotion. Organizations undertake promotional activities and offer their
products at competitive prices to boost sales, but a product that is not available or not at the
right location cannot be sold. One prominent example of a promotional activity is a bonus card
in supermarkets. Customers who register for a bonus card get a discount or a voucher. Bonus
cards are an instrument for organizations to obtain personal data about their customers (e.g.,
age, address) and data about the buying behavior of customers (i.e., what they buy and when
they buy it). These data are collected and processed by an information system. The information
extracted from these data can help to improve marketing and to determine the range of products
to offer.
New technologies are increasingly used to support sales over the Internet. Electronic commerce
uses the Internet to inform (potential) customers, to execute the purchase transaction, and to
deliver the product. Again, this functionality is typically embedded in an ERP system. To
manage the contact with their customers, organizations use dedicated customer relationship
management (CRM) systems. A CRM system has a database to store all customer-related
information, such as contact details and past purchases. This information helps tailor the
marketing efforts to expected customer needs. As an example, a car dealer does not need to
send information about a new expensive sports car to customers who recently bought a van or
a compact car.
Delivery Systems
A delivery system is an information system that supports the delivery of goods to customers.
The task of these systems is to plan and schedule when and in what order customers receive
their products. Consider, for example, a transportation company with hundreds of trucks. The
planning of trips, the routing of these trucks, and reacting to on-the-fly changes require
dedicated software. Creating an optimal schedule is a complex optimization problem. As
circumstancesfor example, traffic jams and production problemsmay force rescheduling,
contemporary delivery systems aim to find a good solution rather than a theoretical optimum
solution. More and more delivery systems offer tracking-and-tracing functionality; for
example, customers of package delivery companies, such as UPS, can track down the location
of a specific parcel via the Internet.
Finance Systems
Among the oldest information systems are finance systems. These systems support the flow of
money within and between organizations. Finance systems typically provide accounting
functionality to maintain a consistent and auditable set of books for reporting and management
support. Another important application of finance systems is the stock market. At a stock
market, dedicated information systems are essential to process the operations. Again, the
functionality of finance systems is absorbed by ERP systems. The origin of the SAP system,
for example, was in finance rather than production planning.

Product Design Systems

Enterprise information systems not only support the production of products, they also support
the design of products. Examples are computer-aided design (CAD) systems and product data
management (PDM) systems. CAD systems support the graphical representation and the design
of product specifications. PDM systems support the design process in a broader sense by
managing designs and their documentation. Typically, there are many versions of the same
design, and designs of different components need to be integrated. To support such complex
concurrent engineering processes, PDM systems offer versioning functionality.
Workflow Management Systems
Many organizations aim to automate their business processes. To this end, they have to specify
in which order the activities of a business process must be executed and which person has to
execute an activity at which time. A workflow refers to the automation of a business process,
in whole or in part. Each activity of the workflow is implemented as software. The workflow
logic specifies the order of the activities. A workflow management system (WfMS) is an
information system that defines, manages, and executes workflows. The execution order of the
workflows activities is driven by a computer representation of the workflow logic. The
ultimate goal of workflow management is to make sure that the proper activities are executed
by the right people at the right time (Aalst and Hee 2004).
Not every business process corresponds to a single workflow. Workflows are casebased; that
is, every piece of work is executed for a specific case. One can think of a case as a workflow
instance, such as a mortgage, an insurance claim, a tax declaration, a purchase order, or a
request for information. Each case is handled individually according to the workflow definition
(often referred to as the workflow schema). Examples of business processes that do not
correspond to a single workflow are stock-keeping processes; for example, in make-to-stock
and assemble-to-order processes, end products or materials already exist before the order is
placed (i.e., before the case is created, manufacturing or assembly activities have already
occurred). For this reason, only fragments of such business processes (i.e., in-between stocking
points) are considered to be workflows.
Interestingly, WfMSs are embedded in some of the enterprise information systems already
mentioned; for example, most ERP and PDM systems include one or more WfMS components.
Besides enterprise information systems, middleware software (e.g., IBMs WebSphere) and
development platforms (e.g., the .NET framework) embed work- flow functionality; see the
WebSphere Process Server and the Windows Workflow Foundation. Examples of stand-alone
WfMSs are BPM|one, FileNet, and YAWL.
Data Warehouses
A data warehouse is a large database that stores historical and upto-date information from a
variety of sources. It is optimized for fast query answering. To allow this, there are three
continuous processes: The first process extracts data at regular intervals from its information
sources, loads the data into auxiliary tables, and then cleans and transforms the loaded data to
make it suitable for the data warehouse schema. Processing queries from users and from data

analysis applications is the task of the second process. The third process archives the
information that is no longer needed by means of tertiary storage technology.
Nowadays, most organizations employ information systems for financial accounting,
purchasing, sales and inventory management, production planning, and management control.
To efficiently use the vast amount of information that these operational systems have been
collecting over the years for planning and decision-making purposes, the information from all
relevant sources must be merged and consolidated in a data warehouse.
Whereas an operational database is accessed by online transaction processing (OLTP)
applications that update its content, a data warehouse is accessed by ad hoc user queries and
by special data analysis programs, referred to as online analytical processing (OLAP)
applications. In a banking environment, for example, there may be an OLTP application for
controlling the banks automated teller machines (ATMs). This application performs frequent
updates to tables storing current account information in a detailed format. There may also be
an OLAP application for analyzing the behavior of bank customers. A typical query that could
be answered by such a system would be to calculate the average amount that customers of a
certain age withdraw from their accounts by using ATMs in a certain region. To minimize
response times for such complex queries, the bank would maintain a data warehouse into which
all relevant information (including historical account data) from other databases is loaded and
suitably aggregated.
Queries in data warehouses typically refer to business events, such as sales transactions or
online shop visits that are recorded in event history tables (i.e., fact tables) with designated
columns for storing the time and the location at which the event occurred. An event record
usually has numeric parameters (e.g., an amount, a quantity, or a duration) and additional
parameters (e.g., references to the agents and objects involved in the event). Whereas the
numeric parameters are the basis for forming statistical queries the time, location, and reference
parameters are the dimensions of the requested statistics. There are multidimensional databases
for representing and processing this type of multidimensional data. The leader in the data
warehouse market is Oracle (data from 2009).
Business Intelligence Systems
A business intelligence system provides tools to analyze the performancethat is, the
efficiency and the effectivenessof running business processes. These tools extract
information on the business processes from the data available in an organization. Different
tools and techniques exist, among them business performance management, business activity
monitoring, querying and reporting, data mining, and process mining.
Business performance management concentrates on improving the performance of business
processes. The goal is to extract information from the history of running business processes
and to display this information on a management dashboard. For example, one could monitor
a credit approval process to get insight into the length of time required to make the decision.
In contrast to business performance management, business activity monitoring aims at
providing real-time information on business processes and the activities in these business

processes. The goal is to support decision making at runtime. Such a tool may monitor
inventory levels, response times, or queues and take action whenever needed.
Querying and reporting tools explore data (e.g., stored in a data warehouse) to provide insight
into efficiency and effectiveness of business processes and trends in the environment.
Typically, statistical analysis is applied to the data to distinguish between trends and isolated
events.
The term data mining refers to a collection of techniques to extract patterns from examples.
Originally, the term data mining had a negative connotation (i.e., data dredging, data
snooping, and data fishing), but nowadays data mining is an established research domain with
a huge impact. Examples of classical data mining tasks are classification (which arranges the
data into predefined groups), clustering (like classification, but the groups are not predefined),
regression (which attempts to find a function that models the data with the least error), and
association rule learning (which searches for relationships between variables). Data mining
techniques can be applied to any type of data and do not explicitly consider business processes.
Process mining looks at data from the viewpoint of a particular business process. Information
systems usually log the occurrences of eventsfor example, accepting an order, sending an
invoice, or receiving a payment. The availability of such event logs, which contain footprints
of a business process, enables the discovery of models describing reality. The resulting business
process model can be compared with the specification of the business process and used for
simulation and performance analysis.
Business intelligence is still a young discipline that will receive more acceptance and attention
soon. Most commercial tools support business performance management, business activity
monitoring, and querying and reporting rather than the more sophisticated techniques of data
and process mining. Business intelligence is so far restricted to reporting information on
running business processes and offers little support in terms of how a business process can be
improved. The market leader in business intelligence is SAP (data from 2008) with SAP
BusinessObjects; other main vendors are SAS, IBM, Oracle, and Microsoft. Examples of opensource projects providing data and process mining software are WEKA (Witten and Frank
2005) and ProM (Aalst, Reijers, et al. 2007).
Enterprise Information Systems in Different Industries
The various types of enterprise information systems have different levels of granularity. For
example, SAP Business Workflow is just one component in the large SAP ERP system, but its
functionality is comparable to many stand-alone WfMSs. Functionality of software systems is
more and more wrapped into services that can be accessed over the Internet, which allows
software systems to be viewed at different levels of granularity. Organizations do not develop
their enterprise information systems from scratch; they instead purchase large software suites
that must to be customized, or they assemble a software system from components.
Configuration corresponds to specifying information about the organization and its business
processes and to switching functionality on or off. Organizations typically use only a small
percentage of the functionality provided by software vendors, such as SAP. Similarly, few

hospitals use all of the functionality provided by software vendors, such as ChipSoft and
Siemens.
The abundance of functionality in todays enterprise information systems can be explained by
looking at the cost of software. Development of enterprise information systems is extremely
expensive, because these systems arefrom an engineering point of viewhighly
complicated. However, once developed, software can be copied without much effort. This
development cycle is completely different from that of physical products. For this reason,
software vendors are tempted to provide an abundance of functionality that can be adapted to
the customers specific requirements. As a result, software vendors shift efforts from software
implementation to configuration of enterprise information systems.
The application of a particular enterprise information system and its configuration depends on
the industry an organization is operating in. For example, a hospital, a bank, a manufacturer,
and a municipality may all use an ERP system, such as SAP, but the configurations will vary.
Although all four organizations may use the financial component or the procurement
component of SAP, it is likely that only the manufacturer is using the MRP component for
production planning. In addition to standard components, these organizations will use industryspecific enterprise information systems. For example, the hospital may use a dedicated
radiology information system and an information system to create and maintain electronic
patient records. The bank will have software to make calculations related to interest and
mortgages, and the municipality will have software to access governmental administrations.
The hospital, the bank, the manufacturer, and the municipality in this example may use the
same WfMS (e.g., BPM|one or YAWL), but the workflow schemas that are used to configure
the systems of the four organizations are different. For example, the municipality will need to
specify the business process for registering a newborn. This business process is irrelevant for
the other three organizations.
Given the various types of enterprise information systems and the many ways they can be
configured, this chapter does not target specific industries or specific types of enterprise
information systems. Instead, we concentrate on general principles of (enterprise) information
systems.
The Life Cycle of an Information System
There are various ways to develop an enterprise information system. Accordingly, the most
important question a designer of such a system has to deal with is: how do I develop an
enterprise information system? To answer this question, we introduce a life cycle model of
enterprise information systems. This life cycle model covers the phases of the development
process of an enterprise information system. Enterprise information systems are complex
software systems that are modified to reflect organizational needs and changes rather than
developed from scratch. For this reason, the life cycle model includes phases that address
change and redesign of existing enterprise information systems. In this section, we aim at being
more generic and consider information systems rather than enterprise information systems.
Introduction to the Life Cycle Model

When considering the development process of an information system, however, we interpret

the information system in a more narrow sense in which just the software is taken into account.
Information systems typically have two development processes. In the first development
process, a generic information system is implemented; in the second development process, this
system is customized. For example, for an ERP system, software vendors, such as SAP,
implement new releases of their ERP system for other organizations. The implementation of
the ERP system is guided by the development process of the software vendor. After an
organization purchases an ERP system, this ERP system passes through the development
process of the organization. In this second development process, the ERP system needs to be
installed, configured, customized, and introduced in the organization.
There can be mixtures of these two development processes. For example, the information
system of a bank may be composed of selected components of an ERP system and of selfdeveloped software components that provide specific functionality. In this case, the
development process for building the information system for the bank includes a software
development process similar to that of software vendors. Because of their tremendous
complexity, existing information systems are usually redesigned and iteratively improved
rather than replaced by a new system. As a consequence, the development process of an
information system contains phases, such as maintenance and improvement. For example, in
the information system of a bank, the ERP system may be reconfigured or upgraded to a newer
version.
Organizations develop and run information systems, which may involve software components
purchased from other organizations. People who are going to use the information system are
the users or participants. People who design the information system or the products that are
used to assemble the information system are the designers. In this section, we concentrate on
the work of designers.
Many life cycle models are described in the literature and used in practice. Some aim at the
software development process (e.g., within companies), and others aim at the development of
an information system in an organization (e.g., a bank). Our life cycle model, depicted in figure
1, is a mixture of both. Each rectangle illustrates a phase in the life cycle, and arcs represent
the order of the phases. The main cycle models the development process of a new information
system. It takes into account the development process of generic software, the development
process of information systems that are customized from generic software, and a mixture of
these development processes. The two smaller cycles, which contain shaded rectangles, model
the development process of existing information systemsthat is, the maintenance and the
improvement of running information systems.

Requirement
Runtime
analysis

Monitoring

(Re) design

Adjustment

Migration

Implementation
Production

Execution

Distribution

Configuration
Deployment

Figure 1 The life cycle model of an enterprise information system.

Roles of Models
A model of an enterprise information system can serve different purposes. We identify two
dimensions to characterize models of enterprise information systems. First, a model may be
design oriented or analysis oriented. Second, a model may be information system oriented or
business process oriented. Table 1 shows that these two dimensions are orthogonal, and
therefore we have to distinguish four kinds of models.
The role of a design/information-system-oriented model is to create a new enterprise
information system or to adapt an existing one. An example is a specification model and an
implementation model. The purpose of such a model is to specify desired functionality, to
document requirements and design decisions, to guide implementation efforts, or to prescribe
a configuration.
An analysis/information-system-oriented model focuses on the analysis of an enterprise
information system. The purpose of such a model is to gain insight into an existing enterprise
information system or into an enterprise information system after it has been created. For
example, we can verify models to discover design flaws in new or existing enterprise
information systems, and simulation can predict performance under different circumstances.
Table 1
The Different Roles That Models Play

Information system

Design
Specification
Requirements
Design decisions

Analysis
Verification
Performance analysis

Design
analys

Business process

Implementation
Configuratoin
Business process reengineering Performance analysis
Continuous
process Gaming
improvement

In contrast to the two previous kinds of models, a design/business-process-oriented model

focuses on the (re)design of business processes supported by an enterprise information system
(and not on the enterprise information system). The goal is to improve the performance of
business processes by redesigning them. Business process reengineering (BPR) (Hammer and
Champy 1993) aims at a radical redesign of business processes. New enterprise information
systems may be needed to achieve such a redesign. Consequently, BPR initiatives may trigger
enterprise information system development. Continuous process improvement (CPI)
(Harrington 1991) aims at less radical change. Business processes are continuously reviewed
to search for gradual improvements. Continuous monitoring can, for example, support CPI
initiatives.
An analysis/business-process-oriented model focuses on the analysis of business processes
supported by an enterprise information system. The goal is to evaluate existing business
processes or to judge alternative business process designs obtained through BPR/CPI
initiatives. Simulation is the primary analysis technique used here. It can evaluate the
performance of business processes (e.g., response times, flow times, inventory levels, costs,
and service levels). Furthermore, interactive simulation models can create management games
that help users to spot inefficiencies and understand new ways of working.
In some cases, it may not be clear whether a model is intended to be used for information
system analysis and design or for business process analysis and design. Later in this book, we
shall see examples of models that are used to analyze the performance of business processes
using simulation but that also serve as a specification or configuration model for an information
system. To simulate a system, additional information about times and probabilities is necessary.