Analysis of the Critical Success Factors of SOA Implementation in China Tobacco Company Based on DEMATEL Approach Yong Cen

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1 Internatonal Conference on Automaton, Mechancal Control and Computatonal Engneerng (AMCCE 2015) Analyss of the Crtcal Success Factors of SOA Implementaton n Chna Tobacco Company Based on DEMATEL Approach Yong Cen Informaton Center, Chna Tobacco Zhejang Industral Co., Ltd Hangzhou, , Chna Keywords: servce orented archtecture, crtcal success factors, DEMATEL, SOA mplementaton. Abstract. Despte the wdespread use of SOA desgn prncples, t remans not only techncally dffcult to mplement, but also presents a substantal challenge to systems archtects and managers. Ths study provdes a methodology to evaluate SOA mplementaton crtcal success factors (CSFs) that can ad managers make proper SOA nvestment strateges. Through a comprehensve systematc revew of the SOA lterature and 15 SOA-specfc CSFs for the successful mplementaton of SOA are dentfed. Ths paper use DEMATEL approach to vsualze the structure of complcated causal relatonshps between these CSFs and obtan the nfluence level of these factors. The fve most mportant factors found n the study, from amongst the dentfed CSFs; nclude deepenng of enterprse-wde percepton of SOA, long-term plannng and step-by-step evoluton plannng wth consderaton of current capacty, Enterprse-wde management support, project team and standardzaton of busness process. We also found a number of drect and ndrect relatonshps amongst the CSF factors. Introducton At present, servce orented archtecture (SOA) s one of the most popular topcs whch s an archtecture buldng method used to descrbe, lnk and ntegrate the reusable busness servces wth clear boundary and self-contaned functons. The paradgm of SOA has recently emerged as a conceptual archtecture framework facltatng ths change n allowng agle busness processes to adjust flexbly to a changng envronment [1]. Ths shft n paradgm towards SOA s ntended to meet frms needs to respond quckly to rapdly changng market demands. In fact, the dynamc capablty of a frm to adapt to changes n both ts nternal and external envronment has become an aspect of ts core competency [2]. Organzatons that mplement SOA can: reduce costs, reuse software (e.g. web servces), ntegrate ther legacy systems and IT nfrastructures, and better algn busness wth IT [3]. However, based on statstcs n Heffner s reports, t s obvous that 58 percent of SOA adopters have not yet fgured out how to beneft from ther projects [4]. Thus, even though SOA s consdered as a valuable archtectural paradgm, there exst factors that are unclear to mplementers exst. These are manly non-techncal factors and can affect the success of SOA mplementatons [5, 6]. Ths paper therefore ams to determne the CSFs for successful SOA mplementaton n Chna Tobacco Company and to descrbe the practces that lead to the presence of these factors. Through an ntensve lterature revew, ths study has managed to extract nfluencng factors from the summary of crtera n former research. Thus, a decson-makng tral and evaluaton laboratory (DEMATEL) method [7] s adapted to construct a network structure of nterdependent factors. Usng ths method, could gather group knowledge to form a structural model, and then vsualze the causal relatonshp among factors through a cause-effect relatonshp dagram. The outcomes of DEMATEL provde nformaton about the mpact each factor has on the SOA mplementaton. Through analysng and dscussng the structural model, we can fgure out whch factors are of more fundamental mportance for the whole mplementaton process, and whch are not The authors - Publshed by Atlants Press 630

2 SOA mplementaton crtcal success factors: a lterature revew SOA s an archtectural paradgm n whch busness processes are composed usng web servces. From a techncal perspectve, SOA addresses ssues related to reuse, mantenance and ntegraton. From a busness perspectve, SOA provdes servces that are algned wth nternal or external busness needs. SOA provdes an opportunty to acheve broad-scale nteroperablty, whle offerng flexblty to adapt to changng technologes and busness requrements [8]. Despte the benefts that SOA provdes, not all SOA projects have delvered the expected outcomes due to organzatons lack of understandng especally n non-techncal factors (manageral, human, etc.) surroundng SOA mplementatons [4]. For ths reason, we decded to focus our study on CSFs of SOA mplementatons n Chna Tobacco Company gven that: SOA projects are affected by varous factors and the mportance of projects success. Yoon and Carter nvestgate the antecedents and benefts of SOA mplementaton through fve dfferent case studes, stressng the mportance of IT and busness algnment besdes other crtcal factors such as effectve governance, senor management, and SOA regstres [9]. Bemborn et al. gven a conceptual research model suggests that system compatblty and complexty may drve SOA busness value, whle a dscrepancy between busness needs and SOA system features may nhbt ts successful use [10]. Konstantnos et al. explored numerous factors affect SOA success through lterature revew, then analysed and dentfy crtcal success factors nfluencng SOA mplementaton n healthcare [6]. Aer et al. studed focus on what are the characterstcs of successful mplementatons of servce orented nformaton systems, and what are the crtcal success factors nfluencng drvng and/or, determnng these characterstcs through emprcal analyss [11]. Owens et al. conducted a comprehensve systematc revew of the SOA lterature, and dentfed fve SOA-specfc CSFs may be crtcal for realzng the benefts of SOA [12]. Lee et al. takes the form of an exploratory study based on a revew of SOA lteratures and ntervews and clams to dentfy twenty factors n successful SOA adopton, and subsequently defnes a concrete mplementaton polcy for each factor [13]. Haresh and Feth revewed the current state of the technology, dentfed the factors nfluencng the decson to adopt servce-orented computng as an enterprse strategy and dscussed the assocated research lterature, and concluded wth a suggested research agenda and conceptual framework for nvestgatng the use of servce-orented computng n practce [14]. Based on the 15 ndvdual factors that are derved from the lterature as follow the table 1 shown: Table 1: Summary of CSFs ID Crtcal Success Factors X1 Deepenng of enterprse-wde percepton of SOA X2 Enterprse-wde management support X3 Clear goal-settng based on busness value X4 Long-term plannng and step-by-step evoluton plannng wth consderaton of current capacty X5 Framng an organzatonal model for SOA management X6 Fosterng a partnershp culture between busness and IT X7 Generatng standard defntons of SOA technology X8 Defnng scope of technology applcaton / securty foundaton X9 Standardzaton of busness process X10 Defnton of SOA-based development methodology X11 Project team X12 Strengthenng busness servce-orented desgn process X13 Managng SOA polcy processes X14 Establshng a servce development/ operaton management process X15 Rsks management 631

3 DEMATEL methodology DEMATEL s bult on the bass of graph theory, enablng analyses and solves problems by vsualzaton method. Ths structural modellng approach adopts the form of a drected graph, a causal-effect dagram, to present the nterdependence relatonshps and the values of nfluental effect between factors. Through analyss of vsual relatonshp of levels among system factors, all elements are dvded nto causal group and effected group. And ths can help researchers better understand the structural relatonshp between system elements, and fnd ways to solve complcate system problems [15, 16]. The procedure of DEMATEL method can be depcted by the followng fve steps: Step1: Generate the ntal drect-relaton matrx. Form a commttee of experts, and acqure the assessments about drect affect between each par of elements. Convertng the lngustc assessments nto crsp values, we obtan the drect-relaton matrx X = [ x j ], where s X a n n nonnegatve matrx, x ndcates the drect mpact of factor on factor j. j Step2: Normalze the ntal drect-relaton matrx. The normalzed drect-relaton matrx D = [ d j ] can be obtaned through Eq. (1). 1 D = X (1) n max x 1 n j = 1 j Step3: Acqure the total-relaton matrxt usng the Eq. (2) n whch I s an n n dentty matrx. The elementt j ndcates the ndrect effects that factor on factor j, so the matrx can reflect the total relatonshp between each par of system factors. 1 T = D( I D) (2) Step4: Calculate the sum of rows and columns of matrxt. To make the outcome more vsble, we compute D and R j through Eq. (3) and (4), respectvely. The sum of row, whch s denoted as D, represents all drect and ndrect nfluence gven by factor to all other factors, and so D can be called the degree of nfluental mpact. Smlarly, the sum of column j, whch s denoted as R can j be called as the degree of nfluenced mpact, snce R j summarzes both drect and ndrect mpact receved by factor j from all other factors. D = x j (3) 1 j n R j = x j 1 n Step5: Construct cause-effect relatonshp dagram based on D + R and D R. A cause-effect dagram can be drawn by mappng the dataset of ( D + R, D R ). And the complex nterrelatonshp among factors s vsualzed through the dagram constructon process. Crtcal success factor analyss of SOA mplementaton Applcaton of proposed method.the crtcal success factors nfluencng SOA mplementaton are analyzed and structured followng the proposed method. In the frst step a questonnare was ssued to 7 respondents (managers, IT staffs, consultants), and they were asked to evaluate the drect nfluence between any two factors n those llustrate 15 CSFs (1-least mportant, 2-less mportant, 3-mportant, 4-very mportant, and 5-crucal). Thus, the normalzed ntal drect-relaton matrx as Table 2 s obtaned. Next usng Eq. (2), the total-relaton matrx (Table 3) s calculated. So ndexes and scores of each factor can be obtaned usng Eq. (3) and (4), as shown n Table 4. (4) 632

4 Table 2: The normalzed ntal drect-relaton matrx ID X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 X7 X8 X9 X10 X11 X12 X13 X14 X15 X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 X7 X8 X9 X10 X11 X12 X13 X14 X Table 3: The total-relaton matrx ID X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 X7 X8 X9 X10 X11 X12 X13 X14 X15 X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 X7 X8 X9 X10 X11 X12 X13 X14 X

5 Table 4: The scores of each factor and related values for cause and effect groups ID CSFs D R j D + R D R X1 Deepenng of enterprse-wde percepton of SOA X2 Project team X3 Clear goal-settng based on busness value X4 Long-term plannng and step-by-step evoluton plannng wth consderaton of current capacty X5 Framng an organzatonal model for SOA management X6 Fosterng a partnershp culture between busness and IT X7 Generatng standard defntons of SOA technology X8 Defnng scope of technology applcaton / securty foundaton X9 Standardzaton of busness process X10 Defnton of SOA-based development methodology X11 Enterprse-wde management support X12 Strengthenng busness servce-orented desgn process X13 Managng SOA polcy processes X14 Establshng a servce development/ operaton management process X15 Rsks management Fg.1: The cause-effect relatonshp dagram Accordng to the data n Table 3 and Table 4, the cause-effect relatonshp dagram s acqured by mappng the dataset of ( D + R, D R ). As shown n Fg. 1, the factors are vsually dvded nto two groups accordng to whether ts value of D R s postve or negatve. So the cause group wth postve D R value ncludes X1, X2, X3, X4, X5, X6, X11 and other factors ncludng X7, X8, X9, X10, X12, X13, X14, X15 are n the effect group snce the D R of these factors are negatve. There are many other valuable clues that can be obtaned from Fg. 1 to facltate to make decsons. 634

6 Indeed D + R s the promnence and D R s the relatonshp. That s, D + R llustrates the mportance of the factor (the strength of both gven and receved nfluences of ths factor to and from other factors). In general when D R s postve the factor s a part of the cause group and when t s negatve, the factor s of the affected group. Analyss of crtcal success factors. 1)Cause factors analyss Among all factors n cause group, X11 (Enterprse-wde management support) has the second place D R, whch means that X11 dspatches remarkable mpact on the whole mplementaton than that t receves from other factors. Besdes, Table 4 shows that the degree of nfluental mpact of X11 s , whch ranks frst place among all causal factors. It s ndcated that X11 has more mpact on other factors, and that mprovement of X11 can lead to the success of the SOA mplementaton and worth much more attenton. The factor havng the frst hghest D R s factor X1(Deepenng of enterprse-wde percepton of SOA). However, as shown n Fg. 1, ts score n the degree of mportance D + R s relatvely very low. We further analyze the ndexes n Table 4 and fnd out the reason for t. Accordng to the D and R scores of X1, ts nfluental mpact on others s hgh whle the mpact t receves from others s the most small, whch leads to a small value of D + R. Nevertheless, ths relatvely small value of D + R could not dspute the fact that factor X1 has a great mpact on the whole mplementaton. Meanwhle, X2 (Project team) s for smlar reasons. So, X1 and X2 can be clustered as a CSF. The factor X4 (Long-term plannng and step-by-step evoluton plannng wth consderaton of current capacty) and X5(Framng an organzatonal model for SOA management), the value of D R s not hgh, but ts score n the degree of mportance D and D + R are very hgh, thus, the fact that factor X4 and X5 have a great mpact on the whole mplementaton. Accordng to the outcomes derved from DEMATEL method, the mpact dspatched from X3(Clear goal-settng based on busness value) and X6(Fosterng a partnershp culture between busness and IT)to other factors s greater than the mpact t receves. But both the D and R scores of X3 and X6 are not hgh enough. It s obvous that the two factors do not have notable mpact on the whole mplementaton. 2)Effect factors analyss Generally speakng, factors n effect group are tend to be easly mpacted by others, whch makes effect factors unsutable to be a crtcal success factor. Nevertheless, t s stll necessary to dscuss effect factors to fnd out the feature of these factor. Among all eght effect factors, X9(Standardzaton of busness process) has the hghest D + R, showng that t s of the most mportance for the operaton. But n Fg. 1 we can see that the D R score of X9 s , a value slghtly less than zero announcng X9 as a net effect factor. To further llustrate ths phenomenon, ts degree of nfluenced mpact R whch s , ranks the thrd hghest among all system factors, meanwhle, ts degree of nfluental mpact ndex D s hgh. Ths suggests that although X9 s a net recever, t has an apparent mpact on other factors and on the mplementaton. So consderng the mportant poston of X9 n the SOA mplementaton. From the cause-effect relatonshp dagram, we can see that factor X8 (Defnng scope of technology applcaton / securty foundaton) s an effect factor wth D R as slghtly below zero. It suggests that X8 s just slghtly net affected by other system factors, and t also has a consderable mpact on the mplementaton at the same tme. But Table 4 reveals that the mportance degree D + R of X8 s , a number not hgh enough to label t as a CSF. Besdes, the factor X8 s more ndependent and there are fewer factors whch wll mpact ths varable. There are some features n common of the rest factors ncludng X7(Generatng standard 635

7 defntons of SOA technology), X10(Defnton of SOA-based development methodology), X12(Strengthenng busness servce-orented desgn process), X13(Managng SOA polcy processes), X14(Establshng a servce development/ operaton management process) and X15(Rsks management). They are all net effect factors, ther mportance values D + R are low, and ther D R are very low scores of negatve value suggestng a strong nfluenced degree. Therefore, all these factors can be easly mproved by adjustng other factors, and thus cannot have crtcal mpact on the mplementaton to promote the success of the SOA mplementaton. Conclusons In ths paper used DEMATEL method to fgure out CSFs n accordance wth potentally numerous crtera useful for SOA mplementaton. Ths method successfully adapts DEMATEL n uncertan stuaton by applyng lngustc varables. Ths proposed method successfully determned the mportance of each factors and further acqured the causal and effect relatonshps among those 15 factors. Thus, a set of 15 complex nfluencng factors are dvded nto a cause group and an effect group, and a vsble cause-effect relatonshp dagram s constructed. In partcular, on the bass of cause-effect relatonshp dagram, fve CSFs that are extraordnarly essental for mplementaton are dentfed. So the decson makers can apply an mplementaton approach to ensure the performance of SOA under the constrants of avalable resources. Even though some lmtatons and dsadvantages do exst, there s opportunty to nvestgate how ths tool can be used to expand SOA mplementaton. Not only can DEMATEL be used as a way to handle the nterdependences wthn a set of crtera, but also can produce more valuable nformaton for makng decsons. Ths method plays an mportant role n mprovng SOA mplementaton strategy and operatons especally when t s n a stuaton where complex envronments exst. References [1] Papazoglou, M. P., Georgakopoulos, D. Servce-orented Computng. Communcatons of the ACM, 46(10), pp , [2] Sher, P., Lee, V. Informaton Technology as a Facltator for Enhancng Dynamc Capabltes through Knowledge Management. Informaton & Management, 41 (8), pp , [3] Mueller Benjamn, G.V., Legner, C. and Rempp, G. Understandng the economc potental of servce-orented archtecture. Journal of Management Informaton Systems, 26(4), pp , [4] Heffner, R. Forrester Report: Survey Results Show SOAGovernance Improves SOA Beneft Realzaton. Forrester Inc, Cambrdge, MA, [5] Morabto, V., Themstocleous, M. and Serrano, A. A survey on ntegrated IS and compettve advantage. Journal of Enterprse Informaton Management, 23(2), pp , [6] Konstantnos Koumadts, Marnos Themstocleous, Paulo Rupno Da Cunha. SOA mplementaton crtcal success factors n healthcare. Journal of Enterprse Informaton Management, 26(4), pp , [7] Gabus, A., Fontela, E.. World problems, an nvtaton to further thought wthn the framework of DEMATEL. Battelle Geneva Research Centre, Swtzerland, Geneva, [8] Mahmood, Z. The promse and lmtatons of servce orented archtecture. Internatonal Journal of Computers, 1(3), pp , [9] Yoon, T., Carter, P. (2007). Investgatng the Antecedents and Benefts of SOA Implementaton: A Mult-Case Study Approach. In AIS (Eds.) Proceedngs of the 13th Amercas Conference on Informaton Systems. Colorado, August pp ,

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