Enterprise goes mobile: A framework and methodology for creating a mobile enterprise.

摘要

Research on how an enterprise should integrate mobile technologies in support of its business processes within the context of the Enterprise Architecture (EA) is new. This research followed the Inductive-Hypothetic Research Strategy (Sol, 1982) and the research process model (Steenkamp, 2005). Several research methods were used to conceptualize the solution, capture data and demonstrate concept. The background theory and application were explored through an extensive literature review, as well as a focused literature review of the focal theory, guided by the purpose of the study, the research questions, and theoretical conjecture about a possible solution. The purpose of the research was to propose an approach for developing mobile enterprise architecture (MEA). This involved designing an MEA analytical framework and methodology for creating a mobile enterprise (ME).;The proposition for the research was: "Enterprises can obtain business benefits from adopting emerging mobile technologies following a systematic approach". The literature review showed that the ME market is still in its infancy. Only a few mobile solutions have so far resulted in good return (benefits) of investment last few years. With limited budget and resources, enterprises need in-depth examples and practical guidance to successfully formulate, manage and maintain the portfolio of their mobile initiatives to ensure that the investments made in mobile technologies yield the anticipated benefits. These facts stimulated the research questions. The demonstration of the proposed approach was done by means of a real world case study: VMG, a subset of a provincial government, and a simulated experimentation. The demonstration suggests that the proposed framework and methodology can be easily adopted by the VMG mobile initiatives and yield considerable benefits. It was also concluded that the proposed approach may be easily applied to other enterprises thereby supporting the proposition. The contribution of the research is summarized as follows: The approach for developing an ME architecture, the MEA framework, the MEA process model, supporting MEA methodology and other MEA viewpoints and views related models.;Keywords: Mobile enterprise (ME), MEA, framework and methodology, ME value web.