Design and Value of Service-Oriented Technologies for Smart Business Networking

Business networks that effectively use technologies and outperform competing networks are known as smart business networks. Theory hypothesizes that smart business networking requires a ‘Networked Business Operating System’ (NBOS), a technological architecture consisting of business logic, that enables high performance business networking. At the heart of the NBOS architecture are services (provided and used by organizations in the business network) and a centralized directory that contributes to finding, selecting and executing the services available. While the idea of SOA for NBOS is compelling, SOA has largely remained a technological concept mainly applied in intra-organizational settings and received only limited adoption in business networks. The key question addressed in this paper is how firms in a business network can develop a NBOS so that SOA technologies create business value. This research aims to contribute to the understanding of the business value of SOA for smart business networking. An in-depth case study in a German banking network is used to obtain profound insights in the intricacies of service design and the business value of SOA technologies in practice. The findings are generalized in an initial research model, distinguishing between service network design and service directory design within business networks.

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