Success Factors of Application Integration: An Exploratory Analysis

The increased deployment of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) applications creates application integration challenges. However, very few articles focus on application integration success. That is why we first analyze these contributions and derive success factor candidates (SFCs). In addition, contributions dealing with problems and risks of application integration and related research fields are examined-as they allow for the derivation of further SFCs. In total twenty-six SFCs are collected. A factor analysis is conducted to examine interrelations between SFCs. It yields seven success factor groups, e.g., architecture management, IT/business alignment, or use of methods. In a second step, an exploratory analysis is conducted to examine the impact of these SFCs on various success indicators of application integration. These success indicators were defined beforehand by analyzing theories for information system (IS) success. As a result of the exploratory analysis, twenty-seven hypotheses are proposed. These hypotheses need to be corroborated in a future confirmatory study.

[1]  Robert Winter,et al.  Method construction - a core approach to organizational engineering , 2005, SAC '05.

[2]  Joachim Schelp,et al.  Data Integration Patterns , 2003 .

[3]  Stephan Aier,et al.  Sustainability of Enterprise Architecture and EAI , 2004 .

[4]  Richard R. Reilly,et al.  Identification of IT-Business Strategic Alignment Maturity Factors: An Exploratory Study , 2004, AMCIS.

[5]  Pamela Carter.  Toward a Theory of Systems Integration Project Management , 2003, AMCIS.

[6]  Thomas H. Davenport,et al.  Process Innovation: Reengineering Work Through Information Technology , 1992 .

[7]  David S. Linthicum,et al.  Enterprise Application Integration , 1999 .

[8]  Richard T. Watson,et al.  Service Quality: A Measure of Information System Effectiveness , 1995, MIS Q..

[9]  Jacob L. Cybulski,et al.  The impact of communications and understanding on the success of business/IT alignment , 2005 .

[10]  Bruce Campbell,et al.  The Role of Trust in IS/Business Alignment , 2003, PACIS.

[11]  Martin Smits,et al.  Strategic Flexibility and IT Infrastructure Investments - Empirical Evidence in two Case Studies , 2005, ECIS.

[12]  Jerry N. Luftman,et al.  IT-Business Strategic Alignment Maturity: A Case Study , 2005, J. Cases Inf. Technol..

[13]  Shouhong Wang.  Business Software Specifications for Consumers: Toward a Standard Format , 2005, J. Organ. End User Comput..

[14]  D. Sandy Staples,et al.  Dimensions of Information Systems Success , 1999, Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[15]  Martin Kugeler,et al.  Design of a Process-oriented Organizational Structure , 2003 .

[16]  Ephraim R. McLean,et al.  Information Systems Success: The Quest for the Independent Variables , 1992, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[17]  Gustavo Alonso,et al.  Web Services: Concepts, Architectures and Applications , 2009 .

[18]  Marinos Themistocleous,et al.  Integrating the IT Infrastructures in Healthcare Organisations : a Proposition of Influential Factors , 2006 .

[19]  Edward J. Garrity,et al.  Introduction to information systems success measurement , 1998 .

[20]  H. Kaiser.  A second generation little jiffy , 1970 .

[21]  Gerold Riempp,et al.  Application portfolio management: a decision-oriented view of enterprise architecture , 2007, Inf. Syst. E Bus. Manag..

[22]  C. P. Seeley.  Book reviewProcess innovation: Reengineering work through information technology: by Thomas H. Davenport, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA, 1993, 337 pp. , 1994 .

[23]  Zahir Irani,et al.  Novel taxonomy for application integration , 2002 .

[24]  A. B. Zaitun,et al.  Success factors to systems integration implementation: more technically oriented than human related , 2000, Proceedings of the 2000 IEEE International Conference on Management of Innovation and Technology. ICMIT 2000. 'Management in the 21st Century' (Cat. No.00EX457).

[25]  Wing Lam,et al.  Investigating success factors in enterprise application integration: a case-driven analysis , 2005, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[26]  P. Weill,et al.  Building IT Infrastructure for Strategic Agility , 2002 .

[27]  Andreas Dietzsch,et al.  Architekturmanagement — Rahmen und Realisierung der Unternehmensarchitektur der Mobiliar , 2006 .

[28]  Gary W. Dickson,et al.  A Principles-Based Enterprise Architecture: Lessons from Texaco and Star Enterprise , 1990, MIS Q..

[29]  H. Kaiser,et al.  Little Jiffy, Mark Iv , 1974 .

[30]  Paul Clements,et al.  Documenting Software Architecture: Documenting Behavior , 2002 .

[31]  Peter Weill,et al.  alignment: Learning , 2022 .

[32]  Hubert Österle,et al.  Business in the Information Age: Heading for New Processes , 1995 .

[33]  Andy Bytheway,et al.  Understanding user perceptions of information systems success , 1997, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[34]  Bernard H. Boar,et al.  Constructing Blueprints for Enterprise IT Architectures , 1998 .

[35]  Ibm Redbooks,et al.  Patterns: Service Oriented Architecture And Web Services , 2004 .

[36]  F. Fiedler.  A Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness1 , 1964 .

[37]  Jeanne W. Ross,et al.  Creating a Strategic IT Architecture Competency: Learning in Stages , 2003, MIS Q. Executive.

[38]  Ephraim R. McLean,et al.  The DeLone and McLean Model of Information Systems Success: A Ten-Year Update , 2003, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[39]  Peter B. Seddon.  A Respecification and Extension of the DeLone and McLean Model of IS Success , 1997, Inf. Syst. Res..

[40]  Izak Benbasat,et al.  Development of an Instrument to Measure the Perceptions of Adopting an Information Technology Innovation , 1991, Inf. Syst. Res..

[41]  Robert Winter,et al.  Organization of Data Warehousing in Large Service Companies - A Matrix Approach Based on Data Ownership and Competence Centers , 2001 .

[42]  Marinos Themistocleous,et al.  Journal of Enterprise Information Management Justifying the decisions for EAI implementations : a validated proposition of influential factors , 2016 .

[43]  G. C. I. Lin,et al.  Critical success factor framework for the implementation of integrated-enterprise systems in the manufacturing environment , 2004 .

[44]  Felix Wortmann.  Integrationsinfrastrukturen in der Finanzdienstleistungsbranche: Ergebnisse einer Studie , 2006 .

[45]  Fred D. Davis.  Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology , 1989, MIS Q..

[46]  Peter E. D. Love,et al.  Integrating the IS with the enterprise: key EAI research challenges , 2004, J. Enterp. Inf. Manag..

[47]  Ben Light,et al.  ERP and best of breed: a comparative analysis , 2001, Bus. Process. Manag. J..

[48]  Gary Klein,et al.  Perception differences of software success: provider and user views of system metrics , 2002, J. Syst. Softw..

[49]  Ephraim R. McLean,et al.  Measuring e-Commerce Success: Applying the DeLone & McLean Information Systems Success Model , 2004, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[50]  M. Porter.  How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy , 1989 .

[51]  Peter B. Seddon,et al.  A Comprehensive Framework for Classifying the Benefits of ERP Systems , 2000 .

[52]  Mark Lycett,et al.  Value propositions: a new conceptualisation for integration , 2004, J. Enterp. Inf. Manag..

[53]  Anna Grimán,et al.  Critical Success Factors for Managing Systems Integration , 2006, Inf. Syst. Manag..

[54]  Evelyn H. Thrasher,et al.  A process-oriented perspective of IS success: Examining the impact of IS on operational cost , 2006 .

[55]  Robert Winter,et al.  Success Factors and Performance Indicators for Enterprise Application Integration , 2005, AMCIS.