Software for Small-to- Medium Enterprises

Abstract

Small-to-medium enterprises (SME) have specific requirements on the software systems (SWS) they use. SME have a limited possibility to design stable business processes as they have limited resources and data to design the processes properly. Moreover, SME must be able to adapt itself dynamically to changing business conditions and must, due to limited resources, reuse legacy systems and third-party products. SME cannot apply the higher levels of CMM and to define precisely its business processes, as SME cannot have enough data and experience. The solution of this issue or weakening of its consequences can be based on the variant of service-oriented architecture (SOA) discussed next. A proper use of modern software systems depends on the skills and knowledge of (end) users of the systems. The extent of a new software-oriented knowledge of the users needed to specify, install, and use the systems depends on the architecture of the system. We further show that a properly used SOA can substantially reduce the need to learn new knowledge at users’ side. The kernel of the solution should be based on the SOA-based generalization of the concept of usability and on a technical turn enabling agility of business processes. The solution can simplify the development of tools enabling the activation of inhibited user knowledge via flexible prototyping supporting agile business processes and learning by doing. The solution further enables new business turns and has many technical advantages. Our solution is especially preferable for small-to-medium enterprises, but it should be applied in very large enterprises for different reasons.