Abstract
Public sector procurement units in the field of ICT suffer from siloed, application-specific architectures, where each system operates in isolation from others. As a consequence, similar or even identical data is maintained in several different databases, hosted by different organizations. Such problems are caused by the lack of standard guidelines and practices that would result in interoperable systems, instead of overlapping ones. In the Finnish public sector, an enterprise architecture (EA) is a mandatory requirement, so that an ecosystem can be formed to overcome the above problems. However, the adoption rates are low, and the focus is often on technology rather than processes and practices. This study investigates the use of EA and its potential in Finnish procurement units through semi-structured interviews. Five procurement units and four vendors participated in the study, and altogether 12 interviews took place. As a result of the study, a practical implication is establishing decentralized project management practices in procurement units and enhancing leadership to establish a holistic EA. Furthermore, EA maturity evolution increases agility in the procurement unit.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adner, R.: Ecosystem as structure: an actionable construct for strategy. J. Manag. 43(1), 39–58 (2017)
Anwar, M.J., Gill, A.Q.: A review of the seven modelling approaches for digital ecosystem architecture. 2019 IEEE 21st Conference on Business Informatics (CBI) (2019). https://doi.org/10.1109/cbi.2019.00018
Basole, R.C., Russell, M.G., Huhtamäki, J., Rubens, N., Still, K., Park, H.: Understanding business ecosystem dynamics: a data-driven approach. ACM Trans. Manag. Inf. Syst. (TMIS) 6(2), 1–32 (2015)
Bradley, R., Pratt, R., Byrd, T., Simmons, L.: The role of enterprise architecture in the quest for it value. MIS Q. Execut. 10(2), 73–80 (2011). https://aisel.aisnet.org/misqe/vol10/iss2/5/
Briscoe, G., De Wilde, P.: Digital ecosystems: evolving service-orientated architectures. In: Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Bio Inspired Models of Network, Information and Computing Systems, pp. 17-es (2006)
Cameron, B., McMillan, E.: Analyzing the current trends in enterprise architecture frameworks. J. Enterp. Arch. 9(1), 60–71 (2013). https://eapad.dk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2012-4.pdfpage=60
Dattée, B., Alexy, O., Autio, E.: Maneuvering in poor visibility: how firms play the ecosystem game when uncertainty is high. Acad. Manag. J. 61(2), 466–498 (2018)
Hein, A., et al.: Digital platform ecosystems. Electron. Mark. 30, 87–98 (2020)
Hjort-Madsen, K.: Enterprise architecture implementation and management: a case study on interoperability (2006). https://doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2006.154
Holma, A.M., Vesalainen, J., Söderman, A., Sammalmaa, J.: Service specification in pre-tender phase of public procurement - a triadic model of meaningful involvement. J. Purchasing Supply Manag. 26(1), 100580 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pursup.2019.100580
Iansiti, M., Levien, R.: Strategy as ecology. Harv. Bus. Rev. 82(3), 68–78 (2004)
Jansen, S., Cusumano, M.: Defining software ecosystems: a survey of software platforms and business network governance (2013). https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-879/paper4.pdf
JHS179: JHS 179 Kokonaisarkkitehtuurin suunnittelu ja kehittäminen. In Finnish. (2017). https://www.suomidigi.fi/ohjeet-ja-tuki/jhs-suositukset/jhs-179-kokonaisarkkitehtuurin-suunnittelu-ja-kehittaminen
Kalra, D., Beale, T., Heard, S.: The openehr foundation. Stud. Health Technol. Inf. 115, 153–173 (2005)
Kearns, G., Lederer, A.: A resource-based view of strategic it alignment: how knowledge sharing creates competitive advantage. Decis. Sci. 34(1), 1–29 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-5915.02289
Kolehmainen, A.: CSC kilpailutti IT-konsultit – tässä ovat 35 miljoonan diilin neljä voittajaa. In Finnish (2022). https://www.tivi.fi/uutiset/csc-kilpailutti-it-konsultit-tassa-ovat-35-miljoonan-diilin-nelja-voittajaa/80c48dd6-d874-4e93-ae50-f0e4712974b0
Laatikainen, G., Li, M., Abrahamsson, P.: Blockchain governance: a dynamic view. In: Wang, X., Martini, A., Nguyen-Duc, A., Stray, V. (eds.) ICSOB 2021. LNBIP, vol. 434, pp. 66–80. Springer, Cham (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91983-2_6
Louhelainen, K.: Espoon tietohallinto mietittävä uusiksi - mistä sinä säästäisit 25 miljoonaa? In Finnish (2013). https://kirsilouhelainen.fi/2013/12/04/espoon-tietohallinto-mietittava-uusiksi/
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment: Network-based competence centre for sustainable and innovative public procurement (KEINO). Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, Finland. https://tem.fi/en/keino-en
Moore, J.F.: Predators and prey: a new ecology of competition. Harv. Bus. Rev. 71(3), 75–86 (1993)
Myers, M.: Qualitative research in business and management (2020)
Nurmi, J., Penttinen, K., Seppänen, V.: Towards ecosystemic stance in finnish public sector enterprise architecture. In: Pańkowska, M., Sandkuhl, K. (eds.) BIR 2019. LNBIP, vol. 365, pp. 89–103. Springer, Cham (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31143-8_7
Peltoniemi, M., Vuori, E.: Business ecosystem as the new approach to complex adaptive business environments (2004)
Pour, M., Fallah, M.: How enterprise architecture influences strategic alignment maturity: structural equation modelling. Int. J. Bus. Excell. 17(2), 189–209 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBEX.2019.097543
Rakgoale, M., Mentz, J.: Proposing a measurement model to determine enterprise architecture success as a feasible mechanism to align business and IT (2016). https://doi.org/10.1109/ES.2015.29
Ross, J.W.: Creating a strategic it architecture competency: learning in stages (2003). https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.416180
Ross, J.W.: Enterprise architecture: driving business benefits from IT. SSRN Electron. J. (2006). https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.920666
Ross, J.W., Weill, P., Robertson, D.C.: Enterprise architecture as strategy - creating a foundation for business execution (2006). https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-0146-8.ch038
Seppänen, V., Heikkilä, J., Liimatainen, K.: Key issues in EA-implementation: case study of two Finnish government agencies (2009). https://doi.org/10.1109/CEC.2009.70
Seppänen, V., Penttinen, K., Pulkkinen, M.: Key issues in enterprise architecture adoption in the public sector. Electron. J. e-gov. 16(1), 46–58 (2018). https://academic-publishing.org/index.php/ejeg/article/view/650/613
Setälä, M., Abrahamsson, P., Mikkonen, T.: Elements of sustainability for public sector software – mosaic enterprise architecture, macroservices, and low-code. In: Wang, X., Martini, A., Nguyen-Duc, A., Stray, V. (eds.) ICSOB 2021. LNBIP, vol. 434, pp. 3–9. Springer, Cham (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91983-2_1
Sklyar, A., Kowalkowski, C., Tronvoll, B., Sörhammar, D.: Organizing for digital servitization: a service ecosystem perspective. J. Bus. Res. 104, 450–460 (2019)
Sroor, M., Hickman, N., Kolehmainen, T., Laatikainen, G., Abrahamsson, P.: How modeling helps in developing self-sovereign identity governance framework: An experience report. Procedia Comput. Sci. 204, 267–277 (2022)
Syynimaa, N.: Method and practical guidelines for overcoming enterprise architecture adoption challenges. In: Hammoudi, S., Maciaszek, L.A., Missikoff, M.M., Camp, O., Cordeiro, J. (eds.) ICEIS 2016. LNBIP, vol. 291, pp. 488–514. Springer, Cham (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62386-3_22
Tivi: Poliisi kilpailuttaa IT-järjestelmän hankinnan jo kolmannen kerran - mitä projektille kuuluu nyt? In Finnish (2020). https://www.tivi.fi/uutiset/poliisi-kilpailuttaa-it-jarjestelman-hankinnan-jo-kolmannen-kerran-mita-projektille-kuuluu-nyt/9f32837e-25e2-42aa-b559-f9a038a90db5
Zachman, J.A.: A framework for information systems architecture. IBM Syst. J. 26(3), 276–292 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1147/sj.263.0276
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Ghezzi, R., Kolehmainen, T., Setälä, M., Mikkonen, T. (2024). Enterprise Architecture as an Enabler for a Government Business Ecosystem: Experiences from Finland. In: Chbeir, R., Benslimane, D., Zervakis, M., Manolopoulos, Y., Ngyuen, N.T., Tekli, J. (eds) Management of Digital EcoSystems. MEDES 2023. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 2022. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51643-6_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-51643-6_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-51642-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-51643-6
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)