Query optimization techniques have been in the research spotlight for
many years. Various techniq... more Query optimization techniques have been in the research spotlight for many years. Various techniques have been proposed in order to speed up query processing and answering. One of the popular methods for improving query per-formance, is the use of materialized views. Materialized views are usually derived from the intermediate results of frequently executed queries, which in turn could be a suitably strategy to enhance performance in environments with high query workloads, like archival databases and data warehouses. Query reuse depends mainly on caching queries’ results. Hence, the ability to retrieve these results in a timely manner is a paramount objective in large databases. In this research, a query opti- mization technique based on query decomposition is proposed and demonstrated. The decomposition of any complex query yields a set of atoms. In a nutshell, an atom is a simple query that accesses a single table. The decomposition set is then cached. When a query is submitted, the query is first assessed by a set of agents to decide whether the query can be fully, partially, or cannot be answered by the cache. To avoid cache exponential growth, a hit ratio technique is adopted to decide which cached data need to retire and which should remain. Finally, a multi-agent cooperation framework is proposed to achieve the required task of query answering and caching in an example of a relational database system.
Query optimization is the bottleneck of database application performance especially those which s... more Query optimization is the bottleneck of database application performance especially those which store history i.e. data warehouse. Numerous research has been introduced in the area of optimizing query performance, however a lot of research focused on online transaction processing (OLTP) database applications rather than data warehouse applications. In order to process queries in an efficient method extensive references to the database and/or data warehouse are undertaken. As a result of that, any inefficiency in processing those queries will have its negative impact on the performance, thus results may turned to be outdated. Techniques for optimizing query performance vary from being related to hardware to those which are software dependent. A non-exhaustive list of those techniques includes: memory caching, indexing, parallel processing, and physical database storage-dependent. Many research work has been exerted in the area of optimizing query performance, some of which include: intermediate queries, indexes (i.e. either B-Tree or Bitmap), memory cache (for query semantics), query rewriting, secondary storage cache (for the output data set), physical database storage (e.g. binary storage model), and a neuro-based model. This book introduces query optimization techniques that are valid for data warehouse applications. Those include: a neuro-architecture hardware solution, query rewriting, and materialized view selection.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems can offer plentiful benefits for organization, yet the... more Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems can offer plentiful benefits for organization, yet the endeavour may be in vain if the project is not handled carefully. While the majority of ERP research focus on the effect of users' characteristics and skills on implementation success; however, this literature review article focuses on how the employees are affected by the ERP system after it has been taken into production by the organization. This phase in the ERP lifecycle is known as the shakedown phase and is seldom addressed in literature. Through a review of the existing literature, this research also explores how organizations can better support their employees in learning and adapting to the new system. Our findings suggest that job satisfaction, technostress, and job stress can be highly affected by the up-and-running ERP system during the shakedown phase. In addition, this research recommends that self-organizing entities, like knowledge management and advice networks, could provide better information quality, at the right time, and in the correct context to employees rather than the traditional support structures (TSS), which in turn could serve as moderators to decrease the negative effects and enhance the prospect of user adoption of the ERP system inside organizations.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects are complex and resource demanding. Some ERP projects... more Enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects are complex and resource demanding. Some ERP projects fail due to what is called 'misfit' between the adopting organization's business requirements and the ERP's functionalities. Existing literature has studied how ERP systems match to different organizations and have argued that there always exists a gap between the business rules embedded in the system, and the practices and processes that exist in organizations. Thus, tailoring might be an important procedure during ERP implementations, in which the ERP customization takes place in order to ensure the compliance with the organizations' critical business processes and requirements. Via an in-depth case study, this research investigates how the different ERP tailoring types defined in literature correspond to different types of misfits identified in an ERP implementation project at a large public organization. The study results suggest that there is a correlation between tailoring types and categories of misfits. In other words, different categories of misfits can be decisive for the type of customization being used. These categories can be organized into four main influences that affect tailoring; strategy, project, system and institution. Moreover, internal institutional factors that are linked to system acceptance, such as culture and resistance could affect tailoring.
This literature review paper summarizes the state-of-the-art research on big data analytics. Due ... more This literature review paper summarizes the state-of-the-art research on big data analytics. Due to massive amount of data exchanged everyday and the increased need for better data-based decision, businesses nowadays are looking for ways to efficiently manage, and optimize these huge datasets. Moreover, because of globalization, partnerships, value networks, emergence of social networks, and the huge information flow across and within enterprises, more and more businesses are interested in utilizing big data analytics. The main focus of this paper is to elucidate knowledge on the characteristics of big data analytics literature as well as explore the areas that lack sufficient research within the big data analytics domain, suggest future research avenues, as well as, present the current research findings that could aid practitioners, researchers, and vendors when embarking on big data analytics projects. Towards that end, we have reviewed 24 publications between 2010 and 2014. Resul...
The system and vendor selection are early phases in the Enterprise resource planning ... more The system and vendor selection are early phases in the Enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation process. When organizations embark on selecting an ERP system, they develop their own selection criteria that usually involve various factors like number of modules, required budget, licensing model, etc. One of the paramount factors is the system’s fit with the organizational requirements and needs. Thus, the selection phase is a crucial endeavour, because if an organization chooses an inadequate ERP that doesn’t accommodate their needs, the whole adoption project will most likely predestine to fail. This research provides an overview of an ERP selection process at a subsidiary of a multinational company. The paper provides details about the selection process, criteria, and the evaluation process made by an ERP selection consultant that has been hired by the company to assist them during this phase. The selection process employed a simple multi-attribute rating technique (SMART) ERP selection method. In addition, this research presents other issues that influenced the selection process, which are related to cross-border data protection laws between the holding company and its subsidiary. As the ERP has been implemented successfully, the method and the selection factors have been proven adequate for the selection process."
"In 2011, at the Hanover Fair, the term Industry 4.0 was first coined. In October 2012, the Worki... more "In 2011, at the Hanover Fair, the term Industry 4.0 was first coined. In October 2012, the Working Group on Industry 4.0,"
"presented a set of implementation recommendations to the German government. The term Industry 4.0 initiates from a project in the high-tech strategy of the German government. Such project advocates the computerization of the manufacturing industry. It is also known as the 4th industrial revolution. Precisely speaking, industry 4.0 is based on the technological concepts of cyber-physical systems, Internet of Things (IoT), which enables the Factory of the Future (FoF). Within the"
"modular structured smart factories of Industry 4.0, cyber-physical systems monitor physical processes, create a virtual copy of the physical world and make decentralized decisions. Over the IoT, Cyber-physical systems communicate and cooperate with each other and with humans in real time. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are considered the backbone for the Industry 4.0. Thus, this paper attempts to answer the research question: “Are today’s ERP systems ready for the FoF?”."
"We have conducted interviews with manufacturers, ERP vendors, and partners in order to check on the readiness of ERP systems for the FoF. Our results show that ERP systems are ready for the FoF."
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have always been of interest to researchers across var... more Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have always been of interest to researchers across various research disciplines. Recently, the cloud computing paradigm has emerged to become one of most prominent technologies in business and academia alike. These new cloud accessibility and software delivery models have radically revolutionized the software market, especially ERP systems. However, while many vendors and software providers have adopted software-as-a-service (SaaS) models, few studies have explored the domain of cloud-based ERP systems – particularly information technology (IT) officers’ attitudes toward these technologies. Based on our review of literature and the relevant theories, we created a questionnaire and sent it to IT executives in Norwegian companies. The questionnaire captured the respondents’ perceptions of the benefits and disadvantages of cloud ERP. In general, the results confirm what has been reported in the literature. There were, however, some notable exceptions. One of the significant exceptions was the evident lack of data security concerns among the respondents, who ranked it as the least of their concerns. In addition, the promise of lowered total cost of ownership was not perceived as an appealing benefit, unlike what has been widely discussed in literature. Our findings show that respondents deemed vendor dependency and lock-in to be the paramount concerns of such cloud technologies, and system accessibility to be the significantly most advantageous. Finally, descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were conducted in this paper, and a regression analysis of the results was performed to identify the level at which the various benefits and advantages most affected our respondents’ attitudes.
This literature review paper summarizes the state-of-the-art research on big data analytics. Due ... more This literature review paper summarizes the state-of-the-art research on big data analytics. Due to massive amount of data exchanged everyday and the increased need for better data-based decision, businesses nowadays are looking for ways to efficiently manage, and optimize these huge datasets. Moreover, because of globalization, partnerships, value networks, emergence of social networks, and the huge information flow across and within enterprises, more and more businesses are interested in utilizing big data analytics. The main focus of this paper is to elucidate knowledge on the characteristics of big data analytics literature as well as explore the areas that lack sufficient research within the big data analytics domain, suggest future research avenues, as well as, present the current research findings that could aid practitioners, researchers, and vendors when embarking on big data analytics projects. Towards that end, we have reviewed 24 publications between 2010 and 2014. Results of text mining the papers revealed that they belong to three clusters with both common as well as distinct characteristics. The reviewed papers were clustered into three main themes, 1) technical algorithsms; 2) processing, cloud computing, opportunities & challenges; and 3) performance, prediction, and distributed systems.
Despite the vast amount of research that has been conducted on enterprise resource planning (ERP)... more Despite the vast amount of research that has been conducted on enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and Cloud/ software-as-a-service (SaaS) in isolation, few studies have explored the topic of Cloud/SaaS ERP – particularly attitudes held towards these systems. Based on an assessment of literature and the Theory of Planned Behavior, a questionnaire focusing on benefits and disadvantages of SaaS-based ERP systems was sent to IT officers in 839 Norwegian companies. Responses from 180 companies helped to shed light on attitudes towards SaaS ERP adoptions. To a certain extent, the results come inline with existing research. There were, however, a couple of noteworthy exceptions. One such was the rather surprising lack of data security concerns amongst the respondents, who ranked it to be the least of their concerns. Another surprise was that despite strong indications found in literature, the promise of lowered Total Cost of Ownership was not perceived to be ensnaring benefit. Instead, respondents viewed vendor dependency to be the least favorable trait of such systems, and accessibility to be the significantly most advantageous. A regression analysis of the results was performed to identify the level of which the various benefits and advantages affected respondents’ attitudes.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems implementation projects are challenging and resource c... more Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems implementation projects are challenging and resource consuming. There are several phases in the ERP implementation process. One of the earliest and most critical phases is the ERP selection phase. If an organization selects an inadequate ERP to fit their needs, the project will most likely destine to fail. Research and practice have provided several cases of ERP project failures because of a faulty selection process. No matter what amendments the adopting company undertakes in the later phases, if there is no fit, there is no success. This research, presents an explanatory case study, which employed a simple multi-attribute rating technique (SMART)-based ERP selection method. The selection method was mainly based on developing process maps for all the critical business processes inside the organization, and then checking the degree of compliance of the potential ERP packages with those developed process maps. In addition, other factors were also included in the ERP evaluation and selection process. As the ERP was assured to be matching the business requirements, the method and the selection factors have been proven adequate for the selection process. In addition, this minimizes the risk of a non-fitting ERP system and consequent project failures.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems implementation projects are challenging and resource c... more Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems implementation projects are challenging and resource consuming. There are several phases in the ERP implementation process. One of the earliest and most critical phases is the ERP selection phase. If an organization selects an inadequate ERP to fit their needs, the project will most likely destine to fail. Research and practice have provided several cases of ERP project failures because of a faulty selection process. No matter what amendments the adopting company undertakes in the later phases, if there is no fit, there is no success. This research, presents an explanatory case study, which employed a simple multi-attribute rating technique (SMART)-based ERP selection method. The selection method was mainly based on developing process maps for all the critical business processes inside the organization, and then checking the degree of compliance of the potential ERP packages with those developed process maps. In addition, other factors were also included in the ERP evaluation and selection process. As the ERP was assured to be matching the business requirements, the method and the selection factors have been proven adequate for the selection process. In addition, this minimizes the risk of a non-fitting ERP system and consequent project failures.
According to statistics, majority of ERP implementations fail. Failure means either total cancell... more According to statistics, majority of ERP implementations fail. Failure means either total cancellation of the project, or failure to go-live on time and/or within budget constraints. Mainstream literature focuses on different reasons for failure including poor project management, resistance to change, lack of top management support, insufficient user training, etc. In this research we focus on the impact of vendor-partner relationship on the failure of ERP implementations. Some vendors provide easy terms and conditions in order to attract new partners and develop a wider network of partners in the targeted regions. In this study, the terms and conditions of SAP for certifying partners are studied and analyzed. In addition, case studies of two SAP partners are conducted. The primary research results suggest that the easy partnership conditions set by ERP vendors are among the main contributing factors for ERP projects failure in our cases. This finding is considered novel since most of the related work attributes failures to other factors, ignoring the vendor-partner terms and conditions.
Haddara, M., Elragal, A. (2013). ERP Adoption Cost Factors Identification and Classification: A study in SMEs. International Journal of Information Systems and Project Management (IJISPM), vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 5-21, 2013.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems adoptions require substantial resources and investment... more Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems adoptions require substantial resources and investments. The majority of
businesses around the globe can be considered to be small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Thus, SMEs are seen
to be typical companies that are the cornerstone of most economies. Compared with large enterprises, an SME-context
contains several characteristics, and scarcity of resources is among the top of them. For SMEs, unplanned costs
escalation could pose a serious threat to their stability and survival in the market. Frequently, ERP projects have crossed
their estimated budgets and schedules. Researchers and practitioners state that a prevailing number of ERP adoption
projects fail due to inaccurate or to too optimistic budgets/schedules. In addition, many organizations face difficulties in
identifying the potential cost factors that could occur during their ERP adoption lifecycle. While focusing on the SMEcontext,
this research attempts to identify potential costs that could occur in ERP adoptions. The research method
employed in this study targeted diverse stakeholders and experts involved in ERP projects in Egypt. This research
provides a list of cost factors and their classifications that could aid adopting organizations to better estimate their
needed ERP project budgets. In particular, this research explores the direct and indirect cost factors that occur in ERP
adoptions in Egyptian SMEs. Also, this study investigates the influence of some SME-specific contextual factors on
costs. Moreover, the paper provides a ranking of cost factors according to their impact on total adoption costs.
Abstract Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have limited budgets, resources, and great sensitivi... more Abstract Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have limited budgets, resources, and great sensitivity to costs. When SMEs take the first step into implementing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, they need to think about many things, foremost the cost of adoption. Most ERP implementations fail due to inaccurate and optimistic budget and schedule estimations, as well as, anticipating indirect costs beforehand is problematic.
Query optimization techniques have been in the research spotlight for
many years. Various techniq... more Query optimization techniques have been in the research spotlight for many years. Various techniques have been proposed in order to speed up query processing and answering. One of the popular methods for improving query per-formance, is the use of materialized views. Materialized views are usually derived from the intermediate results of frequently executed queries, which in turn could be a suitably strategy to enhance performance in environments with high query workloads, like archival databases and data warehouses. Query reuse depends mainly on caching queries’ results. Hence, the ability to retrieve these results in a timely manner is a paramount objective in large databases. In this research, a query opti- mization technique based on query decomposition is proposed and demonstrated. The decomposition of any complex query yields a set of atoms. In a nutshell, an atom is a simple query that accesses a single table. The decomposition set is then cached. When a query is submitted, the query is first assessed by a set of agents to decide whether the query can be fully, partially, or cannot be answered by the cache. To avoid cache exponential growth, a hit ratio technique is adopted to decide which cached data need to retire and which should remain. Finally, a multi-agent cooperation framework is proposed to achieve the required task of query answering and caching in an example of a relational database system.
Query optimization is the bottleneck of database application performance especially those which s... more Query optimization is the bottleneck of database application performance especially those which store history i.e. data warehouse. Numerous research has been introduced in the area of optimizing query performance, however a lot of research focused on online transaction processing (OLTP) database applications rather than data warehouse applications. In order to process queries in an efficient method extensive references to the database and/or data warehouse are undertaken. As a result of that, any inefficiency in processing those queries will have its negative impact on the performance, thus results may turned to be outdated. Techniques for optimizing query performance vary from being related to hardware to those which are software dependent. A non-exhaustive list of those techniques includes: memory caching, indexing, parallel processing, and physical database storage-dependent. Many research work has been exerted in the area of optimizing query performance, some of which include: intermediate queries, indexes (i.e. either B-Tree or Bitmap), memory cache (for query semantics), query rewriting, secondary storage cache (for the output data set), physical database storage (e.g. binary storage model), and a neuro-based model. This book introduces query optimization techniques that are valid for data warehouse applications. Those include: a neuro-architecture hardware solution, query rewriting, and materialized view selection.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems can offer plentiful benefits for organization, yet the... more Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems can offer plentiful benefits for organization, yet the endeavour may be in vain if the project is not handled carefully. While the majority of ERP research focus on the effect of users' characteristics and skills on implementation success; however, this literature review article focuses on how the employees are affected by the ERP system after it has been taken into production by the organization. This phase in the ERP lifecycle is known as the shakedown phase and is seldom addressed in literature. Through a review of the existing literature, this research also explores how organizations can better support their employees in learning and adapting to the new system. Our findings suggest that job satisfaction, technostress, and job stress can be highly affected by the up-and-running ERP system during the shakedown phase. In addition, this research recommends that self-organizing entities, like knowledge management and advice networks, could provide better information quality, at the right time, and in the correct context to employees rather than the traditional support structures (TSS), which in turn could serve as moderators to decrease the negative effects and enhance the prospect of user adoption of the ERP system inside organizations.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects are complex and resource demanding. Some ERP projects... more Enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects are complex and resource demanding. Some ERP projects fail due to what is called 'misfit' between the adopting organization's business requirements and the ERP's functionalities. Existing literature has studied how ERP systems match to different organizations and have argued that there always exists a gap between the business rules embedded in the system, and the practices and processes that exist in organizations. Thus, tailoring might be an important procedure during ERP implementations, in which the ERP customization takes place in order to ensure the compliance with the organizations' critical business processes and requirements. Via an in-depth case study, this research investigates how the different ERP tailoring types defined in literature correspond to different types of misfits identified in an ERP implementation project at a large public organization. The study results suggest that there is a correlation between tailoring types and categories of misfits. In other words, different categories of misfits can be decisive for the type of customization being used. These categories can be organized into four main influences that affect tailoring; strategy, project, system and institution. Moreover, internal institutional factors that are linked to system acceptance, such as culture and resistance could affect tailoring.
This literature review paper summarizes the state-of-the-art research on big data analytics. Due ... more This literature review paper summarizes the state-of-the-art research on big data analytics. Due to massive amount of data exchanged everyday and the increased need for better data-based decision, businesses nowadays are looking for ways to efficiently manage, and optimize these huge datasets. Moreover, because of globalization, partnerships, value networks, emergence of social networks, and the huge information flow across and within enterprises, more and more businesses are interested in utilizing big data analytics. The main focus of this paper is to elucidate knowledge on the characteristics of big data analytics literature as well as explore the areas that lack sufficient research within the big data analytics domain, suggest future research avenues, as well as, present the current research findings that could aid practitioners, researchers, and vendors when embarking on big data analytics projects. Towards that end, we have reviewed 24 publications between 2010 and 2014. Resul...
The system and vendor selection are early phases in the Enterprise resource planning ... more The system and vendor selection are early phases in the Enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation process. When organizations embark on selecting an ERP system, they develop their own selection criteria that usually involve various factors like number of modules, required budget, licensing model, etc. One of the paramount factors is the system’s fit with the organizational requirements and needs. Thus, the selection phase is a crucial endeavour, because if an organization chooses an inadequate ERP that doesn’t accommodate their needs, the whole adoption project will most likely predestine to fail. This research provides an overview of an ERP selection process at a subsidiary of a multinational company. The paper provides details about the selection process, criteria, and the evaluation process made by an ERP selection consultant that has been hired by the company to assist them during this phase. The selection process employed a simple multi-attribute rating technique (SMART) ERP selection method. In addition, this research presents other issues that influenced the selection process, which are related to cross-border data protection laws between the holding company and its subsidiary. As the ERP has been implemented successfully, the method and the selection factors have been proven adequate for the selection process."
"In 2011, at the Hanover Fair, the term Industry 4.0 was first coined. In October 2012, the Worki... more "In 2011, at the Hanover Fair, the term Industry 4.0 was first coined. In October 2012, the Working Group on Industry 4.0,"
"presented a set of implementation recommendations to the German government. The term Industry 4.0 initiates from a project in the high-tech strategy of the German government. Such project advocates the computerization of the manufacturing industry. It is also known as the 4th industrial revolution. Precisely speaking, industry 4.0 is based on the technological concepts of cyber-physical systems, Internet of Things (IoT), which enables the Factory of the Future (FoF). Within the"
"modular structured smart factories of Industry 4.0, cyber-physical systems monitor physical processes, create a virtual copy of the physical world and make decentralized decisions. Over the IoT, Cyber-physical systems communicate and cooperate with each other and with humans in real time. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are considered the backbone for the Industry 4.0. Thus, this paper attempts to answer the research question: “Are today’s ERP systems ready for the FoF?”."
"We have conducted interviews with manufacturers, ERP vendors, and partners in order to check on the readiness of ERP systems for the FoF. Our results show that ERP systems are ready for the FoF."
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have always been of interest to researchers across var... more Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have always been of interest to researchers across various research disciplines. Recently, the cloud computing paradigm has emerged to become one of most prominent technologies in business and academia alike. These new cloud accessibility and software delivery models have radically revolutionized the software market, especially ERP systems. However, while many vendors and software providers have adopted software-as-a-service (SaaS) models, few studies have explored the domain of cloud-based ERP systems – particularly information technology (IT) officers’ attitudes toward these technologies. Based on our review of literature and the relevant theories, we created a questionnaire and sent it to IT executives in Norwegian companies. The questionnaire captured the respondents’ perceptions of the benefits and disadvantages of cloud ERP. In general, the results confirm what has been reported in the literature. There were, however, some notable exceptions. One of the significant exceptions was the evident lack of data security concerns among the respondents, who ranked it as the least of their concerns. In addition, the promise of lowered total cost of ownership was not perceived as an appealing benefit, unlike what has been widely discussed in literature. Our findings show that respondents deemed vendor dependency and lock-in to be the paramount concerns of such cloud technologies, and system accessibility to be the significantly most advantageous. Finally, descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were conducted in this paper, and a regression analysis of the results was performed to identify the level at which the various benefits and advantages most affected our respondents’ attitudes.
This literature review paper summarizes the state-of-the-art research on big data analytics. Due ... more This literature review paper summarizes the state-of-the-art research on big data analytics. Due to massive amount of data exchanged everyday and the increased need for better data-based decision, businesses nowadays are looking for ways to efficiently manage, and optimize these huge datasets. Moreover, because of globalization, partnerships, value networks, emergence of social networks, and the huge information flow across and within enterprises, more and more businesses are interested in utilizing big data analytics. The main focus of this paper is to elucidate knowledge on the characteristics of big data analytics literature as well as explore the areas that lack sufficient research within the big data analytics domain, suggest future research avenues, as well as, present the current research findings that could aid practitioners, researchers, and vendors when embarking on big data analytics projects. Towards that end, we have reviewed 24 publications between 2010 and 2014. Results of text mining the papers revealed that they belong to three clusters with both common as well as distinct characteristics. The reviewed papers were clustered into three main themes, 1) technical algorithsms; 2) processing, cloud computing, opportunities & challenges; and 3) performance, prediction, and distributed systems.
Despite the vast amount of research that has been conducted on enterprise resource planning (ERP)... more Despite the vast amount of research that has been conducted on enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and Cloud/ software-as-a-service (SaaS) in isolation, few studies have explored the topic of Cloud/SaaS ERP – particularly attitudes held towards these systems. Based on an assessment of literature and the Theory of Planned Behavior, a questionnaire focusing on benefits and disadvantages of SaaS-based ERP systems was sent to IT officers in 839 Norwegian companies. Responses from 180 companies helped to shed light on attitudes towards SaaS ERP adoptions. To a certain extent, the results come inline with existing research. There were, however, a couple of noteworthy exceptions. One such was the rather surprising lack of data security concerns amongst the respondents, who ranked it to be the least of their concerns. Another surprise was that despite strong indications found in literature, the promise of lowered Total Cost of Ownership was not perceived to be ensnaring benefit. Instead, respondents viewed vendor dependency to be the least favorable trait of such systems, and accessibility to be the significantly most advantageous. A regression analysis of the results was performed to identify the level of which the various benefits and advantages affected respondents’ attitudes.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems implementation projects are challenging and resource c... more Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems implementation projects are challenging and resource consuming. There are several phases in the ERP implementation process. One of the earliest and most critical phases is the ERP selection phase. If an organization selects an inadequate ERP to fit their needs, the project will most likely destine to fail. Research and practice have provided several cases of ERP project failures because of a faulty selection process. No matter what amendments the adopting company undertakes in the later phases, if there is no fit, there is no success. This research, presents an explanatory case study, which employed a simple multi-attribute rating technique (SMART)-based ERP selection method. The selection method was mainly based on developing process maps for all the critical business processes inside the organization, and then checking the degree of compliance of the potential ERP packages with those developed process maps. In addition, other factors were also included in the ERP evaluation and selection process. As the ERP was assured to be matching the business requirements, the method and the selection factors have been proven adequate for the selection process. In addition, this minimizes the risk of a non-fitting ERP system and consequent project failures.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems implementation projects are challenging and resource c... more Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems implementation projects are challenging and resource consuming. There are several phases in the ERP implementation process. One of the earliest and most critical phases is the ERP selection phase. If an organization selects an inadequate ERP to fit their needs, the project will most likely destine to fail. Research and practice have provided several cases of ERP project failures because of a faulty selection process. No matter what amendments the adopting company undertakes in the later phases, if there is no fit, there is no success. This research, presents an explanatory case study, which employed a simple multi-attribute rating technique (SMART)-based ERP selection method. The selection method was mainly based on developing process maps for all the critical business processes inside the organization, and then checking the degree of compliance of the potential ERP packages with those developed process maps. In addition, other factors were also included in the ERP evaluation and selection process. As the ERP was assured to be matching the business requirements, the method and the selection factors have been proven adequate for the selection process. In addition, this minimizes the risk of a non-fitting ERP system and consequent project failures.
According to statistics, majority of ERP implementations fail. Failure means either total cancell... more According to statistics, majority of ERP implementations fail. Failure means either total cancellation of the project, or failure to go-live on time and/or within budget constraints. Mainstream literature focuses on different reasons for failure including poor project management, resistance to change, lack of top management support, insufficient user training, etc. In this research we focus on the impact of vendor-partner relationship on the failure of ERP implementations. Some vendors provide easy terms and conditions in order to attract new partners and develop a wider network of partners in the targeted regions. In this study, the terms and conditions of SAP for certifying partners are studied and analyzed. In addition, case studies of two SAP partners are conducted. The primary research results suggest that the easy partnership conditions set by ERP vendors are among the main contributing factors for ERP projects failure in our cases. This finding is considered novel since most of the related work attributes failures to other factors, ignoring the vendor-partner terms and conditions.
Haddara, M., Elragal, A. (2013). ERP Adoption Cost Factors Identification and Classification: A study in SMEs. International Journal of Information Systems and Project Management (IJISPM), vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 5-21, 2013.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems adoptions require substantial resources and investment... more Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems adoptions require substantial resources and investments. The majority of
businesses around the globe can be considered to be small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Thus, SMEs are seen
to be typical companies that are the cornerstone of most economies. Compared with large enterprises, an SME-context
contains several characteristics, and scarcity of resources is among the top of them. For SMEs, unplanned costs
escalation could pose a serious threat to their stability and survival in the market. Frequently, ERP projects have crossed
their estimated budgets and schedules. Researchers and practitioners state that a prevailing number of ERP adoption
projects fail due to inaccurate or to too optimistic budgets/schedules. In addition, many organizations face difficulties in
identifying the potential cost factors that could occur during their ERP adoption lifecycle. While focusing on the SMEcontext,
this research attempts to identify potential costs that could occur in ERP adoptions. The research method
employed in this study targeted diverse stakeholders and experts involved in ERP projects in Egypt. This research
provides a list of cost factors and their classifications that could aid adopting organizations to better estimate their
needed ERP project budgets. In particular, this research explores the direct and indirect cost factors that occur in ERP
adoptions in Egyptian SMEs. Also, this study investigates the influence of some SME-specific contextual factors on
costs. Moreover, the paper provides a ranking of cost factors according to their impact on total adoption costs.
Abstract Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have limited budgets, resources, and great sensitivi... more Abstract Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have limited budgets, resources, and great sensitivity to costs. When SMEs take the first step into implementing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, they need to think about many things, foremost the cost of adoption. Most ERP implementations fail due to inaccurate and optimistic budget and schedule estimations, as well as, anticipating indirect costs beforehand is problematic.
This paper explores the enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems literature in an attempt to el... more This paper explores the enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems literature in an attempt to elucidate knowledge to help us see the future of ERP systems’ research. The main purpose of this research is to study the development of ERP systems and other related areas in order to reach the constructs of mainstream literature. The analysis of literature has helped us to reach the key constructs of an as-is scenario, those are: history and development of ERP systems, the implementation life cycle, critical success factors and project management, and benefits and costs. However, the to-be scenario calls for more up-to-date research constructs of ERP systems integrating the following constructs: social networks, cloud computing, enterprise 2.0, and decision 2.0. In the end, the conclusion section will establish the link between the as-is and to-be scenarios opening the door for more novel ERP research areas.
This talk presents an introduction to big data, big data analytics, and the basics of big data ap... more This talk presents an introduction to big data, big data analytics, and the basics of big data applications in smart cities' context. The talk also provides some examples of smart cities projects. The talk was held at the first Techne Summit- Bibliotheca Alexandrina, October 2015.
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Books by Moutaz Haddara
many years. Various techniques have been proposed in order to speed up query processing and answering. One of the popular methods for improving query per-formance, is the use of materialized views. Materialized views are usually derived from the intermediate results of frequently executed queries, which in turn could be a suitably strategy to enhance performance in environments with high query workloads, like archival databases and data warehouses. Query reuse depends mainly on caching queries’ results. Hence, the ability to retrieve these results in a timely manner is a paramount objective in large databases. In this research, a query opti-
mization technique based on query decomposition is proposed and demonstrated.
The decomposition of any complex query yields a set of atoms. In a nutshell, an atom is a simple query that accesses a single table. The decomposition set is then cached. When a query is submitted, the query is first assessed by a set of agents to decide whether the query can be fully, partially, or cannot be answered by the cache. To avoid cache exponential growth, a hit ratio technique is adopted to decide which cached data need to retire and which should remain. Finally, a multi-agent cooperation framework is proposed to achieve the required task of query answering
and caching in an example of a relational database system.
Papers by Moutaz Haddara
"presented a set of implementation recommendations to the German government. The term Industry 4.0 initiates from a project in the high-tech strategy of the German government. Such project advocates the computerization of the manufacturing industry. It is also known as the 4th industrial revolution. Precisely speaking, industry 4.0 is based on the technological concepts of cyber-physical systems, Internet of Things (IoT), which enables the Factory of the Future (FoF). Within the"
"modular structured smart factories of Industry 4.0, cyber-physical systems monitor physical processes, create a virtual copy of the physical world and make decentralized decisions. Over the IoT, Cyber-physical systems communicate and cooperate with each other and with humans in real time. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are considered the backbone for the Industry 4.0. Thus, this paper attempts to answer the research question: “Are today’s ERP systems ready for the FoF?”."
"We have conducted interviews with manufacturers, ERP vendors, and partners in order to check on the readiness of ERP systems for the FoF. Our results show that ERP systems are ready for the FoF."
businesses around the globe can be considered to be small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Thus, SMEs are seen
to be typical companies that are the cornerstone of most economies. Compared with large enterprises, an SME-context
contains several characteristics, and scarcity of resources is among the top of them. For SMEs, unplanned costs
escalation could pose a serious threat to their stability and survival in the market. Frequently, ERP projects have crossed
their estimated budgets and schedules. Researchers and practitioners state that a prevailing number of ERP adoption
projects fail due to inaccurate or to too optimistic budgets/schedules. In addition, many organizations face difficulties in
identifying the potential cost factors that could occur during their ERP adoption lifecycle. While focusing on the SMEcontext,
this research attempts to identify potential costs that could occur in ERP adoptions. The research method
employed in this study targeted diverse stakeholders and experts involved in ERP projects in Egypt. This research
provides a list of cost factors and their classifications that could aid adopting organizations to better estimate their
needed ERP project budgets. In particular, this research explores the direct and indirect cost factors that occur in ERP
adoptions in Egyptian SMEs. Also, this study investigates the influence of some SME-specific contextual factors on
costs. Moreover, the paper provides a ranking of cost factors according to their impact on total adoption costs.
many years. Various techniques have been proposed in order to speed up query processing and answering. One of the popular methods for improving query per-formance, is the use of materialized views. Materialized views are usually derived from the intermediate results of frequently executed queries, which in turn could be a suitably strategy to enhance performance in environments with high query workloads, like archival databases and data warehouses. Query reuse depends mainly on caching queries’ results. Hence, the ability to retrieve these results in a timely manner is a paramount objective in large databases. In this research, a query opti-
mization technique based on query decomposition is proposed and demonstrated.
The decomposition of any complex query yields a set of atoms. In a nutshell, an atom is a simple query that accesses a single table. The decomposition set is then cached. When a query is submitted, the query is first assessed by a set of agents to decide whether the query can be fully, partially, or cannot be answered by the cache. To avoid cache exponential growth, a hit ratio technique is adopted to decide which cached data need to retire and which should remain. Finally, a multi-agent cooperation framework is proposed to achieve the required task of query answering
and caching in an example of a relational database system.
"presented a set of implementation recommendations to the German government. The term Industry 4.0 initiates from a project in the high-tech strategy of the German government. Such project advocates the computerization of the manufacturing industry. It is also known as the 4th industrial revolution. Precisely speaking, industry 4.0 is based on the technological concepts of cyber-physical systems, Internet of Things (IoT), which enables the Factory of the Future (FoF). Within the"
"modular structured smart factories of Industry 4.0, cyber-physical systems monitor physical processes, create a virtual copy of the physical world and make decentralized decisions. Over the IoT, Cyber-physical systems communicate and cooperate with each other and with humans in real time. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are considered the backbone for the Industry 4.0. Thus, this paper attempts to answer the research question: “Are today’s ERP systems ready for the FoF?”."
"We have conducted interviews with manufacturers, ERP vendors, and partners in order to check on the readiness of ERP systems for the FoF. Our results show that ERP systems are ready for the FoF."
businesses around the globe can be considered to be small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Thus, SMEs are seen
to be typical companies that are the cornerstone of most economies. Compared with large enterprises, an SME-context
contains several characteristics, and scarcity of resources is among the top of them. For SMEs, unplanned costs
escalation could pose a serious threat to their stability and survival in the market. Frequently, ERP projects have crossed
their estimated budgets and schedules. Researchers and practitioners state that a prevailing number of ERP adoption
projects fail due to inaccurate or to too optimistic budgets/schedules. In addition, many organizations face difficulties in
identifying the potential cost factors that could occur during their ERP adoption lifecycle. While focusing on the SMEcontext,
this research attempts to identify potential costs that could occur in ERP adoptions. The research method
employed in this study targeted diverse stakeholders and experts involved in ERP projects in Egypt. This research
provides a list of cost factors and their classifications that could aid adopting organizations to better estimate their
needed ERP project budgets. In particular, this research explores the direct and indirect cost factors that occur in ERP
adoptions in Egyptian SMEs. Also, this study investigates the influence of some SME-specific contextual factors on
costs. Moreover, the paper provides a ranking of cost factors according to their impact on total adoption costs.
The talk was held at the first Techne Summit- Bibliotheca Alexandrina, October 2015.