Applying systemic methodologies to “IT ecosystems” in order to harmonize business operations and information systems within the organization Software ecosystems and IT ecosystems are modern terms used to describe complex networks of IT applications. The idea comes from the perspective that IT systems are made by people, serve people in the context of socio-technical systems and, finally, they affect the lives of more people. All that stuff live and evolve together, each having its own properties and dynamics. All together form a kind of ecosystem which exposes its own emergent behavior. It is a perfect field to apply systemic approach in order to create a holistic approach, to reveal the underlying dynamic structure, to cope with complexity and to extract order out of the mess. The final objective is to bridge the gap between business and IT helping the organization to serve its purpose.

1. Applying systemic methodologies to “IT ecosystems”
in order to harmonize
business operations and information systems
within the organization
Panagiotis Papaioannou, Rallis Antoniadis, Nikitas Assimakopoulos
Department of Informatics, University of Piraeus
Panagiotis Papaioannou
p.papaioannou@gmail.com

2. 2
Applying systemic methodologies to “IT ecosystems” in order to harmonize
business operations and information systems within the organization
Abstract
Software ecosystems and IT ecosystems are modern terms used to describe
complex networks of IT applications. The idea comes from the perspective that IT
systems are made by people, serve people in the context of socio-technical
systems and, finally, they affect the lives of more people. All that stuff live and
evolve together, each having its own properties and dynamics. All together form a
kind of ecosystem which exposes its own emergent behavior. It is a perfect field
to apply systemic approach in order to create a holistic approach, to reveal the
underlying dynamic structure, to cope with complexity and to extract order out of
the mess. The final objective is to bridge the gap between business and IT helping
the organization to serve its purpose.

3. 3
Applying systemic methodologies to “IT ecosystems” in order to harmonize
business operations and information systems within the organization
• Ecosystems in nature
• Software Ecosystems and Information Technology (IT) Ecosystems
• Business –IT Alignment
• Organization’s IT systems as ecosystems
• IT Ecosystem and IT Alignment as a Systemic Problem
• Systemic Concepts in IT Ecosystems
• Benefits of Applying Systemic Methodologies
• Systemic Modeling – DCSYM
Structure

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Applying systemic methodologies to “IT ecosystems” in order to harmonize
business operations and information systems within the organization
• Relations
• Interactions
• Purpose
• Viability
Picture: flocabulary.com
Ecosystems in nature
Ecosystem: a system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with
its environment. Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary. (2010)

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Applying systemic methodologies to “IT ecosystems” in order to harmonize
business operations and information systems within the organization
Software Ecosystems
A software ecosystem is a collection of software projects which
are developed and evolve together in the same environment
Lungu et al., 2009
Technical
perspective:
A software ecosystem is a set of actors functioning as a unit and
interacting with a shared market for software and services,
together with the relationships among them.
These relationships are frequently underpinned by a common
technological platform or market and operate through the
exchange of information, resources and artifacts.
Jansen and Cusumano, 2013
Business
perspective:

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Applying systemic methodologies to “IT ecosystems” in order to harmonize
business operations and information systems within the organization
IT Ecosystems
IT Ecosystem is a network of organizations that drives the delivery
of information, technology, products and services M. Iansiti, G Richards
• A wider approach
• Covers sectors of industry
Similar concepts: Digital ecosystem
Technology ecosystem

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Applying systemic methodologies to “IT ecosystems” in order to harmonize
business operations and information systems within the organization
Business – IT Alignment
 A dynamic state in which an organization is able to use IT effectively
to achieve business objectives
 Ability of IT to produce business value
 The capacity to demonstrate a positive relationship between IT
and the accepted financial measures of performance
Gap between IT and business professionals (a common experience…)
• Differences in objectives
• Different culture, and incentives
• Ignorance for the other group's body of knowledge
• SILO situations

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Applying systemic methodologies to “IT ecosystems” in order to harmonize
business operations and information systems within the organization
Business – IT Alignment
 Entities relationship diagrams …
 UML …
 Use Case Driven …
 Rational Unified Process …
 Systems Development Life Cycle …
 Requirements Engineering …
 Agile …
 Scrum …
 ITIL …
 COBIT …

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Applying systemic methodologies to “IT ecosystems” in order to harmonize
business operations and information systems within the organization
Business – IT Alignment
The problem is still there…

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Applying systemic methodologies to “IT ecosystems” in order to harmonize
business operations and information systems within the organization
S/W and IT systems within organization
A small ecosystem
S/W and IT systems :
• Do not exist in isolation
• They are made by people
• They are operated by people
• They serve people’s needs (processes)
• They form sociotechnical systems
• They are part (subsystem) of a wider system (the organization)
• They cooperate
• They compete for the available resources
• They evolve

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Applying systemic methodologies to “IT ecosystems” in order to harmonize
business operations and information systems within the organization
Organization’s IT ecosystem (a new perspective)
Processes
Roles
Perspectives
Software
Infrastructure
Vendors
Customers
Expectations

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Applying systemic methodologies to “IT ecosystems” in order to harmonize
business operations and information systems within the organization
IT Ecosystem and Business-IT Alignment as a Systemic Problem
Motivation:
• Complexity
• IT systems can not be considered separately from the
business
• Processes + Information is the main business aspects
• Sociotechnical (Soft) Systems
• Multiple perspectives - expectations
• Dynamic environment
• Need for a holistic view
The objective:
• Business-IT alignment
Systemic approach to a timeless issue

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Applying systemic methodologies to “IT ecosystems” in order to harmonize
business operations and information systems within the organization
Systemic Concepts in IT Ecosystems
 The IT ecosystem is a subsystem of the whole organization
 The IT ecosystem itself is a system consisting of other subsystems
 Systems hierarchy
 Emergence: typical emergent properties for IT systems:
 Reliability
 Usability
 The overall weight of the (IT) system
 Viability
 Sustainability
 Holistic causality
 Adaptation, Homeostasis, Autopoiesis

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Applying systemic methodologies to “IT ecosystems” in order to harmonize
business operations and information systems within the organization
Benefits of Applying Systemic Methodologies
Systemic approach Benefits
Systemic
Metaphors
Multiple points of view
Holistic approach
Discover limitations / possibilities
System Dynamics Reveals the causality: Structure  Behavior  Events
Strategic planning
Change management
Viable System
Model (VSM)
Organizational complexity
The role of IT systems in Co-ordination, Stability, Viability
Soft Systems
Methodology
(SSM)
Roadmap to bring order out of the mess
Stakeholder’s needs (CATWOE statement)
Clear understanding of the purpose
Complexity
Theory
Abandonment of mechanism and determinism
Appreciate Relationships, Dynamism, Unpredictability

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Applying systemic methodologies to “IT ecosystems” in order to harmonize
business operations and information systems within the organization
Systemic Modeling
DCSYM : Design and Control SYstemic Methodology
DCSYM introduces a high-level design language, which enables effective synchronous
and asynchronous multi-agent conversations Assimakopoulos et al 2009
DCSYM demo
DCSYM elements: System, Subsystem, Individual, Communication, Control
Implementation software: DCSYM CASE TOOL

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Applying systemic methodologies to “IT ecosystems” in order to harmonize
business operations and information systems within the organization
Conclusions
Ecosystems - S/W & IT ecosystems
A new perspective: Ecosystem of IT Systems within organization
Business-IT alignment: a systemic issue
Applying systemic methodologies
Modeling with DCSYM
Business – IT harmonization
Thank you