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IT SME 1 Dr. M. Michelson IT-Network for Small and Medium sized Enterprises Dr. Martin Michelson Hochschule Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt ITAM, 17.10.2008
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IT SME 1Dr. M. Michelson
IT-Network for Small and Medium sized EnterprisesIT-Network for Small and Medium sized Enterprises
Dr. Martin MichelsonHochschule Darmstadt
University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt
ITAM, 17.10.2008
IT SME 2Dr. M. Michelson
Situation
In the last years SME have added about 500.000 new jobs in Germany, large scale enterprises have reduced jobs by 100.000
No sufficient use of (Business-) IT-applications to increase competitiveness in a global market
The lacking IT-strategy go ahead with isolated applications and insufficient data exchange with customers, suppliers, business partners and administration
SME can improve their competitiveness by applying suitable IT-applications.
IT SME 3Dr. M. Michelson
Situation
Awareness about the problem is existing
Heterogeneous demand on IT-solutions (no standarized solutions)
Demand for small solution which are applicable in short time and easy to handle
Investment on IT should not be extensive
IT- providers should offer appropriate solutions and should be able to communicate the benefits of their solutions to the firms
IT SME 4Dr. M. Michelson
Program „Information Society 2010“
Program of the german government to promote the IT-location Germany
Annually recurring IT-meetings with high representatives of politics, business and science
8 working groups presenting the results of their work on the meetings and give recommendation for the government’s politics
Working group 6: IT and SME. Group members: Companies from the IT-industry, telecommunication, consulting and scientific institutions including the Hochschule Darmstadt
A project group of the information science and computer science departments developed the concept
Objective: IT-network for linking existing support offers and to give SME assistance in finding the partners and solutions for their IT-demands
IT SME 5Dr. M. Michelson
Primary objective of the project
Developing a web-based platform aiming to give thematically and institutional support for SME to find the right partner and solutions.
Tasks:
1. Find out the special demand of SME on business IT-applications in selected industries by doing a demand analysis (desktop research, expert interviews)
2. Identify existing websites or web-based platforms which are offering neutral support and consultancy.
3. Connect relevant websites or web-based platforms in a network
IT SME 6Dr. M. Michelson
Results Demand Analysis
Internet as information and communication platform
Procurement, customer service and data exchange on the Internet is getting relevant
E-Commerce and bidding is still not very common up to now
E-business solutions: Operational standard software, CRM, electronic order, charching
Essential areas of IT usage of SME:
IT SME 7Dr. M. Michelson
Results Demand Analysis
Electronic procurement
Customer Relationship Management
E-Commerce
Knowledge Management, Document Management, Workflow Systems
IT areas considered as important:
IT SME 8Dr. M. Michelson
Results Demand Analysis
Demand on basic information at smaller enterprises
Demand on more specific information and solutions with rising size of enterprises
Supplier-neutral consultancy offers
Best Practise-solutions, check lists, guides, cost-benefit analyse
Requests of SME :
IT SME 9Dr. M. Michelson
Results websites and platforms
Missing transparency about all the offers
Entrance hurdles
Not user-oriented
Not practise-related
A lot of websites and platforms especially from official institutions like the chambers of commerce or the trade associations offer information, consultancy and support concerning IT-applications for SME. Why don‘t they really succeed?
Consequence: Avoid a further "me too" – solution
IT SME 10Dr. M. Michelson
Web Platform
Presentation of certified information and consultancy offers
Low barrier search approach
Target group specific content and structure (enterprises, broker, experts, ...)
Market-place
Results and views referring to the region
Network of certified contact persons
Consolidation of existing networks
Connecting and repositoring of knowledge
Contact to sepcialist / providers
Broker-Network
Hybrid Concect of Web Platform and Broker-Network
IT SME 11Dr. M. Michelson
Search
Browse
Client Information andcontact advise
Broker
Communication viaPlatform, Telephone, Email,
Provider
Expert / Provider
Offers,Success Stories,Best Practices,Trends, ...
Web Platform
Consultation
Contact
Hybrid Concect of Web Platform and Broker-Network
IT SME 12Dr. M. Michelson
Search
Browse
Client Information andcontact advise
Broker
Communication viaPlatform, Telephone, Email,
Provider
Expert / Provider
Offers,Success Stories,Best Practices,Trends, ...
Web Platform
Consultation
Contact
Hybrid Concect of Web Platform and Broker-Network
IT SME 13Dr. M. Michelson
The Broker
Communicator/ Multiplicator/ Networker
Retrieval and consultancy competence
Knowledge of business and industry sectors
Profile
Chambers of commerce and trade associations
Universities and institutions
Enterprises
Arise from
IT SME 14Dr. M. Michelson
Facet Classification
Classification of offers and their contents
Searching of offers and their contents
Level of detail of classification depends on the individual offer
Flexible, adapable, extendable
Web Platform and broker data are indexed by a facet classification
IT SME 15Dr. M. Michelson
Facet Classification
IT SME 16Dr. M. Michelson
Scenarios
Scenarios help to present, discuss and to enhance the concept. They are helpful to develop a prototype of the platform. Depending on the scenario a different access and user interface is presented.
IT SME 17Dr. M. Michelson
Scenario 1
The client requires information / consultancy / support relating to a specific IT-topic
He phones local chamber of commerce, is being forwarded to a Broker in the network
The Broker talks to the client, apprehends the demand
The Broker searches the web platform
The Broker presents the results or provides contact to a specialist
User Interface for the Broker
IT SME 18Dr. M. Michelson
Scenario 1: Semantic oriented
IT SME 19Dr. M. Michelson
Scenario 2
The Client requires information / consultancy / support relating to a specific IT-topic
The Client searches the web platform
He finds out about offers and success stories
The Client searches for regional offers, using map interface
User Interface: map containing local / regional contacts
IT SME 20Dr. M. Michelson
Scenario 2: Geo-oriented
IT SME 21Dr. M. Michelson
Scenario 3
The client requires information / consultancy / support relating to a specific IT-topic
The client searches directly for a competent contact person using the web platform
He contacts the broker / the specialist
User Interface: List of industry sectors and contact person; Topic Map; Zooming Grid
IT SME 22Dr. M. Michelson
Scenario 3: Zooming Grid
IT SME 23Dr. M. Michelson
Scenario 3: Zooming Grid
IT SME 24Dr. M. Michelson
Scenario 3: Zooming Grid
IT SME 25Dr. M. Michelson
Conclusion and state of activities
The discussion of the concept with representatives of SME as well as chambers of commerce showed good approval.
The concept was transferred into a prototype based on a server of our university linking some of the existing web-sites in the platform
Problems still to be solved: - Organisation of the network- Brokers and Experts- Costs- ……
