Short description:

<p>Even in the past, the SAP UCC Magdeburg was anxious to arrange its processes according to the ITIL Best Practices. Due to the newly designed Solution Manager 7.1, it is now possible to represent even more ITIL-V3-conform processes in a complex, homogeneous system landscape.</p><p>A special focus is on the field of Service Desk, which merely has the function to report incidents. ITIL sees in the Service Desk the central contact point for all functions of the Publication Service Operation, which not only include Incident Management, but also Request Fulfillment, Access Management, Event Management and Problem Management. This means that, in addition to the simple ticketing system, system monitoring is integrated. </p><p>This includes the possibility to monitor the technical parameters. Furthermore, the Solution Manager offers tools for the monitoring of business processes. To implement and evaluate these aspects in the very large and complex system landscape of the SAP UCC was one of the great research assignments of the year 2012.</p><p> In the field of business process monitoring, it is important to check whether the case studies that have been developed in the UCC can be monitored in a way that allows the observation of the progress of the students’ performances. In this context one also has to evaluate Business Rule Framework, which enables the creation of business process rules and which triggers certain actions in the event of deviations, such as the sending of an e-mail or the starting of a workflow.</p><p>The solution Manager 7.1 offers a wide range of possibilities for the provision of services for an operator of SAP system landscapes. It is a type of ERP-system for the IT-department: software to support the provision of services in the IT branch. This aspect, as well as the ITIL processes, is meant to be further analyzed and explored.</p>

Short description:

<p>Currently, efficient, flexible and cheap information systems are an economic necessity. This fact not only applies to information systems of large enterprises, but to an increasing degree also to those of small and medium-sized enterprises.</p><p>Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) define the European economics in a special way. According to EU-definition they average 99.8% among European countries. Nevertheless, small and medium-sized enterprises do not exist.</p><p>Depending on the size, the field of activity, the key markets and the range of products and services, the demands of SME on their information technologies are diverse. The spectrum ranges from micro-sized enterprises that rarely use information technology and scarcely have expertise in their operation to medium-sized automotive-suppliers that are forced by their principal customers to apply certain standards. Depending on the size and the organizational form there are considerable differences among decision-making structures and the instruction of decision-makers.</p><p>The project Strategic Systems Landscape Engineering for SME is concerned with the strategic planning, the configuration and the operation of system landscapes in small and medium-sized enterprises in consideration of open source software. The applicability and the benefit of approved tools for planning and decision-making as well as the benefit of open source software for the planning, the configuration and the operation of system landscapes in small and medium-sized enterprises therefore are in the center of this consideration.</p><p>The integration of corresponding methods and information sources for an utilizable planning methodology for small and medium-sized enterprises as well as their prototypical implementation in an integrated tool for planning and controlling is the goal of this work.</p>

Short description:

<p>The service-orientation of the IT-branch is of increasing importance, not least because of the concept of cloud computing. It supports the commoditization of IT and increases the transparency for the clients. For the providers of such services, the challenge is to offer IT-services with minimized costs and sufficient quality. Service-Level-Agreements (SLAs) are important secondary conditions. In addition to functional and legal aspects, these agreements also give non-functional guarantees of quality, for example to availability or response time of a certain service. Violating those can lead to contractual penalties or even to a loss of reputation in respect of the clients and thus, should be avoided.</p><p>In the context of the development of new and improved services and underlying IT-system landscapes, it should be aspired to predict the non-functional features of these services in advance without incurring significant costs. Therewith, the negotiation and supervision of SLAs could be supported. Furthermore, the service costs could be analyzed on different quality levels.</p><p>In order to offer such a decision support, a framework for the prediction of non-functional features of IT-services is developed in the context of this research project. This framework is based on a discrete event simulation and considers dependencies among the single properties such as the dependency among security standards and response time or of availability and throughput.</p>

Short description:

<p>Global market scenarios allow the easy comparison of products and services for consumers. In such a comparable supply situation, often price leadership is the key for gaining market shares. Enterprises which gain their market shares predominantly through price leadership tend to have a small scope for further development. A strategically significant way to differentiate from competitors in comparable markets is the provision of hybrid service bundles (Burr, 2002). Hybrid service bundles are an integrated combination of physical products and immaterial services and have the goal to solve a specific customer’s problem (Hirschheim, Klein, &amp; Lyytinen, 1995).</p><p>Current research indicates that the management of hybrid service bundles in information systems presents new challenges to already established business processes. For example, hybrid service bundles in business processes, as described in the Supply Management System, can only be presented insufficiently (Schrödl, Gugel, &amp; Turowski, 2010;&nbsp; Schrödl, Gugel, &amp; Turowski, 2011). Research in the field of hybrid value creation focuses on models and methods for the creation of hybrid service bundles. The discussion about the provision of hybrid service bundles in value creation networks is still pending (Bensch, Schrödl, &amp; Turowski, 2011). A close provider-supplier-relationship is necessary in order to achieve process improvements for the provision as well as cost reduction, which can then be divided between the provider and the supplier&nbsp; (Carr &amp; Smeltzer, 1999). Thus, value creation networks are especially suitable for the realization of operational and strategic aspects. </p><p>Whereas the provision of tangible goods in supply networks has a long research history, the supply of services and service in the sense of offerings that can be obtained on demand via internet, raises a multiplicity of questions that have not yet been sufficiently answered (Bensch &amp; Schrödl, 2011; Bensch, Schrödl, &amp; Turowski, 2012). Due to this reason, questions of Service Level Agreements (SLA’s), which consist of several components, still remain unanswered. Further topics are guarantee benefits for services in the sense of quality guarantees, availability qualities, responsibilities for complex service provisions, or topics such as risk management. Since the response to those topics in the context of service features was not sufficient, this is especially valid for hybrid service bundles as a complex combination of tangible accomplishments and service features .</p><p> </p><p>Especially the field of risk management in the context of hybrid value creation currently is hardly examined (Schrödl, Geier, Latsch, &amp; Turowski, 2011b). Due to the increasing specialization of providers, the establishment of hybrid offers causes an efficient integration of suppliers for the service generation and service provision. Hereby the risk observation plays a central role. Since there are different types of suppliers, it is often difficult for the providers of hybrid service bundles to evaluate new and existing suppliers according to their risk features. Risk models for supplier evaluation are currently used in enterprises. But existing models are strongly applied to the procurement management of material goods and not sufficiently analyzed according to the specific demands of hybrid value creation.</p><p>The aim of this project&nbsp; is the establishment of a risk management model which is designed for and can be applied to the specific demands of hybrid value creation. Therefore, a comparative framework for the well-structured comparison of already existing risk management models was established (Schrödl &amp; Geier, 2012). Through the application of this comparative framework it becomes obvious that no currently documented risk management model is suitable for hybrid value creation. The best possible measure appears to be the point evaluation method. Based on this method, a new technique has been established in order to fill the gap to the applicability in hybrid value creation (Schrödl, Geier, Latsch, &amp; Turowski, 2011 a). These methods have been evaluated in the context of a laboratory test. This project uses the design science approach (Hevner, March, Park, &amp; Ram, 2004).</p>

Short description:

<p>Activities in terms of the application of a modern ERP-system such as ECC are diverse and complicated. Users leave behind traces which reflect their interactions or their activities.</p><p>The depiction of actually executed business processes or workflows of the company from the ERP system can be derived. A correct Status quo-Workflow-Model creates business process enhancements for all types of activity of the process management</p><p>The goal of the project is the development of a simple and feasible procedure for the reconstruction of Status quo-Workflow-Models of an ERP system. Application Usage Mining (AUM) is meant to be a means for the automatic modelling of a detailed Status quo-Workflow-Model of a company. The software product ECC of the SAP AG holds worldwide market leadership, which is the reason why this system is the ERP-reference for this project.</p>

Short description:

<p>In many companies, Enterprise-Resource-Planning-Systems (ERP-Systeme) are the basis for information processing and thus contribute to the corporate success. It has to be assured, however, that qualified employees that are able to permeate the complexity of a diversity of ERP solutions are available. In addition to the ability to handle the systems, it is crucial for possible employees to possess knowledge about the economic process context. </p><p>Thus, in the area of teaching, Serious Games are an adequate tool for simulating business processes. Serious Games that are currently available at the market, however, have always been developed as stand-alone solutions, so that the practical connection to ERP systems cannot be conveyed. The approach to offer Serious Games as solutions integrated into ERP-systems has developed only recently; the corresponding market offer is accordingly small.</p><p> A Serious Game describes a szenario in which people (fellow players) act within a framework that is equipped with rules of the game. Their acitivites are systematically recorded and assessed afterwards. The basis of this assessment is the result of a simulation which processes the activities of the individual fellow players. </p><p>In the course of this project, a concept for a ERP-integrated Serious Game that is technically based on a SaaS-approach is meant to be developed. Individual questions are thereby concerned with the version, the strategy, or the goal of the business plan that is meant to be depicted, of the underlying market model and the technical implementation. </p>

Short description:

Today, Bernd Welz and Ann Rosenberg signed pilot project agreements with three universities evaluating the new Industry 4.0 curriculum which is being hosted and supported by SAP UCC Magdeburg during the project. Main components of the learning environment are SAP ERP, SAP ME/MII and a Festo assembly line. During the next months, professors at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, DHBW Mosbach and Tongji University are testing and enhancing the teaching material. The final curriculum will be available to the SAP University Alliances community in fall semester 2015.

Short description:

<p>Nowadays Russian and Chinese universities have to offer programs which facilitate graduates’ adaptation to the real manufacturing and business environment and raise their competitiveness at the labor market. In order to develop a qualitative program is necessary to establish close links with business community as well as European universities which have rich experience in development of similar programs. The wide objective is by introduction of interdisciplinary programs at Russian and Chinese Universities, to enhance the quality of education in the electrical and measurement engineering and the employability of Russian and Chinese graduates in this field through internationalization of Master Curricula along the Bologna lines. The first specific objective of the project is to design and develop the interdisciplinary master program “Instrument engineering and intelligent quality control”. The second specific objective of the project is to set up a virtual instrument-training enterprise to enhance obtaining practical skills and modernization of traditional teaching contests by applying new communication technologies. The third specific objective is to develop internationalization strategy of international cooperation for promotion mutual interest and mobility of students between Partner Universities by means of Double degree program (DDP).Academic staff and students of educational institutions of Russian and Chinese engineering universities will be final beneficiaries of the Project. In broad sense all employers who will have an opportunity to employ graduates with state-of-the-art skills. </p><h4 class="flaticon-clerks">Coordinator:</h4><div class="projectFicheCoordDetailName"><ul><li><b> </b>UNIVERSITE DE TECHNOLOGIE DE BELFORT - MONTBELIARD</li></ul></div><h4 class="flaticon-multiple25 projectFichePartners">Partners:</h4><ul><li>FEDERAL STATE BUDGETARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION M.I. PLATOV SOUTH-RUSSIAN STATE POLITECHNIC UNIVERSITY NPI</li><li>CHANGCHUN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY</li><li>VOLGOGRADSKIY GOSUDARSTVENNIY TEKHNICHESKIY UNIVERSITET</li><li>FEDERAL STATE-FUNDED EDUCATION INSTITUTION OF HIGHER PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION PERM NATIONAL RESEARCH POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY</li><li>KAZAN NATIONAL RESEARCH TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY NAMED AFTER A.N. TUPOLEV-KAI FEDERAL STATE BUDGET-FUNDED EDUCATIONAL INST HIGH PROF EDUC KNRTU<img title="China" class="flag cn" src="http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/valor/images/blank.png" style="" alt="" /> </li><li>LANZHOU UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY</li><li>OTTO-VON-GUERICKE-UNIVERSITAET MAGDEBURG</li><li>UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DELL'AQUILA</li><li>VORONEZH STATE UNIVERSITY</li></ul>

Short description:

<p>The importance of quality human resource management (HRM) for the development and optimisation of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is undeniable today. There are increasingly complex academic scenarios which demand HRM models able to respond to new challenges in the selection, development and motivation of staff. HR approches focused on tasks-performanc related to personnel recruitment, organisation of employment contracts and payment of wages are compeltely superseeded by new issues, such as training, promotion and encouragement, evaluation, development support and systematic planning for future needs.</p><p><br />National and regional processes of socio-economic transformation and globalisation are influencing HRM in HE worldwide. In South Mediterranean countries, HR systems face numerous challenges focused in different factors, such as quality, level of state expenditure in education, suitability to the real needs of labour market and society, appropriate governance mechanism, and acces to HE, particular for most vulnerable groups.</p><p><br />Reforms in the South Mediterranean countries are seriously needed to move forward and try to take advantage of the socio-political movements of past years, the results of which are still quite uncertain. To do so, HEIs need to overcome certain difficulties such as common staff shortages and improvable working conditions, which have direkt impact on the motivation of their personnel. Management structures need also to apply more transparent recruitment criteria and processes, less politically oriented merits, good contractual conditions and balanced and transparent options for promotion.</p><p><br />As regards the countries targeted by RISE (Jordan, Tunesia, Algerie and Morocco) they all share the abovementioned diffculties. There is, i.a., a generalised lack of structure trainig programmes for staff, little use of e-governance tools to simplify procedures, and a weak culture on meritocracy, as highlighted, e.g., in the World Bank Reports on Public Administration Reforms 2011 and the Arab World Competitiveness Report 2013. Regionaldifficulties were also thoroughly discussed at the Tempus Seminar on &quot;Management of Human Resources in Public Higher Education in the Southern Mediterranean&quot;, held in June 2013 in Nicosia. Experts recognised that there is potential for improvement, should HEIs staff be optimally managed and used. It was also underlined that maintaining high motivation of administrative and technical staff seemed to be the major obstacle in the region. In all sessions, the &quot;too much safety&quot; of employment was also iterated by the participants, who pointed out that if plansand strategies are developed in the region, they are too often not implemented or at least not monitored. They also agreed that the reform of the labour law is essential to improve in this field. Some of these findings are still endorsed by other experts and works.</p><p>In this scenario, RISE main purpose is to contribute to South Mediterranean Higher Education Reform Agenda through the modernisation of People Management. This global objectivewill be targeted by means of three focused specific actions:</p><div class="indent"><ul><li>Capacity building in HRM for the target South Mediterranean HEIs towards stronger organisational efficency</li><li>Creation of regional network on HRM as a forum for exchange of good practices</li><li>Conceiving and developing institutional HR strategies in South Mediterranean HEIs</li></ul></div>

Short description:

<p><span style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, HelveticaNeue, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.04px; ">Das Mittelstand 4.0-Kompetenzzentrum Magdeburg&nbsp;</span><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px rgb(225, 225, 225); font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 15.04px; line-height: inherit; font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, HelveticaNeue, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(181, 9, 0); ">„vernetzt wachsen“</strong><span style="color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, HelveticaNeue, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.04px; ">&nbsp;unterstützt mittelständische Unternehmen sowohl in Sachsen-Anhalt als auch bundesweit beim Einsatz innovativer digitaler Lösungen zur Optimierung innerbetrieblicher Prozesse, Vernetzung von Betrieben und Entwicklung neuer Geschäftsfelder.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px rgb(225, 225, 225); font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 0.94rem; line-height: 21.808px; font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, HelveticaNeue, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">Das Mittelstand 4.0-Kompetenzzentrum Magdeburg&nbsp;<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px rgb(225, 225, 225); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(181, 9, 0); ">„vernetzt wachsen“&nbsp;</strong>gehört zu Mittelstand-Digital. Mit Mittelstand-Digital unterstützt das Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie die Digitalisierung in kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen und dem Handwerk.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px rgb(225, 225, 225); font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 0.94rem; line-height: 21.808px; font-family: &quot;Open Sans&quot;, HelveticaNeue, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">Mittelstand-Digital informiert kleine und mittlere Unternehmen über die Chancen und Herausforderungen der Digitalisierung. Regionale Kompetenzzentren helfen vor Ort dem kleinen Einzelhändler genauso wie dem größeren Produktionsbetrieb mit Expertenwissen, Demonstrationszentren, Netzwerken zum Erfahrungsaustausch und praktischen Beispielen. Das Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie ermöglicht die kostenlose Nutzung aller Angebote von Mittelstand-Digital. Weitere Informationen finden Sie unter&nbsp;<a href="http://www.mittelstand-digital.de/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px rgb(225, 225, 225); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px; max-width: 100%; color: rgb(181, 9, 0); ">www.mittelstand-digital.de</a></p>

Short description:

<p>SAP Business ByDesign is a fully integrated Software-as-a-Service-ERP-solution that especially addresses small and medium-sized enterprises. As one of the first institutions in the world, the UCC Magdeburg has been involved in the pilot project “SAP Business ByDesign@ University Alliances” of the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg and the SAP AG since 2009. </p><p> During the pilot phase, different product releases – so-called featurepacks – were successfully tested and delivered to internationally adopting university lecturers in China, USA, Switzerland, Canada, France and Germany by the UCC in Magdeburg. During the pilot phase, the UCC Magdeburg developed a full set of training material following the proven concept of the UCC. This material was presented in August 2011 and February 2012 at the UCC Magdeburg in the form of professional training courses for lecturers of the UA-program.</p><p> Since the UCC Magdeburg has developed an official certification, the newly gained knowledge of the training courses can be authenticated by SAP. The development of high-quality material in the context of the pilot project was supported by the realization of feedback sessions with the participation of the SAP Executive Board and the ByD product management.</p><p>The aim is to include SAP Business ByDesign into the range of products of the UCC Magdeburg and to offer it to university lecturers in the EMEA region after the successful conclusion of the pilot phase.</p>

Short description:

<p>The SAP Human Capital Management component (HCM) is an integrated management solution for all personnel-relevant processes within a company. It allows the efficient representation of personnel-related data and is a part of SAP ERP systems.</p><p>In cooperation with the Leuphana University of Lüneburg, the UCC Magdeburg has developed an extensive curriculum for Human Capital Management. The curriculum focuses on the representation of human resources processes within a SAP ERP 6.04 system. Detailled teaching material, composed of slides, exercises and case studies, can be applied for first-time adopters as well as for advanced learners. The curriculum was presented to the UA Community in the context of the SAP Curriculum Congress 2010 in San Diego and is now available for all UA members for research and educational purposes.</p><p>The development of further curricula on the issue of SAP Human Capital Management by SAP UCC Magdeburg is planned for the future, especially in the fields of time recording and payroll accounting.</p>

Short description:

<p>Due to the increasing number of cooperation partners of the UCC and the conjunct enlargement of the SAP system landscape, it became necessary to simplify the administration and to improve the resource utilization. For this reason, at the beginning of the year 2008, the UCC initiated the project &quot;Adaptive Computing&quot; in cooperation with its partners, the SAP AG and the Hewlett Packard GmbH.</p><p> In spring 2008, the SAP Adaptive Computing Controller was installed and configured in the context of an early Ramp-Up phase. Afterwards, the HP Storage Essentials were integrated into this solution in the context of the HPO Early Adaptor Programme. The UCC was among the first institutions in the world to apply this technology.</p><p> In the progress of the project, the possibilities of Adaptive Computing will be further analyzed and the software will be developed in cooperation with the partners. </p>

Short description:

<p>In cooperation with the Hewlett Packard GmbH, the world's first Adaptive Computing Infrastructure for SAP-applications was installed in the computing center of the SAP UCC. The first executable system configuration could be developed and evaluated.</p><p> The results were made available for the Hewlett Packard GmbH and the SAP AG and influenced the product development process. </p>

Short description:

<p>Currently, in many corporate environments and scientific institutions, a number of different IT-applications runs on a number of different computer systems. Computer systems on client-/server-architecture, which meanwhile have established themselves traditionally on an equal basis, carry most of the burden and, due to the heterogenity of system landscapes and computer systems, present operators of data centers with major challenges that, combined with a persistently high level of growth, lead to enormous costs in the fields of administration and operation.</p><p>This project aims to analyze patterns for the improvement of the operation of data centers through virtual-, adaptive-, and grid computing. These fields of computing, which are still new in mass operation, are being defined and analyzed according to possible areas of application within data centers. Therefore,&nbsp;a design- and architectural model is developed, which is meant to show how the capacity requirement for the IT infrastructre in data centers can be made more efficient through the application of these techniques. The main thesis of this project is that a reduced application of infrastructure ressources is possible. The precondition is the determination of the actually required capacity.</p><p></p><p>For the analysis of the capacity requirement, in the case study of SAP, empirical data from server landscapes of a data center will be gathered in the context of traditional operation. These data serve the development of a model for the capacity determination for the consolidated infrastructure operation and the exmination of this thesis.</p>

Short description:

<h2>Introduction</h2><p> For software development, there are different graphical modelling languages for different fields of application. As an example, processes can be displayed through event-driven process chains or an object-oriented software can be designed by means of the Unified Modeling Language (UML).</p><p> </p><p> After previous findings, one application area in software development is not yet supported by a standardized graphical modelling language: the modelling of IT infrastructures. In this context, an IT infrastructure is meant to be understood as the unity of all hardware and software resources that are necessary for the introduction and the operation of a software.</p><h2> Problem</h2><p> If a software is introduced into an organization, in most cases it is integrated into an existing IT infrastructure. This is especially valid for Very Large Business Applications (VLBAs) since they are applied cross-departmental and cross-organizational.</p><p> During the process of planning the intrdocution of the software, the software architect thus finds himself confronted with the following questions:</p><ul><li> <i>Into which IT environment will the new software be integrated? </i>Most of the newly-introduced software products within an organisation are integrated together with other software products.&nbsp; A software architect has to define how the data are transferred from one system to another. This - amongst other things - includes the infrastructural question, in which (different) network segments the particular software products are located and how data can get from one network segment (e.g. DMZ) to another (e.g. LAN).<ul><li><i>How does the staging of developmental systems and production systems process? </i>With the implementation of a new software, initially, a development system, a quality system, and a productive system are installed within organizations in order to conduct organization-specific software modifications . The changes are conducted in the development system, are then checked by testers in the quality system and, after having been sucessfully tested, are transfered to the productive system. This strategy makes sure that there is always a comprehensible&nbsp; productive state of the software and it furthermore contains considerable&nbsp; technical and organizational effort which has to be recorded. </li></ul></li><li> <i>How can chronologically recurring activities be marked? </i>&nbsp;If e.g. a backup of the data stock is meant to be conducted periodically, this has to be coordinated with the operators of the software (e.g. the employees of the data center) in advance. The voting process could be supported by a graphical modeling language. </li></ul><h2> Goal</h2><p>The goal of this research project is the developmentof a graphical modeling language for IT infrastructures. By means of this modeling language, the components of IT-infrastructures and their relations should be modeled. The modeling language is meant to meet all organizational requirements and is thus supposed to close the existing gap between software-architects and software-operators.</p><p></p>

Short description:

<p>The SAP Solution Manager is a complex software solution offered by the SAP AG for the maintainance, administration and surveillance of SAP system landscapes. With the help of the Solution Manager it is possible to depict processes in an ITIL V3-compliant manner. The SAP UCC in Magdeburg has been operating SAP Solution Manager systems since 2007 and thus was among the first pilot partners of the SAP AG for the introduction of the Solution Manager. Due to the intensive cooperation with the SAP product development (expert-guided implementation) it was possible to organize the introductory process in an efficient manner.</p><p> Through the implementation of the SAP Solution Manager, the existing internal processes of the Application Incident Management and of the Customer Data Management of the UCC Magdeburg have been redesigned in an ITIL-compliant way. Since 2010, for this purpose, the whole customer service process has been handled as a Ticket System by a Service Desk which is integrated into the SAP systems of the companies using it. Additionally, the customer administration and the maintainance of the SAP system landscape in the UCC Magdeburg takes place through the Solution Manager. Therefore, based on the existing data structures, individual information systems such as Customer Self Service (CSS) and Employee Self Service (ESS) have been developed.</p><p>Even beyond the application of the SAP Solution Manager in the UCC Magdeburg, the software is applied in the context of the UCC product range in research and teaching of institutions which participate in the SAP UA programm. Therefrom derived among other things a curriculum focusing on project management which was created in cooperation with the Niederrhein University. Currently, the expansion of the functionality of the Solution Manager in the UCC Magdeburg is being worked on (e.g. for the business process monitoring and the system monitoring). This is a further step in the direction of the ITIL-compliant provision of services in the UCC Magdeburg.</p>

Short description:

<p>SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse (SAP BW) is a SAP software solution that allows the evaluation of data from operative SAP-applications and from random business management applications and external data sources. </p><p> In the year 2002, the SAP BW (starting from the release 2.1C) was analyzed by the UCC Magdeburg as one of the first applications of the SAP UA environments for the hosting worldwide. In the same year, SAP BW could be delivered to the utilizing institutuins of the SAP UCC Magdeburg as a new product with 3.0A release.</p><p> In cooperation with the TU Munich, curricula were developed for the 3.x releases of SAP BW and were delivered to the SAP UA community. Based on those training documents, there were several trainings at the SAP UCC Magdeburg for utilizing lecturers according to the train-the-trainer principle. In the context of the cutover to the new release 7.0, a complete re-design of the existing curriculum was necessary due to the changed system structure in the field of reporting and due to the data modelling&nbsp; and the data load. The re-design was undertaken by the UCC Magdeburg in cooperation with the Ludwigshafen University and the Stuttgart Media University.</p><p> </p><p> In order to advance the development of new curriculum concepts, the UCC Magdeburg regularly participates in the SAP UA BW Roundtable. The concepts that emerge in the process of cooperation with the participants influence the current pilot projects and are tested by the UCC Magdeburg according to their technical feasability. Currently, the UCC Magdeburg, the Ludwigshafen University, the University of Cooperative Education Loerrach, and the CSU Chico work on the development of a curriculum on the basis of the new release 7.3. </p>

Short description:

<p>The Customer Relationsship Management allows companies to integrate customer issues directly into their business processes. This strategy supports a close interaction with the clients, which leads to improved customer relationships and thus to an enhancement of the profitability. Supported by special software, customer relationships can be cared for continuously in the fields of marketing, distribution and customer service.</p><p>At the SAP UCC Magdeburg, the SAP Customer Relationship Management has been applied since its version 4.0. During the last months, the new SAP CRM-System 7.0 EHP 1 was configurated successfully at the UCC Magdeburg. Baed on this configuration, a comprehensive curriculim is currently developed and will be completed shortly. The scenario is based on a GBI-dataset, a model company which produces and distributes bicycles. It includes an introduction into the whole bandwidth of the functionality of the mentioned fields of marketing, distribution, and service.</p><p>In September 2011,&nbsp;the UCC Magdeburg and the SAP Rapid Deployment Solutions Team additionally started to develop a configuration curriculum. Starting with the SAP CRM RDS Solutio, the project focuses on SAP CRM for Marketing and Sales. The kickoff-meeting took place last October. For this purpose, a SAP CRP system was customized by nine students of the University of Applied Sciences Kiel, using the Rapid Deployment Method. The goal of this project was the development of the curriculum as well as the provision of of a detailled feedback for the SAP CRM RDS team in order to improve the documents and customizing guidelines for the product. The project was finalized in January 2012.</p>

Short description:

<p>Currently, cloud computing is a topic that is widely discussed in literature and in practice. The establishment of cloud computing brings along several chances, but at the same time confronts the operators of computing centers with difficult tasks: whereas for the user, the operation of software and the infrastructure required for this operation are highly simplified, computing centers, which offer the cloud-services, have to master the challenges of cloud computing. This concerns for example the availability of cloud-services of almost 100%, combined with high performance.&nbsp;</p><p>For the operation of Very Large Business Applications (VLBA) based on cloud computing, further challenges arise since VLBA are highly complex and heterogeneous systems. A certain partial aspect of the operation of cloud-based VLBA is load balancing within a computing center/within computing centers which are responsible for the operation. Load balancing is exacerbated by the complex structure of the VLBA-cloud one the one hand, and by the provision of functionalities as services on the other hand. Especially the decoupling of services and systems leads to a state in which important classification numbers for the workload of the servers cannot be determined by the service.&nbsp; </p><p>In the context of this project, an approach is meant to be developed with the help of which the workload within a (cloud-) system landscape can be determined and, based on this, an efficient load balancing on the basis of suitable alogrithms and other components can be conducted.</p>

Short description:

<p>The DAAD funds from the Federal Ministry for education and research cooperation between German and foreign universities in the field of doctoral training. DEEBIS-Net (Doctoral Studies in Environmental and Business Information Systems) is a bi-national PhD network between the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Otto-von-Guericke University, and two Cuban partner universities (Instituto Superior Politecnico Jose Antonio Echeverria, CUJAE, Habana and Universidad Central de las Villas (UCLV) Santa Clara). It offers the participants to the academic infrastructures at all participating institutions and provides workspace, including computer facilities.</p><p> The research work of all participating students is based on their individual research topics that relate to the overall research profile of the PhD network and the research activities of all partners. The individual research activities and their results are the major and key component of the PhD work.</p><p> The supervision is based on a sandwich model. Besides a primary dissertation advisor at the home institution, a secondary supervisor and/or a mentor is assigned to each candidate during his/her stay abroad. The designated mentor provides independent advice on the students intellectual and personal development, and he/she counsels the student on issues of personal and career development as well as on possible further exploration of scientific work in the partner country.</p>

Short description:

<p>The project &quot;Solution and Services Engineering for Measuring, Monitoring, and Management of Organizations Environmental Performance Indicators (OEPI)&quot; is an international research project that is sponsored by the European Commission. Eight partners, including universities and industrial partners, work together on this project, relying on different expert profiles. </p>

Short description:

<p>VIRTHUALIS is the largest European Research Project on Industrial Safety.</p><p>Promoted by the European Commission within the 6th Framework Programme, and coordinated by Polytechnic of Milan. VIRTHUALIS joins 42 partners among universities, research centers and private companies from all over Europe. The aim of the project is to produce an innovative technology that integrates Virtual Reality and Human Factors (HF) methods to improve safety in production plants and storage sites. The major advantage will be enhancing the availability of HF methods, which are rarely considered in safety analyses, by embedding and visualizing them in a virtual environment.</p><p>According to recent studies, human errors represent the major cause of risks and accidents in many industries such as chemical and petro-chemical. These errors are connected with enormous damage and financial losses. To improve safety in these industries, there is a need for an integrated safety concept for the entire production life cycle, which also considers human failures and malfunctions. The goal of the project will be to visualize different safety scenarios, to analyze possible causes of human error and to support making necessary safety decisions.</p><p> Within the framework of VIRTHUALIS, safety scenarios in the selected industrial domain (currently the process industry) will be developed, covering the following safety actions: Risk Assessment, Accident Investigation, Safety Management and Training. The VIRTHUALIS project started the 1st of May 2006, and will last for four years; it has an overall budget of 15 Mio €, nine of which are funded by the European Union and the rest co-funded by the partners.</p><p>For more information please refer to the project web site: <a href="http://www.virthualis.org" data-htmlarea-external="1">www.virthualis.org</a></p>

Short description:

<p>Together with the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam as well as with industry partners such as SAP, HP and Fujitsu, in 2014 a project was conducted by the VLBA Lab in Magdeburg in which the availability of an in-memory computing cluster was analyzed. Therefore, a SAP HANA(r) computing cluster was provided by the Future SOC Lab at the HPI.</p><p>For this analysis, first the defective components of a single HANA node were modeled in order to estimate the availability of a single HANA system. On that basis, the so-called host auto-failover mechansim was integrated into the model. This mechanism automatically activates passive HANA nodes when one of the active nodes fails. By doing so, availability and performance of the in-memory cluster can be maintained.</p><p>Using measured data the model could be parameterized, for instance with takeover time distributions. By simulating the model the relation between the number of active and passive nodes on the one hand as well as the cluster availability on the other hand could be formalized. This formula is intended to support decision makers when planning the introduction of an in-memory computing cluster meeting the availability constraints.</p><p></p>

Short description:

<p>Today, there is a major lack of knowledge and experiences in the field of ESE and Business Informatics in the EU southern neighboring region. The MSC.ESE project with the reference number 530260-TEMPUS-1-2012-1-DE-TEMPUS-JPCR aims at creating a master s curriculum in ESE at JO/SY/TN/EG universities to be taught in a new master s programme that will be established through the project at one university in each country (4 in total) where the lectures will take place. The curriculum will include also single-subject courses which target professionals and employees from interested companies. The project will ensure the ability of targeted universities to offer an advanced curriculum in ESE based on successful course materials, teaching methods and faculty expertise available at EU universities. Courses will be adapted to JO/SY/TN/EG teaching practices and business environment. Five individual experts will be involved for evaluating the project.</p> <p>The project's specific objectives are: </p> <ul><li>Create 5-6 new courses and update 6-8 available ones in a way that conforms to ECTS and Bologna Process</li> <li>Incorporate ICT through a Web-based E-learning, course management and admission system</li> <li>Apply new teaching methods, PBL and PGL, that are based on comprehension rather than memorization, and obtain case studies from real industrial problems in JO/SY/TN/EG</li> <li>Explore the possibility for this programme's graduates to continue their studies at EU universities based on performance and availability</li> <li>Six ESE labs in the targeted universities equipped with advanced software and E-Learning tools</li> <li>Organize ESE concluding scientific conference on an international level</li> <li>Re/-training of staff from JO/SY/TN/EG universities for the new curriculum, E-Learning and teaching methods</li> <li>Explore the possibility to have regular video conferences among EU/target universities to form an inter-university scientific cooperation</li></ul><p></p>

Short description:

In recent years the online business environment is viewed by customers from a new perspective. Social media to a great extent affects the customer’s awareness, preference and even decision process. Dramatic developments in interactive social media have fundamentally changed the rules and performance of the marketing ecosystem. Compared to the traditional business model, consumers make use of social media platforms to influence other buyers through online interactivity. Consumers have changed their roles in the process of communication to actively participate in content creation, instead of passively accepting information released by firms. Marketing-related user-generated content has been one of the core schemes that firms create, maintain and improve the relationships with consumers in virtual communities. While more enterprises turned their attentions to invest in their social media platforms for exploiting the potential of online social marketing, a lack of available and reliable measurements for the effectiveness of social media marketing retards them to associate the social media initiatives with organizational goals. Thus, scholars suggest that effective measurements for social media should take into account consumers’ motivations to generate individual contents resulting from interactions, as well as the measuring metrics are able to quantify the long-term returns of investing in social media. This project concentrates on the interactivity of social media, and endeavours to establish a set of practical classification methods based on extracting interactivity attributes. A review of literature results in research hypothesis revolving around four necessary properties of social media: users’ motives, user-generated content, network structure, and social roles &amp; interactions. Quantitative analyses will be adopted to verify the hypotheses and make conclusions.