As we have seen, less technically oriented roles will be actively involved in the assembly and orchestration efforts that are part of the Knowledge-Driven Enterprise Engineering process.

To be able to perform the act of composition, independently created parts (components) must exist that can be brought together into a unified and executable whole. In addition, a workflow through the assembled pieces must be established so that a defined outcome can be accomplished.

What seems easily understandable and logical must find its expression in a sound and convincing set of basic concepts. A couple of questions arise, such as: what does an independently created part look like?, how can it be created?, would it be reusable?, and how can multiple parts be brought together into a unified and executable whole?

The set of basic concepts underlying a software product determines its capabilities and power. Therefore, we analyze the basic concepts before we take a deeper look at current Dynamic Enterprise Management Software (DEMS) implementations. If a software vendor messed up the basic concept, there would be virtually no way to develop a DEMS product that lives up to expectations. However, we need kind of a yardstick to be able to assess basic concepts regarding their strengths and weaknesses. Although it may seem strange in the first instance, we use nature as our yardstick.

Nature can be understood as the archetype for design. When we look at how nature is built, we can see that nature is a composition of structures, a set of processes, and a network of interactions, to name just a few key characteristics.

Now, we are ready to analyze basic concepts that underlie some existing or emerging DEMS. If you feel that a certain software product should be included in our analysis, please drop us a note.