Business Process Optimization in Cross-Company Service Networks: Architecture and Maturity Model

Today, a company´s service processes are interwoven with external services and customers. In these cross-company service networks, partners are interchangeable and market conditions may shift rapidly. Thus, a need for business process optimization arises, though conventional approaches often cannot be used as company´s IT is not process centered. To achieve business process optimization in existing distributed infrastructures, we propose the modular aPro reference architecture, which builds upon existing components. Based on the architecture, we develop a maturity model for process optimization, which may be used to assess the need for change and select necessary measures.