The »right« IT is essential to the success and competitiveness of any company. It is especially important that the relevant systems employed are intuitive and easy to use. Interactive applications
will only then find acceptance in the company, so that they can be used to the greatest possible effect, when the company’s requirements with regard to its services and products, its customers and
partners as well as its organization and employees are clearly analyzed. We employ innovative, but also tried and tested information technology to assist customers and institutions in carrying out
their tasks more efficiently and economically.
Focal points of the Information and Communication Technology business unit include:
Design of information processes employed across departmental and organizational structures
(portals, mobile services, IT security, electronic business traffic)
Conceptual assessment and selection of company software
(document management, business process and customer relationship management, product information management and enterprise resource planning)
Design and optimization of IT architectures
(web services, service-oriented architectures, software as a service, cloud and grid computing)
Development, evaluation and optimization of interactive and intelligent IT systems
(interface design, usability, intelligent service-based systems, backend integration and introduction strategies)
Definition and application of standards and interfaces
(electronic business, enterprise application integration, master data management, style guides and design pattern libraries)
Our services are based on an in-depth knowledge of the market and experience across many business sectors. Our practically tested methods and the professional implementation of projects by our
experts ensure the long-term success of our clients. Additional expertise on information technology and organizational skills are available as required through the Fraunhofer network. This
guarantees that the most up-to-date technological know-how is available for all projects being implemented.
Services
Our teams assist companies in defining, selecting and introducing suitable information and communications technology. We implement the latest knowledge, both from applied research and from our own
market studies, in practical concepts and methods. We carry out systematic and neutral analyses of processes and requirements at the interface between IT and the respective specialist departments.
These evaluations provide an important basis for working out specialist and technical concepts – jointly with the company and including the most up-to-date innovations in information technology. We
can then develop future-proof strategies that support the company’s enduring success.
Our advice on selecting products and service providers is completely impartial, using compiled tested criteria. We develop innovative IT solutions before and during the step-by-step introduction of
concepts and implementation of technology. All project phases are supported by appropriate evaluation measures and quality assurance.
We briefly present a number of selected services below:
We support companies in both areas. This applies especially to the management of business processes and customer relations, to document and workflow management and to enterprise resource planning.
Workshops are held to generate a common understanding of the problems being faced, to involve future users in the process at an early stage and to train the project team in its role.
We have developed methods to precisely analyze and determine our client’s existing situation. This is accompanied by an analysis that specifies which individual requirements are critical to success
in terms of improving the efficiency of the company and raising productivity. A ‘target concept’ based on this analysis generates the architecture of system solutions that are specified in detail,
these serving as the basis for drawing up tender documents. The system is selected in several stages, in close agreement with our customers. We develop pilot scenarios, conduct benchmark
investigations and analyze the cost-effectiveness of the alternatives presented.
When integrating and introducing a system, we help businesses and companies to adapt products to their requirements and to integrate them into their environment. In addition to an individually
agreed integration and migration plan, we assist companies in planning the introduction, implementation, targeted staff training and ongoing improvement and adaptation of the introduced solution.
We help to design and build IT architectures that permit companies and institutions to implement a needs-based and cost-accountable utilization of their distributed
IT resources. In doing so, we not only aim to optimize the management of computing power and storage space, but also seek solutions which support data management and access to applications on
shared systems.
Future technologies such as grid and cloud computing offer wide-ranging opportunities for internal company access across locations and organizational structures (enterprise grids), for cooperative
use between companies (partner grids) or for the needs-based use of external resources made available by professional IT service providers (cloud computing).
We are working continuously on the further development of these technologies as part of our research activities. We design compatible company and business models as well as security solutions,
jointly with industrial partners. Building on our know-how and experience in these technologies, we offer companies a comprehensive portfolio of consulting services dedicated to IT architecture.
The data obtained in this way also provides a valuable starting point when processes, service levels and cooperation networks need to be more precisely adjusted and further improved.
We use the results of current research works and our extensive experience from many implemented projects to develop suitable monitoring and control strategies. We assist our clients in selecting
technology, and accompany its introduction on site. This ensures that all installed event-based business management processes work smoothly and extremely efficiently.
Since our
recommendation of products and suppliers is entirely impartial, we can bring our clients together with other business partners, who often prove an ideal match depending on their respective fields
of activities.
We help companies to systematically examine all security issues in all areas of the company IT system.
Numerous requirements must be coordinated with one another when designing, introducing
and operating secure systems, even if such requirements might first appear to be contradictory. Technical security is therefore accompanied by the need for user-friendliness and data protection,
both of which must be translated into company-specific strategies and traceable measures. Compliance with basic legal conditions and, not least, questions of the cost-effectiveness of investments
in IT security measures are also taken into consideration in strategy development. Workshops with IT managers and users help to raise awareness of security issues amongst company employees, which
also helps to identify company-specific security requirements. We also develop role and rights-based access concepts and carry out analyses of relevant organizational weak points.
In the
area of identity management, for example, we offer assistance in selecting and introducing enterprise identity management systems (single-sign-on) and give advice on the use of meta-identity
management systems across several companies. Together with security managers, we establish concepts for dealing with organizational incidents (procedural models in incident management), so that the
company can react immediately and effectively to possible threats due to computer crime or attacks on the IT system.
Our interdisciplinary project teams ensure at all stages of the development that equal consideration is given both to the demands of future users and to the
cost-effectiveness of the whole project.
Too little use is made of potentially valuable information about the latest research results, for example, new product and service ideas, or customer opinion
and announcements by competitors.
Relevant sources of information and internet sites are, however, often difficult to find using traditional internet searches. This typically calls for extensive knowledge about current available
technologies and special search engines. It is equally important, however, to anchor the sourcing and forwarding of information strategically in the company: information acquisition is not a »side
job«.
As part of our research work, we continually analyze current technologies, the possibilities offered by the »semantic web« and Web 2.0, and develop suitable strategies for sourcing information.
Web-based intranets and process portals also ensure that information is exchanged efficiently in internal corporate communication. The Fraunhofer Institute for Work Organisation IAO has contributed
to the concept and design of many web applications. The resulting experience, methodological competence and our technological leadership in important segments enable us to offer companies
additional services for internal and external corporate communication.
Some examples:
-
Introduction and re-launch of corporate intranets and process portals; change management
-
User and task-specific interface design, usability optimization
-
Compilation of customer-oriented navigational structures and information architectures
-
Pimp up your site: technological advice and partial development in modern Web 2.0 technologies such as mash-ups, AJAX
and Flex
-
Efficient and flexible backend-integration
-
Benchmarking and search engine optimization with our LogSCORE tool
An individual approach, a personalized range of products, continuous accessibility and conveying an emotive quality in the shopping experience, these are all pre-conditions towards satisfying
customers and building loyalty over the long term. Our comprehensive services help companies to improve the effectiveness of how they manage their customer relations.
Some examples:
-
Planning and creating customer dialogue
-
Preparing CRM specifications relevant to the specific CRM support required to provide the basis for CRM system
selection
-
Creation and introduction of multi-channel management
-
Methods for user-centered innovation and crowd sourcing
-
Segmentation of customer fields and compilation of user taxonomies
-
Measurement and benchmarking of customer satisfaction
-
Creation of concepts for the use of automats, web offers and mobile services
-
Process optimization in customer relations management
-
Utilization of semantic technologies for automated evaluation processes
Facilities
The individual benefit to be derived from new information and communication technologies only becomes evident when individual systems are made to »interact«.
The Fraunhofer IAO has
therefore set up laboratories for different fields of application in which companies can gain practical first-hand experience in various alternative solutions. These experiences provide the basis
for well-founded decisions relating to the requirements and benefit of new investments in the company’s IT landscape.
Format discontinuities between IT systems often make it necessary to collect data several times, generating unnecessary costs and sources of error. Mobile applications can in many cases contribute
to optimizing processes in a markedly visible way. The necessary technologies are readily available. There are even standard mobile solutions on the market for applications in service or sales. The
skill lies in selecting the best and most economic technologies and products for the user, from the many alternatives available. Special consideration must be given to user-friendliness and
integration of the solution into current company processes and back-end systems.
Fraunhofer IAO’s m-Lab assists companies in designing and introducing needs-based, user-oriented and secure
mobile solutions, without bias towards any particular product or manufacturer. The laboratory has a range of different mobile equipment which demonstrates the applicability of various solutions to
the customer. At the same time, the m-Lab is a reliable partner for carrying out innovative research projects in the area of mobility.
The time-consuming search for documents, long processing times, multiple filing, a lack of transparency of systems and procedures, as well as format discontinuities and incompatibilities between
partial systems, impede integrated, customer-oriented and smooth operations. Appropriate methods to mange new types of documents, such as animation or video sequences, are also additionally
required.
Computer-aided document and workflow management systems are used to significantly optimize the potential for simplifying workflows. The Center for Document and Workflow Management at the Fraunhofer
IAO shows how these solutions work in detail and how they can be combined to create company-specific office environments.
The examples of use shown include:
-
Document management and management processes of the workflow
-
Options for the use of groupware solutions for efficient teamwork
-
Electronic systems for the structuring of information and the exchange of documents.
Customers are shown innovative technologies such as web service engineering methods or service-based application solutions. A »market of possibilities« demonstrates how suitable IT support can
optimize services and sales activities. The scenarios presented include service-based process and IT solutions for the insurance company of the future, product innovations in the sphere of sales
and marketing in the years ahead, as well as new concepts and products for company networks and electronic business transactions in the »internet of services«. Examples of IT solutions directed
towards improving energy efficiency in the sphere of green IT are also presented at the center.
The interaction between human beings and the technology can be observed and analyzed using the most up-to-date media technology and special evaluation tools in the usability laboratory of the
Fraunhofer IAO. In this way, possible problems with the operation of the system can be identified and eliminated at an early stage. In cases where the actual conditions of use and the actual
behavior of the future users can be sufficiently reconstructed in a laboratory environment, equipment designed by the laboratory for mobile solutions can be put into use directly on site.
A central, end-to-end and transparent management information system with relevant visualization options is provided for »Visual project management in product development«. This application reveals
in real time where discrepancies exist within a complex development project and suggests how processes can be improved. The use of relevant visualization, presentation and simulation technologies
creates transparency and informs decision-makers about the status and progress of the project’s development. The visualization and integration options in VISUM enable complex aspects and
multi-dimensional data records to be displayed in a semantically integrative way and to present them in a display format which is easy for the decision-maker to understand.
Automats, for example, have in various projects been made more user-friendly, prompting the development of new concepts for the design of display windows and innovative applications involving
speech interaction or multi-touch technologies.
The interaction lab fulfils several functions at the same time:
-
As a showroom, it can be used to present experimental interaction techniques. Customers can participate and operate the exhibits themselves as they are intuitive to use.
-
Being a modern laboratory makes it possible for customers and partners to jointly research new approaches and methods for interaction technologies. In this way, ideas can be quickly realized and tested under laboratory conditions.
Research on Innovative ICT Solutions
The business unit Information and Communication Technology conducts numerous collaborative research projects together with national and international partners. The overarching goal of these research activities is the design and evaluation of useful and usable IT architectures and applications to answer societal and business needs.
The topics addressed in those projects include scenario-based and user-centric design methods, collaborative information management concepts, IT integration paradigms, business concepts for IT services and viable security solutions.
Our current research projects and initiatives are described below.
Research on Innovative ICT Solutions
The business unit Information and Communication Technology conducts numerous collaborative research projects together with national and international partners. The overarching goal of these research activities is the design and evaluation of useful and usable IT architectures and applications to answer societal and business needs.
The topics addressed in those projects include scenario-based and user-centric design methods, collaborative information management concepts, IT integration paradigms, business concepts for IT services and viable security solutions.
Our current research projects and initiatives are described below.
In order to provide these IT applications and processes, the underlying IT architecture needs to be flexible, cost efficient, ecologically and economically sustainable, scalable and increasingly service oriented.
The business unit Information and Communication Technology at Fraunhofer IAO, together with the Institute of Human Factors and Technology Management IAT, has been active in research on IT architectures and paradigms such as Service Oriented Architectures (SOA), Grid Computing, Application Service Provision (ASP), Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) or Cloud Computing, and is involved in transferring the gathered technological know-how into industry, business and the public sector.
The current focus is on solutions for the integration of cloud services from different providers and on the interoperability of cloud infrastructures and platforms as well as on the development of sustainable business models for the different participants in the emerging cloud eco-systems. Fraunhofer IAO is also leading the Fraunhofer-Alliance Cloud Computing (www.cloud.fraunhofer.de), a network of eight Fraunhofer Institutes that combine their knowledge and activities to provide a comprehensive portfolio of consulting services and solutions in the area of Cloud IT and Software-as-a-Service.
Fraunhofer IAO is particularly interested in enhancing scientific methods for the development of services and business models for future IT infrastructures, ranging from corporate or "private" IT solutions over public cloud services up to the Internet of Services and Things.
We are also interested in developing methods and procedures for the interaction of services and the management of application life cycles in an environment of highly interactive and interdependent cloud applications, spread over multiple plattforms and providers. One rarely mentioned aspect of cloud platforms is also the fact that the underlying infrastructures consist of multicore hardware, which has consequences for software development in clouds in general.
Furthermore Fraunhofer IAO has been working on solutions for security and trust in distributed IT infrastructures, ranging from the development of dedicated technical solutions (e.g. for the enhancement of the usability of trust delegation in Grids) to the analysis and optimization of IT security management processes resulting in a preparation for digital forensic readiness.
Such critical events can be triggered by natural hazards, accidents or on purpose by humans. Governmental bodies, companies and other institutions, media and the public can take actions to reduce the impact of such events and improve the response capacities. Emergency Management Systems based on ICT can provide the means to support response forces with the capabilities necessary for a fast and informed response. They provide the information and communication infrastructure to enable interorganisational collaboration and can support decision makers with modelling and simulation tools. Beyond the technological aspects, we also address improved collaboration processes and competence management.
Technological solutions that address issues like security, privacy and reliability have been developed by companies and in research projects. However, they often appear disconnected from markets, user needs and economic contexts. As a result several security and privacy technologies have become market failures in recent years. Economic issues are often neglected by technology developers. Instead security solutions continue to be designed with technological factors in mind, valuing increases in security guarantees and even technical complexity over practical relevance. The underlying assumption is that these technologies will become a market success, based on their technological sophistication and the elegance of their design. The resulting business models are usually poorly designed and fail to address important success factors appropriately.
We define a viable security solution as a solution that is successful on the market and provides a security improvement when deployed in practice. To achieve a viable security solution, designers have to make sure that their solution provides an effective security improvement and is compliant with market demands. If one of these requirements is not addressed, improved security will not be achieved in practice. A solution that provides effective security but fails in the marketplace will not provide security improvements, because it will not be used. Similarly, a solution that is a market success but does not provide effective security when deployed in practice will not lead to a security improvement either.
Our interdisciplinary research considers technical, economic, usability and legal compliance aspects of IT-security to provide a methodology to design viable security solutions. This methodology has been successfully applied to several fields of IT-security, such as eID-infrastructures, federated identity management, mobile services and cloud computing.
Software developers used the extra computational power to implement more features in their programs and thus increasing the attractiveness of their products.
While the trend of increased complexity in processors has not been interrupted it is unlikely that processors speed can be increased further. Instead, multicore processors promise a further increase in computational power by fitting multiple cores on one chip and using those to do calculations in parallel. Aside from the benefit of parallel computation, this design is cost- and energy-efficient - a perfect fit for the future of mobile and ubiquitous computing.
But software developers are facing a new challenge. No longer do they get speed improvements for free; they have to parallelize their software in order to take advantage of multiple cores. They have to figure out which parts of their programs can be executed in parallel and how to avoid errors while implementing a parallel version. This is especially true in current cloud environments which provide scalable infrastructures mostly consistent of multicore hardware.
The field of software engineering has begun to regard parallelism as an important part of the future of software development. We hope that our study on "Multicore Software Development Tools", which you can download at http://www.mware.fraunhofer.de/EN will provide you with useful information on the tools that ease the transition into this new mindset.
Web service engineering and web-ecosystems, technologies for event-based service monitoring and new internet searching services for »innovation mining« are all part of the TEXO project. Best-practice and success factors for internet-based business models and »software-as-a-service« are also being investigated.
The Fraunhofer IAO is working on solution modules and XML as well as RFID standards for electronic business transactions and for event-based monitoring. Suitable service models are also being investigated.
Rule-based IT components are used to carry out automatic analyses of documents, to intelligently control commercial processes and to take over claim settlement routines. Several insurance companies are already using the solutions that have been devised.
In order to best accommodate both requirements in the development of assistance systems, a method is being developed and applied in the SOPRANO project, based on the principle of Experience & Application Research (E&AR). The future user, the elderly in this case, is actively involved during the entire development process. Part of the project is a validation and presentation of the service-oriented Smart Living Environment concept in real life situations. Around 600 test users from four countries are presently involved in this project.
The assignments which they can take over are multifaceted: search for a doctor, call a nurse, clean the patient´s room or accompany visitors to their destination. They can also recognize if help is needed in a patient´s room and can, for example, alarm the caretakers if a patient falls.
In the EU project IWARD, ten research teams from seven countries under the direction of the Fraunhofer IAO develop suitable robots and new concepts for robots to communicate with one another. It is not intended that these electronic ward assistants should work individually, but rather as a group in coordinated contact with each other.
Among other things, the project aims to analyze to what extent an additional benefit can be achieved through this intensified communicative approach compared with the operation of individual robots. Furthermore, strategies should be developed for the fail-proof operation of the robots in the clinic environment. This will ensure that, in the case of interrupted radio communication, low battery levels or unexpected emergency situations, the robots will continue to function reliably and guarantee the safety of personnel and patients at all times.
Phone+49 711 970-2429
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
The Software Management Competence Center supports its customers in the conceptual development, selection and implementation of company software. This includes not only the areas of document and workflow management, customer relationship management systems and enterprise resource planning systems, but also the development and setup of individual solutions, based on a completely independent choice of manufacturer or product. Experienced staff of the Fraunhofer IAO accompany customers from the initial analyses of requirements to the start of operations.
Tested methods and procedures guarantee a goal-specific and user-oriented development of complex, technical software products and services. The direct connection to research gives the client company the opportunity to get to know innovative software technologies at an early stage and to make full use of their potential.
The know-how acquired from numerous, successfully completed projects is supplemented by a wide range of services, such as monitoring operating efficiency and quality assurance of the project.
Phone+49 711 970-2414
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
The Software Technology Competence Team deals with current technologies for the design of IT architectures and for software development. They are currently working on key topics such as service-oriented architectures, as well as grid and cloud computing. Another main focus arises from the question of how software development processes can be optimized and adapted for modern processor architecture with many processor cores (Multicore).
Alongside the research and development of future IT architectures, the competence team investigates software development processes from a company’s point of view. Enterprises and companies are offered consultation services about IT architecture, ranging from strategy analysis to cost-use considerations through to the choice and implementation of IT technologies.
Phone+49 711 970-2128
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
The Information Management Competence Team develops methods and processes to extract important and previously unused information from existing data and efficiently archive the information. In doing so, a central task is to map and fully support the work processes within and between companies with existing IT systems or with newly set up platforms.
The collaboration of people and organizations, the mobile availability of information, as well as the question of IT security for the managed data, represent particular focal points. The scope of advice and research offered begins with an analysis of requirements. This is followed up by a technical concept for the organization and information involved, and continues through to the choice of the system, support during implementation and evaluation.
Phone+49 711 970-2417
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
The Electronic Business Competence Center advises companies in the conception and implementation of innovative e-Business and IT solutions. Innovative concepts, internet platforms and IT systems are utilized in order to best implement business strategies. Fraunhofer´s own »intelligent« IT solutions help to design, monitor and control business processes. »Web mining« methods assist companies in finding relevant information on innovation on the internet.
Additional research projects are developing new methods and technologies for the »internet of services« and service-based solutions for company portals and partner and process integration. The Competence Center is creating energy efficient systems of the future based on »green IT«.
Head of Competence Center Human Computer Interaction
Phone+49 711 970-2311
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
The Human-Computer Interaction Competence Center works within the areas of design, implementation and evaluation of graphic, acoustic and multimodal user interfaces.
In our research projects, we are developing groundbreaking solutions for interactive and cooperative systems of the future.
Our services for partners in industry support the implementation of applications and system solutions that focus on the user and meet future requirements.
The main topics handled by our interdisciplinary team include the following:
-
user experience, usability engineering and software ergonomics
-
development and application of new technologies for the interaction of people and technology
-
conception, design and development of interactive systems
-
graphic, acoustic and multimodal user interfaces
-
development of company-specific style guides and design patterns
Head of Competence Team Web Application Engineering
Phone+49 711 970-2376
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
The Web Application Engineering Competence Team is developing novel interaction technologies and intelligent applications in collaboration with customers from the finance sector, software, retail, the chemical industry, production and logistics. It also advises on questions about IT governance such as architecture management.
A focal point of the work is within the area of web-based systems. These not only include intranet and internet sites, but also Web 2.0 applications and web-based company applications.
Participating in the annual IT Zukunftskongress (Congress of the Future) forum, the team analyzes the future importance and development of IT and related business processes. The research department is currently working on Social Semantic Web topics. It is developing new forms of interaction and semantic middleware concepts for ambient intelligence in the technical environment and for the management of production facilities, logistic processes and robot solutions.
Set Bookmark