A Plug and Play Integration Model for Virtual Enterprises

Abstract

Systems integration is a key issue to be faced when supporting Virtual Enterprises (VE) execution. However, it is very complex regarding the dynamic composition, autonomy and large distribution of its members as well as the high heterogeneity of IT and business processes’ models used by them. It has been realized by many works in the literature that SMEs should have some preparedness, including at the IT level, in order to create a feasible solution for them to get onboard and agilely interoperate in real VEs. This work intends to overcome some drawbacks of current approaches for that, proposing a model where VE partners can more easily get into a VE when it is created (plug) so that the VE can be executed seamlessly during its operation (play) and dissolution (unplug), including the support of some level of semantic interoperability. A prototype has been implemented, and results are discussed.