Systems design framework for the extended enterprise

Much has been said about the Extended Enterprise and the benefits which it can bring to today's industrial environment. Yet we still see very few examples of extended enterprises in practice and in particular information infrastructures to support inter-enterprise communications. One of the reasons identified for this, is the lack of a standardised communications medium to enable the seamless co-ordination of information exchange across enterprises. It is widely agreed that efficient use of information technology can make the concept of the extended enterprise a reality. The development ofan information system of this magnitude is a demanding task, requiring skills in a wide range of multidisciplinary areas. In an endeavour such as this, there is a need for a framework which provides direction and guidance before and during the development ofa communicationssystem for the extended enterprise. This paper outlines one such framework which has been used in offering an important roadmap to designers in the modular design of the information infrastructure to support the extended enterprise.