New architectures for enterprise systems

In this research area, questions concerning new architectures for real-time information processing are dealt with.

The technologies that help to tackle the challenges which result from the research area of digitization are complex. On the one hand, it is about being able to process information in real-time [1]; on the other hand, it is about accommodating the Big Data phenomenon as such, that much more data needs to be stored and processed. For instance, under the name of Hana, SAP focuses on a fundamental change in their software. In doing so, several concepts are used that depict a dismissal of development and technology principles which were successful for a long time. The new dominance of column-oriented database management systems, the development of source code that is close to databases, the “in-memory” storage of data, as well as the abandoning of the paradigmatic dissociation of OLAP and OLTP are the main changes; albeit they appear irritating from a theoretical point of view.

Why is it that one distances oneself from relational theory? This demands for research that critically observes, analyzes, and questions developments in practice, and that focuses on the operation of large systems in enterprises. The contemporary research holds the problem that “toy” cases are considered which do not refer to actual complexity in any kind. As a consequence, this research underlies the risk that the correspondence between intended applications of a theory and actual application in practice decreases.

• Sarah Seufert
• Tobias Wulfert