Very Large Business Applications (VLBA): System Landscapes o

The role of IT's use in business evolved over the past fifty years from isolated applications to integrated IT system landscapes. In this development, the focus and boundaries of business applications extended continuously. In order to consolidate research in this area, the term Very Large Business Applications (VLBA) was defined.A VLBA neither has geographical, nor organizational, nor cultural, nor technical limitations. Therefore, the integration aspect is essential to the successful operation of a VLBA. It can be implemented as business application(s) as well as system landscapes. As a VLBA supports at least one business process, changes in VLBAs lead to high financial, personnel and organizational costs, which clarify the strategic importance to the involved organization(s).The establishment of the research field VLBA is driven by the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg and the Technische Universität München, where two Centers for Very Large Business Applications (CVLBA) were founded in 2006. These research facilities combine experience from a variety of disciplines including computer science, business administration, economics, psychology, library science and law in order to achieve synergy effects on research for VLBAs. The growing importance of this research area is evident by corresponding tracks and topics on multiple national and international conferences.As VLBAs are long-living and complex objects in organizations, research embraces their whole lifecycle. This includes planning new VLBAs, designing and implementing them as well as operational, tactical and strategical management of VLBAs. Especially the following topics are of interest for the Centers for VLBA.VLBA PlanningWhen planning the introduction of a new VLBA, the question arises, in which way a VLBA can be utilized effectively to support business processes. Current research focusses on information visibility in VLBAs for supply chains in its entirely, investigating its effect to