Enterprise interoperability value proposition: A practical case analysis

An enterprise's competitiveness today is to a large extent determined by its ability to seamlessly interoperate with others. Observing and analyzing the growing need for collaboration, an international team of academic and industry partners is involved in an EC funded project for the development of an innovative integrated collaborative platform. This paper is focused on the elaboration of the Enterprise Interoperability Value Proposition (EIVP) at the enterprise-community level, considering the practical case of the platform implementation in a Bulgarian manufacturing company. The provided argumentation reveals the great potential of the new collaborative environment to bring EI value especially for SMEs participating in business networks and having intensive relationships with many business partners. The improved communication, coordination, cooperation and collaboration activities and processes between the participants in extended enterprises and cluster communities will strongly contribute to increasing the competitiveness of SMEs in Europe.