Fast Tracking ICT Infrastructure Requirements and Design, Based on Enterprise Reference Architecture and Matching Reference Models

The Globemen Consortium has developed the virtual enterprise reference architecture and methodology (VERAM), based on GERAM and developed reference models for virtual enterprise management and joint mission delivery. The planned virtual enterprise capability includes the areas of sales and marketing, global engineering, and customer relationship management. The reference models are the basis for the development of ICT infrastructure requirements. These in turn can be used for ICT infrastructure specification (sometimes referred to as 'ICT architecture').Part of the ICT architecture is industry-wide, part of it is industry-specific and a part is specific to the domains of the joint activity that characterises the given Virtual Enterprise Network at hand. The article advocates a step by step approach to building virtual enterprise capability.