Guiding B2B integration of business processes and services: A process model for SMEs

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) face especially increasing pressure to establish efficient business-to-business (b2b) integration solutions and to focus on their core competences, to stay competitive in the globalized economy. As b2b integration solutions are complex and dynamic by nature, SMEs need a properly planned, methodological approach. To guide SMEs in that process this paper introduces a process model for b2b integration. The methodology comprises a thematic analysis focusing on process models in scientific literature, consolidated requirements for the model, and case studies conducted to consolidate and prove the practical applicability of the proposed process model.