Decision Making in Logistics Processes Supported by Cloud Computing

Transcription

1 Predrag Matkvic, Pere Tumba, Veelin Pavlicevic Deciin Making in Lgitic Prcee Supprted by Clud Cmputing Article Inf: Received 25 January 2014 Accepted 12 February 2014 UDC 004:005 Recmmended citatin: Matkvic, P., Tumba, P., Pavlicevic, V. (2014). Deciin Making in Lgitic Prcee Supprted by Clud Cmputing, Internatinal Scientific Jurnal f Management Infrmatin Sytem, 9 (1), Summary Lgitic prcee in a glbalized ecnmy are increaingly cmplex, dynamic, and ditributed. Thee characteritic pe majr challenge fr lgitic management. Planning, rganizing, leading and crdinating prcee have becme prgreively mre cmplex activitie that are carried ut by an increaing number f internal actr. Infrmatin input and utput f thee prcee are mre divere and cmplex, with a greater number f uer. Deciin making i ditributed in a way that all actr within thee prcee make deciin lcally and autnmuly. Develpment f a unified and pen lgitic infrmatin platfrm aimed at integrating variu (hetergeneu) lgitic urce and data wuld facilitate imprvement f the lgitic peratin efficiency and al reduce ct, enhance cmpetitivene, and enable advance f the lgitic ytem. Lgitic infrmatin platfrm i the cre and key develpment factr f the mdern lgitic ytem. Cntructin f thi electrnic platfrm can greatly prmte the infrmatin riented (can greatly imprve the infrmatin neceary) fr mdern lgitic develpment. In additin t that, it wuld prvide eential upprt in making trategic and peratinal deciin in lgitic prcee. Thi paper analyze deciin-making activitie at different level f lgitic prce management and explre the pibility f uing clud cmputing technlgy baed n their key characteritic. In additin t that, the authr identify the different type f clud cmputing architecture and clud deplyment mdel that are mt frequently utilized fr deciin making in lgitic. Reearch reult include identified benefit and limitatin f applicatin f clud cmputing technlgie in upprting deciin making in lgitic prcee. Keywrd lgitic prcee, clud cmputing, deciin making 1. Intrductin The envirnment where manager make deciin ha changed ignificantly thee year. Organizatin deign their prduct in ne cuntry, purchae material and raw material in anther, prductin i carried ut in a third cuntry, and finihed prduct are marketed in numeru cuntrie arund the wrld. At the ame time, lgitic prcee were the firt prcee t be uturced. New lgitic ervice prvider, whe particular fcu i n their cre cmpetencie, have emerged. Specializatin ha becme the gal fr lgitic prvider a well. Hence, they differentiated their peratin baed n the different lgitic reurce and prcee managed. Under uch circumtance, a great number f lgitic peratr appeared: main buine wner, furth party lgitic ervice prvider, third party lgitic ervice prvider, ecnd party lgitic ervice prvider and firt party lgitic prvider. Lgitic prcee, a tranactin intenive, are abundant with variu data ued by numeru partie in lgitic prcee fr effective and efficient management and deciin making in a changing envirnment. Intenive utilizatin f infrmatin technlgy that prvide timely tranactin prceing and upprt in deciin-making prcee ha an epecially imprtant rle in the executin f cmplex management activitie. In upprting cmplex, dynamic and ditributed lgitic prcee, rganizatin increaingly ue infrmatin technlgie. Lgitic prce management became incnceivable withut the upprt f ICT technlgy. Therefre, the chice f mde f tranprt, tck quantitie, mde f trage, lcatin and number f ditributin warehue, deciin regarding new market penetratin, determining the prfitability f me cnumer and level f ervice repreent example f activitie in trategic deciin-making where cmputer ytem are utilized. Of cure, the applicatin f cmputer i even mre intenive in planning, executin and cntrl f peratinal activitie. Certain partie f the lgitic ytem ue pecific applicatin within their enterprie infrmatin ytem fr management f peratinal activitie and deciin making at an rganizatinal level. Thee are rarely widepread

2 Predrag Matkvic, Pere Tumba, Veelin Pavlicevic ftware lutin; mt ften thee are cmpletely different applicatin that are hard t cnnect, and enabling data exchange amng them pe a challenging tak. Clud cmputing i relatively new paradigm in the cmputing wrld, quickly develping and attracting a number f uer. Clud cmputing repreent a new way t uturce. Clud cmputing ervice prvide cnitent glbal platfrm, hared real-time data, fater deciinmaking, imprved cutmer ervice, greater autmatin and efficiency. In the dmain f trategic and peratin management f lgitic activitie, clud lgitic, a an innvated cncept, huld enable effective and efficient management f ditributed lgitic reurce, epecially in vlatile, uncertain and cmplex envirnment. The ecnd ectin f thi paper preent the applied reearch methdlgy, baed n ytematic analyi f elected literature and it expert interpretatin. The ubequent chapter, literature review, cntain a brief elabratin n the cncept f clud cmputing technlgie, type f clud cmputing architecture, clud deplyment mdel and their characteritic, fllwed by an verview f deciin-making activitie and prcee in lgitic prcee at an enterprie level and the lgitic ytem a a whle. The furth ectin elabrate n deciin making activitie in lgitic prcee and ptential applicatin f clud cmputing in thee activitie. Finally, the lat chapter identifie prpective benefit f applying clud lgitic t upprt deciin making prcee, alng with pible cure fr it further develpment and ue. 2. Reearch Methdlgy Sytematic review f clud lgitic - A ytematic review f the exiting literature n clud cmputing lgitic wa carried ut fr the reearch n the elected tpic, nt nly in rder t ummarize the exiting tudie related t the applicatin f clud cmputing technlgie in lgitic prcee, but al t identify and analyze the current tate and the mt ntable pibilitie fr applying clud cmputing t upprt deciin making in the dmain f lgitic. Quetin frmalizatin - The purpe f thi paper i t determine whether deciin-making prcee in lgitic wuld benefit frm ue f clud cmputing at the enterprie level, and al at the lgitic ytem level. Specifically, what advantage and diadvantage may lgitic enterprie and all ther actr in lgitic ytem experience frm a lgitic infrmatin platfrm deplyed in the clud? Selectin f urce Selectin criteria thrugh which we evaluated urce wa baed n reearch experience f the authr f thi paper. The fllwing urce have been taken int cnideratin: Science Direct, Wiley Intercience, Emerald Publihing, AIS digital library and Schlar Ggle. The fllwing jurnal were particularly ingled ut: Jurnal f Operatin Management, Jurnal f Supply Management, Jurnal f Lgitic Infrmatin Management, Internatinal Jurnal f Phyical Ditributin and Lgitic Management, Jurnal f Buine Lgitic, and Internatinal Jurnal f Lgitic Management. Thee jurnal were pecifically elected fr review, a they repreent ignificant reearch in lgitic. Once the urce were defined, it wa neceary t decribe the prce and the criteria fr tudy electin and evaluatin. The incluin and excluin criteria f thi reearch were baed n the reearch quetin. Therefre, we etablihed that the tudie mut cntain iue and tpic which cnider clud cmputing in lgitic, and that thee tudie mut al decribe trategic and peratinal deciin-making prce activitie in lgitic. Review executin - During thi phae, the earch in the defined urce wa executed and the btained tudie were evaluated accrding t the etablihed criteria. After executing the earch chain n the elected urce, we btained a et f abut 90 reult which were filtered in accrdance with incluin criteria which reulted in a et f abut 60 relevant tudie. Thi et f relevant tudie wa nce again filtered with the excluin criteria t prduce a et f tudie which crrepnd with abut 40 primary prpal lited under reference. 3. Literature review 3.1. Overview f Clud Cmputing A large number f ditinguihed authr have made effrt t define the cncept f clud cmputing and pecify technlgie aciated with thi term in academic and prfeinal literature. The lit f prped definitin f clud cmputing i extenive. It i epecially difficult t frmulate a ingle clear definitin f clud cmputing, due t a vat variety f element aciated with thi cncept (Yueff, Butric & Da Silva, 2008). The mt ften cited definitin, hwever, i the ne by the Natinal Intitute f Standard and Technlgy (NIST): "Clud 12 Internatinal Scientific Jurnal f Management Infrmatin Sytem

3 Deciin Making in Lgitic Prcee Supprted by Clud Cmputing cmputing i a mdel fr enabling ubiquitu, cnvenient, n-demand netwrk acce t a hared pl f cnfigurable cmputing reurce (e.g., netwrk, erver, trage, applicatin, and ervice) that can be rapidly prviined and releaed with minimal management effrt r ervice prvider interactin." (Mell & Grance, 2011). In ther wrd, "clud cmputing i a largecale ditributed cmputing paradigm that i driven by ecnmie f cale, in which a pl f abtracted, virtualized, dynamically-calable, managed cmputing pwer, trage, platfrm, and ervice are delivered n demand t external cutmer ver the Internet" (Fter, Zha, Raicu & Lu, 2008). NIST definitin primarily reflect the prvider perpective f clud cmputing. Frm the cnumer perpective, the phenmenn f clud cmputing i decribed a decribed a a new ctefficient cmputing paradigm in which applicatin, platfrm, netwrk and ICT reurce pwer can be acceed by cnumer thru a Web brwer, withut any knwledge r cncern abut the lcatin f thee reurce, while all thee reurce/ervice are available n a pay-per-ue bai. Reearch n cnumer preference f clud ervice attribute reulted in the fllwing lit f attribute that were mt frequently tated a imprtant by the repndent (Kehler, Anandaivam & Ma, 2010): ecurity and reliability, prvider reputatin, required kill, migratin prce, pricing tariff, ct cmpared t intern lutin, and cnumer upprt. Security and reliability are attribute that cnumer cnider t be knck-ut criteria, while the mt imprtant amng ther attribute are the reputatin f the clud ervice prvider and the ue f tandard data frmat. Thee tw attribute are indicated by cnumer a mre imprtant than the related t financial apect, uch a ct reductin r pricing tariff chice. Amng variu definitin f clud cmputing, a particular ne that lk at thi cncept hlitically, frm the perpective f applicatin and infratructure, huld particularly be highlighted. Accrding t thi definitin, "Clud cmputing i an IT deplyment mdel, baed n virtualizatin, where reurce, in term f infratructure, applicatin and data are deplyed via the internet a a ditributed ervice by ne r everal ervice prvider. Thee ervice are calable n demand and can be priced n a pay-per-ue bai." (Leimeiter, Böhm, Riedl, & Krcmar, 2010). Accrding t the NIST, clud cmputing ha five fundamental characteritic, invlve three ervice mdel and fur deplyment mdel. The five eential characteritic f clud cmputing are: On-demand elf-ervice: A uer can btain cmputing capabilitie a needed, autmatically, withut requiring human interactin with prvider f each ervice. Brad netwrk acce: Clud capabilitie are available ver the netwrk and acceed thrugh tandard mechanim that prmte ue by hetergeneu thin r thick client platfrm. Reurce pling: The prvider cmputing reurce are pled tgether t erve multiple cnumer uing multiple-tenant mdel, with different phyical and virtual reurce dynamically aigned and reaigned accrding t cnumer demand. Rapid elaticity: The clud i flexible and calable t uit cnumer immediate buine need. Clud ervice can be rapidly and elatically btained, in me cae autmatically, t quickly cale up and rapidly releaed t quickly cale dwn. T the cnumer, the capabilitie available fr hire ften appear t be unlimited and can be purchaed in any quantity at any time. Meaured ervice: Ue f clud cmputing reurce can be meaured, cntrlled, and reprted n, prviding tranparency fr bth the prvider and the cnumer f the utilized ervice. Clud cmputing ervice ften pe metering capabilitie, which enable cntrl and ptimizatin f reurce utilizatin. Thi implie that IT ervice are charged per uage metric pay per ue. Apart frm the eential ne, there are me ther ignificant feature f clud cmputing (Petkvic, Tumba, Matkvic & Barackai, 2014); (Sere, Hrvat, & Hrvat, 2011): Security f ervice - implementatin f the mt rigru cutting-edge ecurity meaure fr ervice prviin; Multitenancy - a ingle intance f an applicatin erve multiple cnumer (tenant) with the pibility (fr the tenant) t cutmize me detail f the ftware applicatin; Increaed reliability - becaue errr are cntantly remved and repaired; Identity management and acce cntrl - applicatin f advanced technique in identity Internatinal Scientific Jurnal f Management Infrmatin Sytem 13

4 Predrag Matkvic, Pere Tumba, Veelin Pavlicevic check and acce cntrl in rder t prvide legitimate data ue; Divere platfrm upprt, where clud prvider ften prvide ervice with built-in upprt fr an abundant cmpilatin f client platfrm t reach a brader bae f uer; Centralizatin f infratructure and lwer expene f peratin and maintenance; Fater develpment - clud cmputing platfrm with a large number f ervice and preet template fr applicatin develpment cniderably facilitate the develpment prce. Clud cmputing ervice are categrized accrding t the type f capability prvided t the cnumer int three ervice mdel: Infratructure a a Service, Platfrm a a Service, and Sftware a a Service (Weinhardt et al., 2009). Infratructure a a Service (IaaS) - It i the lwet layer f clud cmputing. At thi level, the ervice include leae f hardware reurce t the cnumer. Reurce are nrmally prvided uing virtualized hardware, and the cnumer i repnible fr managing thee reurce and intalling ftware nt them. The prvider wn the equipment and i repnible fr huing, running and maintaining it. Cnumer can generally acce reurce n-demand, paying nly fr what they ue. The key advantage f IaaS fr the cnumer are: calability, prtability, unlimited hardware capabilitie, predictable and guaranteed uability and beneficial ct, expert guidance, ytem acquiitin bypa, enhanced agility and innvative buine racing. Platfrm a a Service (PaaS) It i the middle layer f clud cmputing. At thi level, prvider ffer cnumer a develpment platfrm a a ervice, which they can ue t build their wn ftware lutin and deply them n the clud infratructure. PaaS prvider i repnible fr managing perative ytem, netwrk reurce, erver and trage, wherea the PaaS cnumer manage the deplyed applicatin and cutmize the applicatinhting envirnment. PaaS cver a wide range f ervice type, frm general value-added ervice n tp f clud infratructure t highly advanced, dmain-pecific platfrm. The main benefit f PaaS fr the cnumer are: prepared platfrm fr fine tuning and ue, cnumer d nt have t maintain hardware, perative ytem, netwrk infratructure, develpment platfrm, erver, reduced ct, lwer develpment failure rik, increaed ecurity and fater time t market. Sftware a a Service (SaaS) - It i the highet level f clud cmputing ervice. Thi layer cver ervice-enabled remtely-acceible ftware package. Prvider deliver a ingle applicatin thrugh the brwer t thuand f cnumer uing a multi-tenant architecture. The cnumer ue the ervice fr buine purpe via Internet, a a cmmunicatin medium. By uing SaaS ervice, cnumer get cmplete and functinal lutin, with the nly neceity t cutmize and ue it, wherea prvider retain all ther bligatin. Benefit f SaaS fr the cnumer include: pay-per-ue ftware, infratructure maintenance and ftware update, glbal acceibility, eaier cllabratin, cmpatibility, and eaier adminitratin. Fur deplyment mdel have been defined fr clud cmputing; the ditinctive feature being wh i entitled t cnume underlying clud infratructure reurce. Thee are: Private clud, Cmmunity clud, Public clud and Hybrid clud. Private clud: The clud infratructure i dedicated t excluive ue f a ingle rganizatin with a large number f taff/end uer. Private clud are et up within a pecific private cmmunity. Thi may be a ingle intitutin r a grup f individual in cllabratin acr multiple lcatin. Private clud i preferred in the fllwing cae: fr cutmized applicatin and ervice; in cae f highly enitive data; fr extremely miin critical and high-lad appliance; when high perfrmance i neceary; full cntrl i demanded (legal, privacy); and a a firt tep in clud migratin trategy. Cmmunity clud: The type f clud ervice that prvide reurce t a pecific grup f pern r rganizatin with a cmmn interet. Thee may be rganizatin engaged in trategic partnerhip r the that erve ame cmmunitie. Cmmunity clud are knwn t be mre expenive than public clud, but uually ffer ervice tailred t the requirement f the cmmunity. Cmmunity clud i mtly ued in the fllwing cae: when there i a well-identifiable cmmunity with clear cmmn interet and pecific demand; there i a need fr cllabratin between intitutin and reearcher; when haring f reurce lead t ct reductin; 14 Internatinal Scientific Jurnal f Management Infrmatin Sytem

5 Deciin Making in Lgitic Prcee Supprted by Clud Cmputing when prcurement f clud ervice in hared cntext i eaier. Public clud: The type f clud deplyment that prvide ervice t any cnumer ver the public Internet. Public clud are prvided by cmmercial rganizatin wh generally ffer a certain range f clud related ervice and reurce, and bill cnumer fr their uage. Public clud i available fr pernal and buine ue. Public clud i ued in cae f incidental r ad-hc need fr reurce; public haring f reearch reult; in cae f need fr cmmdity r tandardized IT ervice; and when IT taff reurce and knwledge i limited. Hybrid clud: Thi deign f clud deplyment preent the mix r cmpitin f tw r three type f the abve clud. The clud remain unique entitie, but are tied tgether by tandardized technlgy that allw a degree f data and applicatin prtability. When ching infratructure deplyment mdel, rganizatin mut bear in mind the numeru limitatin aciated with particular clud cmputing mdel, r can pt t cmbine everal mdel t lve certain prblem and facilitate their peratin. Frm the viewpint f lcality f implementatin, clud deplyment mdel are internal and external (Petkvic, Trninic & Djurkvic, 2013). Internal clud - where abve mentined baic ervice (IaaS, PaaS and SaaS) are ffered a internal ervice, i.e. realized by an internal IT rganizatin (in-hue implementatin) fr internal uage (uually). In-hue cmputer clud are phyically lcated within the rganizatin premie and prtected by the rganizatin' firewall. Acce i prvided thrugh the intranet, and the clud i intended fr internal ue nly (in mt cae); External clud - where baic type f clud cmputing ervice are nt hted in-hue. An external clud can be public r private, but mut be implemented by an external IT rganizatin. The brief verview f the clud cmputing cncept preented in Fig. 1. particularly highlight it characteritic that render it applicable in deciin making activitie in lgitic prcee Deciin Making in Lgitic Overview A characteritic trait f the mdern enterprie i the grwing imprtance f it relatinhip, interactin and interdependence with ther entitie frm it buine envirnment. Under circumtance uch a increaing cmpetitive preure, cmpanie develp their relatinhip, cperatin and cllabratin with their partner in a way that prvide ubtantial benefit fr all partie. At the ame time, cmpanie cntantly eek lutin t eae and imprve their cllabratin and cperatin with their partner. Figure 1 Cre cncept f clud cmputing Lgitic ectr cver prcee and activitie f variuly ized cmpanie, and a multiplicity f ervice n a glbal level. It include very large, but al mall firm, ffering a wide range f ervice. Service ffered t their cutmer range frm imple tranprt ervice, thrugh frwarding, warehuing, palletizing, packaging, t full upply chain management ervice, all the way t virtual ervice integratin. Their activitie may be limited t a regin, cuntry, cntinent, r reach the whle wrld (Kawa & Ratajczak-Mrzek, 2013). In rder t enure ucceful executin f lgitic prcee and activitie, a well a a fat and apprpriate flw f infrmatin between individual actr in a lgitic ytem, all categrie f lgitic peratr (lgitic ervice prvider) mut ue apprpriate infrmatin technlgy. Lgitic ervice prvider primarily apply IT in rder t increae efficiency and autmate their wrk. Hwever, atifactin f ptential and exiting cutmer need al pe itelf a an imprtant gal. Lgitic peratr are mt cmmnly divided int the fllwing categrie: Main Buine wner (MB) the main buine entity arund which lgitic prcee and activitie are built. Furth Party Lgitic Service Prvider (4PL) a general cntractr; they manage the entire Internatinal Scientific Jurnal f Management Infrmatin Sytem 15

6 Predrag Matkvic, Pere Tumba, Veelin Pavlicevic lgitic prce, integrating different ervice ffered t lgitic ervice prvider r t ther actr. The 4PL aemble and manage reurce, knwledge and technlgy f ther lgitic ervice prvider. They are al defined a the Virtual Lgitic Prvider. Third Party Lgitic Service Prvider (3PL) a ervice peratr wh manage the main part f the lgitic prce uturced by the MB t 1PL r 2PL (r ther 3PL). They manage the flw f gd between different rganizatin in lgitic prcee. Secnd Party Lgitic Service Prvider (2PL) manage a ingle activity (r ubprce) f the lgitic prce. Firt Party Lgitic Prvider (1PL) execute a ingle lgitic activity. Lgitic peratr mt cmmnly ue tw type f infrmatin ytem fr managing their lgitic prcee and activitie and deciinmaking - Enterprie Reurce Planning (ERP) and Deciin Supprt Sytem (DSS). DSS, a interactive cmputer baed infrmatin ytem, have the fllwing cre (baic) characteritic (Em & Lee, 1990): Supprt deciin maker, nt replacing them in deciin-making; Ue internal and external data and mdel; Slve prblem f different cmplexity (untructured, emi tructured and tructured prblem), and Fcu n the effectivene, nt efficiency in the prce f deciin-making. The DSS applicatin in the field f lgitic give the upprt t deciin maker in a huge number f lgitic prcee and activitie n trategic and/r perative deciin-making level. An verview f mt ignificant prcee and activitie i given in Table 1. In rder t fulfil current expectatin, DSS applicatin in the field f lgitic mut adapt t cmpletely changed cnditin in the glbal ecnmy, epecially t the glbal market that ha never been bigger. Market expanin and develpment f multinatinal crpratin require infrmatin, cmmunicatin and ditributin netwrk, facilitatin f a free flw f gd and infrmatin that cr natinal brder. DSS becme trategically imprtant fr imprving ervice quality, cmpetitivene and utilizing pitive effect f ecnmie f cale in trannatinal lgitic prcee. DSS applicatin prvide manager in lgitic prcee with exact and timely infrmatin t react fat and make right deciin. Tw baic apprache t the develpment f DSS applicatin are ued mt cmmnly: Implementatin f the integrated DSS at the cmpany level (enterprie, rganizatin), partly including the field f lgitic a well, and Implementatin f a pecific and independent DSS applicatin retricted t the dmain f lgitic. Table 1 Overview f activitie within lgitic prcee and type f deciin made (Tumba, Sedlak & Matkvic, 2007) Lgitic prcee and activitie In tranprt: Chice f tranprt mdel Chice f tranprt way Ruting vehicle at land and ea Delivery planning Delivery ruting and ditributin Chice f carrier Vehicle ditributin Aement and cntrl f cnignment nte Adminitratin claim Perfrmance meauring In warehuing: Determinatin f trage number and lcatin Chice f trage way Srting and packing f trage gd Tranfer f trage gd Warehuing Strage planning and deign Chice f equipment fr trage gd Perfrmance meauring In rder prceing: Chice f vlume f autmated upprt Order tracking and evaluating Indebtedne cntrl Invice harmnizatin Perfrmance meauring In tck management: Chice f retcking ytem Stck frecating Stck evidence Tracking f tranferring Tracking f tck turnver In rendering ervice: Determining the level f rendering ervice Meauring the level f rendering ervice - trategic deciin Deciin type - perative deciin Hwever, the develpment f new infrmatin and cmmunicatin technlgie enable DSS (deciin upprt ytem) t have new pibilitie bth at macr and micr level. RFID technlgy, mbile data tranfer ytem, pitining ytem, netwrking technlgy, netwrk ecurity ytem, 16 Internatinal Scientific Jurnal f Management Infrmatin Sytem

7 Deciin Making in Lgitic Prcee Supprted by Clud Cmputing machine learning uing artificial intelligence methd, rbtic, the data warehue /multidimeninal databae, data mining, big data, internet f thing, intelligent agent, www technlgie, are jut me f technlgical prerequiite. With regard t grwing number f partner within lgitic netwrk and a imultaneu expanin f the quantity f ftware lutin ued, cmpatibility f different ytem i becming increaingly imprtant (Schlz-Reiter, Windt, & Freitag, 2004). Such circumtance have generated the need fr tandardizatin f interface, a t enure their interperability. When it cme t deciin making in a lgitic ytem, it huld be pinted ut that the lgitic ervice indutry lack lutin that wuld integrate ervice f different peratr in ne place. In additin, a great number f mall and medium (SME) lgitic ervice prvider, wh are generally mre flexible, ften lack the needed reurce fr grwth and have limited r n ITcmpetence and invetment. Finally, abence f frmal data emantic prevent autmated data integratin. Lgitic platfrm appear a a lutin t the afrementined prblem. There i n cnenu n what repreent a lgitic platfrm in the referred literature authr ue the term in a wide variety f cntext. In practice, the term lgitic platfrm i ued differently and in divere cae. It i clear that the ue f the term i nt alway apprpriate. After cnidering a number f definitin, a definitin that bet uit the reearch wa chen. A lgitic platfrm i any kind f reurce bae fr the implementatin f lgitic prcee in a predefined envirnment. It ffer cutmized infratructure, a well-develped infrmatin-cmmunicatin ytem, lgitic technlgy, pecialized lgitic ervice wrk frce, friendly rule and favurable upprt n the highet level (Gajek, Lipicnik, & Simenc, 2012). A platfrm that upprt integratin, i.e. implementatin f inter rganizatinal lgitic prcee bth within and between upply chain aimed at imprving peratinal efficiency may be referred t a a lgitic infrmatin platfrm. 4. Reearch Reult Clud cmputing repreent a hift frm lcally intalled prgram, erver and cmputer in the enterprie, t the Internet deplyment ftware and cmputing capacity, helping reduce infrmatin technlgy perating ct, maintenance and update ct (Avile & Rutner 2012). Furthermre, in a different buine envirnment haped by glbalizatin, cperatin and cllabratin amngt a great number f lgitic peratr in the realizatin f lgitic prcee and activitie, clud cmputing imped itelf a an peratinal neceity. Clud ervice are wned by multiple prvider, c-lcated in a ingle data center. Data center are lcated glbally and prvide acce t any device that ha Internet cnnectivity (e.g., mbile phne, a PDA r a laptp). Cmputing reurce are btained and awarded in line with uer need (Zhang, Cheng, & Butaba, 2010). Clud cmputing ervice are uitable fr applicatin in lgitic t prvide cnitent lgitic glbal platfrm, facilitate real-time data haring, enable fater deciin-making, imprve cutmer ervice and achieve greater autmatin and efficiency. The lgitic peratr have acce t three type f ervice: SaaS, PaaS and IaaS. SaaS allw them t run exiting n-demand nline applicatin acceed ver the Internet (e.g. Warehue Management Sytem, Tranprtatin Management Sytem...). PaaS allw them t create their wn applicatin uing upplier-pecific tl and language (e.g., OMS Platfrm, ebuilder, Ggle App Engine, Micrft Windw Azure and Salefrce.cm). IaaS allw uer t run applicatin f their wn chice n clud hardware (e.g. AmaznEC2, GGrid and Flexicale) (Zhang, et al., 2010). Clud cmputing applicatin can be deplyed via public, cmmunity, private r hybrid clud. The deplyment mdel depend n the level f ecurity, reliability, perfrmance and ct a certain cmpany require. Firm elect different type f deplyment, depending n individual buine need (Avile & Rutner 2012). In public clud, the infratructure and ervice are available fr pen ue by the general public. In uch way, cmpanie are nt required t invet in infratructure, but n the ther hand, firm lack cntrl ver data, netwrk and ecurity etting. Private clud are deigned excluively fr a ingle rganizatin with multiple uer and are nt available t the general public (Armbrut et al., 2010). Private clud ffer the highet degree f cntrl ver perfrmance, reliability and ecurity, but they d nt prvide upfrnt capital aving. In hybrid clud, ne part f the ervice infratructure run in private clud, and anther part run in public clud, giving tighter cntrl and ecurity and al facilitating ndemand ervice expanin and reductin. (Zhang et al., 2010), (Avile & Rutner 2012). Internatinal Scientific Jurnal f Management Infrmatin Sytem 17

8 Predrag Matkvic, Pere Tumba, Veelin Pavlicevic A well-deigned clud can be reliable, ecure, and uitable fr lgitic prcee and applicatin. Uing a clud t deliver deciin upprt can reduce capital expene and reduce peratinal ct. Prper deplyment can prvide ignificant aving, better IT ervice and a higher level f reliability. Sme additinal benefit f implementing clud cmputing are: agility, greater reliability, acceibility t ftware and device, imprved ecurity, better uitability fr ditributed lgitic peratin, reductin in capital expene, reductin in direct and indirect perating ct, availability n many divere device, calability, expertie, and lcatin independence. Lgitic infrmatin platfrm i epecially ignificant t deciin making in lgitic prcee. Generally peaking, the lgitic infrmatin platfrm i a general infrmatin exchange platfrm, which applie infrmatin and cmmunicatin technlgie t cllect, claify, tre, analye, evaluate, publih (releae), manage and cntrl relevant infrmatin n lgitic peratin, prcee and management (Tang & Du, 2009). Lgitic infrmatin platfrm prvide applicatin fr inter-rganizatinal lgitic peratin. The platfrm invlve multitakehlder uch tranprter, warehuing agent, ditributr, upplier, inurance cmpanie, bank and ther financial rganizatin, cutm, regulatry bdie, educatinal and reearch rganizatin etc. The mt imprtant functinality f a lgitic infrmatin platfrm i integratin f variu infrmatin reurce t facilitate data exchange, implement data haring and infrmatin tranfrmatin (Zhen, Gui-Cheng, & Bing-Wu, 2012). Numeru functinalitie aimed at eaing cllabratin and cperatin f all participant within lgitic prce are uitable fr implementatin uing clud cmputing technlgie. Identified functinalitie f the lgitic platfrm and expected benefit aciated with them are preented in the fllwing text. The fllwing generic ue cae, interrelated in multiple way, were identified and are the lgitic clud (Arnld, Oberländer & Schwarzbach, 2013): Outurcing f IT reurce and related ervice, i.e. hardware, ftware applicatin, and data pl frm lcal (n-premie) ITytem int a clud; Integratin, Synchrnizatin and Sharing f data created and utilized by multiple uer; Market Place fr prduct and ervice ffer and demand, platfrm fr adding e-cmmerce activitie t the crprate buine mdel; Platfrm fr the management and ptimizatin f cllabrative buine activitie f multiple buine partner. Analyi f the afrementined ue cae lead t a cncluin n their interrelatin and interdependence. Outurcing f IT reurce and related ervice enable lgitic enterprie, epecially micr, mall and medium-ized ne t acce neceary reurce at a deired level. By purchaing certain ervice, fr example at the IaaS level, lgitic cmpanie gain readily available reurce at the ct which are in line with their need. The mt ppular IaaS partner fr Eurpean SaaS vendr are Amazn, OVH, Hetzner, 1&1, Rackpace, Micrft and Ht Eurpe. When it cme t SaaS, lgitic cmpanie have the pprtunity t ue veratile ftware ervice in the clud, uch a Cutmer Relatinhip Management ytem, Electrnic Dcument Management ytem, Enterprie Reurce Planning ytem, different cllabratin uite, accunting ftware, Supply Chain Management ytem, Wrkflw Management ytem, rute planning ytem, a well a ther ftware ervice ffered in the market. Clud cmputing ha made thee ervice available and affrdable t lgitic enterprie f variu ize. Integratin, Synchrnizatin and Sharing f data created and utilized by multiple uer i the next ue cae t becme available, affrdable and uitable frm an increaing number f lgitic cmpanie, nce again wing t Clud Cmputing. Data management ha becme a majr buine, and amng the mt prminent Clud Data Management ervice prvider are Micrft One Drive, DrpBx and Ggle Drive. Thi type f ervice i ued fr data exchange bth within rganizatin and amng different ne, which i preented in Table 2. Market Place fr prduct, ervice ffer and demand i the third ue cae that ffer new pibilitie t lgitic enterprie. Implementatin f thi ue cae i realized thru e- cmmerce ftware lutin in the clud. In thi ene, thi ue cae culd be cnidered a Outurcing f ftware, i.e. ue f SaaS. The furth ue cae i the Management platfrm, which i intended fr managing and ptimizing lgitic peratin. All f the lited ue cae and pibilitie identified within each f 18 Internatinal Scientific Jurnal f Management Infrmatin Sytem

9 Deciin Making in Lgitic Prcee Supprted by Clud Cmputing them are available thru different, independent ervice. Placing all the capabilitie under ne umbrella and implementing them in an envirnment uitable fr lgitic enterprie i the cure fr develping a lgitic platfrm baed n Clud Cmputing. Table 2 Example f Integratin, Synchrnizatin and Sharing f data (Arnld, Oberländer & Schwarzbach, 2013) Typical intra-rganizatinal ue File ynchrnizatin f mbile actr and buine unit, uch a truck and ther vehicle, external ervice team, mart device f emplyee etc; File ynchrnizatin f mbile actr and buine unit, uch a truck and ther vehicle, external ervice team, mart device f emplyee etc; Buine data exchange and ynchrnizatin within decentralized rganizatin. File exchange acr brderline f ingle enterprie and rganizatin File exchange with client; File exchange amng buine partner; File exchange with infratructure peratr uch a eaprt, airprt, intermdal terminal and authritie uch a cutm authritie. 5. Cncluin The paper explre the iue f applying clud cmputing technlgie t upprt deciin making activitie in lgitic prcee. Activitie related trategic and peratinal deciin-making at the level f individual lgitic peratr, a well at the level f a cmmn lgitic infrmatin platfrm were analyed within the reearch. Regardle f the level f bervatin, it can be cncluded that activitie, i.e. peratin f lgitic prcee are very cmplex and that deciin making prce i carried ut in cnditin f uncertainty. Hard data and infrmatin frm different type f cmputer baed infrmatin ytem frm the bai fr deciin making, althugh ft kill, uch a knwledge, intuitin and experience, al play a very ignificant rle. Clud cmputing i a prmiing apprach t implementatin f a cntemprary cncept f lgitic ytem. Ue f clud cmputing technlgie yield many benefit, but al bear certain rik. Detailed analye mut be carried ut befre it implementatin, a t enure that the ttal ct f wnerhip, ecurity, cnfidentiality, functinality, integratin and prce cnitency requirement have been met. Applicatin f clud cmputing technlgie ffer everal technical and financial advantage, which are lited belw (Aymerich, Fenu, & Surci, 2008). Technical and architectural advantage are: Clud cmputing eaily handle peak lad ituatin withut the need fr additinal hardware infratructure that wuld remain largely underutilized. Hardware and cmmunicatin reurce can be virtualized and prvided t cutmer a virtual erver, which they manage themelve. It i pible t ue the prceing pwer f the clud t d thing that traditinal prductivity applicatin cannt d. The ytem deliver greater calability a it i pible t add n demand cmputatinal reurce. Clud cmputing infratructure accelerate and fter the adptin f innvatin. It alleviate the need f innvatr t find reurce t develp, tet, and make their innvatin available t the uer cmmunity. Clud cmputing infratructure allw enterprie t achieve mre efficient ue f their IT hardware and ftware invetment. It increae prfitability by imprving reurce utilizatin. Advantage fr the lgitic peratr - ingle uer and enterprie: The uer i n lnger tied t a traditinal cmputer t ue an applicatin, r ha t buy a verin pecifically cnfigured fr a phne, PDA r ther device. Every device that can acce the Internet will be able t run a cludbaed applicatin. Uer will nt have t cncern themelve with trage capacity, cmpatibility and imilar iue. The uer alway ue the latet verin f the ftware when acceing an applicatin n the clud. Clud cmputing i particularly beneficial fr mall and medium buinee, where effective and affrdable IT tl are critical fr bting prductivity withut exce pending n inhue reurce and technical equipment. Al large buinee are mving t the clud a well, fr a variety f rean, uch a ct cutting, remte acce, eae f availability and real-time cllabratin capabilitie. Internatinal Scientific Jurnal f Management Infrmatin Sytem 19

10 Predrag Matkvic, Pere Tumba, Veelin Pavlicevic The lgitic infrmatin platfrm i f particular ignificance fr enuring uitable data fr deciin making at the glbal level, by facilitating cllectin, claificatin, trage, cr-referencing, exchange, ue, evaluatin, publicatin and cntrl f data frm multiple urce. In additin t that, infrmatin platfrm preent a unified lutin fr netwrk data prceing and cnnecting dmetic and freign buine ytem and platfrm, thu making dmetic lgitic enterprie intercnnected with freign lgitic platfrm; realizing data exchange; prviding accurate, rapid and cmprehenive dmetic and internatinal lgitic infrmatin and ther related value added buine ervice. In view f that, the lgitic infrmatin platfrm imprve deciin making at the level f the whle lgitic ytem. Acknwledgement. The authr gratefully acknwledge the financial upprt fr thi reearch frm Prvincial Secretariat fr Science and Technlgy Develpment under the Grant / Reference Armbrut, M., Fx, A., Griffith, R., Jeph, A. D., Katz, R., Knwinki, A., et al. (2010). A View f Clud Cmputing. Cmmunicatin f the ACM, 53 (4), Arnld, U., Oberlander, J., & Schwarzbach, B. (2013). Advancement in clud cmputing fr lgitic. In Federated Cnference n Cmputer Science and Infrmatin Sytem (FedCSIS) (pp )). IEEE. Avile, M. E., & Rutner, P. (2012). Lgitic Management: Opprtunitie in the Clud. Suthern Aciatin fr Infrmatin Sytem Cnference SAIS, (pp ). Atlanta. Aymerich, F. M., Fenu, G., & Surci, S. (2008). An apprach t a Clud Cmputing netwrk. Firt Internatinal Cnference n the Applicatin f Digital Infrmatin and Web Technlgie, ICADIWT 2008 (pp ). IEEE. Em, H., & Lee, S. M. (1990). A Survey f Deciin Supprt Sytem Applicatin. Interface, 20 (3), Fechner, I. (2010). Rle f lgitic centre in natinal lgitic ytem. LgFrum, 6 (2), Fter, I., Zha, Y., Raicu, I., & Lu, S. (2008). Clud Cmputing and Grid Cmputing 360-Degree Cmpared. Grid Cmputing Envirnment Wrkhp. GCE'08 (pp. 1-10). IEEE. Gajek, B., Lipicnik, M., & Simenc, M. (2012). The Lgitic Platfrm Diambiguatin. Reearch in Lgitic & Prductin, 2 (1), Kawa, A., & Ratajczak-Mrzek, M. (2013). Cperatin between lgitic ervice prvider baed n clud cmputing. In Intelligent Infrmatin and Databae Sytem (pp ). Berlin: Springer. Köhler, P., Anandaivam, A., & Ma, D. (2010). Clud Service frm a Cnumer Perpective. 16th America Cnference n Infrmatin Sytem. AMCIS. Leimeiter, S., Böhm, M., Riedl, C., & Krcmar, H. (2010). The buine perpective f clud cmputing: actr, rle and value netwrk.paper 56. ECIS 2010 Prceeding. Mell, P., & Grance, T. (2011). The NIST Definitin f Clud Cmputing, NIST Special Publicatin Gaitherburg: U.S. Department f Cmmerce. Petkvic, I., Trninic, J., & Đurkvic, J. (2013). The Rle f Infrmatin Technlgy Supprt in Sutainable Develpment. Internatinal Jurnal f Strategic Management and Deciin Supprt Sytem in Strategic Management, 18 (4), Petkvic, I., Tumba, P., Matkvic, P., & Barackai, Z. (2014). Clud Cmputing Supprt t Univerity Buine Prcee in External Cllabratin. Acta Plytechnica Hungarica, 11 (3), Schlz-Reiter, B., Windt, K., & Freitag, M. (2004). Autnmu lgitic prcee: New demand and firt apprache. 37th CIRP internatinal eminar n manufacturing ytem, (pp ). Sere, L., Hrvat, L., & Hrvat, I. (2011). A Thunder in the Clud. Internatinal Scientific Jurnal f Management Infrmatin Sytem, 6 (1), Tang, Y., & Du, W. (2009). Lgitic Infrmatin Platfrm Develpment Baed Knwledge Management. Secnd Internatinal Cnference n Tranprtatin Engineering (pp ). ASCE. Tumba, P., Sedlak, O., & Matkvic, P. (2007). Deciin Supprt Sytem fr Lgitic Management. The Internatinal Scientific Jurnal f Management Infrmatin Sytem, 2 (2), Weinhardt, C., Anandaivam, A., Blau, B., Briv, N., Meinl, T., Michalk, W., et al. (2009). Clud cmputing a claificatin, buine mdel, and reearch directin. Buine & Infrmatin Sytem Engineering, 1 (5), Yueff, L., Butric, M., & Da Silva, D. (2008). Tward a Unified Ontlgy f Clud Cmputing. Grid Cmputing Envirnment Wrkhp, GCE'08 (pp. 1-10). IEEE. Zhang, Q., Cheng, L., & Butaba, R. (2010). Clud cmputing: State-f-theart and reearch challenge. Jurnal f Internet Service and Applicatin, 1 (1), Zhen, Y., Gui-Cheng, S., & Bing-Wu, L. (2012). Reearch n Architecture f Lgitic Public Infrmatin Platfrm. Intelligent Infrmatin Management, 4 (6), Predrag Matkvic Univerity f Nvi Sad Faculty f Ecnmic Subtica Segedinki put Subtica Serbia [email protected] Pere Tumba Univerity f Nvi Sad Faculty f Ecnmic Subtica Segedinki put Subtica Serbia [email protected] Veelin Pavlicevic Univerity f Nvi Sad Faculty f Ecnmic Subtica Segedinki put Subtica Serbia [email protected] 20 Internatinal Scientific Jurnal f Management Infrmatin Sytem