Validation of a Generic Service Governance Meta Model based on the Comparison of Major Governance Frameworks

The effective governance of organizational capabilities in the areas of Service Management and Service-oriented Architectures (SOA) has been broadly recognized as an essential success factor for service-oriented enterprises. Organizations that target the adoption of an adequate Service Governance approach face the difficulty of selecting from a variety of related frameworks with differing scopes and objectives. In this paper, we provide a structural comparison of the major, non vendor-specific IT and SOA Governance and Management frameworks and use this comparison to validate our own Service Governance meta model. This generic meta model is intended to provide a sound conceptualization, thereby contributing to a better understanding and facilitation of Service Governance, e.g. by forming the foundation for the development of a flexible and configurable Service Governance tool

An overview of models and standards of processes in the SE, SwE and IS disciplines

This chapter develops a descriptive-conceptual overview of the main models and standards of processes formulated in the systems engineering (SE), software engineering (SwE) and information systems (IS) disciplines. Given the myriad of models and standards reported, the convergence suggested for the SE and SwE models and standards and the increasing complexity of the modern information systems, we argue that these ones become relevant in the information systems discipline. Firstly, we report the ratio- nale for having models and standards of processes in SE, SwE and IS. Secondly, we review their main Overview of Models and Standards of Processes in the SE, SwE, and IS Disciplines characteristics. Thirdly, based on the identified aims and principles, we report and posit the concepts of process, system and service as conceptual building blocks for describing such models and standards. Finally, initial theoretical and practical implications for the information systems discipline of such models and standards are discussed, as well as recommendations for further research are suggested

Hyvä tietohallintotapa

Insinöörityössä selvitettiin hyvää tietohallintotapaa ja siihen suhteessa olevia viitekehyksiä ja standardeja. Insinöörityön tavoitteena oli koota yleiskuva hyvään tietohallintotapaan liittyvistä standardeista, viitekehyksistä ja metodologioista ja verrata niitä toisiinsa. Työssä tutustuttiin alan kirjallisuuden avulla seuraaviin viitekehyksiin: hyvän tietohallintotavan viitekehys COBIT, kokonaisarkkitehtuurin viitekehys TOGAF, kaksi projektinhallinnan metodologiaa PRINCE2 ja PMBOK ja IT-palvelunhallinnan viitekehys ITIL. Näiden lisäksi työssä tarkasteltiin CMMI-kypsyysmallia ja käytiin läpi tietohallintoon liittyvät julkisen hallinnon suositukset. Viitekehyksiä verrattiin toisiinsa ja hyvän tietohallinnan prosessikokonaisuuksiin. Työn kokoavaksi viitekehykseksi tuli tietohallinnon viitekehys COBIT, sen kattavuuden vuoksi. Työ osoitti, että viitekehykset eivät ole suoraan käyttöönotettavia, vaan ne pitää räätälöidä liiketoiminnan ja organisaation vaatimusten mukaisesti. Toinen päätelmä oli, että viitekehykset usein täydentävät ja tukevat toisiaan. Kaikki viitekehykset painottivat organisaation johdon sitouttamisen ja henkilökunnan kouluttautumisen tärkeyttä hyvän tietohallinnon saavuttamiseksi.The focus of this thesis was IT governance and frameworks, standards and methodologies related to it. In the thesis the following frameworks are studied: an IT governance framework called COBIT, an enterprise architecture framework called TOGAF, two methodologies for project management called PRINCE2 and PMBOK and a framework for IT service management (ITIL). In addition the thesis describes a maturity model (CMMI) and gives an overview of Finnish recommendations for information technology (JHS-recommendation). The structures and the coverage of the frameworks are compared to each other and the relation between the frameworks is described and a definition of IT governance is given. COBIT as a framework for IT governance is the focus of this thesis. The thesis concludes that the frameworks, methodologies and standards are not directly implementable but they need to be tailored to meet business requirements and to fit into an organisation. Each framework emphasised the importance of committed senior management and trained staff. Furthermore it is concluded that a process to introduce IT governance or any framework requires planning and that the impact on the organisation should not be underestimated

An extensive review of IT service design in seven international ITSM processes frameworks: Part II

The main international IT Service Management processes frameworks (ITIL v2, ISO/IEC 20000, COBIT 4.0, CMMI-SVC, MOF 4.0, and ITUP) include the design of IT services as part of their main best practices. However, despite having a common purpose and conceptual structure, they are organized differently. Hence, ITSM academic researchers and practitioners need to integrate a broad and diverse literature in relation to these frameworks. In Part I of this research, the authors pursued the goal of a descriptive-comparative analysis of fundamental concepts and IT service architecture design models used in the seven ITSM frameworks. In this paper (Part II) we complete this systemic analysis by using the ISO/IEC 15288 systems engineering standard and focusing on the IT design processes and practices reported in the aforementioned ITSM frameworks. Specifically, CMMI-SVC and ITUP are assessed in overall as the strongest frameworks from an engineering view, MOF 4.0 and ITIL v3 as moderate, and ISO/IEC 20000, ITIL v2 and COBIT as the weakest. ITSM academicians and in particular practitioners thus will need to distinguish their utilization according to the level of required detail of the IT service design process. This paper aims to advance our comprehension and understanding on the state of the art regarding what are IT services and how they can be designed. Thus it is of broad significance to ITSM researchers and practitioners

Processo integrado para gestão de serviços TI

Mestrado em Tecnologia e Gestão de Sistemas de Informação na Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Gestão do Instituto Politécnico de Viana do CasteloA gestão e governação de serviços em sistemas de informação pretende alinhar as estratégias da área de negócio e da área de TI. As frameworks e os standards existentes, facilitam este alinhamento, visando redução de custos, geração de valor, controlo eficiente de processos, aumento na performance do negócio e alinhamento com boas práticas de mercado. Neste trabalho de projeto são consideradas e analisadas várias frameworks e standards e é proposto um processo integrado de condução de um projeto TI no seu ciclo de vida. Este processo pretende-se de fácil adoção e facilitador do comprometimento e responsabilização de todos os intervenientes em atingir os objetivos da empresa com base em serviços de TI.IT service management and IT governance has alignment between business strategy and information technology strategy as the main goal. Existing IT frameworks and standards in this matter can help achieving this alignment, by trying to reduce costs, creating value, controlling processes efficiently, improving business performance and aligning with best practices. In this document, after considering and analysing several frameworks and standards, it is presented an end- to end process for all IT project management lifecycle. This process is intended to be easily adopted and to facilitate commitment and responsibility among all project stakeholders to meet company’s goals based on IT services

Virtualising process assessments to facilitate continual service improvement in IT service management

The IT Service Management (ITSM) industry has defined processes as best practices in the widely accepted IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework. However, studies on the measurement of ITSM process improvement are scant. Our research addressed the dual problems of the lack of transparency and the need for efficiency in ITSM process assessment. Using the Design Science Research methodology, we developed a Software-mediated Process Assessment (SMPA) approach that enables assessment of ITSM processes. The SMPA approach includes process selection; an online survey to collect assessment data; measurement of process capability; and reporting of process improvement recommendations. We implemented a decision support system (DSS) to automate the SMPA approach and evaluated it at two IT service providers. The evaluations indicated that the SMPA approach supports decision-making on process improvements. The findings provided design knowledge of virtualisation in ITSM process assessment and how this may facilitate continual service improvement

Virtualising Process Assessments to Facilitate Continual Service Improvement in IT Service Management

The IT Service Management (ITSM) industry has defined processes as best practices in the widely-accepted IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework. However, studies on the measurement of ITSM process improvement are scant. Our research addressed the dual problems of the lack of transparency and the need for efficiency in ITSM process assessment. Using the Design Science Research methodology, we developed a Software-mediated Process Assessment (SMPA) approach that enables assessment of ITSM processes. The SMPA approach includes process selection; an online survey to collect assessment data; measurement of process capability; and reporting of process improvement recommendations. We implemented a decision support system (DSS) to automate the SMPA approach and evaluated it at two IT service providers. The evaluations indicated that the SMPA approach supports decision-making on process improvements. The findings provided design knowledge of virtualisation in ITSM process assessment and how this may facilitate continual service improvement

Maturity model of incident management

Over the last 25 years the concern of most organizations with Information Technology (IT) has been clearly exponential. In order to plan, organize, select, support and deliver IT services, it was necessary to implement IT frameworks. These frameworks are a set of the best practices to implement on IT service management. These frameworks are included in several processes of different areas of IT. This research work is focused very concretely on the Incident Management process. Once the organizations technical consulting services are available 24/7, an implementation of this process is crucial. Many of the IT frameworks contain similar processes. Many organizations, when trying to apply more than one framework, end up doing redundant work. Therefore, eliminating overlaps of activities becomes very useful for any process of IT frameworks. In this way, the process becomes simpler and less expensive for the organization. Given the need of the organizations evaluate the maturity of their incident management process and different organizations and different IT frameworks, was born the need for this research. This thesis proposes a Maturity Model for the incident management process that covers the main and most used IT frameworks.Nos últimos 25 anos a preocupação da generalidade das empresas com as Tecnologias da Informação (TI) é claramente exponencial. De tal forma que, para conseguirem organizar, planear, selecionar, suportar e entregar os serviços de TI, foi necessário implementar frameworks de TI. Estas frameworks são um conjunto de boas práticas a implementar para gestão de serviços de TI. Nestas frameworks estão incluídos vários processos das diferentes áreas das TI. Este trabalho de investigação focou-se muito concretamente no processo de Gestão de Incidências. Sendo que a operacionalidade da generalidade dos serviços requerer disponibilidade de quase 24/7, a implementação deste processo é fulcral. Muitas das frameworks de TI contem processos similares. Muitas organizações, quando tentam aplicar mais que uma framework acabam por fazer trabalho redundante. Assim sendo, a eliminação de sobreposições das atividades torna-se bastante útil para qualquer processo das frameworks de IT. Desta forma o processo torna-se mais simples e menos dispendioso para a organização. Dada a necessidade das organizações de avaliarem a maturidade do seu processo de gestão de incidências e que diferentes organizações têm diferentes frameworks de TI, nasceu a necessidade deste trabalho de investigação. Esta tese propõe um Modelo de Maturidade para o processo de gestão de incidências que abranja as principais e mais utilizadas frameworks de TI

A strategy for improving the maturity levels of IT service management in higher education institutions in South Africa

IT Service Management (ITSM) refers to a set of activities that an organisation can perform to develop, supply, operate, manage and improve information technology related services in order to meet the needs of the business. The interest in ITSM is based on the expectation that applying best practice ITSM processes will result in lower expenses, fewer incidents and improved customer satisfaction. Various standards, frameworks, methodologies and processes have evolved to support this move to a value-driven, service-orientated approach to managing an organisation’s information systems. Between 2007 and 2009, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in South Africa benefited from a national project to improve the quality of their IT services through training in ITIL, a best practice ITSM framework. An assessment at the time, however, found that the maturity levels of the ITIL processes implemented after the intervention remained low, and this observation is common in other industries as well. The implementation of industry best practice ITSM frameworks does not always proceed smoothly; they can be costly, have long implementation times, and can be seen as excessively complicated and suited mainly for large organisations. Therefore, it is often challenging for organisations such as HEIs to improve their ITSM process maturity levels. The aim of this study is to develop a strategy that may assist South African HEIs in taking steps to improve their IT Service Management maturity levels. This primary research objective is addressed through a number of secondary research objectives, namely, to understand the challenges that HEIs often encounter when implementing ITSM; to determine the ITSM implementation status at a number of South African HEIs; to determine the various elements and components required to formulate the ITSM strategy; to determine whether alternatives to ITIL are feasible options for HEIs in South Africa; and to validate the proposed strategy by verifying its quality, utility and efficacy. A comprehensive literature review provides information on various ITSM standards, frameworks and methodologies. It also investigates ITSM adoption and implementation by organisations in general, and HEIs in particular, and how modern practices such as DevOps, Agile and Lean relate to ITSM. Thereafter, an online survey is used to determine the status of ITSM maturity levels at South African HEIs, and whether alternatives to ITIL are being used. Expert interviews are used to obtain additional information on what is required to formulate the proposed strategy. The findings from the literature review, survey and expert interviews are used to develop a four-step strategy, which was evaluated for its quality, utility and efficacy through an online assessment by the same experts. This strategy can be considered a useful tool for Higher Education Institutions in South Africa if they wish to increase their levels of IT Service Management maturity. The findings of this study make a substantial contribution to the field of ITSM research at South African Higher Education Institutions