2 research outputs found
Development and evaluation of a software-mediated process assessment approach in IT service management
To operate in a highly competitive business environment, organisations require the support of continually improving IT services. The dominant academic literature on ITService Management (ITSM) focuses on the measurement of the outcome of ITSM implementation. Consequently, there is limited research on the measurement of ITSM
processes. The ITSM industry has defined a number of processes as best practices in the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL®) framework and the international standard forITSM, ISO/IEC 20000. However, there is a lack of a transparent and efficient process assessment method to improve ITSM processes. This research aims to address the dual problems of the lack of transparency and the need for efficiency in ITSM process
assessment.
Using the design science research methodology, an iterative design process was followed to develop a research artefact in the form of a method: the Software-Mediated Process Assessment (SMPA) approach that enables researchers and practitioners to assess the ITSM processes in a transparent and efficient way. The four phases in theSMPA approach include preparation for the assessment; online survey to collect
assessment data; measurement of process capability; and reporting of process improvement recommendations.
The international standard for process assessment
ISO/IEC 15504 and associated assessment models provided support for a transparent method. A Decision Support System (DSS) was implemented to demonstrate efficient use of the SMPA approach. Using a theoretically-grounded fit profile based on the Task-Technology Fit theory, the international standards and DSS technology were
implemented in the SMPA approach to address the research problem. The DSS platform was provided by an industry partner Assessment Portal Pty Ltd. that specialises in online assessment services.
Two case study organisations provided test sites for the evaluation of the SMPA approach. The two organisations are the Queensland Government’s primary IT service
provider, CITEC and the IT service department of an Australian local government authority, Toowoomba Regional Council. Using the quality models from the international standard for software quality evaluation ISO/IEC 25010, the usability and ii outcomes of the SMPA approach were evaluated. Evidence from the case study evaluations indicated that the SMPA approach is usable for ITSM process assessment in order to support decision-making on process improvements.
Further discussions of the research findings provided design knowledge that included the emergence of the concept of virtualisability in ITSM process assessments and a proposal of a hybrid ITSM process assessment method. Moreover, iterations ofself-assessments of ITSM processes using the SMPA approach may facilitate
continual service improvement. Based on the design knowledge obtained, the contributions of this research to theory and practice were articulated. The SMPA
approach extends prior guidelines on ITSM process assessment by providing a fine-grained method to assess ITSM processes. The SMPA approach clarifies the impact of software mediation to support transparency and efficiency in the way process assessments are conducted. This research also demonstrates how the SMPA approach is applied in practice by enabling IT organisations to self-assess the capability of their ITSM processes.
Upon reflection, the design science research method was found to be highly suitable to develop an artefact to solve a research problem and to evaluate the practical utility of the artefact. The SMPA approach is a research artefact that is implemented as a DSS; hence it is readily accessible to practitioners. The focus on practical utility provides researchers with results that are more readily endorsed, thus maximising the impact of the research findings in practice
Når best practice konflikter med kulturen. Løsning af implementeringsproblemer gennem anvendelse af kendte CSF i et aktionsforskningsforløb
The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) fremhæves ofte som et IT-governance best practice
framework, men det er tilsyneladende vanskeligt at implementere. ”Many organizations
that decide to implement ITIL fail completely [...]” (Pereira og da Silva 2010). Dette
vurderes som et væsentligt IS-forskningsproblem.
ITIL-litteraturen anviser bl.a. Critical Success Factors (CSF) som en løsning. Baseret på
et identificeret litteraturgap blev det besluttet at undersøge, om kendte CSF kunne løse
problemet. På den baggrund er der gennemført et aktionsforskningsprojekt, hvor ITILimplementeringsproblemet
søges løs ved hjælp af kendte CSF.
Der blev udvalgt en egnet caseorganisation, og det blev besluttet at fokusere på ITILs
Change Management proces. Et et stigende pres fra IT-revisionen medførte et behov for
succesfuld ITIL-implementering, og IT-ledelsen var opsat på at løse dette problem ”én
gang for alle”. Aktionsforskningen gav (især) i begyndelsen positive resultater, og der
kunne præsenteres handleanvisninger til forbedret operationalisering af CSF. Imidlertid
opstod der problemer længere inde i forløbet. Det blev tydeligt, at selv de bedste CSF
ikke kunne løse problemerne.
En bredere afsøgning af teorien viste, at organisationskulturen kunne udgøre en
forklarende faktor, og der blev identificeret et litteraturgap i form af manglende viden om
kulturens indvirkning på ITIL-implementeringen. I den sidste del af aktionsforskningen
blev sammenhængen mellem kultur og implementeringsproblemerne derfor undersøgt.
Resultaterne viste, at kulturen delvist kunne forklare problemerne, og på den baggrund
blev der opstillet handleanvisninger for diagnosticering og ændring af kulturen.
ITIL-implementeringen var kun delvist en succes, men under aktionsforskningen blev der
alligevel etableret en række holdbare rutiner, der stadig bruges flere år efter. De afviger
fra, hvad der opfattes som ITIL best practice, men de har givet en række IT-governancegevinster,
og IT-revisionen var tilfredse. Desuden udtrykte såvel ledelse som
medarbejdere tilfredshed med resultaterne. På denne baggrund, blev der opstillet
handleanvisninger til organisationer, der ønsker IT-governance-gevinster, uden at skulle
ændre en konfliktende kultur.
Resultaterne bidrager til ITIL CSF-teorien, og til ITIL-frameworket generelt, ved at
inddrage teori om organisationskultur for at forbedre ITIL-implementering som et led i
bedre ITSM og IT-governance