A Service Model for the Development of Management Systems for IT-enabled Services

The shift from device and application towards service-orientated IT Management raises new questions that require concepts such as portfolio management, resource planning or mass customization for IT services. These concepts increase the complexity of IT Service Management and require additional tool support. Conceptual models are necessary in order to develop appropriate tools. The goal of our paper is to propose and validate a conceptual IT service model. We introduce the characteristics of IT services and analyze existing IT service models. A common IT service model is derived (theoretically) from the literature and validated through cases of IT service providers. These case studies from three German IT service providers also yield insights for further research

A CONCEPUTAL FRAMEWORK OF REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF E-LEARNING OFFERINGS FROM A PRODUCT SERVICE SYSTEM PERSPECTIVE

The term e-learning subsumes all forms learning where electronic media is used for the presentation and distribution of thecourse content. Although various guidelines and models exist, the development and operation of e-learning offerings hasshown to be a difficult task. Often existing approaches focus on single aspects such as technical details or the content ofteaching, while neglecting other aspects such as level of service requirements. As e-learning offerings are IT-based systemsconsisting of hardware, software, and services that have to be considered from a lifecycle perspective, they exhibit similarcharacteristics as Product Service Systems. We, therefore, suggest designing e-learning offerings from a systems perspective.As a first step, we synthesize a requirements framework for e-learning offerings from the e-learning and PSS literatures. Weenrich the framework with examples from a real-life e-learning offering and argue why the PSS approach is useful for thedesign of e-learning offerings

There are always two sides to a story: the use of social dramas as a mode of data analysis in information systems

With the continually evolving social nature of information systems research there is a need to identify different &ldquo;modes of analysis&rdquo; (Myers, 1997) to uncover our understanding of the complex, messy and often chaotic nature of human factors. One suggested mode of analysis is that of social dramas, a tool developed in the anthropological discipline by Victor Turner. The use of social dramas also utilises the work by Goffman (1959; 1997) and enables the researcher to investigate events from the front stage, reporting obvious issues in systems implementation, and from the back stage, identifying the hidden aspects of systems implementation and the underpinning discourses. A case study exploring the social dramas involved in systems selection and implementation has been provided to support the use of this methodological tool.<br /

Cultural Diversity and Participatory Evolution in IS: Global vs. Local Issues

A core issue in communication, culture should thus have considerable weight in IS as communication technologies. We review research documenting the importance of diverse cultural elements – including those identified by Hall and Hofstede – to IS design and usage if these are to be successful. An analysis of emerging participatory approaches facilitated by ICTs, including recent research on community networks and how users from diverse languages and cultures participate differently in Wikipedia, further highlights specific aspects of culture and language essential to successful IS design and implementation. We argue that participatory approaches and user-centric technologies appear to play increasingly important roles in diverse cultures and societies: this suggests IS research should take advantage of both extant and emerging frameworks for analyzing culture, technology, and communication – especially if IS is to continue to play a key role in the cultural (re)evolution ICTs facilitate

Towards bridging the communication gap between consumers and providers in the cloud

The number of available cloud services has recently grown considerably. Therefore, consumers demand new methods for choosing the appropriate cloud services for their needs, whereas providers require dedicated ways to correctly elicit requirements from very heterogeneous consumers. In this poster, we present the StakeCloud community platform. This will act as a cloud resources marketplace, allowing consumers to input their needs and providing them with matching cloud services. Moreover, in case the needs are not met, they can be communicated as new requirements to cloud providers. Our solution will enable easier resource identification and requirements communication in cloud systems, thus supporting both consumers and providers

Issues in IT service-oriented requirements engineering

Corporate information technology (IT) management is increasingly service-oriented, offering continuous evaluation and improvement of application, communication, delivery and support services to internal and external customers. Service-oriented requirements engineering (SoRE) plays a significant role in identifying and specifying service requirements, formally defined through service-level agreements (SLAs). However, the new frameworks and approaches emerging to guide these developments have not yet addressed how requirements for such services can be effectively developed, nor identified the diverse issues involved. We report a case study of a web services team development of requirements for an internal Service Desk service. The study revealed five main issues of concern when developing service provider requirements: service roles, responsibilities and accountability; service performance metrics; resolution of conflicting stakeholder service requirements; customer acceptance of service change; and service provider team structure. This study suggests that in the new IT services era, new techniques and approaches are needed for eliciting and determining provider and customer requirements that involve key stakeholder groups equitably and more closely negotiate the sometimes-conflicting provider and customer needs.<br /

Issues in IT Service-Oriented Requirements Engineering

Corporate information technology (IT) management is increasingly service-oriented, offering continuous evaluation and improvement of application, communication, delivery and support services to internal and external customers. Service-oriented requirements engineering (SoRE) plays a significant role in identifying and specifying service requirements, formally defined through service-level agreements (SLAs). However, the new frameworks and approaches emerging to guide these developments have not yet addressed how requirements for such services can be effectively developed, nor identified the diverse issues involved. We report a case study of a web services team development of requirements for an internal Service Desk service. The study revealed five main issues of concern when developing service provider requirements: service roles, responsibilities and accountability; service performance metrics; resolution of conflicting stakeholder service requirements; customer acceptance of service change; and service provider team structure. This study suggests that in the new IT services era, new techniques and approaches are needed for eliciting and determining provider and customer requirements that involve key stakeholder groups equitably and more closely negotiate the sometimes-conflicting provider and customer needs