Service Provisioning: Insights in a digital business context

This position paper presents an overview of key insights in relation to the provisioning of IT services in the digital business context. These insights, as derived from relevant academic and practitioner literature and engagement with patrons and members of the Innovation Value Institute (IVI) global consortium, have informed the development of IVI’s IT-CMF Service Provisioning (SRP) Critical Capability (CC). Additionally, changes to the SRP CC improve the alignment of the capability with the ISO 20000 standard and the ITIL framework. They also reflect digital changes such as the virtualization, automation, and orchestration of IT infrastructure, and support the growing prevalence of Agile and DevOps approaches [1]

Service Provisioning: Insights in a digital business context

This position paper presents an overview of key insights in relation to the provisioning of IT services in the digital business context. These insights, as derived from relevant academic and practitioner literature and engagement with patrons and members of the Innovation Value Institute (IVI) global consortium, have informed the development of IVI’s IT-CMF Service Provisioning (SRP) Critical Capability (CC). Additionally, changes to the SRP CC improve the alignment of the capability with the ISO 20000 standard and the ITIL framework. They also reflect digital changes such as the virtualization, automation, and orchestration of IT infrastructure, and support the growing prevalence of Agile and DevOps approaches [1]

Benefits Assessment and Realization - in the digital business context

In the ever-changing digital business environment, organizations need to be able to adapt quickly and become more agile. The IT Capability Maturity Framework (IT-CMF) is an IT management framework comprised of 36 key areas or Critical Capabilities (CCs) [2], one of which is Benefits Assessment and Realization (BAR). This position paper presents an overview of key insights, to provide context and understanding of the value of organizations having an effective benefits assessment and realization capability in the digital business context, as derived from academic and practitioner literature

When is it time to stop an IT project?

IT projects should deliver value to organizations but there are cases when, however well planned a project may have been, changes in the environment and/or in the strategic priorities of the organization mean it can never deliver value. Value is a subjective term and simply means, in this context, something that is important to the organization which would generally result in profit, in a commercial entity, or improved service, in a public entity. This paper addresses the problem of how to ensure that you will have the capabilities in place to know when your project can no longer deliver value and to take appropriate action. It does not discuss in detail the technical issues of project management execution, as a well-executed project can still fail to deliver value. Rather, it looks at the specific question of knowing when projects can no longer deliver value and putting measures in place to both prevent and address project escalation. We show how a capability based approach supported by the IT-CMF framework can improve your ability to quickly identify projects that have started but now can no longer deliver value. This capability approach increases the agility of the organization and makes it easier to develop and maintain competitive advantage

Sourcing and Supplier Management - A digital perspective

Digital transformation is increasingly critical to an organization’s competitiveness [1]. It affects many IT management activities and requires organizations to adapt their business models, rethink their strategy, and collaborate with the business ecosystem to provide more innovative products and services. The way that the organization manages and engages with its suppliers is becoming an increasingly important strategic driver in digital transformation initiatives

Rearranging equations: (concepts – misconceptions) × peer discussion

Transposition of formulae (also known as rearranging equations and changing the subject) is a skill vital for professionals in many fields of science and engineering. It is however a topic with which many students, and particularly students of weaker algebraic competency, struggle and often do not master sufficiently. This paper proposes an intervention strategy for improved teaching and learning of transposition of formulae at third level. The intervention aims to address three key issues thought to inhibit students’ understanding of the topic: (1) a lack of conceptual understanding of equations and equality, (2) prior misconceptions and (3) a fast paced learning environment that does not account for diversity in knowledge and aptitude. The strategy consists of three hour-long lesson plans that emphasise conceptual understanding while also dispelling the relevant misconceptions, using a peer discussion teaching model as a vehicle for consolidating and propagating the right concepts. To account for diversity in prior knowledge and aptitude an online tutorial on the topic of transposition has been developed using an online e-assessment platform that allows students to practice at their own pace and receive instant feedback as they progress

Progression and non-completion in undergraduate students: Moving from academic disengagement to academic engagement

Lack of awareness and proficiency in essential skills contributing to learning, especially metacognitive skills (e.g., evaluation, monitoring, reflection), can have potentially adverse effects on academic engagement. The research presented here constitutes the second phase in a longitudinal research project undertaken at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUI Maynooth) which aims to develop effective supports specifically tailored to meet the needs of students at-risk of non-progression due to academic disengagement. Prevalent themes to emerge from the interviews conducted as part of the first phase of this research included the high proportion of first year students with concerns relating to an inability to cope with academic requirements and changes in the learning environment (e.g., the expectation of self-regulated learning). Building on these initial findings, a training programme referred to as the Narrative Mediation Path, is currently being tested and evaluated with 18 first and second year undergraduate students. These were students who actively sought advice to help them overcome and address academic difficulties. Across a series of group training meetings, students practise key metacognitive skills related to learning, with a particular emphasis on the development of reflective thinking skills. In the current paper we detail the training methodology employed with the first cohort of participating students. Additionally, to extend our knowledge of the learning strategies typically employed by the participants, we have obtained data on the students’ use of cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies

BUILDING THE CAPABILITY FOR BENEFITS REALISATION: LEADING WITH BENEFITS (6)

It is now 20 years since the publication of the paper that launched Benefits Management (BM), by Prof. John Ward and colleagues, and the launch of an open course on BM at Cranfield. This paper draws on recent work reflecting on the translation of BM into practice as well as a 10+ year programme of research seeking to understand how to develop the Benefits Realisation Capability of an organisation. In particular it draws on two longitudinal studies exploring the adoption of benefits-driven approaches. An important lesson is that BM needs to reflect a new mindset and is not simply another technique to add to our project management toolbox. Without a shift in mindset, BM becomes another technical, rational, approach that brings a new bureaucracy to the management of Information Technology (IT) investments when the need is speed to benefit. BM is primarily about people – about vision, engagement and motivation. It can contribute to the craft of leading change and help build an organisational change capability

Progression and non-completion in undergraduate students: Moving from academic disengagement to academic engagement

Lack of awareness and proficiency in essential skills contributing to learning, especially metacognitive skills (e.g., evaluation, monitoring, reflection), can have potentially adverse effects on academic engagement. The research presented here constitutes the second phase in a longitudinal research project undertaken at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUI Maynooth) which aims to develop effective supports specifically tailored to meet the needs of students at-risk of non-progression due to academic disengagement. Prevalent themes to emerge from the interviews conducted as part of the first phase of this research included the high proportion of first year students with concerns relating to an inability to cope with academic requirements and changes in the learning environment (e.g., the expectation of self-regulated learning). Building on these initial findings, a training programme referred to as the Narrative Mediation Path, is currently being tested and evaluated with 18 first and second year undergraduate students. These were students who actively sought advice to help them overcome and address academic difficulties. Across a series of group training meetings, students practise key metacognitive skills related to learning, with a particular emphasis on the development of reflective thinking skills. In the current paper we detail the training methodology employed with the first cohort of participating students. Additionally, to extend our knowledge of the learning strategies typically employed by the participants, we have obtained data on the students’ use of cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies