A Fuzzy TOPSIS based Approach for ITSM Software Selection

Abstract

Nowadays a growing interest in Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) proves the trends and needs of their implementation in organizations. In order to implement an ITSM project successfully in an organization, it is essential to select a suitable ITSM software. Evaluation and selection of the ITSM software packages is complicated and time consuming decision making process. This paper presents an approach for dealing with such a problem. This approach introduces functional, non-functional and fuzzy evaluation method for ITSM software selection. The presented ITIL based approach breaks down ITSM software selection criteria into two broad categories namely functional (service strategy, service design, service transition, service operation, continual service improvement according to ITIL V3) and non-functional requirements (quality, technical, vendor, implementation) including totally 46 selection criteria. A facile Fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (FTOPSIS) was customized for ITSM software selection based on identified criteria. The proposed approach is applied to a local Iranian company in the field of IT services in order to select and acquire an ITSM software and the provided numerical example illustrates the applicability of the approach for ITSM software selection. The approach can help practitioners assess ITSM software more properly and have a better software acquisition decision with growth in customer satisfaction and service time reduction.