IT Service Management Processes Research Articles

A Comprehensive Survey on ServiceNow for IT Service Management

This paper presents a comprehensive survey on the utilization of ServiceNow in IT Service Management (ITSM), fo- cusing on its adoption, benefits, challenges, and future directions. The study employs a systematic literature review and industry reports to analyze the impact of ServiceNow on ITSM practices across various sectors. Key findings reveal that ServiceNow sig- nificantly enhances ITSM processes through automation, stream- lining workflows, and improving service delivery. The survey also identifies common challenges in implementing ServiceNow, such as resistance to change and integration difficulties with legacy systems, and proposes strategies for overcoming these obstacles. Furthermore, the paper explores emerging trends in ITSM, including the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), and discusses how ServiceNow is positioned to leverage these technologies for future growth. The study concludes by emphasizing the critical role of ServiceNow in facilitating digital transformation and enhancing organizational efficiency in ITSM. Keywords —ITSM, ServiceNow, ITIL, Cloud Computing, Dig- ital Transformation, IT Operations Management.

Developing an Improved ITSM Framework for Ethio Telecom

Abstract—Telecom service providers are engaged exhaustively in providing various kinds of IT services for their customers. These IT services should be customer-oriented, and quality-based to be competitive in the market. To this end, organizations should manage their IT services effectively and efficiently by introducing various Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) mechanisms. However, improving or developing optimal ITSM mechanisms is a subject of great concern that needs further investigation academically. Hence, developing an improved and customized ITSM framework to manage the various IT services delivered by the IT service provider is important.To the best of the researcher’s knowledge, little or no research has been conducted to design and develop ITSM frameworks for the telecom sector in Ethiopia. Previous studies focused on the implementation, adoption, tailoring, and system or model development for selected ITSM processes within the Ethiopian context. Ethio telecom (ET), the sole telecom service provider of Ethiopia, has a gap in the existing ITSM practices. Hence, this research study intends to investigate the current ITSM practice of Ethio telecom and propose an ITSM framework based on ITIL best practices that ensures the quality of IT services and improve customer satisfaction. Design science research methodology was employed to design and develop the ITSM framework. Furthermore, a qualitative research approach was followed to gather and analyze the primary data. Semi-structured interviews, observation, and document analysis were employed to collect different kinds of data. Also, thematic analysis was used to analyze the data that was collected from the respondents. A triangulation technique was applied to keep the validity and reliability of the research study. The findings of the research revealed that the existing ITSM practice did not address the needs of the organization. Finally, a new ITSL framework was proposed by incorporating the needs of the organization and demonstrated to selected respondents after passing through rigorous design, development, and evaluation stages. The proposed framework was evaluated by various IT staff through validated evaluation models. Consequently, the evaluation result disclosed that the proposed framework can help to improve the current ITSM practice of the company by maximizing the quality of IT services and customer satisfaction.

Developing an Improved ITSM Framework for Ethio Telecom

Telecom service providers are engaged exhaustively in providing various kinds of IT services for their customers. These IT services should be customer-oriented, and quality-based to be competitive in the market. To this end, organizations should manage their IT services effectively and efficiently by introducing various Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) mechanisms. However, improving or developing optimal ITSM mechanisms is a subject of great concern that needs further investigation academically.
 To the best of the researcher’s knowledge, little or no research has been conducted to design and develop ITSM frameworks for the telecom sector in Ethiopia. Previous studies focused on the implementation, adoption, tailoring, and system or model development for selected ITSM processes within the Ethiopian context. Ethio telecom (ET), the sole telecom service provider of Ethiopia, has a gap in the existing ITSM practices. Hence, this research study intends to investigate the current ITSM practice of Ethio telecom and propose an ITSM framework based on ITIL best practices that ensures the quality of IT services and improve customer satisfaction.

Defining the relationship between IT Service management and knowledge management: towards improved performance

ABSTRACT Regarding the continuous changes in Information Technologies and the necessity for managing them, IT service management (ITSM) should be enriched with knowledge management (KM) to align with the requirements of the digital era. The aim of this research is to identify the relationship between ITSM and KM in order to set up a foundation for designing an integrated ITSM–KM model. Unlike the previous endeavours that only considered the general relationship between ITSM and KM, we focus on the relationship between processes and activities of them in detail. We applied fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) to identify the relationships in both process and activity levels. Also, we specified the key performance indicators of ITSM processes which will be improved in response to this integration using FAHP technique. The results of this research indicate that the efficiency and effectiveness of ITSM processes will increase when they are integrated with KM activities.

Gamification in IT Service Management: A Systematic Mapping Study

Despite the benefits of adopting IT Service Management (ITSM) reference models, such initiatives do not always produce the expected results. The research literature in this area concludes that motivation, engagement, skills, experience, performance and willingness to change of the personnel involved are among the critical factors for an effective ITSM implementation. Gamification has the capability to improve people’s motivation and engagement and to drive people’s behavior to meet the objectives set. Besides, gamification is widely used in learning systems for increasing students’ skills and competences. In the last years, many researchers have added gamification to their process improvement initiatives to increase the motivation and engagement of process participants and to address their behavior throughout the process. Thus, we consider that adopting gamification in ITSM processes can be an interesting area of study. In this paper, we conducted a systematic mapping study to analyze the actual state of research in the field of ITSM gamification and identify the key challenges that justify future research. The results of our study highlight the positive impact of adopting gamification in ITSM processes and that ITSM gamification is a novel an attractive research area with many action possibilities.

An approach to simultaneously assess operational risk and maturity levels in information technology management

The development of information technology (IT) has had a considerable effect on organizational management and success. Due to the widespread use of IT, the risk of error increases, which can significantly affect organizations. In order to reduce the impact of these errors, organizational maturity and risk should be calculated. The aim of this paper is to investigate the operational risk and maturity level of IT in an anonymized financial institution, based on the American Productivity and Quality Center benchmark and control objectives for information and related technologies. To this end, the operational risk and maturity levels of 34 IT service management processes were investigated by collecting required data from electronic forms as well as through expert opinions. Results were obtained at three levels: the assessment of the operational risk and maturity level (level one), the domains (level two) and the processes (level three) of the IT organization. The findings showed that the organization had a maturity level of 1.11 (indicating ad hoc and disorganized processes) and therefore there was a 47.9% chance of operational risk to IT management goals. The results can help managers allocate limited resources to activities, optimize the use of capital, reduce administrative costs and use IT effectively for growth and development.

Towards the Control and Prevention of Waste in IT Service Operation Using Fuzzy Logic: Focus in Incident Management Process

All production lines are continuously confronted with the phenomenon of waste, especially in IT operations. A waste is assessed in terms of the required resources and the cost employed to solve the problem behind it. Eliminating the waste in daily operations is essential to improve IT service management. This article aims to provide an estimation of the level of potential waste, where waste generation trends are provoked by the activities of IT service management processes. We are going to focus particularly on the possibility of applying a Lean improvement process to IT services processes when using fuzzy logic method. We specifically demonstrate our contribution through the application of fuzzy analysis to the incident management process. This approach also aims at developing a theoretical and pragmatic model and promoting the knowledge of IT experts. In order to make our framework as generic as possible, concepts of IT operations, including the incident management, are inspired by the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), the most prominent framework for IT service governance according to the current literature.

Development and evaluation of a software-mediated process assessment method for IT service management

IT service improvements can add immense value to organisations. To improve IT service management (ITSM) processes, a software-mediated process assessment method is proposed with four phases: process identification, process assessment, process capability measurement and process improvement. The international standard for process assessment was applied to measure process capability. This method was trialled at two Australian organisations and positively evaluated in a US foreign exchange trading business. Our empirical evidence challenges the underlying assumption that higher levels of process capability depend on the achievement of lower level process attributes. We conclude that this method can be applied to transparently self-assess processes.

Benefits and relevance of International Standards in a design science research project for process assessments

One critical challenge in IT Service Management (ITSM) process assessment is the issue of transparency in the way ITSM processes are assessed. A Design Science Research (DSR) project was executed to design, develop and evaluate an artefact in order to conduct software-mediated process assessments in ITSM. International Standards were used to validate the design, development and evaluation of the research artefact in order to demonstrate that the artefact is relevant to practice. Studies relating to the use of International Standards to validate DSR artefacts are scant regardless of broader adoption of the DSR studies and acceptance of the International Standards in practice. DSR studies in particular are required to maintain a balance between research rigor and relevance by reporting artefacts that solve a class of problems based on scientific justification and practical evidence. International Standards provide bodies of knowledge that ensure products, services and processes are of acceptable quality and relevant to practice. Our DSR project confirmed that the external validity of an artefact can be improved with the use of International Standards. Using three International Standards, process assessment ISO/IEC 15504-330xx series, IT Service Management ISO/IEC 20000 series, and System and Software Quality Models from ISO/IEC 25010, this manuscript presents an account of a DSR project with three evaluation sites where the artefact was tested in real organizational contexts. The project demonstrated the significant role of International Standards to confirm research relevance during artefact design, development and evaluation.

Information Technology Service Management Processes for Small and Medium Enterprises A Proposal for an Implementation Sequence

Information Technology Service Management Processes for Small and Medium Enterprises A Proposal for an Implementation Sequence

Innovation in Information Technology Services: Framework to Improve the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Information Technology Service Management Processes, Projects and Decision Support Management

Innovation in Information Technology Services: Framework to Improve the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Information Technology Service Management Processes, Projects and Decision Support Management

A Measurement Model to Link Process Operational Measures to Risks Associated with Attainment of Business Critical Success Factors

There is currently no evidence of a measurement model to associate IT Service Management (ITSM) maturity with financial profitability which prompts the research question: how can a model and method be developed to link ITSM process capability and process performance with financial performance? The purpose of this study was to develop and apply a measurement model and present a pragmatic and cost effective method to link ITSM process capability and financial performance by operationalizing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to support Critical Success Factors (CSFs) and associating CSFs with business risks to determine CSF risk levels. This paper presents a conceptual measurement model derived from the literature, a description of the mixed method approach to collect data from the organization, the application of the model to the Incident Management process at Company X and a discussion of lessons for practice, theoretical contributions, limitations and an agenda for further research. The study found that the measurement model and method developed can be used as a starting point for self-improvement for businesses, identifying gaps in processes, benchmarking within an organization as well as guiding an organization’s improvement efforts. The measurement model can be used to conduct What-If analyses to model the impacts of future business decisions on KPIs and CSFs. The measurement model presented in this study can be quickly implemented, adapted and evolved to meet the organization’s needs. This study employs the resource-based view of the organization to exhibit a firm’s IT capability characteristics of, and its relationship to, organizational performance. The research offers an example from which other organizations can learn to measure their financial return on investment in ITSM improvement.

Innovative decision support for 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, there are few tools available to provide decision support to IT Service Managers who wish to improve service management processes. It is essential to assess the current capability of processes before process improvements are planned. Our research addressed the problems of the lack of transparency and the need for efficiency in ITSM process assessment. Using the Design Science Research methodology, we developed an innovative Software-mediated Process Assessment (SMPA) approach that automates assessment of ITSM processes and supports the decision-making of IT Service Managers. The SMPA approach includes process selection, an online survey to collect assessment data, measurement of process capability and specific recommendations for managers to commence process improvement. 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. In the future, data analytics performed on the assessment data can help IT managers to analyse and visualise the ‘big data’ of process knowledge.

Information technology service management processes maturity in the Brazilian Federal direct administration

This work aims at the scrutiny of the current situation of the Information Technology Service Management practices within the Brazilian Federal Direct Administration, from the perceptions of the Information Technology Managers of twelve Ministries. The methodology used followed the Process Maturity Framework as a guideline, which is a maturity model whose patterns are described in ITIL v3. The work consists of interviews with questions related to the five maturity levels, as follows: initial, repetitive, defined, managed and optimized. Information on the five basic Information Technology Service Management processes was collected. Besides the classification of the maturity levels of the processes, the interviews allowed us to gather information about the possible causes that hinder the improvement of the maturity of the processes. The outcomes of the survey on the researched ministries showed low maturity level in all the assessed service management processes. The Incident Management Process presented the highest level of maturity, while Problem Management proved to be the most flawed one, in relation to maturity. The other assessed processes, like Change Management, Service Assets and Configuration Management and Release and Deployment Management presented some sort of homogeneity among the ministries. As for the probable causes that hinder the improvement of the maturity level of the Information Technology Service Management processes, pointed by the managers, the following one stand out: the reduced staff, the lack of resources, the gap between the organizational targets and their processes aims, and the lack of skilled labor.

Examining the Relationship between the Benefits of using ITIL in E-Banking and its Role in Creating Value for Customers

Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of best guidelines for the definition, design and implementation of IT service management processes and is currently the most widely accepted standard in IT service management. In this paper, it is tried to examine the impact of ITIL based E-banking and the creation of customer value. For this research, 100 employees and managers of Iranian state banks that have used the standard ITIL were selected as sample. The regression and Spss software is used to investigate the test hypothesis. The results show that the use of regression analysis to analyze the relationships between independent variables and the dependent variable is possible in E-bookings. It is demonstrated that there was a significant relationship between the benefits of implementing ITIL and ease of use, being beneficial and reducing the costs; however there was no relationship between the advantages of implementing ITIL and automating the processes. Further the results indicate that there is a significant relationship between the E-banking and the creation of customer value. Finally, the effectiveness of the using ITIL in E-banking and improving costumer’s satisfaction are presented.

Smart Tools for it Service Management: A Review of Two Decision Support System Projects

This paper reports on two recent research projects that addressed practical management problems in the discipline of IT service management (ITSM). We highlight the growing importance of software-mediated tools to improve ITSM processes and review two recent projects that designed decision support tools for ITSM. From the use of prior literature, rigorous methods and empirical evidence, contributions are made to Information Systems theory and ITSM practice. Although different theories and methods guide the two research projects, a common theme of engaged management scholarship is demonstrated through the successful application of industry relevance in managing the multi-disciplinary academic research projects. Outcomes from the projects of this nature demonstrate exemplary cases of success stories where the primary research objective is to develop innovative solutions that work in practice and are grounded in academic rigour.

An Extensive Review of IT Service Design in Seven International ITSM Processes Frameworks

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.

The Benefit and Cost Factors of CMDB Implementations: An Investigation of three Organizations in Taiwan

With the rapid rise of e-commerce, the implementation of IT service management (ITSM) has become one of the most critical issues facing modern enterprises. Configuration management database (CMDB) is the core of whole ITSM system by providing information to support all ITSM processes. Therefore, sound ITSM depends on a well-built CMDB. But, in practice, many CMDB projects have suffered from poor planning, deficient operation, inadequate maintenance, which seriously hinder the effectiveness of ITSM. Understanding the benefits and cost factors of CMDB can help in not only reaching cost justifications but can also provide helpful guidance for CMDB design. However, there is no research, which systematically examines these factors. This paper presents the results of a comprehensive literature review of cost and benefit factors for implementing CMDBs. Moreover, case studies on three organizations were performed to find how enterprises realize these factors. The outcome of this study is expected to provide a good reference for enterprises to plan a CMDB. Finally, the implications based on the findings are given for the management of CMDB implementation.

An Extensive Review of IT Service Design in Seven International ITSM Processes Frameworks

An IT service design process is considered to be a fundamental piece of the seven key international IT Service Management (ITSM) processes frameworks (ITIL v2, ITIL v3 (and ITIL v2011), ISO 20000-4, CobIT 4.0, CMMI-SVC, MOF 4.0, and ITUP). Nevertheless the availability of IT service design processes, few –if any- descriptive-comparative studies among them have been reported. Thus, in this paper (Part I), we address this knowledge gap. An extensive descriptive-comparative review of seven IT service design processes in aforementioned frameworks is reported. Fundamental concepts (viz., design as noun, design as verb, service, service system, IT service, IT service system, and IT service architecture design) are analyzed by using a Systems Approach. Our findings indicate that the frameworks ITIL v2, ISO/IEC 20000 and Cobit 4.0 are using weak systemic concepts, while the frameworks ITIL v3, CMMI-SVC, ITUP and MOF 4.0 are more foundationally congruent with the new service systems view. Implications for ITSM theory and practice are discussed.

The role of decision-making support systems in IT service management processes

Decision Making Support Systems (DMSS) are computer-based systems specialized to support some, several, or all phases of a decision-making process. DMSS can be deployed using traditional and intelligent computing mechanisms. In turn, Information Tech