IT Service Management for Small and Medium- Sized Enterprises: A Domain Specific Approach

Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are socially and economically important, since they represent 99 % of all enterprises in the European Union (EU). They provide around 65 million jobs and contribute to entrepreneurship and innovation. Being an essential ingredient of presentday business, information technology (IT) on one hand works as an enabler for company’s success but on the other, it is a source of many threats. This implies the need for an effective and efficient management of IT function within the organization. Over the past years, big corporations together with academia have elaborated a set of good practices, known in the literature as ‘IT services methodology (ITSM) or ITSM frameworks. Due to their scope and complexity, these frameworks are not sufficiently tailored for SMEs needs. Effective and efficient management of IT function within SMEs requires the elaboration of more appropriate ITSM framework. The research project presented in this paper is aimed at closing this gap and fostering the utilization of IT Service Management in SMEs by means of a customized ITSM method. The research methodology is based on the three fundamental pillars: quantitative analysis, qualitative research and triangulation. Data gathered from160 surveys and 24 case studies conducted in SMEs across Central Europe have been analyzed in order to identify relevant barriers and requirements for ITSM application in the domain of SME. Based on these findings, a simplified ITSM method was developed and a BPM tool was also customized to support an effective and efficient use of the method.