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. Introduction An increasing number of organisations are turning to the IT service management (ITSM) model to adopt a more customer-focused and service-oriented approach in response to external factors such as regulation, competition, customer requirements, market pressures and economics. ITSM is a process-focused discipline for managing IT as services that deliver value to customers. The model, in essence, de-emphasizes the management of technology and IT systems and instead focuses on the provision of a collection of end-to-end IT services to support the business of the organisation (Cater-Steel et al. 2013). Not unexpectedly, the increasing popularity of ITSM is accompanied by a proliferation of software tools to support processes such as incident management and configuration management. The aim of this paper is to highlight the growing importance of software-mediated tools to improve ITSM decision making and processes. We review two recent industry-based projects that designed decision support tools for ITSM. The project teams included doctoral candidates who have practitioner's knowledge in ITSM and are trained in research methods to work in the projects. The two research projects aim to address the problem of the lack of practical relevance in the research outcome evident in the Information Systems discipline despite being an industry-driven field (Rosemann & Vessey 2008). We demonstrate these two projects as exemplary cases of engaged management scholarship where challenging industry problems were resolved using academic research methods in order to provide concrete solutions, and at the same time contribute to the body of knowledge in the literature. The paper is structured as follows. Recent research on ITSM and the development of supportive software tools is reviewed. Each of the selected projects is then described in detail. The discussion compares and contrasts the projects. Finally, the conclusion provides a summary, discusses contributions and limitations, and suggests future research directions. Literature Review To provide guidance for implementing the ITSM model many organisations use the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL®) framework. ITIL was initiated by the UK Office of Government Commerce in the late 1980s. Since then ITIL has undergone several revisions and has now become a primary source of ITSM best practice. Under the influence of the internationally active IT Service Management Forum (itSMF) the framework has gained worldwide acceptance among private as well as public sector organisations (Barafort, Di Renzo & Merlan 2002; Clacy & Jennings 2007; Galup et al. 2009; Hochstein, Zarnekow & Brenner 2005). Research carried out in Australia, Europe, US and South Africa has confirmed that organisations have benefited from adopting the framework (Cater-Steel & McBride 2007; Hochstein, Tamm & Brenner 2005; Potgieter, Botha & Lew 2005; Tan, Cater-Steel & Toleman 2009). The ITIL phenomenon led to the creation of the BS 15000 standard which later evolved into the international ISO/IEC 20000 standard for IT service management (ISO/IEC 2011). Since its publication, ISO/IEC 20000 has provided organisations with a set of requirements for the audit and third party certification of the quality of their ITSM processes. The incident management process is one of the most widely adopted, and often one of the first ITIL processes implemented by organisations (Marrone et al. 2014). Although ITILsupported tools are available to provide basic functions to log and track incidents, it is not surprising that researchers have sought to develop more sophisticated tools to specifically support this process. For example, Cusick and Ma (2010) defined an approach to improve responses during an incident, aiming to improve and refine the treatment of the incident through the use of appropriate tools. The approach was tested in a division (Corporate Legal Services) of an international firm Wolters Kluwer (WK). The researchers concluded that the approach was totally adherent to ITIL, proved to be very efficient, and realized the need to apply the approach to other methods and practices. Jäntti (2009) analysed the system requirements for incident management in accordance with ITIL processes. The requirements included requisition; status checking of the request; knowledge base, single contact point; and keeping records within the time limits defined in the SLA (Service Level Agreements). Tehrani and Mohamed (2011) considered a knowledge management approach was important for Service Desk tools and developed an ITIL-based tool to assist incident management. They applied the Case Based Reasoning technique in the ITIL-based tool. Most organisations implementing ITSM principles rely on a configuration management database (CMDB). As well as storing up-to-date details of current software, hardware and communication items, a CMDB records the relationships between configuration items. This information is crucial to plan for changes to hardware, software and networks, to restore service after an incident, and to solve problems. CMDBs provide support at the operational level of ITSM. Recently, the potential contribution of decision support systems has become widely considered to enhance the decision making processes of managers and operational-level staff. The decision making process requires both knowledge and information. The knowledge management process involves gathering, analysing, storing, and sharing knowledge and information within the organisation (Phifer 2011). Information provides clues to resolve an uncertainty and complexity of an issue, while the knowledge helps in understanding the ambiguity around the issues. A decision support system aids in decision making under the conditions of uncertainty and complexity (Zack 2004). Research method The methodology used to compile this research paper was based on narrative inquiry with reflective processes as an effective means to document the experiences of the leaders of the two research projects. The narrative inquiry approach entails the documentation and analysis of accounts of a specific domain of discourse, allowing the research participant to tell his or her own story (Hunter 2004). Narrative inquiry has been used previously in Information Systems research, for example by Hunter and Tan (2001) to identify the major career path impacts of IS professionals, and by Cater-Steel, Zarnekow and Wulf (2011) to compare different approaches to ITSM education. As academics, we are encouraged to use reflective practice to prompt considered actions to enhance our teaching and research (Fry, Ketteridge & Marshall 2009). This research was motivated by our desire to improve future ITSM industry-research projects. After agreeing on the format of the narratives based on summaries of published research articles, each author individually prepared their account of the ITSM project they led. We then reviewed the narratives and discussed and refined them to compare and contrast the approaches and outcomes. Each of the authors then had a subsequent opportunity to review and comment on the narratives. Through this process we were able to gain deeper understanding of the relative benefits and drawbacks to the approaches that were undertaken. This paper reviews two recent projects that focus on the design of decision support tools for specific aspects of ITSM. For each project, the background for the project is provided, including a review of relevant literature. This is followed by the research questions, research approach and methodology. The design, development, testing and evaluation of each tool is then described. Case A – Decision Support Recommendation System (DSRS) for IT Service Operation IT Service Operation ITIL provides a framework for IT service operations and infrastructure while CMMI (capability maturity model integration) provides a set of improvement goals and a point of reference for appraising current processes. Both CMMI and ITIL improve IT service processes as they could be used together to improve IT service quality and decrease the cost of service operation. IT supports process reengineering as an ongoing process, which requires a continuous monitoring of the KPIs at an operational and tactical level. A dashboard with targets signals as green light, yellow light, and red light can be established for each KPI. Recent advancements in telecommunications and computer networking technologies are able to integrate any distant and disparate systems together, making it possible to control a remote system from anywhere, based on decisions made in effective management of IT service support process (Talla & Valverde 2013). The objective of this research case is to propose a decision support recommendation system (DSRS) tool for effective management of all key performance indicators (KPIs) of IT service support processes and an on-going reengineering of IT service support processes for improved quality of support, at a reduced cost (Valverde, Saade & Talla 2014). Case Study Research Method A case study methodology was chosen to emphasize and explore factors identified by the ITIL framework (Benbasat, Goldstein & Mead 1987).The case study approach subsequently allowed us to identify directions for further investigation. This approach is commonly used as a qualitative method for research in the information systems field. The research in Benbasat, Goldstein and Mead (1987) suggested the following three reasons that the case study approach is suitable for information systems: the researcher can study the information system in its natural setting; the researcher can answer "how" and "why" questions; and the case study approach is suitable for studies in which little formal research has been conducted previously. The case study selected was that of an IT services company located in Liverpool, UK. The selected company provides several types of support services to many organizations in the UK. For the research project, we selected a company that specializes in dental care. The case entails ten dental clinics in different locations of Liverpool. All these clinics are connected via a high-speed Wide Area Network (WAN). The data is centralized into the IBM RS6000 server located in the main dental center. Workstations are located in the user office and they are connected through the same network as well. The case is explained by elaborating on the dental clinic organisational structure, main business services and client base. Since data gathering is an important part in case study research, we used the work of Stake (1995) and Yin (1994) who identified seven sources of empirical evidence for case studies, as listed in Table 1.