CIS5308 Management of Information Technology Services

Introduction

ITSM of Information Technology Service Management implies a set of process implemented to manage the IT services in an organisation. It details and implements the best practices of ITIL standards in order to satisfy the business requirements of an organisation by managing the IT infrastructure (Mora et al., 2014, p.83). ITIL is a set of books detailing the process oriented best practices for managing IT services. ITSM methods involve ways to optimize and enable assessment, planning and implementation of ITIL practices. It is difficult to identify the point from which ITSM originated however one origin can be identified as possible convergence point and it has been found in the system management services which were historically accomplished in large scale mainframe systems. Over the years it has undergone constant refinement and attained high maturity and has shaped the face of today’s ITSM (Mora et al., 2015, p.69). Functions managed by ITSM are disaster recovery, configuration management, performance management, capacity planning, availability management and problem and change management. ITSM and ITIL complements each other in the process of managing IT best practices in a way that if ITIL documents the best practices and approached, ITSM implements them to achieve the end goal. ITSM primarily focus on better management of technology used in business organisations however it mostly emphasises on the importance of arranging different IT services according to the business needs (Herath, Prabhashini and Katepearachchi, 2016, p.1).

The purpose of this report is to address the current standing of ITSM at NNIT by assuming the role of ITSM consultants. In the current project the learner have addressed the importance of ITSM at NNIT, detailed the ITIL processes, described the service strategies and proposed service portfolio tools. Conclusion addressing the key strengths and weakness of ITSM at NNIT and suggesting recommendations have been drawn in a methodical manner.

Importance of ITSM at NNIT

Implementing ITSM has many advantages and is of immense value. Majority of the business organisations especially IT from medium to large IT organisations, have ITSM frameworks at place that implements ITIL (Hegde et al., 2014, p.1). When such frameworks are properly implemented these are known to save money, optimise functions, introduce structures and enhance efficiencies. These frameworks define roles and responsibilities, introduce high levels of accountability and facilitate metrics for continuous improvement (Bhagwatwar, Bala and Ramesh, 2014, p.1). If these frameworks are not in place managing IT services could result in chaos than order. Following are the key importance of ITSM at NNIT.

1.ITSM thrives to meet business objectives. The primary goal of ITSM at any IT organisation is to manage IT services by introducing frameworks in order to meet the business objectives (Butt, Mazlina and Yaqoob, 2015, p.1). Chief information officers (CIOs) like to be able to participate in board meeting where they can emphasise on the need of proper frameworks for managing IT infrastructure for augmenting the excellence of business organisations. For that purpose CIOs acknowledge the need of ITSM as a core component of operations. ITSM generates consistency in customer service and creates efficiency in the product selling process thereby generating revenues (Shahsavarani and Ji, 2014, p.73).

2.ITSM is more than just flowcharts defining a process. Unless the focus is in the specific outcomes, the road towards the goal can boggle even the sharpest of the IT minds (Wijesinghe, Scheepers and Mcloughlin, 2016). Therefore identifying the correct service management is very important as in the end it is the IT systems that generates the major revenues hence when the IT management is done in a proper manner the business will only go upwards and keeps on earning more revenue (Shrestha et al., p.308).

3.The famous mathematician Gorge Box once quoted that all models are wrong however some models are useful. ITSM is more than standards of best practices for frameworks rather they are more outcome oriented hence more open to modifications when required. Sometimes even the normal and standard processes fail to deliver proper output. Proper ITSM implements the concept of backup plan hence even if one process fails another process is at place to deliver the required output (Forsgren and Humble, 2015).

4.ITIL focuses on the business benefits first. Implementing ITIL in ITSM costs a huge amount however when the benefits are considered the cost is worth spending. Inefficient IT process that is supposed to streamline the business process can lead to huge losses (Treeratanaporn, 2015, p.739). One major aspect of ITSM is that it works tireless to improve service delivery which is one of the major business function, unless the finished product does not reach the market in time, production companies bare huge loses for each delayed day. Sometimes these delays are a result of inefficient IT management where information gets lost in the process (Treeratanaporn, 2015, p.740). ITSM ensures that the process is efficient and time-bound thereby ensuring that the production company does not bare loss caused due to delayed service delivery (Treeratanaporn, 2015, p.741).

5.ITSM efficiently complements Boardroom objectives. Governance models in companies frequently miss risk management protocols. Managing risks after the problem occurs require analysing possible risks beforehand and creating a plan or protocol in place. ITSM ensures that such actions are taken so that when there is a need effective risk management protocols are at place for ensuring that organisations suffer minimal loses (Rouhani, and Rouhani, 2017, p.728).

6.ITSM improves the business communication process. Lack of effective communication or having no communication between different business processes often leads to failure resulting in huge loss. Previously the problems that existed in the business process remained undisclosed thereby solutions to such problems left unexplored (Rouhani, and Rouhani, 2017, p.729). ITSM helps in identifying the hidden issues in the business communication process thereby helping in protocols to resolve the issues. The ultimate result of this is the smooth communication between departments ensuring effective and well-connected business processes (Rouhani, and Rouhani, 2017, p.730).

7.An effective ITSM program delivers the basics for participating in higher level business discussions. For example when people of the organisation is trying to have a conversation regarding something important and the mail server is fluctuating thereby frequently cutting down the connection, the credibility of the conversation is lost soon. Therefore effective ITSM will ensure that such problems do not arise and even if it arises they are resolved as quickly as possible (Rouhani, and Rouhani, 2017, p.731).

8.Effective ITSM avoids fundamentalism. ITSM implements proper incidence management in place ensuring that people are well aware of their roles and responsibilities (Rouhani, and Rouhani, 2017, p.732).

ITIL processes

ITIL are documents that describes the procedures, checklists and tasks which may or may not be organisation specific, however used by organisations as an implementation of ITSM. The ITIL process that are used in the NNIT are categorised as ITIL life cycle below.

Stage	Process	Sub-process
Service Strategy	Strategy Management for IT Services	Strategic Service Assessment Service Strategy Definition Service Strategy Execution
	Financial management of IT services	Financial Management Support Financial Planning Financial Analysis and Reporting Service Invoicing
	Service Portfolio Management	Define and Analyse new or changed Services Approve new or changed Services Service Portfolio Review
	Business relationship management	Maintain Customer Relationships Identify Service Requirements Sign up Customers to Standard Services Customer Satisfaction Survey Complaints Management
	Demand Management
Service Design	Design Coordination	Design Coordination Support Service Design Planning Service Design Coordination and Monitoring Technical and Organizational Service Design Service Design Review and RFC Submission
	Service Level Management	Maintenance of the SLM Framework Identification of Service Requirements Agreements Sign-Off and Service Activation Service Level Monitoring and Reporting
	Capacity management	Business Capacity Management Service Capacity Management Component Capacity Management Capacity Management Reporting
	IT service continuity management	ITSCM Support Design Services for Continuity ITSCM Training and Testing ITSCM Review
	Risk Management	Risk Management Support Business Impact and Risk Analysis Assessment of Required Risk Mitigation Risk Monitoring
	Availability management	Design Services for Availability Availability Testing Availability Monitoring and Reporting
	Information security management	Design of Security Controls Security Testing Management of Security Incidents Security Review
	Supplier Management	Providing the Supplier Management Framework Evaluation of new Suppliers and Contracts Establishing new Suppliers and Contracts Processing of Standard Orders Supplier and Contract Review Contract Renewal or Termination
	Compliance management	Compliance Register Compliance Review Enterprise Policies and Regulations
	Service catalogue management
Service Transition	Change Management	Change Management Support Assessment of Change Proposals RFC Logging and Review Assessment and Implementation of Emergency Changes Change Assessment by the Change Manager Change Assessment by the CAB Change Scheduling and Build Authorization Change Deployment Authorization Minor Change Deployment Post Implementation Review and Change Closure
	Project Management (Transition Planning and Support)	Project Initiation Project Planning and Coordination Project Control Project Reporting and Communication
	Change Evaluation	Change Evaluation prior to Planning Change Evaluation prior to Build Change Evaluation prior to Deployment Change Evaluation after Deployment
	Release and Deployment Management	Release Management Support Release Planning Release Build Release Deployment Early Life Support Release Closure
	Service Asset and Configuration Management	Configuration Identification Configuration Control Configuration Verification and Audit
	Service Validation and Testing	Test Model Definition Release Component Acquisition Release Test Service Acceptance Testing
	Knowledge Management
	Application Development
Service Operation	Incident Management	Incident Management Support Incident Logging and Categorization Immediate Incident Resolution by 1st Level Support Incident Resolution by 2nd Level Support Handling of Major Incidents Incident Monitoring and Escalation Incident Closure and Evaluation Pro-Active User Information Incident Management Reporting
	Event Management	Maintenance of Event Monitoring Mechanisms and Rules Event Filtering and 1st Level Correlation 2nd Level Correlation and Response Selection Event Review and Closure
	Access Management	Maintenance of Catalogue of User Roles and Access Profiles Processing of User Access Requests
	Problem Management	Proactive Problem Identification Problem Categorization and Prioritization Problem Diagnosis and Resolution Problem and Error Control Problem Closure and Evaluation Major Problem Review Problem Management Reporting
	Request Fulfilment	Request Fulfilment Support Request Logging and Categorization Request Model Execution Request Monitoring and Escalation Request Closure and Evaluation
	IT Operations Control
	Application Management
	Facilities Management
	Technical Management
Continual Service Improvement	Process Evaluation	Process Management Support Process Benchmarking Process Maturity Assessment Process Audit Process Control and Review
	Service Review
	Definition of CSI Initiatives
	Monitoring of CSI Initiatives

Among all the above mentioned processes and sub-process few processes could be categorised as highest priority processes required to be implemented or improved at NNIT.

1.Strategy management for IT services require further improvement to provide support and implementation of all other service management. The sub-processes under the processes require to be thoroughly analysed and improved protocol should be at place to support further management processes.

2.Business relationship process management should be introduced and implemented. On introduction of this management process and through implementation, this process will ensure that right service requirements by customers are properly identified, customers are signed up properly to standard services, customer relationships are well maintained and management along with efficient management complaint management. This will ensure identification of the problem areas and creating protocols for managing such areas.

3.IT service continuity management requires further improvement. It will ensure improvement of ITSCM Support, improvement in design services for continuity, improvement of ITSCM Training, Testing and Review.

4.A supplier management needs to be introduced. This will provide a supplier management framework, evaluate possible new suppliers, help establish new suppliers and review and renew contracts and will process standard orders in a very efficient manner.

5.Change management must be introduced to ensure proper assessment of change proposals are done, RFC logging and reviews are done correctly, identification, assessment and implementation of immediate changes are done with efficiency. With introduction of change management, change evaluation process must be introduced as well for ensuring that all changes are evaluated prior to project planning, project building, project deployment and post deployment.

6.Problem management process is required to be improved which will ensure proactive problem identification, problem categorization and prioritization, problem diagnosis and resolution, problem and error control, problem closure and evaluation, major problem review and problem management reporting.

7.Incident management is required to be introduced in the NNIT. The sub-processes I this process will include incident management support, incident logging and categorization, immediate incident resolution by 1st level support, incident resolution by 2nd level support, handling of major incidents, incident monitoring and escalation, incident closure and evaluation, pro-active user information and incident management reporting. Through introduction of this process, elements of the sub-processes can be properly executed and implemented for achiever desired outcomes.

Service Strategy

Service strategy primarily concerns with the development and implementation of service concepts while preparing for the selection of services that are to be provided. Service strategy process involves the concept of service portfolio management process, demand management process, finance management process, and strategy design. Each of the mentioned elements has sub sets of elements. Under service portfolio management there are three major elements namely service pipeline management, service catalogue management and retired services management (Delker, 2014). Some difference between service catalogue and service portfolio exists. These are enlisted below.

Difference between Service catalogue and Service portfolio

Service Catalogue Management	Service Portfolio Management
Service catalogue management is the subset of service portfolio management.	Service portfolio is the entire set of services under management underservice provider.
Service catalogue management is concerned with the services presently available and accessible to customers and users.	The Service Portfolio Management process is concerned with management of services that concern information in the Service Portfolio.
It is often the only visible portion available to customers.	Service Portfolio contains three major parts such as service pipeline management, service catalogue management and retired services management two of which is not accessible to the users and customers (Goldberg, Satzger and Fromm, 2016).
Service Catalogue management commonly act as an entry portal in the live environment for all information services.	Service portfolio management is responsible for organising the process, through which services are identified, described, selected, evaluated and chartered (Comerio et al., p.112).
Service catalogue only portrays currently available services or products.	Service portfolio is a comprehensive document that enlists and describes services or product that are not currently available.
There are many advantages of distributing an administration index, for example, it streamlines benefit conveyance by indicating the way certain administrations ought to be executed, it can decrease bolster costs by guaranteeing that assets are designated to those administrations that offer the best esteem, it can enhance correspondence with end clients, and set more reasonable support-related desires by furnishing them with a top to bottom comprehension of what is accessible to them and in conclusion it can help IT productivity by revealing waste and repetition, and encouraging economies of scale.	Advantages of service portfolio infer that it can guarantee synchronization between IT administrations and key corporate objectives. Benefit portfolios additionally enable IT to all the more correctly assess the effect that administrations have on the business, and organize them as needs be. Furthermore, IT benefit portfolios empower more shrewd basic leadership with respect to administration creation, upgrade, and retirement (Rosemann, 2015, p. 381).

Factors influencing implementation of Service Portfolio at NNIT

Service portfolio implementation is influenced by multiple factors.

Services

Service portfolios are designed in conjunction and including all the services and products offered by the organisation both currently, at past and in future. It involves the products in the catalogue, products that have retired and products that remains in the pipeline for future use.

Quality requirements

Quality requirements and cost of delivery influences service portfolio management implementation. If there is a requirement for identification of business and technology components, then only service portfolio management is implemented.

Transparency requirements

Transparency required and maintained by the service provider to the stakeholders dictates the design of service portfolio. Depending upon the level of transparency required, the service portfolios are designed and managed by the service providers.

Service Portfolio Tool

There are specific ITSM tools available presently that can help create and support service portfolio management at NNIT. Three of these tools are listed and described below.

OCM

Frequently it is observed that IT people struggle with IT service management tools while creating service portfolios. Lack of service agreements and monitoring is frequently observed. Unclear process, roles and responsibilities hinders creation and implementation of IT portfolio management. A strong OCM process tool can guide the implementation and anchorage of new service management process thereby creating an effective service portfolio management framework. It helps in establishing clear roles and responsibilities of people and characters of the services or products in the service portfolio. It optimises retired processes thereby improving the current process and building efficient process that remains in the pipeline. Application portfolio management tool helps in analysing business events such as acquisition and product launches thereby portraying the possible effects of these functions which in turn streamline the service portfolio management. Application portfolio management tool helps in identifying technology portfolio management capabilities thereby managing the constant changes in the events, resulting due to introduction of new technologies introduces by projects and acquisitions. It provides IT governance, data capture, portfolio assessment and decision making (Mora et al., 2014, p. 215).

CMS

Configuration management system tool provides a strong foundation for service catalogues in service portfolio management. CMS is basically and ecosystem that manages analyses and feed and presents information contained in the configuration database management systems (CMDB) which is a fundamental component of ITIL. In spite of the fact that the CMDB is portrayed in the ITIL books as simply a centre part of the CMS, united CMDB actualizes a great part of the usefulness of the CMS. The CMDB keeps up information on all IT assets, including framework components and administrations, as setup things (CIs). It gives access to point by point information on every CI and keeps up data about the connections of the CIs to each other. Thusly, the CMDB gives the enlightening establishment to both the business benefit index and the specialized administration inventory. By getting to the CMDB through the CMS, you can remove a perspective of the administrations right now accessible to clients. You can see the undertaking foundation, including all administrations and their connections to the basic venture framework segments (Stoshikj, Kryvinska and Strauss, 2014, p.25).

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) Tools

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) applications are fabricated by joining administrations in a hierarchy to give the required usefulness. Included administrations can expend different administrations and be sourced both inside and remotely. SOA grants the reuse of administrations in various applications. Reuse decreases the cost of administration improvement and upgrades business nimbleness since it empowers associations to create required applications speedier. Application designers who assemble SOA applications need to know every one of the administrations that are accessible for consideration in SOA applications, and data about those administrations, for example, the accompanying Vital appraisal of general business objectives, Benefit depiction, including the commercial centre furthermore, clients served, Benefit cosmetics (supporting foundation parts furthermore, administrations) (Holsinger and Andreozzi, 2014, p. 1).

Conclusion and recommendations

IT service management systems focus on aligning IT services to business needs. ITSM implementation comes with numerous benefits and few costs. It details and implements the best practices of ITIL standards in order to satisfy the business requirements of an organisation by managing the IT infrastructure. ITSM methods involve ways to optimize and enable assessment, planning and implementation of ITIL practices. It is difficult to identify the point from which ITSM originated however one origin can be identified as possible convergence point and it has been found in the system management services which were historically accomplished in large scale mainframe systems. Organisations benefits from increasing productivity, achieving greater customer satisfaction by implementation of a personal approach, using skills and experience in a proper method, improving return over investment (ROI) in IT, utilizing available resources with efficiency thereby reducing costs of services, preventing redundancy in work conducted, providing superior third party services by improvising the usage of available resources and skills, identifying areas requiring improvement thereby offering adequate solutions, increasing staff retention, gaining more visibility towards IT assets and costs, saving money on training and L&D costs, aligning business and IT strongly, providing stable service environment and managing business risks in a better way. The only costs of ITSM implementation at NNIT is the huge costs. For the proposed improvement and implementation of process a huge amount is required to properly execute the set. Another difficulty is the right implementation. Unless ITSM is implemented in a proper way all the benefits could easily turn into disasters costing the organisation huge loss. Implementation of ITSM requires skilled professionals who can efficiently manage the processes. Unless efficient professional are retained smooth execution of processes cannot occur.

Analysing the various processes few recommendations can be drawn regarding further improvement of ITSM at NNIT.

1.NNIT must implement the proposed methods and improve the processes that require improvement to ensure high revenues.

2.NNIT must implement ITSM is logistics and customer service to efficiently identify the problem areas in customer service.

4.IT Operations Control, Application Management, Facilities Management and Technical Management are required to be implemented and improved for ensuring better ITSM implementation.

5.OSM is proposed as an ITSM tool of choice for implementing service portfolio management as it will ensure identification of technology portfolio management capabilities thereby managing the constant changes in the events, resulting due to introduction of new technologies introduces by projects and acquisitions. It will provide IT governance, data capture, portfolio assessment and decision making.

Reference List

Journals

Bhagwatwar, A., Bala, H. and Ramesh, V., 2014. IT Service Management Employee Compensation: Determinants and Outcomes. e-Service Journal, 9(3), pp.1-18.

Butt, S.M., Mazlina, A.M. and Yaqoob, L., 2015. Review Paper on the importance of Usability in Agile Software Development. Durreesamin Journal, 1(2), pp.1-5.

Comerio, M., Batini, C., Castelli, M., Grega, S., Rossetti, M. and Viscusi, G., 2015. Service portfolio management: A repository-based framework. Journal of Systems and Software, 104, pp.112-125.

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Forsgren, N. and Humble, J., 2015. DevOps: Profiles in ITSM Performance and Contributing Factors.

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Wijesinghe, R., Scheepers, H. and Mcloughlin, S., 2016. Defining the optimal level of business benefits within IS/IT projects: Insights from benefit identification practices adopted in an IT Service Management (ITSM) project. arXiv preprint arXiv:1606.03537.