Jon Iden

Implementing IT Service Management: A systematic literature review

Authors version of an article in the journal: International Journal of Information Management. Also available from the publisher at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2013.01.004

Using the ITIL Process Reference Model for Realizing IT Governance: An Empirical Investigation

Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a popular framework for IT governance, but little academic research on ITIL exists. The authors investigate the overlap between ITIL and IT governance practices to illustrate ITILs potential to stimulate IT governance. A field study shows that IT implementation success is particularly influenced by group efficacy and organizational resources, and, to a lesser extent, senior-management involvement. Findings show that ITIL, as expected, is a framework that contributes to IT governance by stimulating process management practices.

Understanding the determinants of business process modelling in organisations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address a theoretical gap in the business process management (BPM) literature on factors that influence the acceptance and use of business process modelling (PM) in organisations. The paper seeks to contribute to theory building and practice in BPM through better understanding of important determinants of PM adoption and use.Design/methodology/approach – A combination of literature review and 34 interviews in context was used to develop a PM acceptance model that was subsequently empirically tested using survey data from 74 companies.Findings – The paper provides empirical insights about how business PM can be influenced by many factors in the organisational context. It suggests that PM is a complex activity mandated by management, but influenced by individual and socio‐political factors.Research limitations/implications – There is a need for future research to focus on the many opposing forces that influence business PM in organisations. Future studies should ana...

Exploring Process-Modelling Practice: Towards a Conceptual Model

Despite the importance of process modelling for business process management and related tasks, there are few theories and empirical studies of process-modelling practice available that can serve as the basis for understanding and improving this important practice. To contribute to the development of better theory, this paper proposes a model of process modelling practice, focussing on the relations between process modelling purpose, process modelling process, model artefact, process modelling outcome as well as initial and eventual modelling and process maturity. The proposed model is based on the existing literature and validated in a study of 34 Norwegian process-modelling projects. Results from a combined qualitative and quantitative analysis of the empirical data indicate that the modelling process is clearly related to process-modelling outcome. Surprisingly, we were not able to relate the model artefact to any main category.

The drivers of services on next-generation networks

This paper is concerned with the drivers of service development on future telecommunication networks. As these networks are being transformed into next-generation networks, new and different services are being developed and mediated. However, little is known about the drivers of this development, and frameworks for strategic management of service innovation are scarce. This paper offers two contributions. First, it develops a conceptual framework for the identification and classification of drivers. This framework is derived from prevailing theories in organizational economics, strategic management, and marketing. Second, it presents, based on an analysis of contributions from 24 domain experts, which types of drivers for network service development receive the most attention by the experts. The analysis reveals that demand factors like customer values, service quality, and user readiness by far outnumber the supply factors as well as the general environmental factors, demonstrating the importance of the users for service development in this area. The results will assist service providers to identify drivers of a specific service offering and adjust the business model to these drivers.

Cooperation between developers and operations in software engineering projects

In this paper we discuss how the cooperation between developers and operations staff is practiced. We have analyzed data collected from a focus group of experienced software engineers and project managers, as well as interviews from two case studies. Our position is that well performed cooperation between the development team and the operations team is crucial for successful deployment and operations of a new or extensively revised software system. The data shows that cooperation can be improved in several development activities like requirements engineering, system design, documentation, testing, training, and deployment planning. Likely consequences of poor cooperation in these activities are lower productivity in development and operations, as well as unsatisfied users.

Understanding the ITIL Implementation Project: Conceptualization and Measurements

The purpose of this research is to contribute to the theorizing of ITIL. The paper provides a model that conceptualizes the scope and content of an ITIL implementation project, and it tests and validates measurements based on a literature study and data from a survey of 446 Nordic ITIL experts.

Strategising IT service management through ITIL implementation: model and empirical test

Research on the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) lacks appropriate theories and models that capture the distinct characteristics and implications of the ITIL implementation practice. The purpose of this study is to close this gap. Based on a literature review, we develop and empirically validate a theoretical model: the ITIL Implementation Project Model. The model includes significant antecedents, which provide a foundation upon which an effective ITIL implementation project can be built, as well as the pertinent effects of implementing ITIL. The results contribute to the current research stream on the strategising of IT service management as well as to an improved understanding of the IT function in organisations. The model provides IT executives with practices for improving ITIL implementation quality and for assessing the benefits of their efforts.

The impact of senior management involvement, organisational commitment and group efficacy on ITIL implementation benefits

Senior management involvement, organisational commitment and group efficacy are expected to have a positive impact on Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) implementation benefits. Specifically, more involvement, commitment and efficacy should produce greater achievement. Analysing data from a survey of 446 Nordic ITIL experts, this paper examines the relationships between these predictor factors and benefits, and investigates which is most critical. This study verifies the importance of all factors, but contrary to previous research, which has especially emphasised the role of senior management, in this research, group efficacy has proved to be the strongest predictor, indicating that the capabilities of those involved in the ITIL implementation are more important for realising the potential benefits than is senior management involvement. This work contributes to theorising in an important area of practice by testing and validating measurements and instruments for an empirical-based model of ITIL implementation.

ITIL Implementation: The Role of ITIL Software and Project Quality

This research will investigate the implementation status of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) reference processes and the influence of ITIL software quality and ITIL project quality on implementation status. The paper analyzes data from a survey of 160 Nordic companies.