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IT Service Management (ITSM) is transforming the management of the IT function on a global scale with major changes in work practices. The intent of this study is to empirically explore how IT service management is adopted in today's global economy. The article examines the adoption of ITSM processes as defined in the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL ® ). The adoption of operational processes is compared to that of tactical/strategic level processes and the contribution of country, size, and industry sector to variation in adoption of ITIL processes is assessed. Institutional theory is used as a foundation for the study. The analysis is based on 623 responses to three surveys conducted in the UK, USA, DACH (German-speaking countries) and Australia.The study found organisations adopting ITIL implemented more operational level processes than the tactical/strategic level processes. DACH countries exhibit higher ITIL process adoption than the UK, USA, and Australia. Adoption varied on industry sector, and, in part, on organisation size. Based on a discussion of theory and practice, the article derives insights for academics and industry when introducing ITSM in the IT function. 866Volume 34Article 49 RQ1: Are operational level ITIL processes more widely adopted compared to tactical/strategic level ITIL processes?Much of the Information Systems (IS) research to date fails to consider variation across industry sectors [Chiasson and Davidson, 2005] and is biased towards large corporations, ignoring issues relating to small organisations [Attewell and Rule, 1991]. We need to better understand how ITIL is adopted globally across various industry sectors and in small as well as large organisations. We recognise the importance of the role played by IT in value creation especially in information-intensive industry sectors such as finance and education, leading to the second research question: RQ2: Do factors such as country, size, and industry sector contribute to variation in adoption of ITIL processes?Volume 34Article 49 867 The study uses data from 623 questionnaire responses collected from three surveys. The first survey included respondents from the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK). The second survey attracted responses from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. In Europe these three countries are commonly referred to as DACH, an acronym representing countries that predominantly use the German language. The term DACH is based on the official automobile license plate abbreviations for Germany (D for Deutschland), Austria (A for Austria), and Switzerland (CH for Confoederatio Helvetica). The third survey was conducted in Australia.In the next section, we introduce institutional theory as a suitable theoretical framework for the study, present a review of relevant literature, and provide a brief introduction to ITIL. Based on theory and research, we articulate a model, including a set of hypotheses. Following this we describe the methodology and present and discuss the results. We conclude with impli...

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With increasing interest by the software development community in software process improvement (SPI), it is vital that SPI programs are evaluated and the reports of lessons learned disseminated. This paper presents an evaluation of a program in which low-rigour, one-day SPI assessments were offered at no cost to 22 small Australian software development firms. The assessment model was based on ISO/IEC 15504 (SPICE). About twelve months after the assessment, the firms were contacted to arrange a follow-up meeting to determine the extent to which they had implemented the recommendations from the assessment.Comparison of the process capability levels at the time of assessment and the follow-up meetings revealed that the process improvement program was effective in improving the process capability of 15 of these small software development firms. Analysis of the assessment and follow-up reports explored important issues relating to SPI: elapsed time from assessment to follow-up meeting, the need for mentoring, the readiness of firms for SPI, the role of the owner/manager, the advice provided by the assessors, and the need to record costs and benefits. Based on an analysis of the program and its outcomes, firms are warned not to undertake SPI if their operation is likely to be disrupted by events internal to the firm or in the external environment. Firms are urged to draw on the expertise of assessors and consultants as mentors, and to ensure the action plan from the assessment is feasible in terms of the timeframe for evaluation. The RAPID method can be improved by fostering a closer relationship between the assessor and the firm sponsor; by making more extensive use of feedback questionnaires after the assessment and follow-up meeting; by facilitating the collection and reporting of cost benefit metrics; and by providing more detailed guidance for the follow-up meeting.As well as providing an evaluation of the assessment model and method, the outcomes from this research have the potential to better equip practitioners and consultants to undertake software process improvement, hence increasing the success of small software development firms in domestic and global markets.

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IT Service Operations is a high priority improvement target for IT service providers because it is critical for business operations and involves daily interaction with customers, thus directly effecting customer satisfaction. An action research project involving three organizations explored current IT service operation activities and challenges and initiated projects to improve service operation at each organization. The findings indicate that the major challenges include reactive rather than proactive approach to IT operations management, measurement and reporting, classification of incidents, management of customer feedback, and interfaces between IT service operation processes. Recommendations are formulated to help IT service managers and theoretical contributions are provided.