Despite findings from research that the engagement and involvement of business managers and users is a critical ingredient for success with information technology, for many organisations this has proven difficult to achieve. By adopting a service orientation and managing IT as a portfolio of services, this paper illustrates that it provides a language and perspective that all employees can identify with and understand. It highlights the critical role that employees at all levels play in the delivery of services in and around the processing, provisioning and stewardship of information. The paper presents a number of frameworks and models to guide management action. The discussion also raises particular issues to consider when outsourcing. The concluding analysis is that with this required involvement of business management in the delivery of many services, the IT organisation is primarily the organisation, and not a separate function. 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Keywords: IS service management, IS service delivery, IS service quality, IS service value, User satisfaction, IS organisation Most organisations today are fundamentally dependent on their information technology systems and would quickly cease to function should the technology that underpins them ever grind to a halt. However, it is not the loss of the technology per se that would result in problems for the organisation, but the loss of the information and information handling services facilitated by the technology. These services include those that enable communication and collaboration (i.e. email, desktop videoconferencing, instant messaging), data capture (i.e. point of sale [POS] systems, Internet-based data entry systems, business intelligence, customer portals), processing (i.e. order processing, invoicing, contract management, account management), storage (i.e. data centres and databases with information about customers, inventories, assets, etc.), access (i.e. ad hoc queries, report writing), and analysis (i.e. analytics, modeling). organisation's portfolio of applications that are implemented on its technology platform. There are also a considerable range of other services that are required in order for these information-handling services to be made available to users 1 . They include services around the specification of technology and applications, services concerned with design and construction of the technical infrastructure, services eliciting and analysing user requirements, services focused around user and management education, training and support, services centred around security and disaster recovery, services focused on software development, project management services, vendor and contract management services, and maintenance services. The importance of all these services for the functioning of most organisations cannot be underestimated. In most IT budgets they already account for a significant percentage of expenditure.