Usage of Multiple Process Assessment Models

Communications in Computer and Information Science

et al. 2017

International standards were used to corroborate artefact development and evaluation in a Design Science Research (DSR) project within the context of Process Assessments in IT Service Management (ITSM). While there have been significant research efforts towards extending DSR guidelines and the development and revisions of the standards, reports of the application of International Standards to validate DSR artefacts are scant. DSR, akin to any academic research, is required to demonstrate rigour and relevance with the use of theories and prior knowledge. Moreover, DSR presents an artefact as a solution to a class of problems and reports how the artefact is developed and evaluated. Our DSR project demonstrated that concerns about the quality of artefacts can be addressed and thereby the utility and validity of the artefact can be verified with the use of International Standards. Using three International Standards, process assessment ISO/IEC 15504-33000 series, IT Service Management ISO/IEC 20000, and System and Software Quality Models ISO/IEC 25010, this paper presents an account of a real-life DSR project that demonstrates the significant role of International Standards to guide DSR researchers during artefact design, development and evaluation.

Section: Overview Of the Dsr Projectmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of International Standards to Corroborate Artefact Development and Evaluation: Experiences from a Design Science Research Project in Process Assessment

Communications in Computer and Information Science

et al. 2017

“…A major challenge in ITSM process assessment is to enable transparent ways in which ITSM processes can be assessed. It has also been reported that existing process assessment methods are costly and time-consuming [1]. We aimed to develop and evaluate a method as a research artefact to measure the capability of ITSM processes in a more transparent and efficient way in comparison with the current process assessment methods.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benefits and relevance of International Standards in a design science research project for process assessments

Computer Standards & Interfaces

et al. 2018

One critical challenge in IT Service Management (ITSM) process assessment is the issue of transparency in the way ITSM processes are assessed. A Design Science Research (DSR) project was executed to design, develop and evaluate an artefact in order to conduct software-mediated process assessments in ITSM. International Standards were used to validate the design, development and evaluation of the research artefact in order to demonstrate that the artefact is relevant to practice. Studies relating to the use of International Standards to validate DSR artefacts are scant regardless of broader adoption of the DSR studies and acceptance of the international standards in practice. DSR studies in particular are required to maintain a balance between research rigour and relevance by reporting artefacts that solve a class of problems based on scientific justification and practical evidence. International standards provide bodies of knowledge that ensure products, services and processes are of acceptable quality and relevant to practice. Our DSR project confirmed that the external validity of an artefact can be improved with the use of International Standards. Using three International Standards, process assessment ISO/IEC 15504-330xx series, IT Service Management ISO/IEC 20000 series, and System and Software Quality Models from ISO/IEC 25010, this manuscript presents an account of a DSR project with three evaluation sites where the artefact was tested in real organizational contexts. The project demonstrated the significant role of International Standards to confirm research relevance during artefact design, development and evaluation.

“…In the ITSM industry, several standards and commercial offerings are available for ITSM process assessments such as Tudor IT Process Assessment (Barafort et al, 2009), ITIL® © 2016 informa uK limited, trading as taylor & francis Group KEYWORDS it service management; process assessment; decision support system; design science research method CONTACT aileen cater-steel aileen.cater-steel@usq.edu.au self-assessment services (Rudd & Sansbury, 2013) and PinkSCAn assessments (PinkElephant, 2012). However, lack of transparency and high costs are reported as major barriers to conducting ITSM process assessments (fayad & Laitnen, 1997;Lloyd, 2011;Peldzius & Ragaisis, 2013). Moreover, there have been several heated discussions in the ITSM community against the use of existing ITSM process assessment approaches (England, 2012;Kane, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovative decision support for IT service management

Journal of Decision Systems

2016

The IT Service Management (ITSM) industry has defined processes as best practices in the widely-accepted IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL®) framework. However, there are few tools available to provide decision support to IT Service Managers who wish to improve service management processes. It is essential to assess the current capability of processes before process improvements are planned. Our research addressed the problems of the lack of transparency and the need for efficiency in ITSM process assessment. Using the Design Science Research methodology, we developed an innovative Software-mediated Process Assessment (SMPA) approach that automates assessment of ITSM processes and supports the decisionmaking of IT Service Managers. The SMPA approach includes process selection, an online survey to collect assessment data, measurement of process capability and specific recommendations for managers to commence process improvement. We implemented a decision support system (DSS) to automate the SMPA approach and evaluated it at two IT service providers. The evaluations indicated that the SMPA approach supports decision-making on process improvements. In the future, data analytics performed on the assessment data can help IT managers to analyse and visualise the 'big data' of process knowledge.