IT Infrastructure Library - Research Proposal Example

IT CASE STUDY Insert Grade Insert 13th March IT Case Study Introduction Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) refers to the context of conveying the greatest practices for IT services. British government’s Central Computer and Telecommunication Agency developed this method in the 1980s. Initially, they produced over 30 books demonstrating different sources that contained the best information technology practices around the globe. This paper highlights how Bill Melmac the owner of Melmac café should apply the IT infrastructure library in his business and the expected outcomes. It also discusses the important business metrics, beneficial service assets to the café, service utility, outcomes obtained from practicing demand management, importance of early life support and whether the café should have the service desk (Lytras, Ziderman & Manolova, 2010. pp.156). Why should Bill Melmac consider adopting the IT infrastructure Library? IT infrastructure library is the process of supplying paramount practices for the IT services. The application of this method is rising because various business premises depend on IT to satisfy and attain the company’s’ strategies. Therefore, Bill Melmac, the owner of Melmac café should consider implementing the IT infrastructure Library in its business. This will be of benefit because the library has dissimilar theories and procedures that direct any business to decide on the best and efficient idea pertaining the operation and management of the business. ITIL will offer Bill Melmac with advices and different IT courses on the management of his business services (Lytras, Ziderman & Manolova, 2010. pp.157). ITIL will equip Bill Melmac with general knowledge regarding the café service strategies, the designs that he should apply in delivering the ordered foods to the clients, the best service transition applicable in his business, advisable service operations and how he can continuously improve his café services. Subsequently, after applying the ITIL in his café, Bill will convey the perfect ITIL package management solutions to his café. He will also identify the specific requirements for his business and implement them consequently. He will ascertain the suitable ITIL service management solutions that are important in solving his business problems and ensure that the service is very cost effective (Lytras, Ziderman & Manolova, 2010. pp.156). What may the business-desired outcomes be? Why is it important that these are identified first? Business outcome refers to the target or the benefits that a given business premise works hard to achieve after it experiences interventions or makes changes. Business outcomes are the main reasons why many companies engage dissimilar activities, initiatives, and development. The business outcome of the Melmac café will justify the exploitation of the café resources and offer a well-defined direction to the cafe design and their delivery process. In implementing the ITIL method, the Melmac café will be able to improve its total profits because of the increased customers. It will improve the café’s delivery services to customers that order food from the café. This will also enhance quality services to customers and increase proficiency among Melmac café workers. Finally, application of this ITIL will raise the café’s productivity due to the improved IT infrastructure knowledge. It is fundamental to first identify the business-desired outcomes because it helps in indicating the business value that the proposed change can bring to the business. Consequently, this will lead to employees of the given business premise working extra hard to accomplish the expected outcomes (Edelman, Brush & Manolova, 2010, pp. 174). Explain what a metric is and give two suitable metrics that could help to ensure that the business-desired outcomes are met? Metric also known as the performance metric refers to elements of measure that estimate the general performance of a given company such as their investments and revenues. In addition, it offers employees with standards that can enhance improvement of their chores. To ensure that the Melmac café meets the desired business outcomes, it should apply the service metrics. This is important because most of the business premises lack the inventories for their business but they practice order to delivery services together with accuracy and customer value measures. Therefore, this method will be an important tool because it will improve the Melmac café performance. Secondly, application of the customer demand metrics will also ensure the attainment of business outcomes because it highlights a clear definition of the total customers together with their need in order to reduce wastage within the business premises (Blokdjk, Engle & Brewster, 2008, pp.215). The Service Strategy stage has four objectives. List these objectives and state how these relate to Café Melmac. Service strategy is a framework that delivers different strategic planning services for the online services, support, field services and operations in the professional services. The process has various advantages to business premises performing dissimilar tasks. For example, it guides the business companies in re-defining their tactical directions in order to improve their customers’ fulfillment and faithfulness. The main objectives of service strategy stage include; the strategy development, organizational design, service program design and global service models. Firstly, the strategy development objective is vital during the implementation of strategic plans that can positively direct the organization to better performance. This plan monitors the organization for a period of 3 to 5 year so that it can eradicate the problems brought by poor planning. During this process, collection of information is from the executives, individuals, employees and stakeholders and this contributes to collecting data that rhymes with the company’s objectives (Bon & Pieper, 2008, pp. 21). Secondly, the service strategy is important in the designing and re-scheming of the services practiced in an organization to determine competence. This process analyses the operating structure in the organization, requests important information from key individuals within the organization and concludes whether the operating structure is capable of meeting the future organization’s objectives. Thirdly, service strategy enhances scheming of operative values, services and programs that ensures satisfaction of all clients and makes revenues to the organization. This process improves the organizations understanding of the customers preferred services and it delivers the organizational real value. Fourthly, it enhances global service models where by it determines whether global clients’ access excellence services, whether the organizational infrastructure can support current services around the globe through the application of current technology. Therefore, service strategies are important to organizations because they improve their skills in achieving different services that are important globally (Bon & Pieper, 2008, pp. 22). The application of four objectives of the service strategies to café Melmac will be of benefit because it will help them to review the global services in café management and customer segmentation so that they can improve on their services. Secondly, these objectives will enhance general skills of the café Melmac workers in launching the intended package program. Thirdly, the objectives will help café Melmac to define and be specific in their organizational structure thus making them attain the expected outcomes. Finally, through the service strategies objectives, café Melmac will be able to highlight the situations that will affect growth of the café and the demand of their services (Bon & Pieper, 2008, pp. 22). List four possible services Assets for Café Melmac Service assets monitor the facility advantage of items in order to facilitate the performance of other management processes practiced by an organization. In order for café Melmac to perform its chores efficiently, it should have the following service assets; firstly, it needs enough finances to sustain the café, it should implement procedures to apply in the distribution of its information. With these assets, it is important that the café and workers should be capable of applying the assets to increase total production. Skill is also a service asset, which will improve the café’s mechanism of evolving and monitoring resources for it to engender benefit. Finally, experience is a service asset that will foster excellent chores within the café Melmac workers thus increasing the received customers and this increases the café’s profits (Bon & Pieper, 2008, pp. 23). State what possible Service Utility may be for the new service? Service utility refers to what customers obtain also known as the supported outcomes after elimination of all barriers. It fosters the sense of steadfastness, guarantee, understanding, receptiveness among others. Therefore, service utility will be of benefit to café Melmac new service because it will make the management team discover the competitive advantage. On discovering those advantages, the café will gain the morale to work extra hard in order to maintain the generated profits. Secondly, service utility is important to the new service because it will act as a mechanism for controlling food prices, therefore, ensuring that the service is profitable to the café Melmac. Thirdly, service utility is important to the new café service because it will ensure customer satisfaction and this will increase the total customers received within the café, therefore, increasing the café profit ad image (Bon & Pieper, 2008, pp. 21). What are the possible outcomes for the process of demand management for café Melmac? Demand management is a monitoring process that offers excellent hotel services which positively affects the general operations and visions of a hotel. Demand management process will benefit café Melmac because the process targets the service market; making cafe Melmac identify the best market for their new introduced services. For example, Bill might decide to furnish his café with luxurious furniture and attractive decorations to fascinate more customers thus increasing their profits. Secondly, this process will help Bill in tracking the networks that most clients use in ordering their services. By discovering this, the café will benefit because they will put these networks into practice thus generating them with extra profits on their services. This will also expose a positive side of the café to customers within and without the locality (Edelman, Brush & Manolova, 2010, pp 178). Describe early life support. Why is it important for Bill? Early life support occurs during the transition of a service whereby there is provision of support for a specific period due to the introduction of unfamiliar IT service. Firstly, the providers of the IT service take the responsibility of reviewing the level of demanded services, monitoring the working conditions and offering extra information pertaining involved incidents and managing the emerging problems. For good performance of café Melmac, it is important for Bill to undergo early life support because through it, the IT providers will assess and review the total demand services that clients will need from the café Melmac. Therefore, after the IT providers find the exact service demand, the café will provide enough services for their clients thus satisfying them and avoiding the losses that could have resulted from supplying excess services. Secondly, the process will benefit Bill’s business because the workers will access relevant information on the process. Hence, they are capable of handling any future problem arising from the introduced service. Lastly, the process involves monitoring of the newly introduced service, therefore, it will be easier to identify any arising problems and prevent them from happening (Bon, 2007, pp. 255). Should café Melmac have a service desk and why A service desk is the organizations contact point for all users who need assistance. Therefore, Café Melmac needs a service desk because any organization without a contact point will have inflexible time in trying to resolve different problems that affect it. Secondly, the desk will also facilitate easy running of the café because all the clients calling to make their orders will have someone who can attend to them effectively. Thirdly, service desk within café Melmac will satisfy and enhance the understanding of the business needs together with customer requirements thus maintaining good performance of the café. Finally, through the service desk, the objectives and intentions of café Melmac will be clear among the clients and staffs hence maintaining its productivity (Bon & Pieper, 2008, pp. 21). Explain five aspects of the service lifecycle that you believe may be difficult for Bill Melmac to adopt and Why Service lifecycle contains different steps that when managed properly, they result to the successful operation of the businesses. It ensures given service life cycle is effective to both customers and the business, it is important that the organization observes important aspects of the service lifecycle. The policies together with objectives are significant for the flourishing process of the organization need the application of dissimilar aspects within the service lifecycle. According to the description of Bill Melmac’s business, it will be hard for him to implement specific aspects in the service lifecycle. Firstly, Bill will undergo problems in adopting the aspect of service strategy, which includes the supply of manual guidelines explaining the position and definition of the services that the café offers. This aspect also needs to define the next plans for the service strategy of the café. The main barrier that prevents Bill from attaining the discussed aspect is that the size of his café is very small; therefore, he will not manage to accommodate all the activities (Blockdjk, Engle & Brewster, 2008, pp. 215) Secondly, it will be difficult for Bill to adopt the service design aspect because this manual is a guideline to the design, service development, and processes that occur in the service management. The aspect also needs instruction on the planned changes within an organization in order to sustain the benefits that the service provides for the organization. Adopting this aspect enhances continuity of an organization, offers high quality services, and ensures the fulfillment of law requirements. Therefore, Bill will experience problems in implementing this aspect because from the description of his business, he lacks enough space that can perform the needed duties meaning on acquiring it, he will be acting against the law requirements (Blockdjk, Engle & Brewster, 2008, pp. 217). Thirdly, Bill will encounter problems when achieving the aspect of service transitional. This aspect involves instructions on the how individuals should develop and enhance the important skills in the operation of new introduced service. This aspect also includes the methods included in the implementation of the new service and the minimization of the likely problems. The aspects also advices on how the newly introduced service works amid the service providers and customers. The achievement of this aspect will not be easy to Bill because his café is not big enough to carry out all the developments that this aspect requires. Fourthly, application of the service operation aspect will be hard for Bill because this aspect needs effectiveness together with efficiency practices in the delivery processes to maintain the total profit of an organization. This aspect needs stability within the newly introduced aspect and changes done within the areas of design, scaling, scope and all the organizational services. Therefore, Bill will encounter difficulties in implementation because, firstly, the aspect requires a large amount of capital to manage it but to Bill; his café is still small so he will not afford to supply all the needs. Secondly, the aspects rely a lot on the stability of the business, but from the description of the Bill’s café, the business is not very stable. For example, the description indicates that the café is not large enough to accommodate the required population; therefore, the implementation of this aspect will require Bill to expand his café first (Blockdjk, Engle & Brewster, 2008, pp. 216). Lastly, Bill will encounter problems when trying to practice the continual service aspect. This aspect needs to create and increase the number of customers that depend on the café in order to expand the profit level. This aspect works well through combining good principles, practices and procedures, which results to quality organizational management. This aspect seems to be hard for Bill to implement because the aspect requires the growth of customers and yet the size of Bill’s café is not accommodating. Conclusion In conclusion, many organizations will positively benefit when they apply the ITIL process in their businesses. This is because the organizational employees will acquire skills regarding the cost and reliability of their services. The process will promote the mechanism of different employees to adopt the required IT service to the business newly introduced services that are undergoing change. In addition, organizations should consider this process because it involves awareness and education on the ITIL foundation. With this knowledge, all business organization will identify possible problems, therefore, preventing them. References Blokdijk, G, Engle, C & Brewster, J 2008, IT Service Operation Management Guide: Your Complete Guide to Managing an IT service operation With Incident Management. New York, NY: Lulu.com Bon, J, & Pieper, M 2008, Service Strategy Based on ITIL V3: A Management Guide. Washington DC: Van Haren Publishing Bon, J 2007, Foundation of IT Service Management Based on ITIL, Vol 3. Washington DC: Van Haren Publishing Edelman, L., Brush, C., Manolova, T et al 2010, Start-up Motivations and Growth Intentions of Minority Hotel Entrepreneurs, Journal of Small Business Management, Vol 7, is 48, pp 174-196 Lytras, M., Ziderman, A & Imber, J 2010, Organizational, Business, and Technological Aspect of the Knowledge. New York, NY, Springer Read More