Strategic Management of Information System - Essay Example

?Strategic Management of Information System Question IT service management or ITSM theory is the framework for managing information technology systems. “IT service management is the implementation and management of quality IT service that meet the needs of the business” (Griffiths, 2010, p.7). As Price et al (2007, p.4) reflect, IT service management is a potential approach to link IT services to the organisation’s current and future needs. This tool greatly assists the management to add value to the quality of IT services delivered; and IT service management may also assist the firm to trim down its long term service provisioning costs (ibid). Since the ITSM framework is process oriented, it is greatly related to process improvement methodologies including Six Sigma and TQM. Instead of focusing on how to deal with a particular vendor’s product or technical details of systems under control, the IT service management provides a well developed structure to support the interactions between IT technical personnel and business customers (Captor Solutions, n.d). ITSM gives more emphasis on IT management’s operational concerns than IT technology development. In addition, the ITSM has a wide range of applications in enterprise resource planning. In his article titled “The new CIO – are your ready to change role”, Robert Stroud specifically discusses an increasing need for a new approach capable of integrating disruptive technologies such as social software to enhance business growth and customer engagement. Schmidt (2010, p. 242) claims that the emergence of social software offers huge scope for modern businesses since these innovative communication tools promote meeting customer needs, employee education, and sustained performance improvement. Experts indicate that the ITSM can have a great influence on effective integration and management of social software. A separate IT department may be necessary for effectively co-ordinating various communication tools of social software. In turn, the IT department and related IT practices take advantages of IT service management to a great extent. In short, it can be stated that ITSM greatly benefits modern business managements to meet their increasing need for a new IT approach that enhances customer satisfaction. Question 2 Evidences suggest that individual IT service management systems may not enable an organisation to develop a stable and responsive IT environment, which would be adaptive to changing business conditions. To illustrate, consider the application of ITIL version 3. ITIL is one of the key tools to IT service management as it provides a cohesive set of well developed and effective IT practices. As Blokdijk (2008, p. 23) points out, the ITIL version 3 contains provisions for developing service strategy and service design, enhancing operational services and service transition, and promoting continuous service improvement. Carvalho et al (n.d) also agree that ITIL can address range service management aspects. However, it does not authentically address enterprise architecture and this situation raises some potential challenges to the management in meeting many of its operational objectives (ibid). Therefore, the blended use of ITIL version 3 and enterprise architecture approach may be beneficial for the organisation to effectively coordinate its IT operations and establish a stable and responsive IT environment. Shuja (n.d) believes that an integrated use of ITSM practices may aid an organisation to deliver cost effective and quality services to its clients. In addition, this practice promotes integrated centralised processes, which in turn help an organisation keep its various departments inter-connected, and this condition will certainly offer improved services that can meet business and end user needs. Furthermore, if there is a good connection between various departments of a company, then the management can reduce its workforce strength and thereby cut down operating costs. This structure is also very useful to respond to some unforeseen events and retain market competitiveness on time. The blended use of ITSM practices may greatly help the personnel to recognise their actual role and responsibilities in service provision. This system is necessary to promote stable business growth with the help of demonstrable performance indicators. In short, various advantages of blended ITSM practices would assist an organisation to improve its responsiveness and flexibility. Question 3 Even though ‘not for profit organisations’ do not distribute its surplus revenues as dividends among their shareholders, they need to convince their shareholders that the organisation has adequate reserve funds to meet daily operating needs. In case of governmental not for profit bodies, they need to fully comply with government requirements. The case scenario clearly reflects that complex and interdependent IT systems are necessary to enhance operational excellence and high quality information flow, which in turn may add to value creation. Value creation is ultimately related to management and application of IT resources. Management professionals suggest that effective IT governance policies would promote value creation (IT Governance Institute, n.d). In the given scenario, a well integrated IT facility is crucial to meet government requirements. IT service management techniques can have a positive impact on operational excellence since they can effectively connect various systems and processes and make information flow effective. In the view of Salle (2004), different components of ITSM can potentially support an IT governance policy. Often, the government may require the not for profit authority to provide information on various matters. Under such circumstances, the authority cannot quickly respond to governmental orders unless it keeps a well integrated IT infrastructure. As discussed earlier, ITSM based techniques assist an organisation to maintain integrated centralised processes, which in turn would help to search and access information immediately. Since IT service management strategies promote operational excellence and high quality information flow, they also enhance value creation. It must be noted that the authority’s IT operations should be cost effective and error free. In addition to government and shareholders, other external parties may also have interests in the authority’s activities. Hence, the authority has to structure its IT infrastructure in way through which external interest groups can easily access information. Moreover, the authority’s IT department must ensure that its stakeholder queries are answered immediately once an application is submitted. In order to create value, the authority may use various tools of IT service management and thereby provide most relevant information to stakeholders or other parties concerned. References Blokdijk, G., 2008. ITIL-IT Service Management: 100 Most Asked Questions on IT Service Management and ITIL Foundation Certification, Training and Exams. Lulu.com. Captor Solutions., n.d. Information technology service managemrnt, Retrieved from http://www.captorsolutions.com/Information%20Technology%20Service%20Management1.html Carvalho, J, Silva, M & Fernandes, P., n.d. Integrating enterprise architecture with CMDB/ITIL, [Online] Available at: [Accessed 29 May 2012]. Griffiths, R., 2010. Service Offerings and Agreements: A Guide for ITIL (r) V3 Exam Candidates. UK: British Informatics Society Limited. IT Governance Institute., n.d. Optimising value creation from IT investments, IT Governance Domain Practices and Competencies, pp. 1-27, [Online] Available at: [Accessed 29 May 2012]. Price, B, Mueller., JP & Fenstermacher, S., 2007. Mastering Systemn Center Operations Manager 2007. Indiana: John Wiley and Sons. Schmidt, R., 2012. A framework for the suppoert of value co-operation by social software. In: F Daniel, K Barkaouli & C Dustdar (Eds). Business Process Management Workshops: BPM 2011 International Workshops Clermont-Ferrand, France, August 2011 Revised selected Papers, Part 1. New York: Springer. Shuja, AK., n.d. IT service management, business service management and business-IT integration, IT Performance Improvement, [Online] Available at: [Accessed 29 May 2012]. Salle, M., 2004. IT service management and IT governance: Review, comparative analysis and their impact on utility computing, HP Invent, pp. 1-25, [Online] Available at: [Accessed 29 May 2012]. Read More