Red Sky Travel - Classification of Services, IT Governance, Incident Management, and Service Desk - Case Study Example

Red Sky Travel Case Study Module Details May 27, Introduction Companies all around the globe are fighting tooth and nail to adopt advanced approaches in integrating technology in their day to day business operations. To be precise, business stakeholders have now realized the need to adopt a platform that guarantees effective service delivery necessary enhancing satisfaction of customer needs and maximal achievement of the set out business goals. This platform is known as Information Technology Service Management (ITSM), which focuses on efficient delivery of the targeted IT services to customers and the organization at large. In essence, companies are nowadays moving from a technology oriented to a service oriented approach towards the day to day running of IT operations. On this regard, this paper focuses on developing and presenting a well analysed set of IT Service Management recommendations via an account of Red Sky Travel post the implementation of their new Travel and booking system. ITSM simply entails a well-designed process based approach applied in ascertaining that IT Services focus on efficient achievement of the set out business goals along with high priority laid on ensuring utmost customer satisfaction (Okanlwaon 2010, 5). ITSM employs the best IT practices as defined in the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL). The ITIL provides a well-integrated set of business processes for competent management of IT services. In fact, the ITIL acts as the basis for ascertaining that ITSM has a clearly defined set of IT services necessary optimal satisfaction of customer needs (Keel et.Al 2007, 1). ITSM adoption and development in a company plays a very important role in aligning its IT functions with its predefined business operation goals. In addition, ITSM growth focuses on fulfilment of the business needs, which acts as the basis for efficient satisfaction of the customer service expectations. That is, ITSM provides the a high quality platform for effective IT service delivery. It helps an organization to use IT as a tool for enhancing achievement of business success. It is therefore crucial that Red Sky Travel puts the subject of ITSM integration into close consideration as it is the basis for promoting top competitive advantage (Mar 2013, 2). Background of Red SKY TRAVEL Red Sky Travel was established by Phillip sector. This was in 1981. The company has an annual turnover of around $20 million. It is made up of 26 staff members. Its main operations are based in their Belmont office in West Australia. The company is also made up of a significant number of key staff members who include Directors, an Accountant and administrative staff of four, which support sales and operations. Most importantly, Red Sky also has an IT administrator in charge of supporting and troubleshooting the current IT system. It is essential to point out that Red Sky is one of the most established travel wholesaler companies in Western Australia. It develops and sells packaged tours in the Western parts of Australia. In addition, it has retail agencies in the South East areas of Asia. Once the tour packages are sold, Red Sky manages the bookings and reservations of each of their customers. In brief, the company enjoys two main types of customers. These are the travel agencies who focus on vending the tours and the targeted group of tourists who are after taking the tours. Red Sky has two main business functions, which are Sales and Operations. The Sales function is responsible for ascertaining that travel packages are put together. This area is also responsible for marketing and selling of tour packages to the retail agencies. Since this is the core business area, it is also responsible for constant monitoring of competition and pricing of packages. The other area is the operations, which is responsible for the management of bookings and reservations as soon as sales are made. The bookings have to be carefully monitored to maximize excellent customer service delivery. Since operations is also a continuous function, smooth operations always have to be guaranteed (Keel et.Al 2007, 2). In order to be successful in the current ever advancing tours and travel industry, Red Sky Travel (RST) has recently began the implementation of an advanced IT system. The project is called Travel and Booking System and has been awarded to Wilson Consulting Services (WCS), which is one of the most respected Software Development Companies in the region. WCS is rich in technical experts who include programmers, project managers, analysts and technical writers in application Development. It also offers a Service desk function to support its clients in the application developed. WCS will thus play a huge in the development of the best Travel and Booking System for RST. The final product of the Travel and Booking System is scheduled to be deployed and go live in the next twelve (12) weeks. It is expected to offer advanced support to the different business areas of RST. This includes advanced services in the Sales, Staff and administration segment of the company. It is also expected to be well integrated with the Accounting System (AccountRight Premier package) to facilitate effective management of finances (Mar 2013, 1). Identification and Classification of Services The implementation of the targeted Travel and Booking System (TABS) will add great value to the day to day operations of Red Sky Travel. In order to ascertain that this project is a success, it is imperative that key features of the IT Service Management Platform are put into close consideration. These include a thorough identification and classification of the services involved in the execution of the targeted set of customer services (Steinberg 2012, 20). It is essential to clarify that there is a significant number of services involved in the daily operations of the IT system at Red Sky Travel. These services have hereby been classified into six main categories. The key service classifications include the Customer services, Technical services, Network services, Workstation services, Data services and the USD financial services. IT service management identifies Customer services as a predefined set of functional features, which focus on ensuring that an IT system acts as a service provider to the customer. The customer service in TABS is expected to be enjoyed by delivery of a user friendly online system, which is easy for tourists to conduct online bookings and payments for packages. The second classification of services is that of Technical services. ITSM identifies Technical services as the key functional units of an IT system. They are responsible for defining and implementing the mechanical procedures involved in the day to day operations of the IT system. In TABS, the technical services include the software codes used to handle pricing of packages, processing of a booking function, online processing of payments and integration with the accounting system (Michael 2011, 7). Network Services is another crucial classification of the processes involved in the operations of the Travel and Booking system. It entails a well-designed interconnection of computer devices, which facilitate data transfer and sharing from one device to another. When no network service is operational then customers consider it as a complete failure of a company’s business function. Thus, ITSM stresses that network services is one of the most essential aspect in guaranteeing maximal achievement of the set out business and IT operation goals. Another classification is that of workstation services. ITSM recognizes workstation services as the features involved in ensuring that all the personal computers, laptops and other computing devices are efficiently operational with minimal or no interference on the daily operations of a company. For RTS, workstation services essentially involve ascertaining that its computers are fully operational in the delivery of all functional units of the TABS (Okanlwaon 2010, 16). Data services are also a key set of classification of services that the ITSM expects from an IT system of an organization. The data services in the TABS include data related to packaging of tour operations, accounting data, payments and invoicing data. In addition, data about the day to day tour and travel operations of the company is also essential to promote easy understanding of the company tour and travel details by the targeted clients (tourists) (Mar 2013, 3). ITSM points out that, in order for a company to be competitive in the ever advancing global market, it is crucial that it implements a quality USD financial service. To be precise, USD financial service hereby involves ascertaining that tourists can easily make online payments or transactions regardless of the currency in use. In other words, the USD financial service facilitates use of foreign currency to make online transactions. This is a very important feature particularly in enhancing the sales operations of the Travel and Booking System at RTS. IT Governance IT governance focuses on ensuring that there is fusion between the business and IT functions to gain IT involvement of the senior managers of an organization. That is, IT governance is a very vital management priority. To be exact, IT governance refers to the organizational capacity that is exercised by the management board of an organization, executive heads and IT managers to regulate the formulation and implementation of an IT strategy. In essence, IT governance lays major emphasis on performing and transforming IT service delivery to meet the current and future demands of a business along with its customers. Since IT services are nowadays the backbone to business success, it is important that the subject of IT governance is put into very close consideration (Keel et.Al 2007, 2). It is crucial to recommend that, there is great need for Red Sky Travel to consider IT governance. This is to enhance effective operation of the targeted Travel and Booking system by Red Sky Travel. IT governance will guarantee that the Directors, administrative staff and all RTS staff members give their best in ensuring that the system enhances business productivity and maximal customer satisfaction. IT governance will thus play a huge role in returning the business value of the company along with ensuring that the top management supports effective operation of the IT project. This is by practicing direct monitoring of the ability of the system in maximizing service delivery (Michael 2011, 6). Incident Management and Service Desk Service desk is one of the most fundamental components of the IT Service Management portfolio. It simply refers to a communications centre, which offers a single point of contact between a particular company and its predefined group of customers, employees and other business stakeholders. It is responsible to provide timely reports of the status of customer requests to a business function. In essence, a service desk acts as the basis to ascertaining that all stakeholders of a company enjoy efficient and timely delivery of business services. This is very important in promoting maximal customer satisfaction, which is the basis for raising the competitive advantage of a company (Steinberg 2012, 9). It is essential to clarify that the IT Service Management focuses on integration of the different functional units of an organization. On this regard, major focus has nowadays been laid on an integrated service desk. The integrated service desk hereby includes integration of the service desk with incident management. Incident management simply focuses on performing quick restoration of normal services of an organization. This is to prevent or minimize any disruptions in the daily operations of an IT system. The operations of the service desk play a significant role in incident management (Keel et.Al 2007, 3). For efficient operation of the projected Travel and Booking system, it is recommended that Red Sky Travel adopt an effective service desk. This will guarantee that all the key business stakeholders get timely updates on the status of all activities under processing. Most importantly, a service desk will provide tourists with timely reports of the status of their travel and tour bookings. It is also recommended that an incident management module is involved in the daily operations of the targeted system (Michael 2011, 3). This is to play a key role in ascertaining that customers enjoy all time availability of services from the Travel and Booking System. In addition, it is recommended that that RTS considers integration of the two services into the integrated service desk. The integration of the services into one coherent unit will facilitate ensuring that there is optimal delivery user satisfying set of IT functions. As a result, Red Sky Travel will be best placed to enjoy efficient day to day business operations and maximal competitive advantage (Philipson 2005, 8). Problem Management – Discussion and recommendations Effective management of problems is one of the key determinants of the success of an IT system. In essence, problems refer to the recurring operational issues, which are caused by errors in the IT infrastructure of an organization. The existence of problems in an IT system usually affects its normal operations. This causes a negative impact in its day to day operations. IT Service Management identifies Problem management as a crucial aspect in promoting continuity of the business unit. It involves ensuring that an IT system continuously and accurately delivers its key predefined functional requirements regardless of the internal faults or problems that it has. This is done by identifying the root cause of an incident or problem and then taking an appropriate action to resolve the situation and prevent any recurrence in the future. Thus, effective problem management facilitates significant reduction of the number of problems reported to the service desk. It also minimizes the negative impact a problem could have contributed to an organization’s day to day business practices. It is hereby recommended that Wilson Consulting Services fully applies the problem management approaches defined by the ITSM in the Travel and Booking System. This includes integration with the VMware Service Manager, which has the following features for problem management. It operates a proactive problem manager along with an automatic resolution or fixing of problems. The VMware also facilitates prioritization of problems based on the impact to a business and potential risk. Furthermore, VMware offers one-click functionality that delivers an incident to a problem (Mar 2013, 2). The benefits of adopting the Problem management platform include creation of a stable IT infrastructure, improve business productivity and reduce the severity of problems within an IT system (Keel et.Al 2007, 3). Access Management and Request Fulfilment Processes The ability of an IT system to satisfy its targeted users is always experienced in the ease of accessing its services. If customers can easily access their required data without hustles then they become highly motivated to use the system. However, if accessing it is challenging, then there are always great chances of losing customers. In fact, if staff members have challenges in accessing it, then, it becomes a great threat to the business productivity of a company. Thus, it is important that all time access to IT services is guaranteed. Another important feature that ITSM provides is the request fulfilment process. ITSM offers a mechanism (request fulfilment process) for categorizing a large number of requests into small and unique requests. These requests are transmitted in a consistent and predefined process. Through focusing on the automated request fulfilment process plays a huge role in improving customer satisfaction and achievement of governance through a process audit. In order for the proposed Travel and Booking System to be a success, it is recommended that Wilson Consulting Services includes effective access management and request fulfilment. This is important in guaranteeing all time availability of its services, reduction of errors in the IT system and effective IT governance (Michael 2011, 8). Service Asset and Configuration Management Service Asset management entails controlling how IT assets are being utilized in an IT system. This includes management of the different functional features, data and processes in the day to day delivery of services to customers. Effective management of these services ensures that customers and other company stakeholders enjoy efficient delivery of the targeted system operations. This is very crucial in promoting successful achievement of the set out business goals of an organization (Mar 2013, 1). In addition to Service Asset management is configuration management. In essence, all IT processes of an IT system are always fed into and out of the configuration management module. Adoption of a careful configuration environment facilitates efficient use of the business resources of an organization. ITSM suggests that using the VMware Service Manager facilitates ensuring that the real time business information is well integrated within the Configuration Management Database (CMDB). This database provides all the required sets of business configuration necessary for effective operation of a company’s IT system. Service Asset and configuration management is clearly a very crucial functional requirement to promoting success of the targeted Travel and booking system. It is therefore recommended that Red Sky Travel ensures that Wilson Consulting Services fully includes service asset and configuration management in the operations of TABS. This will play an important role in assisting financial planning by providing a clear identification of all the IT assets in a company (Michael 2011, 3). Service Level Management Upon a thorough analysis of all the aforementioned processes, it is crucial to outline that Service Level Management is important in promoting success in their day to day implementation. Service Level Management plays a key role in improving the quality of IT services. This is through creation and management of a formal set of It service commitments. These levels of services have to be agreed upon by both the provider and receiver of a service. ITSM suggests that effective Service Level Management can effectively be implemented using the VMware Service Manager. This tool offers a comprehensive service catalogue, which lists all the services that are currently provided in an IT system. It also facilitates ensuring that Service Targets can effectively be customized to meet specific business needs of a company. In addition, it provides integrated notification of all breaches of service experienced in the daily operations of the IT system (Philipson 2005, 10). It is hereby recommended that Wilson Consulting Services enlightens Red Sky Travel on the need for efficient Service Level Management. This will allow the Red Sky Travel team to track and report any operations that are against the service commitments. It also paves way for continuous improvement of all the service levels enjoyed in an organization. As a result, it increases customer satisfaction, which is the basis for achievement of the business goals of Red Sky Travel (Keel et.Al 2007, 4). Conclusion In the current ever-advancing technological world, adopting the best IT practices is the backbone to being successful in business. The top management at Red Sky Travel (RTS) has put this subject into close consideration. In consultation with Wilson Consulting Services, RTS is after implementation of an advanced IT system. As aforementioned earlier the system is called Travel and Booking System and is expected to go online in the next 12 months. However, for this system to be a success, it is very important that the best IT practices defined in IT Service Management platform are put into very close consideration. Upon a thorough analysis of the processes involved in the effective adoption IT Service Management, it is important to note that a significant number of recommendations have been made. The aim of the recommendations is to promote efficient operation of the targeted Travel and Booking System at Red Sky Travel. These recommendations include implementation of IT governance, implementing of Service Level Management practices and Service Asset and Configuration Management. It has also been recommended that Wilson Consulting Services consider integration of Access management and Request Fulfillment in the day-to-day operations of TABS. Furthermore, it has been recommended that incident management, service desk and problem management is integrated in the operations of the Travel and Booking System. This will play a very important role in ensuring that TABS plays a very important role in maximizing the competitive advantage of the company along with achievement of the set out business goals. Bibliography Keel, Alan, Michael, Orr., Hernandez, Robin., Patrocinio, Eduardo., Bouchard, John. 2007. From a technology-oriented to a service-oriented approach to IT management. Retrieved from http://www.researchgate.net/publication/224101571_From_a_technology-oriented_to_a_service-oriented_approach_to_IT_management Mar, Anna. 2013. 9 ITIL Implementation Challenges. Retrieved from http://simplicable.com/new/10-ITIL-implemenation-challenges Michael, Hsu. 2011. The Challenges of Implementing the ITIL Problem Management Process in IT Support Organizations. Retrieved from http://researcharchive.vuw.ac.nz/xmlui/handle/10063/1554 Okanlwaon, Seyi. 2010. Overcoming resistance in implementing ITSM based on ITIL. Retrieved from https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/534/6810 Philipson, Graeme. 2005. IT governance from the top Retrieved from http://www.theage.com.au/news/Perspectives/IT-governance-from-the-top/2005/05/30/1117305534326.html Steinberg, Randy. 2012. Key element guide ITIL® service operation. London: TSO. Read More