information technology business services

information technology business services

Abstract The business value of information technology (IT) services is often difficult to assess, especially from the point of view of a non-IT manager. This condition could severely impact organizational IT strategic decisions. Various approaches have been proposed to quantify the business value, but some are trapped in technical complexity while others misguide managers into directly and subjectively judging some technical entities outside their domain of expertise. 

This paper describes a method on how to properly capture both perspectives based on a  probabilistic business-driven model. The proposed model presents a procedure to calculate the business value of IT services. The model also covers IT security services and their business value as an important aspect of IT services that are not covered in previously published researches. The impact of changes in the quality of IT services on business value will also be discussed. A simulation and a case illustration are provided to show the possible application of the proposed model for a simple business process in an enterprise.

The business value of information technology (IT) services are often difficult to assess, especially from the point of view of a non-IT manager. This condition could severely impact organizational IT strategic decisions. Various approaches have been proposed to quantify the business value, but some are trapped in technical complexity while others misguide managers into directly and subjectively judging some technical entities outside their domain of expertise. This paper describes a method on how to properly capture both perspectives based on a  probabilistic business-driven model. The proposed model presents a procedure to calculate the business value of IT services. The model also covers IT security services and their business value as an important aspect of IT services that are not covered in previously published researches. The impact of changes in the quality of IT services on business value will also be discussed. A simulation and a case illustration are provided to show the possible application of the proposed model for a simple business process in an enterprise.

A BSM approach can be used to understand the impact of business needs on IT Services and infrastructure, helping in the process of planning to ensure the portfolio of Business Services and IT Services aim to support these changing needs and objectives. This approach also helps to understand how technology, including incidents, changes, and new developments, impact the business and customers. BSM can provide a dynamic method for linking key service components and capabilities to the goals of the business. It can help prioritize the activity and response of IT staff and service providers based on business priorities, and identify the impact and cost of service outages.

Additionally, newer technologies such as service-oriented architectures (SOA), virtualization, cloud computing, portal frameworks, grid architectures, and mashups within an organization make troubleshooting and monitoring of business services very difficult. A single business process or service may be supported by a number of composite applications, all of which could be dependent on a diverse set of distributed computing and communications elements. An isolated issue anywhere in this complex web may impact one or more tasks in the business process. Traditional network management systems and technology-centric monitoring approaches are incapable of determining the business impact of an issue in such a complicated infrastructure environment. This has given rise to Application Performance Management and the Real user monitoring (RUM) technology that now monitors the End User Experience (EUE) in real-time.

Advocates of BSM often use it to support a cultural change from one which is very technology-focused to a position which understands and focuses on business objectives and benefits. Rather than supporting an internalized technology view, there is a shift to recognize and support customer needs and the delivery of value to business stakeholders including shareholders. A BSM initiative often underpins a shift in maturity for an IT department or service provider towards a more proactive and predictive operating model rather than the reactive and fire-fighting behavior which has been common in many IT operations. IT departments and Service Providers who reach this level of maturity often report improved relationships with their customers and business colleagues, being recognized as 'Trusted Business Partners' and 'Competent Suppliers' who deliver added business value rather than being considered a commodity or 'Necessary Evil'.

BSM provides a critical framework to make sure that the work of customer-facing and internal teams within an organization is defined and transparent to their customers, who can then influence the functionality and quality of the services they receive. BSM complements business process management (BPM) by helping an organization deliver more effective services across business processes. Together, BSM and BPM form the basis for all-encompassing, full-stack process-optimization platforms. BSM adds a service-centered view across business processes and facilitates economies of scale for services that contribute to multiple processes.

Business Services are delivered to customers, supporting their needs, sometimes through the support for a business process or directly supporting a service or product delivered to end customers. A business service may be supported by one or more IT service(s) and may consist almost entirely of IT services especially where the IT service is directly customer-facing. Examples include online banking and online shopping.

BSM is team-focused and can be used by any team in an organization to improve performance, based on ownership, pride, commitment, and teamwork. Through BSM, teams can formalize the services they provide an internal service level agreements (SLAs) or operational level agreements (OLAs). BSM can also help teams review their “People, Process and Technology” capabilities and limitations to see how they can improve them and consequently improve the services they provide.

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