A Decision Support Tool to Define Scope in IT Service Management Process Assessment and Improvement

Improvements in managing IT service management (ITSM) processes are continuously sought by IT organisations. However, resources are limited and the choice of processes for improvement is a critical decision point for the managers. In this paper, we report a process selection decision model developed with task-technology fit theory as the lens as the basis for our Design Science Research approach. The model is instantiated with an outcome of a decision support tool. The process selection decision model uses service perception factors from the Service Quality (SERV-QUAL) model and business drivers from the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) perspectives to ensure that the ITSM processes are prioritised based on the key business drivers that have the highest impact on the business. Responses to a service perception survey provided by the business stakeholders combined with workshops guided the tool development as did considering the BSC perspectives with business drivers rather than ITSM processes being ranked directly by stakeholder participants. Usefulness of the tool is then demonstrated in a case organisation. The main contribution of the study is to provide evidence-based decision support for IT service providers to select the most relevant service processes to improve. Future research includes longitudinal evaluation of the tool’s output advice and the tool’s use in other organisations.