Implementing IT Service Management: A systematic literature review

Abstract

This article provides a systematic review of existing research related to the implementation of IT Service Management (ITSM) and the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). The review's main goals are to support research; to facilitate other researchers’ search for relevant studies; and to propose areas for future studies within this area. In addition, we provide IT managers with useful information on ITSM and ITIL, based on research-based knowledge of their implementation. The review results suggest that motives, critical success factors, implementation status, and benefits are the most frequently studied areas, and that each of these areas would benefit from further exposure.

Introduction

This article reviews existing research on the implementation of IT Service Management (ITSM) and the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). The aim of this literature review is threefold. First, we want to provide an updated overview of ITSM and ITIL that captures the research activities in these rapidly evolving areas. We restrict the focus to manuscripts that explicitly incorporate implementation considerations. Implementation is understood in this context as the process of adapting to ITSM principles and/or introducing the best practice recommendations prescribed by ITIL. In this study, ITSM is defined as an approach to IT operations that is characterized by its emphasis on IT services, customers, service level agreements, and an IT function's handling of its daily activities through processes (Conger et al., 2008, Marrone and Kolbe, 2011). ITSM manages the IT function as a service function. This stands in contrast to more technology-centered approaches to IT operations. There is no single authorized text that defines ITSM, but the concept is portrayed in various book, articles and white papers (Palmer, 2005, van Bon et al., 2008). As van Bon notes (2002): “Providers of IT services can no longer afford to focus on technology and their internal organization, they now have to consider the quality of the services they provide and focus on the relationship with customers.” According to the literature, the IT function should be a service organization that provides IT services to a business, and the goal is to build and deliver IT services that meet business needs and requirements (Commerce, 2007b). ITIL, on the other hand, is defined here as a set of prescribed practices that an IT function may employ in order to achieve IT Service Management (McNaughton, Ray, & Lewis, 2010). ITIL version 1 was developed during the 1980s by a British public body called the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA). ITIL V1 grew from a collection of best practices observed in the industry. ITIL version 2, which was released between 2000 and 2002, became so popular that ITIL is now counted as the de facto standard for IT Service Management worldwide. ITIL version 3, published in 2007 and later revised in 2011, explains in five volumes the various tasks an IT services supplier must perform. These processes describe how an IT service moves through its life cycle: how the IT service should be planned for and built; how the IT service and related changes should be validated, tested and deployed; how events and requests regarding IT services should be handled; how the basic configuration supporting the IT service should be controlled; and how operational problems should be solved (Taylor, 2007). ITIL is a trademark, and is today owned by the Office of Government Commerce in the UK. In addition to the five official volumes of version 3, a variety of introductory books are available on the topic (e.g. Behr et al., 2005, Taylor, 2007). In order to achieve certification, IT functions can apply the COBIT and the ISO/IEC 2000 standards. IT professionals have a similar certification scheme based on an authorized four-level qualification program: ITIL Foundation, ITIL Intermediate, ITIL Life Cycle, ITIL Expert, and ITIL Master. ITSM and ITIL are both generally concerned with the operational activities of information technology management, often known as IT operations, and not with system or technology development. In summary, ITSM is the concept and ITIL is the framework IT functions can apply to adopt service management to IT operations. However, the application of the two terms is not always consistent; the two terms are used interchangeably in the literature. For example, when a firm is asked if it is adopting ITSM, it may base its answer on the current status of its ITIL project. However, as there are other frameworks that firms can apply for adopting ITSM, e.g. Microsoft MOF, HP ITSM and IBM ITPM, the two terms are not synonymous. Fig. 1 shows the relationship between ITSM and ITIL, an overview of the frameworks, and the certification and qualification schemes.

Our second goal is to structure our information in such a way that research contributions can easily be linked to each other and compared. This will ease researchers’ search for relevant studies. Third, structuring the literature in a detailed and systematic manner also clarifies which issues are not well covered. We intend to identify knowledge gaps and opportunities for contributions, in order to guide future research.

There are several reasons why ITSM and ITIL should attract researchers. First, there is evidence that ITSM and ITIL are highly popular among IT managers. Although it is difficult to find accurate data on its global spread, a visit to ITIL's official website (www.itil-officialsite.com) and the itSMF site (www.itsmf.com) – itSMF is a worldwide independent organization and network concerned with promoting ITIL and best practice in IT Service Management – provides evidence of interest and activity. We find, for example, that itSMF has over 5000 member companies around the world and more than 70,000 individual memberships spread over more than 50 regional chapters; that professionals from more than 150 countries have passed the various ITIL exams, which have been translated to more than 20 languages; that more than 270,000 exams were taken in 2010; that 24 ITIL software tools are endorsed to be ITIL compatible; and that the last annual conferences of the Australian and Norwegian itSMF chapters each had more than 600 delegates, and that the US chapter is expecting 1800 delegates at their upcoming 2012 conference. In addition, the website visits show a large number of local meetings, workshops, and web seminars. Given their topicality, ITSM and ITIL are issues that would benefit from exposure to potential theoretical foundations. Second, there is a growing research interest in IT function characterization. Extant literature is nevertheless fragmented and not properly integrated (Guillemette & Paré, 2012). Guillemette and Paré (2012) argue that it is hardly possible for any IT function to make specific contributions to an organization if its clients are not satisfied, systems are not available, and projects are not delivered on time and within budget. This argument matches the principles of ITSM and ITIL. Third, ITSM and ITIL open up an array of research perspectives, e.g. service innovation (de Jong & Vermeulen, 2003), the capabilities of the IT function (Peppard & Ward, 2004), the introduction of process management (Hammer, 2010), business/IT alignment (Chan & Reich, 2007), and IT governance (Van Grembergen, De Haes, & Guldentops, 2003).

The purpose of this study is to review existing research on ITSM and ITIL. We set the contextual limitation to contributions presenting research on their adoption and implementation, including antecedents and consequences. We set the temporal limitations for this review to contributions from January 2000 until end of August 2012. We utilize research of verified quality, which means that we only address articles in peer-review journals and from reputable conferences. We describe our methodology in Section 2, and present our findings in Section 3. In Section 4, we analyze and discuss existing research in order to identify knowledge gaps, and we suggest opportunities and approaches for future research. Section 5 concludes the article.