Application of IT Service Knowledge Management Systems in IT Departments

Many information technology (IT) departments redefine their technology offerings as IT services in response to their customers’ discontent with IT costs and performance. Firms’ internal IT departments often use IT service knowledge management systems to support their servitisation journeys. Knowledge stored in IT service knowledge management systems, such as IT service catalogues (ITSCs) and configuration management databases (CMDBs), informs decisionmaking processes in IT departments. ITSCs provide information about a service’s value proposition, scope, characteristics and costs. IT departments’ ITSCs are central to ensuring a common and clear understanding between service customers and providers about IT service performance. CMDBs configure IT services from IT assets, build relationships between related assets and services and validate IT service specifications. CMDBs are highly useful for IT departments’ asset management processes. Because ITSCs and CMDBs are complex and new to literature and practice, many companies face challenges when designing and implementing them. Consequently, proposing theoretical contributions that inform the successful application of IT service knowledge management systems in IT departments is a relevant research aim. The objective of this PhD project is to create knowledge about the successful implementation of IT service knowledge management systems, with a particular focus on analysing the challenges that IT managers face during the systems’ design and implementation projects. Lastly, this project focuses on proposing methods and guidelines for the successful application of IT
knowledge management systems in IT departments. This PhD project contributes to the IT service management literature by extending our understanding of IT service knowledge management system implementation risks and proposing solutions for the successful implementation of these systems. Based on the academic literature and case studies, the results show that defining and modelling IT services are crucial prerequisites for the successful implementation of IT service knowledge management systems. While IT services are configurable, their inherent complexity and the heterogeneity among IT departments’ services hinder their modularisation and conceptual modelling. Case studies demonstrate that the managerial challenges in designing and implementing ITSCs and CMDBs lie in the management of conceptual modelling of IT services, IT service data quality and general project management. Through longitudinal case studies, methods for ITSC scoping and CMDB implementation as well as conceptual models for IT services and ITSCs have been developed.