Towards Improving it Service Management Practices a Case Study in the Bank of Abyssinia

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Date

2020-09-16

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Addis Ababa University

Abstract

Due to the Tremendous growth of information technology (IT), organizations are under intensive pressure. Because organizations no longer compete solely based on financial capital and strength, rather IT is the new competitive advantage in business, and to cope with this pressure the organization needs to have effective and efficient IT Service Management. Unfortunately, having effective IT Service Management and aligning IT service with business is a challenging task. Aligning IT service with business is the weakest link in an organization. Because of this, attention has increased to align IT service practice with the business needs of the organization. It is therefore vital that organizations have effective IT service management in place to ensure what they are providing does facilitate the outcomes their customers want to achieve and manage all of the costs and risks with those services. In Ethiopia the business environment is changing rapidly, especially the number of banks joining the industry has been growing from time to time. This scenario enforces the banking industry to provide better service to gain a competitive advantage, which is achieved by improving IT service management. However, due to various challenges IT service management contextual challenges are not explored largely in Ethiopia. Furthermore, studies in the past in the same area have not addressed situations in Ethiopia banking. Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify challenges related to current IT Service Management practices in the Bank of Abyssinia (BoA) and provide recommendations for improvement. A qualitative case study applying observation and interview methods has been used to conduct this study. The interview instruments are developed based on three-dimension namely; process, people, and technology. The study results reveal measurement, change management, interoperability, reporting, policy, and procedure are the challenges that hamper IT service Management practices in the BoA. It also shows a lack of skill, documented service guidelines, a Self-service portal, communication, and collaboration.

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Keywords

Service, IT Service Management, IT Service Management Maturity

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