Posted: June 10th, 2015

CIS5308 Management of IT Services 2015 Sem 1 Major Assignment 2 1

CIS5308 Management of IT Services 2015 Sem 1    Major Assignment 2   1

Important information

This assignment must be your own work. It is acceptable to discuss course content with others to improve your understanding and clarify requirements, but solutions to assignment questions must be done on your own. You must not copy from anyone, including tutors and fellow students, nor allow others to copy your work. All Assignments will be checked using collusion monitoring tools to ensure that each assignment is the original work of the submitting student. Assignments that do not adhere to this requirement will be deemed as being the result of collusion or plagiarism. This may lead to severe academic penalties as outlined in USQ Policy Library: Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. It is your own responsibility to ensure the integrity of your work. Refer to the USQ Policy Library for more details:

•     Academic Integrity Policy

•     Academic Integrity Procedure

Please note that:

The following is the USQ Assessment – Assignment (Late Submission) and Compassionate and Compelling Circumstances procedure that relate to Extensions and Late Assignments. They can be found under the following links:

•    Assessment – Assignment (Late Submission) Procedure:  http://policy.usq.edu.au/documents.php?id=14749PL#4.2_Assignments

•    Assessment of Compassionate and Compelling Circumstances Procedures:  http://policy.usq.edu.au/documents.php?id=131150PL

Students seeking extensions for any Assignment work must provide appropriate documentation to support their request before the due date of the assignment (see points 4.3 and 4.4 in the Assessment of Compassionate and Compelling Circumstances Procedures above to see what is considered as Compassionate and Compelling reason for an extension and the level of documentation that will be needed).

An Assignment submitted after the due date without an approved extension of time will be penalised. The penalty for late submission is a reduction by five percent (5%) of the maximum Mark applicable for the Assignment, for each University Business Day or part Business Day that the Assignment is late. An Assignment submitted more than ten (10) University Business Days after the due date will have a Mark of zero recorded for that Assignment.

•    The StudyDesk Assignments submission tool will accept late assignments up until 23:55pm on the 10th University Business Day after the due date.

CIS5308 Management of IT Services 2015 Sem 1    Major Assignment 2   2

Assignment 4

Description    Marks out of    Wtg(%)    Due date

Assignment 4    100    50    15 June 2015
Word count: 6000 words

This assignment specifically addresses four of the learning objectives of the course:

?    LO1: demonstrate an awareness of the importance of IT service management and the need for organisations to ensure that effective processes are in place to manage the significant investment in IT infrastructure

?    LO2: demonstrate an awareness of the nature and contribution of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and ISO/IEC 20000 in providing good practice frameworks for IT service management

?    LO3: apply the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and ISO/IEC 20000 objectives, activities and associated roles and responsibilities to enable effective planning, management and improvement of IT service processes.

?    LO4: apply the international standard for IT service management (ISO/IEC 20000) to case studies including the IT service strategy, service design, service transition, service operation and continual service improvement.

This assignment is an individual assignment, therefore you cannot work in a team for this assignment. Submit your assignment individually.

Requirements

Two articles are provided on Vodafone Ireland’s IT Group.

For the purpose of this assignment, assume the role of consultant(s) who have been hired by Vodafone Ireland to contribute to a review of IT Service Management at Vodafone Ireland. You will prepare a report for Mr Shane Gaffney, Head of IT Operations at Vodafone Ireland.

Refer to the marking criteria for details of mark allocations.

Note: the word count does not include letter of transmittal, executive summary, references or appendices.

USQ has a licence for Turnitin software. This online software enables students to check their assignment prior to submission. I encourage all students to use this facility to avoid allegations of academic misconduct from unintentional plagiarism from internet sources. Turnitin is enabled as a plugin in the USQ assignment submission system.

Referencing requirements for Assignment 4

References are required and the Harvard AGPS standard of referencing must be used. Plagiarism, collusion and cheating will be severely penalised.

CIS5308 Management of IT Services 2015 Sem 1    Major Assignment 2   3

Ensure that your reports are fully referenced, including any reference to the text book. Your report should include in-text references and a List of References.

Another useful link on referencing is from USQ’s Library site:
< http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing>

Do not repeat verbatim large slabs of information from other sources such as the text – you must put the ideas/information in your own words.

Activity A: Journal (maximum 500 words) 10%

Prepare a journal that records your activities and progress related to completing this assignment.

In date order, clearly list the following:

?    Date of research activity/discussion

?    Web sites visited to collect information; other references accessed

?    Time duration of the activity

Submit this journal as an appendix to activity B. Any references to web pages and online documents, such as white papers, should be listed at the end of the journal.

Activity B: Case study (max 6000words) 90%

Structure, presentation and introduction 10%

Your report should include a letter of transmittal, executive summary and introduction to the report.

Part 1. Importance of vendors for ITSM implementation at Vodafone Ireland 15%

Explain why it is important for Vodafone Ireland to have a good partnership with its vendors HP and Perform IT for successful ITSM implementation.

Part 2. Service Transition 20%

One of the core goals of service transition is to support the change process of the business. In ITSM, three processes: change management; configuration management; and release management play critical roles in service transition. How do you think these three processes are implemented at Vodafone Ireland? Provide examples of the use and integration of HP BSM applications in order to facilitate successful service transition at Vodafone Ireland.

Part 3. Service Operation 20%

Service operation phase in ITIL is responsible for management of the technology required to provide and support IT services. The case refers to several applications and tools from HP being used to correlate events that links IT infrastructure to service performance. Discuss

CIS5308 Management of IT Services 2015 Sem 1    Major Assignment 2   4

how end-to-end and integrated ITSM applications have enabled Vodafone Ireland to shift their service operation activities from a reactive to a proactive service management in a year. Provide references to the ITSM applications used and examples of process metrics belonging to the incident management and problem management processes used in service performance measurement.

Part 4. Continual Service Improvement 15%

Vodafone Ireland presents a CSI workflow that worked for them: (1) re-align IT operations group to ITIL processes; (2) create meaningful service KPIs to measure service performance;

(3) adopt an end-to-end service surveillance strategy using an integrated ITSM solution (HP BSM 9 software in the case); and (4) monitor and improve service using technology, process and service metrics for service measurement. How did this CSI workflow enable successful organisational change at Vodafone Ireland? Discuss the role of metrics and reporting in CSI.

Part 5. Conclusions and Recommendations 10%

Provide a summary of your findings and make recommendations to other IT service providers about improving customer satisfaction from IT services, reflecting the positive experience showcased in the case.

Case study

Note that there are two documents to read for this assignment.

Vendors such as HP use publish case studies to promote their products.

Vodafone Ireland implements world-class service excellence with HP BSM

Source:  http://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA3-8522ENW retrieved 11/02/2015

Case Study: Vodafone Ireland IT Group Sees Huge ROI

Source:  http://www.zdnet.com/article/hp-discover-case-study-vodafone-ireland-it-group- sees-huge-roi-by-emphasizing-business-service-delivery/ retrieved 11/02/2015

NOTE: ITIL® is a registered trademark of Axelos Limited.

CIS5308 Management of IT Services 2015 Sem 1    Major Assignment 2   5

Criterion    HD    A    B    C    F    Max

Marks

Activity/Task            A: Journal

Journal    Compelling and well-    Good structure and    Adequate structure    Adequate    Poor structure    10%
structured account.    comprehensive    and account of    structure but    and/or
Activities clearly    account of activities    activities    limited description    inadequate list of
described. Initiative            of activities.    activities.
clearly demonstrated.    Referencing    Minor errors in        Incoherent
compliant with    referencing method.    Limited references    account.
Reference list provided    Harvard AGPS        provided and/or
and correctly    referencing method        poorly formatted    Lack of
formatted.    with some minor        reference list.    reference list or
lapses.            poorly formatted
references.

Activity/Task            B: Report

Presentation of    Professional    Carefully and    Shows organisation    Shows some    Disorganised/    5%
report    presentation of material    logically organised.    and coherence.    attempt to    incoherent.
resulting in clarity of            organise in a
message and    Title page and table    Adequate title page    logical manner.    Poor formatting,
information.    of contents clear and    and table of        or missing title
accurate.    contents.    Some flaws in title    page, table of
Professional            page and/or table    contents.
appearance of title page            of contents.
and accurate table of
contents.

Appendices are clearly    Appendices used to    Adequate use of    Appendices not clearly identified or
labelled and    provide appropriate    appendices to    referenced.
referenced.    supporting material    improve report
readability.

Excellent clarity of    Expression fluent.    Grammar and    Grammar and/or    Frequent
expression. Grammar    Grammar and    spelling mainly    spelling contains    mistakes in
and spelling accurate.    spelling accurate.    accurate.    errors.    grammar and/or
spelling.
Referencing fully    Referencing    Most sources are    Gaps in
compliant with Harvard    compliant with    referenced. Minor    referencing and    Unsatisfactory
AGPS referencing    Harvard AGPS    errors in referencing    errors in in-text    referencing. Few
method.    referencing method    method.    references or    or no references
with some minor        reference list.    or inconsistent
Wide range of    lapses.    Clear evidence of        reference
appropriate sources        research and    References are    method.
appropriately analysed,    Variety of    application of    used in a purely
applied and discussed.    appropriate sources    textbook concepts.    descriptive way    No evidence of
appropriately        indicating    research or
analysed, applied        limitations of    irrelevant
and discussed.        understanding.    sources cited.

Clear and concise letter    Format suitable    At times language is    Language is    Lacks letter of
of transmittal,    Senior Manager    unclear and/or    poorly executed or    transmittal or
executive summary,    except for minor    unsuitable for    uses too much    executive
suitable tone and style    lapses in audience    Senior Manager    jargon.    summary. Style
for Senior Manager.    focus.    audience.        not appropriate
for Senior
Manager.

© University of Southern Queensland

CIS5308 Management of IT Services 2015 Sem 1    Major Assignment 2   6

Criterion    HD    A    B    C    F    Max

Marks

Activity/Task            Introduction

Attention to    Clearly introduces the    Reasonable details    .Basic facts on    Some aims    Lacks vital    5%
purpose    company and report.    of company and    company and    identified.    information
report.    report.        about the
Has addressed the        Addressed the main        company and
purpose of the    Has addressed the    purpose of the        report.
assignment    purpose of the    assignment.
comprehensively.    assignment            Fails to address
coherently            the purpose of
the assignment.

Activity/Task        B1: Importance of vendors for ITSM implementation

Explain    Provides excellent    Clearly describes    Adequate    Limited    Incomplete or    15%
importance of    description of    importance of    description of    description of    inappropriate
vendors for    importance of vendors    vendors and supplier    importance of    importance of    description of
ITSM    and supplier    management    vendors and    vendors and    importance of
implementation    management process    process at    supplier    supplier    vendors and
for ITSM    Vodafone.    management    management at    supplier
implementation at        process at    Vodafone.    management at
Vodafone.        Vodafone.        Vodafone.

B2: IT Service Transition

ITIL service    Provides excellent    Clear analysis of the    Adequate analysis    Limited    Incomplete    10%
transition    analysis of the three    three service    of the three service    description of the    analysis of the
processes    service transition    transition processes    transition processes    three service    three service
(change    processes at Vodafone    at Vodafone    at Vodafone    transition    transition
management,                processes at    processes at
configuration                Vodafone    Vodafone.
management &
release
management)
implemented at
Vodafone

Integration of    Demonstrates excellent    Good critical    Adequate critical    Limited critical    Poor level of    10%
HP BSM tools    critical awareness and    awareness and    awareness and    awareness and    critical
for successful    ability to apply ITIL    ability to apply ITIL    ability to apply ITIL    ability to apply    awareness and
service    service transition    service transition    service transition    ITIL service    ability to apply
transition    concepts to the    concepts to the    concepts to the    transition concepts    ITIL service
integration of HP tools    integration of HP    integration of HP    to the integration    transition
in the case.    tools in the case.    tools in the case.    of HP tools in the    concepts to the
case.    integration of
HP tools in the
case.

B3: IT Service Operation

Discuss event    Demonstrates    Comprehensive    Adequate    Limited    Inadequate    15%
correlations that    sophisticated    understanding of    understanding of    understanding of    understanding of
link IT    understanding of    proactive service    proactive service    proactive service    proactive service
infrastructure to    proactive service    operation activities    operation activities    operation    operation
service    operation activities at    at Vodafone.    at Vodafone.    activities at    activities at
performance at    Vodafone.            Vodafone.    Vodafone.
Vodafone

Discuss process    Demonstrates    Comprehensive    Adequate    Limited    Inadequate    5%
metrics used in    sophisticated    understanding of    understanding of    understanding of    understanding of
service    understanding of    process metrics    process metrics    process metrics    process metrics
performance    process metrics    belonging to    belonging to    belonging to    belonging to
measurement    belonging to incident    incident and    incident and    incident and    incident and
and problem    problem    problem    problem    problem
management processes    management    management    management    management
processes    processes    processes    processes

Criterion    HD    A    B    C    F    Max

Marks

Activity/Task        B4: Continual Service Improvement

Understanding    Demonstrates    Provides a good    Provides    Provides limited    Inappropriate or    10%
of CSI    sophisticated ability to    description of the    satisfactory    description of the    missing
workflow at    reflect on the CSI    CSI workflow that    description of the    CSI workflow that    description of
Vodafone.    workflow that enabled    enabled successful    CSI workflow that    enabled successful    the CSI
successful    organisational    enabled successful    organisational    workflow that
organisational change    change at Vodafone    organisational    change at    enabled
at Vodafone Ireland    Ireland    change at Vodafone    Vodafone Ireland    successful
Ireland        organisational
change at
Vodafone
Ireland.

Discuss role of    Provides excellent    Clearly describes    Adequate    Limited    Incomplete or    5%
metrics and    description of the role    the role of metrics    description of the    description of the    inappropriate
reporting in CSI    of metrics and    and reporting in CSI    role of metrics and    role of metrics and    description of
reporting in CSI at    at Vodafone.    reporting in CSI at    reporting in CSI at    the role of
Vodafone.        Vodafone.    Vodafone.    metrics and
reporting in CSI
at Vodafone.

Activity/Task        B5: Conclusion and Recommendations

Conclusions    Clear conclusions and    Good development    Adequate    Limited    Conclusions and    10%
and    recommendations well-    shown in    development shown    conclusions and    recommendation
recommendatio    grounded in material    conclusions and    in conclusions and    recommendations    s not drawn from
ns    presented    recommendations.    recommendations.    that do not build    material.
demonstrating insights            on analysis.
into improvement of
customer satisfaction
using ITSM concepts

Total                        100%