An Organisational Change Approach to Implementing IT Service Management Research-in-Progress

Although an increasing number of organisations implement the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) with the aim to improve Information Technology (IT) services to their customers, a significant number of ITIL implementations do not achieve the expected outcomes. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Business Process Reengineering (BPR) projects have similarities with ITIL implementations. ERP and BPR researchers using a socio-technical work systems lens have identified that using a formal change management strategy incorporating a socio-technical approach can assist in implementation success. The proposed explanatory research described in this paper seeks to identify if using a socio-technical approach to organisational change can influence the success of ITIL implementations. This paper presents the preliminary findings based on two case studies and provides a detailed view of the strategies and actions of organisations implementing ITIL. This research aims to contribute to practice and research by establishing a model for effective strategies for ITIL implementation