IT Service Science & Service Oriented Computing

Leo HitchcockProgramme Leader

School of Computing and Mathematical SciencesAUT University, Auckland, New Zealand

Background

• Service science, cloud computing and service-oriented computing are growth sectors that are starting to demand knowledgeable and skilled graduates

• Leaders in the Service Science field are IBM, IEEE, and HP Labs

• There are many Service Science-focussed journals and conferences

• AUT appear to be leaders in providing Service Science and Service Oriented Computing academic programmes outside the U.S.

IT Service Science • Is about…

– The economics of IT Services• An IT Service is the advertised and delivered function provided

by the execution of repeatable IT operational processes to support business needs.

– The infrastructure for the provision of IT Services• Network operations, service desk operations, customer service-

level management• Needs analysis and acquisition of products and services• Security technologies and security management• IT Operations & Service management• Infrastructure management in data centers, private

installations, etc.

– The management and innovation of services• Is promoted globally by IBM & HP Labs• Is the foundation study program for the AUT Service Oriented

Computing discipline and Cloud Computing technologies

Services and Service Science

What is a service?Services form a huge category that includes a wide range of activities, from haircutting to IT outsourcing, from health care to legal services, from consumer services to business services, and from private to public services.

Service providers include self-employed persons, multinational corporations, public authorities, and non-profit organizations.

Experts often have a certain type of service in mind when they propose definitions of ‘‘service’’ which involve payment for performance, a time-perishable, intangible experience, an activity performed for a client who is also a co-producer, or one which transforms a state of a client.

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Service science is an emerging discipline that bringstogether the ongoing work in computer science,operations research, industrial engineering, andbusiness strategy, as well as management, social,cognitive, and legal science, in the effort to developthe skills required for a service-oriented economy and the creation of service systems.

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Service system is a “value-coproduction configuration of people, technology, other internal and external service systems, and shared information”

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Service Science research

• IBM is the leader under the banner SSME (Service Science Management & Engineering).

• Journal of Service Science and Management

• Information Technology Adoption and Assimilation: Towards a Research Framework for Service Sector SMEs– Sylvestre Uwizeyemungu & Louis Raymond (2011).

University of Quebec

• Factors Impacting Innovation in New Service Offerings– John Maleyef (2011). Rensselaer Polytechnic, NY

Information technologies (IT) have become one of the most important infrastructural elements for SMEs in service industries. Now, these firms show specific characteristics and behaviours with regard to adopting and assimilating IT. These specificities have not been taken into account however in formulating a research framework or programme on the adoption and assimilation of IT in service SMEs. The present study thus seeks to fill this void. After reviewing the literature on IT in the services sector, the antecedents of IT adoption and assimilation in the context of service SMEs are identified and integrated within a research framework. This framework is then applied to generate a set of twenty-two salient propositions for future research on IT adoption and assimilation in service sector SMEs.

Factors that affect the level of innovation in projects to develop new service offerings are analyzed based on field research results from 84 service innovation projects. Personal characteristics of developers, process and customer type, and an important characteristic of their organization (i.e., whether or not they possess a strong Lean Six Sigma or similar process improvement orientation) are analyzed. It is shown that, although personal characteristics, process type, or customer type do not affect the level of innovation, organizations with a strong Lean Six Sigma orientation had a lower incidence of radical innovation recommendations.

IEEE

• International Conference on Management and Service Science– Enterprise Management, Engineering Management,

Service Science, Financial Management, Knowledge Management

• International Conference on New Trends in Information Science and Service Science– A Framework of Sector-Specific Service

Characteristics. Pui-Mun Lee, 2010, School of Business SIM University [UniSIM], Singapore

Compare to the manufacturing sector, managing quality in the service sector is sometimes more an art form rather than a scientific process. Due to the intangibility of the service product and the real-time participation of the customer in the production of the service, design of services not only requires good service standards and service procedures, it also requires tactful skills from the service operator and necessary real-time adjustments to suit specific needs of the customer in attendance.In this research, a study on the nature of service characteristics in various major service industries was carried out. These service industries include telecommunications, retail, banking, food & beverage, and public transport. The study involved a field survey on consumers in these service sectors. The research outcomes will hopefully provide an understanding of service output characteristics that are important to consumers. This understanding will support service productivity, service innovations and service automation, which are important attributes of a service science culture.

Society of Service Science (SoSS)

• Journal of Service Science– Service science theory

Service economy Service management Service design Service systems Service engineering Industry practice Service science education

Service Science research

Service Oriented Computing and Applications

• Publishes original research results on service-oriented computing (SOC) paradigm, models and technologies

• Covers web service standards, which are simpler, and more economical

• Focuses on service infrastructures, theoretical foundations and their applications and experiences in service-oriented computing

HP Labs

• The science of services• Centre for Systems and Services Sciences, at HP

Laboratories in Bristol, England. • Created by HP, other leading services organizations and

universities across Europe, the group aims to turn IT-based services into a more predictable and scientific practice by sharing research, establishing industry standards, supporting academia, and developing a ‘brokerage’ to bring together members in partnerships.

“Schools are trying to offer courses to prepare the next generation for those jobs, but their efforts are lagging. Asa result, some companies are taking things into their own hands.” Nov. 3, 2007

Demand for training is global

Next fall, Missouri State University will offer a new bachelor degree program for information technology service management. The new major will include existing curriculum, such as IT networking and security classes, but will focus less on other areas, like computer programming. New courses will include service management and incident and problem management. Mar. 14, 2007

“Companies now demand industry knowledge and social skills in addition to technical expertise from applicants. A Gartner Group Study says by 2010, six of 10 people affiliated with IT will assume business-facing roles.” Sept. 3, 2007

There is a lack of overlapping skills at the juncture of business and IT:

• IT needs people who understand how businesses operate and how to use technologies to help the business improve the delivery of services.

• Likewise, business needs to understand more about technology.

Courses

Course NameITSP IT Service ProvisionNAAT Needs Analysis Acquisition & TrainingIST Information Security TechnologiesITSM IT Service Management ITOM IT Operations ManagementProject Research & Development ProjectISM Information Security Management

Identification, development and implementation of practical skills, service techniques and standard procedures in providing IT related services.

Focuses on skills required to identify a user’s information technology solution requirements: to investigate and evaluate suitable solutions including software, platform and vendors, to plan the acquisition of a solution, to identify training requirements, and to plan a training programme using various delivery methods including flexible/blended delivery.

Addresses security technology and systems; basic crypto graphy and public key infrastructure, physical security, logical security, access controls, securing networks, network operations, systems, databases and applications, mobile and wireless security, web-services security, and security strategies for e-commerce. The intrinsic relationship between security technologies, ethics, legal and regulatory requirements, forensics and fraud, business strategy, and risk management is addressed.

Examines the practice and theory of IT Services Management with a focus on industry best practices in managing information technology in an organisation. Such practices are put in context through the presentation of an overall framework for aligning IT strategies with business strategies, monitoring, evaluating and improving IT operations performance, and auditing the relevant processes.

Development and implementation of practical skills, service techniques, and standard procedures in providing supervision, technical support, IT operations services and customer service, as required within an IT operations environment.

An investigation into a selected area whether that be a specific problem domain, or an area of business opportunity. The project is typically an original investigation but considerable flexibility is allowed. Typically projects will involve either commercial software development for live clients, commercial research and development projects on behalf of live clients, or supervised research projects into selected areas of interest.

A holistic view in how information security is managed in an organisation examining its relationship with laws, ethics, culture and standards. Includes the examination of the frameworks processes and measures as well as practical problems involved in building secure operational environments for businesses and individual users. Develops the ability to design secure information technology environments.

“When I came to work at this company, I noticed that they are using knowledge and subjects which I have learned from the AUT courses at ITEC, in particular Information Security Management, and IT Service Provision. As students in the course we did not realise that such knowledge and subjects were used and applied in a large company such as this. I realise how helpful the IT Service Science programme is in obtaining work at larger organisations. I am sure all the graduates will appreciate that AUT provides such a programme in Vietnam”. Giang Huynh, BCIS Graduate, Vietnam

Undergraduate major in Service Science

Major structure:• IT Service Provision (M)• Information Security Technologies (M)• Needs Analysis Acquisition and Training (M)• Information Security Management (M)• IT Operations Management (M)• IT Service Management (M)• IT Project Management (C)• Research and Development Project (C)

AUT University computing graduates formed 17% of total New Zealand computing graduates in 2010. IT Service Graduates are 27%

The School’s full time equivalent student growth in computingover the last 5 years is 29% with the closest rival in NZ at 3%.

IT SS NetSec SWDevCS InfoSys

Master of Service-Oriented Computing

Programme StructureCompulsory modules:• Cloud Computing• Service-Oriented Architecture• Service Relationship Management• Service Science for IT

Elective modules (select any 4):• Contemporary Service Science

Infrastructure• Global IT Project Management• Software Engineering for Services• Web Services Development Project• Information Security• Net-centric Computing• Research Methods• Ubiquitous Computing• eSystems Design and Development• Special Topic

• One year Professional Masters

• Suitable for both non-technical and technically focused students

• No thesis, entirely course work based

• Entry criteria:• four year undergraduate

degree, or• three years undergraduate

degree with work experience

• English: 6.5 overall, no band less than 6

Critically evaluates advanced principles and layers of cloud computing and virtualisation. Reviews the technical integration of ”Platform as a Service”(PaaS) and ”Software as a Service” (SaaS) in an organisational context, and the disciplines required to provide a continuing, secure, reliable and highly scalable service

Critically evaluates the design principles used during the phases of systems development and integration for implementing services that deliver a key portion of their benefit by communication over computer networks. Concepts covered include service discovery, inter-process communication, session management, persistence, and data and transaction management.

Systematic study and analysis of the issues involved in managing the complex roles of client and service providers. Models for consulting, partnerships, contracts, alliance building and processes for managing client expectations and creating, assuring and sustaining effective relationships are analysed and evaluated

Critically evaluates the fundamentals of services and service science and how service systems in organisations support customer-provider interactions thereby delivering value to stakeholders. Also covers service modelling where traditional system modelling approaches are applied and extended to create new service systems and service activities, with an emphasis on service quality

Critically analyses component architectures and infrastructures for the construction of enterprise-scale software systems that operate and interact viathe internet. Evaluates service science principles in developing and managing services and the motivations that led to the deployment and emergence ofweb services from middleware and enterprise architecture integration

Advanced treatment of the principles and pragmatics of IT project management with a focus on globally delivered projects and global virtualteams. Critically evaluates mechanisms for coordination, communication and collaboration in the context of distributed resourcing and service delivery.

Critically evaluates the technical aspects of developing software in the cloud computing paradigm. Reviews the platforms, tools and knowledge developed to meet the unique challenges that large-scale online services present.Examines component architectures based development project for the construction ofenterprise-scale cloud-based software systems.

Comparison with BoK Taxonomy• The mandatory course

content covers all parts of the knowledge areas identified in 1

• The elective courses enable a less-technical and technical pathways for students from different backgrounds

1: L.-J. Zhang, Z. Chen, M. Luo, J. Zhang, and P. C. K. Hung, “A reference model for master of science program in services computing,” in Proceedings of the 2010 6th World Congress on Services, ser. SERVICES ’10

Core

Technical

Less technical

Comparison with SSME Classification1

General

█ █ SSME Education

█ █ Research in SSME

█ █ SSME Policy

█ █ History of Services

█ █ Services Market

█ █ Miscellaneous

Service Science

▄ █ Service Theory

▄ █ Economics of Services

█ █ Mathematical Models of Services

█ █ Services as Value Co-Creation Systems

▄ █ Services as Dynamic Systems

█ █ Services as Multi-agent Systems

█ █ Services as Customer-Intensive Systems

█ █ Service Complexity Theory

█ █ Service Innovation Theory

█ █ Service Science Education

Human Behaviour in Service Systems

▄ █ Service Systems Evolution

█ █ Behavioural Models of Services

▄ █ Decision Making in Services

█ █ People in Service Systems

▄ █ Organizational Change in Services

█ █ Measurement and Incentive in Services

▄ █ Customer Psychology

Service Design▄ █ Service Design Theory ▄ █ Service Design Methodology ▄ █ Service Representation █ █ Aesthetics of Services █ █ Service Design Education

Service Arts ▄ ▀ Service Arts Theory █ █ Services-Inspired Art█ █ Traditional Service Arts█ █ Contemporary Service Arts█ █ History of Service Arts

Service Industries▄ ▀ The Service Industry▄ █ Information Services▄ █ Business Services▄ ▀ Professional Services█ ▀ Business Consulting▄ █ Customer Relations▄ ▀ Maintenance and Repair█ ▀ Public Services█ ▀ Health█ ▀ Hospitality█ █ Transportation█ ▀ Retail and Wholesale█ ▀ Financial█ █ Entertainment█ █ Religious and Spiritual Services█ █ Other Service Industries

Service Engineering█ ▀ Service Operations ▄ ▀ Service Optimization ▄ █ Service Systems Engineering ▄ ▀ Service Supply Chains▄ █ Service Engineering Management▄ █ Service Systems Performance ▄ ▀ Service Information Systems▄ █ Service Standards█ █ Service Engineering Education █ ▀ Service Management▄ ▀ Service Marketing & Communications █ ▀ Service Operations █ ▀ Service Management ▄ █ Service Innovation Management▄ ▀ Service Leadership▄ ▀ Service Quality ▄ ▀ Human Resources Management █ █ Customer Relationship Management ▄ █ Service Accounting▄ ▀ Service Sourcing▄ █ Services Law▄ █ Globalization of Services█ █ Service Management Education

Key: █ █ = comprehensive coverage █ = no coverage ▄ ▀ = limited coverage RED = undergraduate GREEN = post grad. 1: C. Pinhanez and P. Kontogiorgis, "A Proposal for a Service Science Discipline Classification System," in The Frontiers of Service Conference 2008, 2008.

ITSS AUT Academic Models

• Vietnam– ITSS major papers plus R&D project

• Direct entry from NIIT or Aptech (plus SE and PM) • Joint degree with SE undergrad degree

• China– SS major papers plus R&D project (plus other papers)– Joint degree with SE undergrad degree

• Singapore– ITSS major (and Network & Security) papers plus R&D project– Direct Entry from Foundation in Cloud Computing Diploma

ITSS AUT Academic Models

• Articulation and points transfer to AUT Auckland into ITSS major from IT Undergraduate degree – Binus U, Jakarta– Soongsil U, Seoul– Taylors U, KL

In Summary

• IT Service Science programmes are in demand globally– We expect to continue our 30% annual programme growth

over the next three years

• Research driven curriculum:– We work collaboratively with our international partners to

develop research initiatives that focus on information co-creation

– We take interest in all areas of the service lifecycle; including identification, net-value-formation, modelling, implementation and commercialization

• Our Collaborative Provision Office welcomes inquiries for establishing joint programmes

Bibliography

1. J. Spohrer and P. P. Maglio, The Emergence of Service Science: Toward Systematic Service Innovations to Accelerate Co-creation of Value. IBM Almaden Research Center, Almaden, CA (2006), http://www.almaden.ibm.com/asr/SSME/jspm.pdf

2. O. Pitkänen, P. Virtanen, and J. Kemppinen. 2008. Legal research topics in user-centric services. IBM Syst. J. 47, 1 (January 2008), 143-152.

3. Spohrer, J. et al. Steps Toward a Science of Service Systems. IEEE Computer 40, 71-77, 2007

4. Poulson, L.D.: Service Science: A New Field for Today’s Economy, IEEE Computer 39, 18-21 (2006)

5. Johnson, S.P. et al., 2000. A critical evaluation of the new service development process: integrating service innovation and service design, In: New Service Development- Creating Memorable Experiences. Sage Publications

6. Lin and Hsieh: A SAT View on New Service Development, Service Science 3(2), 2011