VPIT IT’s all in the Service Paul Sorenson Vice-Provost (IT) & Professor of Computing Science University of Alberta

VPIT Feb IT Planning Session 3 - Focus on Servies2 A Service Commitment To deploy services not just systems To align service delivery and support with a services technology strategy - web services approach to application provisioning - move to systems supported by SOA To organize along services delivery lines To plan and budget based on services To adopt a services philosophy throughout the institution. To study and deploy “services science”

VPIT Feb IT Planning Session 3 - Focus on Servies3 IT Services A service is a function that is well-defined, self-contained, and does not depend on the context or state of other services.

VPIT Feb IT Planning Session 3 - Focus on Servies4 Web Services Description Language (WSDL)

VPIT Feb IT Planning Session 3 - Focus on Servies5 Web Services Exposed!

VPIT Feb IT Planning Session 3 - Focus on Servies6 Services – The Philosophy Uniformity – services are viewed and requested in a consistent manner Integration – a service can request other services and can be requested by other services Anywhere at anytime – services running on the web can be accessed (on demand) Value – Must focus on customer (client)

VPIT Feb IT Planning Session 3 - Focus on Servies7 Services – The Organization Adopts a notion of high-quality service: - helpful - performed as promised (does what is says it will do) - consistent (reliable) - uses measurement to improve quality of service In general, services meet service level agreements,which can be challenging …

VPIT Feb IT Planning Session 3 - Focus on Servies8 Service Measures SERVQUAL - Service Quality Surveys Possible overkill Keep up the good work Low priority Concentrate here Excellent Adequate Slightly ImportantExtremely Important Performance Importance

VPIT Feb IT Planning Session 3 - Focus on Servies9 10 Most Common Service Dimensions Tangibles—physical appearance Reliability—perform as promised constantly Responsiveness Competence Courtesy Credibility Security/Safety Access—easy to do business Communication—keeping customer informed Understanding customer needs

VPIT Feb IT Planning Session 3 - Focus on Servies10 Service – Plan & Budget Service score card approach Contains: - Service description - Service development history [recent] - Key performance measures and target service levels [e.g., SIS$/student] - Current budget/expenditures - 3-year budget forecast - Risks of failure and opportunities for improvement

VPIT Feb IT Planning Session 3 - Focus on Servies11 Service Culture Service week! Incentives to support the culture! Win Me!

VPIT Feb IT Planning Session 3 - Focus on Servies12 Shared Services The development and production management of our Administrative Information Systems is outsourced to IBM through a unique partnership. Major applications (student, HR, and finance) are implemented in Oracle-PeopleSoft ERP. April 2005 renewed a five-year shared services contract with IBM to support the production management. September 2005 developed a new development model that involves three preferred vendors of which IBM is one.

VPIT Feb IT Planning Session 3 - Focus on Servies13 Successful Shared Services Successful shared services  good governance model Considerable effort was expended in 1 st five years to develop a workable governance model Currently evolving the model to handle: - multiple new development vendors - “ERP-aware” applications - growing importance of our ERP in all aspects of the University’s operations

VPIT Feb IT Planning Session 3 - Focus on Servies14 Shared Services Governance Project Review SS governance models available in the literature. Review the evolution of our governance model to date. Determine both perceived and real gaps regarding its ability to support high quality shared services  quality services assessment. Examine who in the partnership can best deliver what parts of the services and what’s missing.

VPIT Feb IT Planning Session 3 - Focus on Servies15 Services Science IBM’s challenge – 55% of their business is in services and this portion is growing Their major research labs in Yorktown Heights, Almaden and Zurich focus on hardware and software research Major gap in research on service provisioning New research partnerships and academic programs in services science as part of the new IBM Alberta CAS (Centre for Advanced Studies)

VPIT Feb IT Planning Session 3 - Focus on Servies16 IBM Alberta CAS (Centre for Advanced Study) One of 18 CASs worldwide Focus is initially on UofA in machine learning, nanotechnology, and bio- simulation Initial discussions on services science involving computing science, business, engineering, law Case studies, joint research projects, development of shared programs Involve research, learning and administration

VPIT Feb IT Planning Session 3 - Focus on Servies17 Conclusions Services approach provides a simple, yet holistic approach to information systems planning, deployment, evaluation, improvement and research.