Design and Development of a Service Knowledge Management System (SKMS) prototype at Edge Systems Company Kenya

Abstract

Service delivery improvement and continual management are crucial for three reasons, value achievement of Information Communication Technology (ICT) service, ICT service continuity, and ICT services support of the core business in the organization. Edge systems company required a centralized platform to document all ICT service management processes and use the data retrieve reports to aid in decision making; Eliminate the inefficiencies of the manual ICT service management process and identification for the areas that will ICT service continuous improvement. Therefore, there is a need to develop a platform SKMS that will facilitate the adoption of ITIL. The study sought to design and develop a service knowledge management system prototype model for Edge System Company an ICT service delivery entity with the view to ensure optimal and improved ICT service is provided. The objectives of the study were: influence of ITIL in ICT service delivery at edge systems; establish the level of user acceptance of ITIL in ICT service delivery at edge systems; determine the effect of the service management process (including plan-do-check-act) in ICT service delivery at edges systems; design and development of a service knowledge management system (SKMS) in reference to ITIL for ICT service delivery at edge systems. A qualitative and quantitative research approach was adopted. The non-probability sampling procedure was used to draw 98 respondents from a population of 327 staff comprising of edge systems customer care, ICT support, ICT implementation personnel, account managers, sales agents, ICT staff of the client resolution health. The study adopted an online questionnaire the monkey survey and interviews for requirements gathering. Descriptive and thematic analysis methods were used in data analysis where evolutionary prototyping methodology was adopted in developing the system. The SKMS was running on an Android mobile platform. The study established once the service delivery improved there was a value-add to the ICT service. There was a notable 75% improvement in ICT service; the level of user acceptance of the services improved by 73.2%; ICT support toward the business was enhanced by 50% and Plan – Do –Check – Act of ICT services offered improved the service delivery by 80%. There was a notable influence of ITIL in ICT service delivery when the respondents indicated their delight to be able to refer to documented changes and incidences for insight where need be. The study concluded that to improve ICT service delivery and ICT service continuity management, there needs to be a continuous evolution of the ICT service to meet end-user needs and continuous end-user interactions with the ICT vendor. The study recommends the use of mobile applications for ICT service management to ensure end-user interaction, documentation on improved ICT service provision.