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In the Part I of this research (Mora et al., 2014), we addressed the practical and research issues experienced by Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) practitioners and academic researchers alike, regarding the broad and diverse literature on the fundamental concepts and IT architecture design models used in the main seven ITSM processes frameworks: ISO/IEC 20000 (ISO, 2005; 2010), ITIL v2 (van Bon et al., 2005), ITIL v3 (Cartlidge, 2007; van Von et al., 2007), COBIT (ITGI, 2005), CMMI-SVC (SEI, 2010), ITUP® (EMA, 2006; Ganek & Kloeckner, 2007; IBM, 2010), and MOF® 4.0 (Microsoft, 2008).
Accordingly we have conducted an extensive review of IT service design processes of the aforementioned seven relevant ITSM processes frameworks. Research questions were established as follows: (i)what are the foundational concepts of service, IT service, system and service system used in each ITSM processes framework?; (ii) what is the used description for an IT service architecture design in each ITSM processes framework ?; and (iii) what are the degree of compliance of the first two previous elements regarding the modern view of services and service systems ?
In this Part II of this research, we complete our analysis focusing on the IT service design processes and practices reported in the seven ITSM processes frameworks. For this aim, we use again a systems view through the system engineering standard ISO/IEC 15288. The systems engineering discipline concerns with the integrated design of man-made systems under an organizational context, has elaborated systematic design processes (Buede, 2000; Sage, 2000; Farr & Buede, 2003). The standard ISO/IEC 15288 (ISO, 2007) is the main one used in this research for conducting a comparison of the design process posed in the seven ITSM process frameworks versus the standardized ISO/IEC 15288 processes (e.g. versus the specific processes related with the system design purpose). This systems engineering standard ISO/IEC 15288 has been used previously as a theoretical framework for conceptual studies in the domain of business organizational process (Arnold & Budson, 2004) and design of eco-industrial parks (Haskins, 2007).
Given that designing an IT service must consider the interactions of several human and technology components (hardware, software, DBMS, networks, data, applications, environment, and internal and external teams), an IT service and their generative IT service system constitutes man-made engineered systems. Consequently, IT service design processes, and their detailed study on how to systematically conduct it emerges as a relevant systems engineering design problem (Uebernickel, 2006; Ebert et al., 2007; Weist, 2009; Alter, 2011, 2012).