Collaboration Projects

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Different factors affect the performance of these collaboration projects. These factors are related either to the project's macro or micro environments, to the partners involved, to the collaboration process, to the project development process, and to the governance methods used to organize and manage the project. We have grouped these factors into five dimensions represented in the conceptual model illustrated in figure 2. A sixth dimension should be added--the performance level of the collaboration and the service delivery program that it operates.

Shortly after electronic commerce became widely accepted, consumers and businesses developed an interest in electronic interactions with agencies and departments from state, local, and national government. Although e-government receives significantly less press than business-to-consumer e-commerce, it is slowly becoming a reality in municipalities, counties, and states across the U.S. Additionally, federal agencies in the U.S., and national governments outside the U.S., are active adopters of Web technology. Progress in moving government forms, brochures, and transactions to the Web has been limited due to financial constraints, privacy concerns, and the need for technology staff (Robinson, 2002). Nevertheless, government agencies are progressing with plans to Web-enable services for improving interactions with users.

The IT Data Collection project identified 294 employees who met the test of "performing IT work" IT staff on campus1. These employees deliver a variety of IT services from 52 different IT organization units on campus. These organizations fall into two categories:

1. A central Information Technology Services (ITS) organization led by Vice Provost Larry Merkley.

2. Multiple decentralized IT organizations within the campus units. Each IT organization reports to leadership within the unit and has its own IT leader in the campus unit. Figure 2: Distribution of IT Workers at UCSC.

Background

The IT Service Delivery Model (ITSD) Project was commissioned as a part of the Executive Budget Committee (EBC) Process. This document summarizes the final recommendations of the ITSD Project team and their work from October 1, 2003 to December 4, 2003.

Due to the current California budget crisis and the consequent cuts in state funding, the campus needs to reduce expenditures. UCSC leadership has chosen to address this challenge by taking a campus-wide strategic approach to cost reduction through the EBC process. The IT function and IT Services can contribute in two essential ways to this critical.

Process by:

• Enabling the appropriate technology for specific EBC cost reduction initiatives such as eProcurement or Time and Attendance (T&A).

• Redesigning the management and delivery of IT Services to manage IT costs campus-wide. Under this first phase of the IT Transformation two separate but related projects were.

Identified:

1. The IT Data Collection Project collected information on IT assets and how IT services are currently delivered on campus (by whom, for how much cost, using what resources).

2. The IT Service Delivery Model Project focused on developing a future state vision of how IT Services might be delivered.

Specifically, the ITSD project team sought to address these issues:

• Information technology services must strategically support the mission of the campus and enable achieving the goals that are set forth by campus leadership.

• The IT community needs an effective structure and delivery mechanism.

• The IT community needs to find a way to improve the client experience while offering the ability to manage the "costs" that are associated with service delivery. This has not been an easy task since it requires striking the right balance between creating overall IT efficiencies, serving a varied group of user constituencies, and critically examining the trade-off between managing overall IT costs and managing service levels.

Collectively, the work of the IT Data Collection and ITSD teams paints a picture of where IT stands today and where it should go in the future. The model presented is a beginning, not an end point. It will evolve and be further informed by subsequent design and implementation. The team has attempted to create a vision that will address the short-term cost reduction needs of UCSC and also will evolve gracefully to support the future needs of the campus in an effective and cost efficient manner.

One of the main focal points of ITIL v3 is the Service Lifecycle - how services are conceptualized, defined, modeled, offered, accounted for, delivered, supported, and improved - and the Service Portfolio is the central management tool and "system of record" for the Service Lifecycle. As Troy DuMoulin of Pink Elephant mentions in his blog, this brings ITIL to the perspective of the CIO and executive management team and "is focused on the realization that IT Management is accountable for knowing how any given component or device supports a service which impacts or enables a business process and outcome."

For this very reason, ITIL v3 positions the Service Portfolio as the cornerstone of IT Service Management and recommends it as the starting point for every ITIL implementation. ITIL v3 books on Service Strategy, Service Design and Continual Service Improvement lay out the best practices for building an effective Service Portfolio and its published orderable subset, the Service Catalog.

Critical Success Factors (CSF)

CSF analysis provides a means to identify the essential competencies, resources and skills necessary to be successful in a service environment. Resource analysis involves an inventory of strengths and weaknesses Also, identification of the variables that have contributed to a service's success in a sector. Sources of Critical Success Factors:

Concept applies at 3 levels of analysis

Each level provides a source of factors

Service level: links to practice factors

Sector level: factors in the structure of the sector that influence performance

Environment: historical, socio-political factors that impact on service and sector performance

Historical Overview Summary

Industrial Schools Act (1868) reflected the paternalistic ideology of Victorian era, also shared by the Catholic Church. The newly independent Irish State was willing to delegate full responsibility for child care to the Catholic Church. Close State/Church relationship meant the State failed to monitor the Church's practices and its implementation of existing child care legislation.

Social Risk Model

Viewed the child as a risk/threat to society

Prioritised the perspective of the system

Facilitated subjectivity in the way children were categorised and practices prescribed by external sources

Little acknowledgment given to the needs of children and abuse went unnoticed

Aspects of historical perspective can prevail over contemporary perspectives

Primary Care in Secondary Settings

Reconcile primary care with organisational demands Lewin & Bronfenbrenner emphasise the importance of the environment in primary care Behaviour is influenced by one's perception of one's environment Bronfenbrenner's levels of systems useful in selection of critical success factors.