IRM4727: Module Overview

MODULE OVERVIEW
SERVICE OPERATION PROCESSES

1. GETTING STARTED
Welcome to Service Operation Processes (IRM4727).This module forms part of the
Advanced Diploma in Information Resource Management (90007) offered by the
Unisa School of Computing. I would like to take this opportunity to wish you success
with your academic year.
This is a 3rd-year level module which focuses on managing the delivery of Information
Technology (IT) services to an organisation’s internal and external customers through
the application of contemporary, relevant and practical IT management approaches to
South African organisational case studies. This will assist you in the workplace by
developing a practical solution-oriented mindset.
This is a 12-credit course, so you are expected to spend at least 120 hours in total
working on the course, which is equivalent to at least 120 days or about 5 and a half
months @ 1 hour a day.
Your study material for this module includes:
• This module overview and the learning units.
• Your prescribed textbooks.
• Tutorial letter 101.
• The myUnisa site including the discussion forums.
• Any other tutorial matter you may receive during the course.
Details of your prescribed books are given later in this overview and in Tutorial letter
101. Tutorial Letter 101 can be accessed on myUnisa. You can do this by clicking on
Official Study Material in the menu on the left. It is extremely important that you read
this tutorial letter carefully. This Module Overview:
• Gives you an overview and general information about the module.
• Familiarises you with the prescribed textbooks.

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• Familiarises you with the complex MCQs that you will encounter in the
assignments and the exam.
This overview, the learning units, prescribed textbooks and tutorial letters contain
everything you need to complete this module. However, because this is an online
module you will benefit greatly from using the module website on myUnisa. By using
the site, you can:
• Submit assignments.
• Access your online learning units.
• Have access to the Unisa Library functions.
• Participate in online discussions with your lecturer and your fellow students
using the discussion forums.
• Gain access to a variety of learning resources and view various web
resources online.
Check the site regularly for updates, posted announcements and additional resources
uploaded throughout the year.

2. PURPOSE AND OUTCOMES OF THE MODULE

The module focuses on managing the delivery of Information Technology (IT) services
to an organisation’s internal and external customers through the application of
contemporary, relevant and practical IT management approaches to South African
organisational case studies. You will be introduced to the concept of IT service
management and the best practice implementation of IT service management, being
ITIL® version 4, and the concept of DevOps, Agile and Lean and then how they can
be integrated for optimal organisational performance.
You will learn about IT service management roles and relationships and their
importance. You will be introduced to the four dimensions of service management and
the service value system including the aspects of opportunity, demand, value, guiding
principles, governance and the service value chain. You will learn about the general
management practices, service management practices and technical management
practices. You will learn about the DevOps roles, team structures and synergies, and
how the ITIL® processes and DevOps process can be integrated and complementary
for improved IT performance during IT development and support and operations.
More specifically, after completing the module, you will be able to:

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• Evaluate operating the IT organisation as services, with reference to

business and organisational performance, value and competitiveness.
• Articulate the rationale and benefits of operating the IT organisation as
services, in terms of external and internal business environments,
pressures, requirements and stakeholders.
• Assess the risks facing an IT organisation that is not operated as services,
in relation to technology silos and the consequential business impacts.
• Demonstrate the key aspects of IT service operations, including processes,
functions, roles and controls.
• Analyse the specialized IT service operation capabilities, skills and
resources, which are necessary to provide the required services to the
business.
• Examine the people, processes and technologies comprising IT service
operations, and their configurations for efficient and effective services.
• Specify what capabilities, functions, processes, roles, metrics and controls
are required for optimal IT service operations, including how they should be
practically operationalised.
• Apply IT service operations to a selected organisation, with an emphasis on
managing IT from a business perspective.
• Solve a selected organisation’s IT service operations issues, balancing
competing factors such as change and status quo, IT and business
perspectives, stability and responsiveness, quality and cost and being
reactive or proactive.
• Plan for optimising a selected organisation’s IT service operations, by
referring to the appropriate activities, processes, functions, roles and
responsibilities and metrics that should be instituted.
• Examine a case study where the IT service operations are applied to an
organisation to address the specific case study problems and objectives.
• Assess the implementation of IT service operations in a selected
organisation, clarifying problems and offering convincing solutions.
• Analyse a case study illustrating the benefits and disadvantages of the IT
service operations implementation in a selected organisation, and ways to
mitigate any disadvantages.

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• Critique a selected organisation’s IT service operations implementation,

with substantiated proposals for improvements.
• Explain the important and relevant inputs into the IT service value chain
activities, with justifications for each input.
• Articulate the important and relevant outputs from the IT service value chain
activities, with justifications for each output.
• Demonstrate the characteristics, implementation and value of the inputs
to/outputs from the various service value chain activities.

3. LEARNING RESOURCES
In the module you need to work through TWO textbooks, but don’t worry because

your assignments and the exam are OPEN BOOK. This means that
you DO NOT need to memorise everything in these books. Instead, you need to know
what these textbooks their chapters are about, where to find them and be able to
analyse, apply synthesise and evaluate the principles, concepts and theories in all two
textbooks. The more you study these textbooks the easier it will be to complete the
assignments and exam.
You are required to demonstrate higher order thinking skills, which are critical thinking
skills comprising synthesizing, analysing, reasoning, application and evaluation, as
opposed to lower order thinking skills such as rote memorization. You need to apply
the theory available in the prescribed textbooks to the specifics in the case studies to
answer the assignment and exam questions.

Let’s take a closer look at each textbook.

The first textbook is:
Agutter, C. (2020). ITIL® 4 Essentials: Your essential guide for the ITIL 4 Foundation
exam and beyond, second edition. IT Governance Publishing.
https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/itil-4-essentials/9781787782204/ (Freely
available ONLINE from Unisa’s e-library – Safari Books Online (O'Reilly) database).

To find this FREE resource in the Unisa e-library go to:

https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/ --> Click the "Library" menu option --
> In the middle of the page, in the block called "Search the Library", click the link called
"Find e-resources" --> In the block titled "License Terms and Conditions of Use for

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Electronic Resources", click the "Accept" button. Click the "Publishers" tab and scroll
down to and click the link called "Safari Books Online". Click the link "Safari Books
Online (O'Reilly)". One the next page displayed, where it says "Welcome! Get instant
access through your library. Select your institution" from the drop-down menu select
"Not listed? Click here". Then, it will ask, "Just enter your academic institution email
below:" and type in your myLife e-mail address (for example:
[email protected]) and click the button called "Let's Go". And click the
button called "Got It" on the next screen. You should be in the O'Reilly site. Then, on
the top right-hand side click the search "looking glass" icon and type "ITIL® 4
Essentials: Your essential guide for the ITIL 4 Foundation exam and beyond, second
edition" and press enter. Click on that book's link and click the "Start Reading Now"
button to start reading. Use the top left (PREV) and right (NEXT) hand side arrows to
move through the book.

In this textbook we start familiarising ourselves with ITIL® 4 and its main concepts and
principles

The second textbook is:

Kaiser, A. K. (2018). Reinventing ITIL® in the Age of DevOps: Innovative Techniques
to Make Processes Agile and Relevant. Apress.
https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/reinventing-itil-in/9781484239766/ (Freely
available ONLINE from Unisa’s e-library – Safari Books Online (O'Reilly) database).

To find this FREE resource in the Unisa e-library go to:

https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/ --> Click the "Library" menu option --
> In the middle of the page, in the block called "Search the Library", click the link called
"Find e-resources" --> Then, in the block titled "License Terms and Conditions of Use
for Electronic Resources", click the "Accept" button. Click the "Publishers" tab and
scroll down to and click the link called "Safari Books Online". Click the link "Safari
Books Online (O'Reilly)". One the next page displayed, where it says "Welcome! Get
instant access through your library. Select your institution" from the drop-down menu
select "Not listed? Click here". Then, it will ask, "Just enter your academic institution
email below:" and type in your myLife e-mail address (for example:

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[email protected]) and click the button called "Let's Go". And click the
button called "Got It" on the next screen. You should be in the O'Reilly site. On the top
right-hand side click the search "looking glass" icon and type "Reinventing ITIL® in the
Age of DevOps: Innovative Techniques to Make Processes Agile and Relevant" and
press enter. Then click on that book's link and click the "Start Reading Now" button to
start reading. Use the top left (PREV) and right (NEXT) hand side arrows to move
through the book.

This textbook demonstrates that ITIL® can and should be used in conjunction with
many other IT management approaches, frameworks and theories. This textbook
explains how ITIL® and DevOps, an innovative approach to IT that is gaining success
and recognition, can complement one another to the benefit of an organisation.

4. HOW THE MODULE IS ASSESSED

As mentioned, your assignments and the exam are OPEN BOOK. In addition, your
assignments and the exam comprise COMPLEX Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs)
only based on case studies.
Let’s see what the COMPLEX MCQs look like and what processes you need to employ
to answer them by working through a very simple example of the type of questions
that will be in your assignments and exam.

Example Case Study and COMPLEX MCQs:

General instructions for answering the COMPLEX MCQs:

• ALL the multiple-choice questions relate to a case study. You MUST analyse this
case study in order to answer the multiple-choice questions. The information
presented in the case study is limited to the scope and purposes of the assignment.
DO NOT assume that anything is MISSING from or PRESENT in the case study
scenario just because it is not mentioned in the case study scenario. All the
scenario information that you need to attempt each question is provided in the case
study and/or each question. No assumptions should be made on the basis that
something was not mentioned in the case study.
• Read the case study CAREFULLY at least TWICE before attempting to answer the
multiple-choice questions that follow.

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• You will NOT be penalised for incorrect answers. There is NO negative marking,
so attempt ALL multiple-choice questions.
• For each multiple-choice question:
a. Read the multiple-choice question CAREFULLY so that you know exactly
what is being asked. If the multiple-choice question asks for the “most
correct” answer, then select the answer that is most correct or has the
least errors in it. So, the “most correct” answer may still contain errors
but should contain the smallest number of errors compared to the other
answer options.
b. There are five answer options per multiple-choice question.
c. Analyse each answer option in the multiple-choice question. For EACH
answer option, COUNT how many CORRECT items there are in that
answer option OR CHECK EVERY SENTENCE for LOGIC,
CORRECTNESS and COHERENCE to the case study.
d. Then, select the answer option that is the most correct based on the
multiple-choice question and case study. ONLY ONE answer option is
correct for each multiple-choice question. Select only one answer option per
multiple-choice question.
e. When entering your chosen answer option into myUnisa, remember that:
▪ Answer option “A” in the assignment = Answer option “1” on
myUnisa.
▪ Answer option “B” in the assignment = Answer option “2” on
myUnisa.
▪ Answer option “C” in the assignment = Answer option “3” on
myUnisa.
▪ Answer option “D” in the assignment = Answer option “4” on
myUnisa.
▪ Answer option “E” in the assignment = Answer option “5” on
myUnisa.

EXAMPLE CASE STUDY: Garden inside the campus

Inside the campus, there is a huge garden for students to enjoy. The groundsman
maintains the garden. In the garden, birds, cats, snails and ants have been found.

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However, the groundsman has a major concern about the damage to the flowers
caused by the snails. To maintain the garden, the groundsman uses several tools,
namely a spade, shovel, wheelbarrow, spading fork, edging wheel edger and string
trimmer. The groundsman does not operate in isolation, and he says that the important
inputs from the various campus managers are petty cash to pay for daily garden
expenses from the finance manager, weekly maintenance schedules from the campus
estate manager, access to the campus and buildings from the campus security
manager and daily lunch from the restaurant manager.

Complex MCQ Type 1:

Following is a list of creatures that can be found in gardens all over the city:
1. Dogs.
2. Cats.
3. Frogs.
4. Birds.
5. Mice.
6. Snails.
7. Ants.
Which one of the following combinations contains the HIGHEST NUMBER of
creatures that have been found in the garden inside the campus?
A. 2, 3, 4, 5
B. 1, 2, 3, 7
C. 2, 4, 5, 6
D. 1, 2, 4, 5
E. 1, 3, 6, 7

HOW to solve this MCQ problem:

• Read the example case study.
• Read the example question.
• LINK the example question to the EXACT corresponding content in the
example case study.

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• Analyse each answer combination in the question.

• For EACH answer combination COUNT how many CORRECT items are in
that answer combination and WRITE that number next to that answer
combination.
• Then, select the answer combination with the highest number.

Complex MCQ Type 2:

Which answer option is the MOST ETHICAL, LOGICAL AND COHERENT for
addressing the groundsman’s major concern?

A. The groundsman can use various methods to remove the snails. An additional
reason to remove the snails is that snails often carry parasites that can cause very
serious diseases in people. One method to remove snails is to use snail poison,
however, this poison is also deadly for cats. Therefore, the best method for this
particular garden is to attract more birds to the garden because there are several types
of birds that eat snails. Attracting more birds can be done by putting out bird seed each
morning.

B. The groundsman can use various methods to remove the snails. An additional
reason to remove the snails is that snails often carry parasites that can cause very
serious diseases in people. One method to remove snails is to use snail poison,
however, this poison is also deadly for cats. Therefore, the best method for this
particular garden is to use poison because it is ok to kill a few cats to remove the snails
and save the flowers. Attracting more birds can be done by putting out bird seed each
morning.

C. The groundsman can use various methods to remove the snails. An additional
reason to remove the snails is that snails often carry parasites that can cause very
serious diseases in people. One method to remove snails is to use snail poison,
however, this poison is also deadly for cats. Therefore, the best method for this
particular garden is to attract more birds to the garden because there are several types
of birds that eat snails. Attracting more birds can be done by putting out bird poison
each morning.

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D. The groundsman can use various methods to remove the birds. An additional
reason to remove the snails is that snails often carry parasites that can cause very
serious diseases in people. One method to remove snails is to use snail poison,
however, this poison is also deadly for cats. Therefore, the best method for this
particular garden is to attract more birds to the garden because there are several types
of birds that eat snails. Attracting more birds can be done by putting out bird seed each
morning.

E. The groundsman can use various methods to remove the snails. An additional
reason to remove the snails is that ants often carry parasites that can cause very
serious diseases in people. One method to remove snails is to use snail poison,
however, this poison is also deadly for cats. Therefore, the best method for this
particular garden is to attract more birds to the garden because there are several types
of birds that eat snails. Attracting more birds can be done by putting out bird seed each
morning.

HOW to solve this MCQ problem:

• Read the example case study.
• Read the example question.
• LINK the example question to the EXACT corresponding content in the example
case study.
• Analyse each answer option in the question.
• For EACH answer option CHECK EVERY SENTENCE for LOGIC and
COHERENCE with the question and case study.
• Then, select the answer option that is the most ethical and logical and
coherent with the question and case study and answers the question.

Complex MCQ Type 3:

Which one of the following answer options contains the HIGHEST NUMBER of tools
used by the groundsman?
Answer options
Garden Tools A B C D E
Spade ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

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Answer options
Garden Tools A B C D E
Hand trowel ✓ ✓
Pruning shears ✓ ✓
Hoe ✓
Gardening gloves ✓
Shovel ✓
Rake ✓
Saw ✓ ✓
Wheelbarrow ✓ ✓
Fork ✓
Spading fork ✓ ✓
Pick ✓ ✓
Trench shovel ✓
Post hole pincer ✓
Edging wheel edger ✓ ✓
Lawn Mower ✓
Leaf blower ✓ ✓
String trimmer ✓ ✓
Sprinkler ✓ ✓
Hose ✓ ✓

HOW to solve this MCQ problem:

• Read the example case study.
• Read the example question.
• LINK the example question to the EXACT corresponding content in the
example case study.
• Analyse each answer option in the question.
• For EACH answer combination COUNT how many CORRECT items are in
that answer combination and WRITE that number next to that answer
combination.

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• Then, select the answer combination with the highest number.

Complex MCQ Type 4:

Below is a list of inputs to the groundsman from various campus managers:
1. Petty cash.
2. Garden tools.
3. Garden equipment.
4. Diesel.
5. Weekly maintenance schedule.
6. Safety gear.
7. Electricity.
8. Access to the campus.
9. Water.
10. Daily lunch.
Which one of the following answer options provides the MOST correct combinations
of inputs to the groundsman from various campus managers (most correct inputs
from their correct campus manager allocations) according to what the groundsman
says are the important inputs?

A.
Finance Manager Estate Manager Security Manager Restaurant Manager
1 2, 3 8 10

B.
Finance Manager Estate Manager Security Manager Restaurant Manager
1 3, 5 8 10

C.
Finance Manager Estate Manager Security Manager Restaurant Manager
1 3, 5 6 10

D.
Finance Manager Estate Manager Security Manager Restaurant Manager

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1 3, 4 8 10

E.
Finance Manager Estate Manager Security Manager Restaurant Manager
1 3, 5 8 9

HOW to solve this MCQ problem:

• Read the example case study.
• Read the example question.
• LINK the example question to the EXACT corresponding content in the
example case study.
• Analyse each answer option in the question.
• For EACH answer combination COUNT how many CORRECT items (BOTH
CORRECT INPUT AND CORRECT CAMPUS MANAGER ALLOCATION)
are in that answer combination and WRITE that number next to that answer
combination.
• Then, select the answer combination with the highest number.

5. HOW THE CONTENT OF THE MODULE IS ORGANISED

There are four learning units, covering both textbooks, to help you progress through
the learning material. The first learning unit presents the key concepts of service
management, to establish why service management and ITIL® for service
management is necessary and how ITIL® has moved into a value system framework
that can be integrated with many other innovative, practical and significant practices
and frameworks, including DevOps, Agile and Lean. The ITIL® concepts of value and
co-creation are introduced here. The first learning unit also includes key service
management roles and relationships, explanations and definitions about products and
services, utility, warranty, output, outcome, risk and value co-creation, service
relationship concepts and the four dimensions of service management, namely
organisations and people, information and technology, partners and suppliers and
value streams and processes, which enables you to build a mental model of how all
these key pieces fit together and the core principles of ITIL® 4.

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The second learning unit explains the central idea of ITIL® 4, which is the Service
Value System (SVS), being the model for how value is cocreated and includes the
concept of the service value chain. The second learning unit also presents the SVS
components of opportunity, demand and value, the seven guiding principles, namely
focus on value, start where you are, progress iteratively with feedback, collaborate
and promote visibility, think and work holistically, keep it simple and practical, optimise
and automate, governance and the operating model called the service value chain,
which has some resemblance to the ITIL® 3 life cycle model. The service value chain
includes the activities of plan, improve, engage, design and transition, obtain/build and
deliver and support.
The third learning unit introduces DevOps and explains what DevOps is, how and why
it came about, the problems it addresses and its principles. It also details how DevOps
relates to IT services, software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops). The
benefits of DevOps are also exposed with examples. In addition, DevOps is explained
in relation to Agile and Lean. Importantly, DevOps directly addresses the typical and
longstanding conflicts between IT development and IT operations teams. The third
learning unit also highlights that the main objectives of ITIL® and DevOps are
essentially the same, to deliver value to the business.
The fourth learning unit is where ITIL® and DevOps are analysed together, their
strengths and weaknesses compared and contrasted to demonstrate where and how
they can be beneficially integrated and begins the process of integrating ITIL® and
DevOps by identifying the ITIL® processes and phases that need to be changed and
those that do not need to be changed. The fourth learning unit also discusses how IT
people are structured for successful outcomes, since people are required to develop,
manage and maintain IT systems, analyses the ITIL® and DevOps team structures
and explains how they can be successfully integrated, examines how configurations
are managed in a DevOps Project and explains incident, problem, change and release
management adaption.

6. THE TEACHING APPROACH USED IN THE MODULE

The module is outcomes based, which means that what you need to be able to do by
the end of the module is what guides the module design and teaching and learning.
The IT competencies, skills and knowledge that you require in the work environment

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is a major part of the specified outcomes, so the module strives to help you develop
those IT competencies, skills and knowledge.
In addition, the module requires active learning, where you are required to read, study
and learn by applying the required competencies, knowledge and skills in real-life
situations. To encourage active learning, there are activities for you to do throughout
the learning units. IN addition, you are encouraged to discuss and solve problems with
fellow students on myUnisa in the discussion forums. Participating and completing
these activities will contribute to meaningful learning develop the competencies,
knowledge and skills required in your IT career.
Wishing you success with your academic year.

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