On the Maturity of Software Maintenance and Other IT Services

Author(s):  
Frank Niessink

In this chapter, we examine the differences between software maintenance and software development from a service point of view, and the consequences thereof for the maturity of software maintenance organizations. We argue that software maintenance can be seen as providing a service, whereas software development is primarily concerned with the development of products. Differences between products and services affect the way in which customers assess their respective quality. In particular, service quality is assessed in two dimensions: the technical quality — what the result of the service is — and the functional quality — how the service is delivered. Consequently, customers will judge the quality of software maintenance differently from that of software development. This in turn means that to deliver high quality results in software maintenance, both the functional quality and the technical quality dimension are important.

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-75
Author(s):  
Nhan Huu Huynh ◽  
Dung Anh To

The aim of this paper is to study the effects of service quality in Jetstar Pacific Airlines towards customer’s satisfaction under the perspective of Servqual and Gronroos service quality model and the relationship between functional quality, technical quality, internal and external environment influences mediated by Jetstar Pacific Airlines images and service quality using the main statistical methods such as factor analysis and multiple linear regression.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulfah Yuliana

This research aims to determine the effect of service quality , functional quality , and technical quality of the service user customer satisfaction Suzuki motorcycle servicing of Medan Jaya Group Yogyakarta. This research is a quantitative study descriptive research type. There are three independent variables , namely the quality of service, functional quality, and technical quality. While the dependent variable is customer satisfaction. The population in this study is customer of Suzuki Medan Jaya Group service motorcycle Katamso Number 78 Yogyakarta. Sample of 100 respondents using accidental sampling approaches. Based on the analysis of data obtained the following results : There is a simultaneous influence between the variables of service quality, functional quality, and technical quality of the service user customer satisfaction of Suzuki motorcycle servicing Medan Jaya Group Yogyakarta, the significant value of 0.000, with a regression equation Y = 0.148 X1 + 0.576 0.251 X2 + X3. There is a significant effect of the variable quality of service to customer satisfaction of Suzuki Motorcycle Medan Jaya Group Yogyakarta services with t value 2.359 with a significance value of 0.02. There is a significant effect of the variable functional quality to customer satisfaction of Suzuki Motorcycle Medan Jaya Group Yogyakarta services with t value 7.772 with a significance value of 0.000 . There is a significant effect of the variable technical quality to customer satisfaction of Suzuki Motorcycle Medan Jaya Group Yogyakarta services with t value 3.400 with significant value of 0.001 . Great contribution value of 69.4 % while the remaining 30.6 % is influenced by other factors . The results of the analysis using stepwise method showed that the functional quality dimension (X2) has the most dominant effect on customer satisfaction (Y) with a value of 10,017 t and a significant level of 0.000. Key words : quality of service , functional quality , technical quality and customer satisfaction.


2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 363-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie E. Kreye

Purpose Relational uncertainty determines how relationships develop because it enables the building of trust and commitment. However, relational uncertainty has not been explored in an inter-organisational setting. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how organisations experience relational uncertainty in service dyads and how they resolve it through suitable organisational responses to increase the level of service quality. Design/methodology/approach The author applies the overall logic of organisational information-processing theory and presents empirical insights from two industrial case studies collected via semi-structured interviews and secondary data. Findings The findings suggest that relational uncertainty is caused by the partner’s unresolved organisational uncertainty, i.e. their lacking capabilities to deliver or receive (parts of) the service. Furthermore, the author found that resolving the relational uncertainty increased the functional quality while resolving the partner’s organisational uncertainty increased the technical quality of the delivered service. Originality/value The author makes two contributions: first,the author introduces relational uncertainty to the OM literature as the inability to predict and explain the actions of a partnering organisation due to a lack of knowledge about their abilities and intentions; and second, the author presents suitable organisational responses to relational uncertainty and their effect on service quality.


Author(s):  
Cristina Tassorelli ◽  
Vincenzo Silani ◽  
Alessandro Padovani ◽  
Paolo Barone ◽  
Paolo Calabresi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has severely impacted the Italian healthcare system, underscoring a dramatic shortage of specialized doctors in many disciplines. The situation affected the activity of the residents in neurology, who were also offered the possibility of being formally hired before their training completion. Aims (1) To showcase examples of clinical and research activity of residents in neurology during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy and (2) to illustrate the point of view of Italian residents in neurology about the possibility of being hired before the completion of their residency program. Results Real-life reports from several areas in Lombardia—one of the Italian regions more affected by COVID-19—show that residents in neurology gave an outstanding demonstration of generosity, collaboration, reliability, and adaptation to the changing environment, while continuing their clinical training and research activities. A very small minority of the residents participated in the dedicated selections for being hired before completion of their training program. The large majority of them prioritized their training over the option of earlier employment. Conclusions Italian residents in neurology generously contributed to the healthcare management of the COVID-19 pandemic in many ways, while remaining determined to pursue their training. Neurology is a rapidly evolving clinical field due to continuous diagnostic and therapeutic progress. Stakeholders need to listen to the strong message conveyed by our residents in neurology and endeavor to provide them with the most adequate training, to ensure high quality of care and excellence in research in the future.


PMLA ◽  
1954 ◽  
Vol 69 (4-Part1) ◽  
pp. 953-964
Author(s):  
George R. Coffman

This paragraph introduces a paper which illustrates a larger project: a study of aspects of Gower's works in fourteenth-century historical relationships. The objective is an interpretation of his writings as mirroring the attitude and point of view of a conservative middle-class Englishman for the years 1381-1400 and through them an interpretation of the England of his day. Though these writings show the long heritage of an economic, political, ethical, and religious past, our interest always centers in his immediate present. Non-literary contemporary records consequently provide the first essential materials for this interpretation. Macaulay's standard edition of his works, published half a century ago, based on all manuscripts then available, constitutes the printed source for this study. The high quality of Gower's preserved manuscripts, which give his own revisions, and the fact that these revisions show important changes in his attitudes toward individuals and organizations or institutions, make a re-examination of all of them now available an essential part of this interpretation and raise again the unresolved problem of his ethical integrity. Gardiner Stillwell's able article, “John Gower and the Last Years of Edward III,” provides a suggestive introduction for the interested student. The title of the present article is John Gower, Mentor for Royalty: Richard II.


Author(s):  
Oleksandr Rolik ◽  
Sergii Telenyk ◽  
Eduard Zharikov

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerging technology that offers great opportunities that is designed to improve the quality of consumers' lives, and also to improve economic indicators and productivity of enterprises, and more efficient use of resources. IoT system refers to the use of interconnected devices and distributed subsystems to leverage data gathered by sensors and actuators in some sort of environment and to take a proper decision on a high level. In this chapter, the authors propose an approach to Microcloud-based IoT infrastructure management to provide the desired quality of IT services with rational use of IT resources. Efficiency of IT infrastructure management can be estimated by the quality of services and the management costs. The task of operational service quality management is to maintain a given level of service quality with the use of minimum IT resources amount in IoT environment. Then, the maximum efficiency can be achieved by selecting such control when actual level of service corresponds to the coordinated with business unit and can be achieved by minimal costs. The proposed approach allows the efficient use of resources for IT services provision in IoT ecosystem through the implementation of service level coordination, resource planning and service level management processes in an integrated IT infrastructure management system based on hyperconvergence and software-defined principles. The main goals of this chapter are to investigate the state of art of the IoT applications resource demands in the context of datacenter architecture deployment and to propose Microcloud-based IoT infrastructure resource control method.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 220-226
Author(s):  
Sunny Deo

Background/Aims The quality of information technology (IT) services is key to effective healthcare delivery. However, the high aspirations of health ministers for IT services in hospitals may not be aligned with clinicians' perceptions. This study aimed to assess frontline clinicians' perceptions of the quality of IT services in their institutions. Methods The British Orthopaedics Directors Society online forum was used to invite a group of trauma and orthopaedic clinical leads from a range of hospitals to complete a short questionnaire regarding their perceptions of IT service quality in their practice. Results Negative perceptions of IT service quality were found to be common, with 45% of respondents rating their trusts' overall IT quality as poor or very poor. Of these, 13% deemed their trust's IT service quality to be so poor as to put patients at increased risk. Wide disparities were also reported between respondents' ratings of IT infrastructure quality and institutional responsiveness to concerns. Conclusions This small initial evaluation highlights concerning variations in clinicians' perceptions of IT service quality across different trusts. It also suggests the need for further, more detailed assessment and monitoring of IT quality improvement, for which the same questionnaire method may be useful.


Author(s):  
Patrick Wild

<div>Due to the increasing importance of the tertiary sector, information technology (IT) organizations need to face up to new challenges, since their daily business has changed from development and operation of information technology to the customer oriented provision and management of IT services. In order to survive in the market, service providers need to offer and manage competitive and distinctive IT services. The “Profit Impact of Market Strategies” (PIMS) program has emphasized the need for service quality as being a crucial, strategic competitive factor. However, IT service providers do not have guidance of what quality requirements are supposed to be fulfilled to provide high-quality IT services. Different reference models and frameworks such as ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library), COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and related Technology) and ISO 20000 are widely used by many IT organizations for improving service management processes and performance. However, these reference models do not address the improvement of service quality in a consistent manner and it is not clear whether these models have the capability to close quality gaps which may arise within a service provider environment.</div><div><br></div><div>Therefore, this chapter proposes an IT service quality model for identifying potential quality&nbsp;gaps and quality dimensions in an IT service provider environment. Furthermore, it proposes a set of different quality requirements combined in a “Quality Requirements Model for IT Services” that are needed in order to close the respective quality gaps and fulfill the individual quality dimensions. The model is developed by mapping&nbsp;the reference models ITIL v3, COBIT and ISO 20000 to the previously developed quality model. The results of the mappings emphasize that all three models are partially capable to close the individual gaps of the quality model as well as to guarantee the fulfillment of respective quality dimensions. The fulfillment of these developed quality requirements can be utilized as a guideline for providing and managing high-quality IT services in the long term.</div><div><br></div><div>Finally, the maturity level is analyzed and pointed out that most of the quality requirements are assigned to maturity stage 2 or 3. This implies that an IT service provider does not necessarily have to reach a maturity stage 4 or 5 being able offering high service quality.</div><div><br></div><div>In summary, the chapter provides guidance and quality-oriented IT Service Management to answer the following questions:</div><div><br></div><div><ul><li>What kind of quality gaps exist in a service provider environment?<br></li><li>Do reference models such as ITIL, COBIT and ISO 20000 have the capability to close quality gaps which may arise within a service provider environment?<br></li><li>What processes, activities and functions from which reference model are needed in order to close the respective gaps?<br></li><li>What quality requirements need to be implemented in order to provide high-quality IT services?<br></li><li>What maturity level do service providers need to reach in order to fulfill quality requirements?<br></li></ul></div>


1978 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. E. BALLINGER ◽  
W. F. McCLURE ◽  
E. P. MANESS ◽  
W. B. NESBITT ◽  
D. E. CARROLL ◽  
...  

Application of nondestructive sorting of fruits can be direct or indirect. Direct applications involve mainly objective means of establishing grades and quality of fruits and vegetables, as well as use of light-sorting and other nondestructive means for determining when a crop should be harvested or whether it should be marketed fresh or processed immediately. Indirect applications might be termed “research” usage of nondestructive sorting. Plant breeders would find nondestructive techniques useful for rapidly evaluating quality characteristics during the development of high quality cultivars. Physiologists could utilize it to rapidly determine the effects of treatments upon the quality of the commodity. Examples of development of techniques of light-sorting of blueberries and grapes for ripeness are discussed.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1044-1045 ◽  
pp. 1549-1552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Otakar Cigler ◽  
Karel Kubečka ◽  
Petr Waldstein

The construction and rehabilitation of buildings and structures are intervention in the environment of people. Therefore, we are always looking for new technologies that are not only environmentally friendly but also acceptable from the point of view. Speed, flexibility, minimum limit for residents and transport, and also a high efficiency is the reason why more and more in recent years carried out the rehabilitation of sewerage using remediation sleeves. One of the systems of trenchless rehabilitation of sewerage systems used in Western Europe is a system company RELINEEUROPE Alphaliner Liner GmBH & co., the company's Technicians have developed one of the most important practices in the area of trenchless rehabilitation of sewerage systems. A large proportion of the development also has operators and owners of the pipeline. Technology offers very high quality of carried out restorations. This article describes the procedures for ensuring the quality of the used in Germany, which is a world leader in the development, production and use of this technology.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document