Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing (DIPECC), Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia, 2016
Approaches to IT Service Management in Improving IT
Management in the Banking Sector – A Case Study in
Tanzanian Banks
Jiten Kirit Vaitha
School of Computing & Technology
Asia Pacific University of Technology &
Innovation
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
jiten.vaitha@gmail.com
Abstract – This paper discusses how various
frameworks or guidelines can be used to improve
the current situation in managing IT departments
in the banks in Tanzania, by also initially
identifying the current challenges faced by the
banks. IT management involves managing all the
resources that utilize information technology in an
organization or firm that have to be managed
according to priority. A good management of these
resources brings about benefits in staffing and
budgeting, organization and control as well as
usage of technology. In today’s world, many new
firms are coming up which highly rely on
information technology, making it complex at times
in terms of managing IT infrastructure. Hence, the
organizations have to make use of certain
guidelines that can help them to manage their IT
infrastructures in the desired way, and to bring
about profitable benefits.
Keywords – ITIL, COBIT, ITSM, IT, ISO, Banks
1. INTRODUCTION
Information Technology Service Management
(ITSM) can be referred to as the way of operating
the IT part of the organization by focusing on the
day to day services provided by the IT department
in that organization, so as to meet customer’s
needs. ITSM acts as a service function of the
function of the IT provided by the organization.
Since the technology is growing rapidly, it is
difficult for the IT service providers to afford new
technology all the time so instead, they focus more
ISBN: 978-1-941968-37-6 ©2016 SDIWC
Nicholas Jeremy Francis
School of Computing & Technology
Asia Pacific University of Technology &
Innovation
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
nicholas_jeremy@apu.edu.my
on giving a better quality service to the customers
[1].
The bank is a type of business organization that
needs to make use of proper IT services in order to
operate and deliver their services to the customers
in the most efficient way. Due to a rapid growth of
IT, the systems should be more flexible and
scalable in order to improve the swiftness of the
organization. In some absurd situations, the IT
managers have to look for cost-effective ways to
handle the IT management aspect, and this is done
through outsourcing the IT services [2].
There are different approaches to ITSM. Some
of the common ones are IT Governance,
Information Technology Infrastructure Library
(ITIL), Control Objective for Information and
related Technology (COBIT), ISO/IEC 20000, and
Business Service Management (BSM) [3].
Implementation of ITSM brings about changes in
the organizational culture, new processes and the
training of the staff which helps in reorganizing
the approaches used to do business supported by
IT. ITSM is known as a Business Process Change
Management (BPCM) which is of a high concern,
because there is a lot of resources and expenditure
needed for it [4].
2. IT GOVERNANCE
Reference [3] says that IT governance is a
different term from other terms used in ITSM
frameworks, such that it does not focus on
managing the IT organization on a daily basis, but
it aims at the critical factors required in order to
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Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing (DIPECC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2016
achieve the business needs in consonance with IT.
It is referred to as applying the rights concerned
with decision making in the structure of an
organization [3].
IT governance concerns management of IT at
the top level of decision making and the rights by
provision of adjustment and control whereby the
duty of the organization is to specify the risk
drivers and the value of business so that the
process and objectives of the governance can be
monitored [5].
Considering the banking sector, good IT
governance can help in managing the finances as
well as the risks in a well concerned manner. For a
developing country like Tanzania, good IT
governance can help in an exposure to new
challenges under IT and new technologies that are
coming up which can help in making the banking
services better.
3. ITIL
This is one of the frameworks that best
complies with the ITSM, whereby the current
version is ITIL V3. It is mainly aimed at provision
of IT services of top quality which can be used for
ITSM. Two main reasons for this are; one being
that ITIL is more customer-focused and the other
being an effective governance for IT [6].
Organizations are moving more towards ITIL
because it provides a way for managing the IT
services in a systematic manner. It can help the
organization in improving customer satisfaction,
production, as well as cost reduction. ITIL is more
focused on the project’s lifecycle [7].
Many organizations are moving towards
making use of ITIL but the question is, do they
follow the exact guidelines? ITIL provides specific
guidelines so that the organization can run the
business by providing good quality service for
customers by focusing on ITSM. A good
implication of this would bring good
improvements and benefits to the banking sector
in Tanzania.
4. COBIT
This is a standard used widely by organizations
around the world. It is considered to be one of the
most applicable framework for an organization to
achieve business related goals by making use of
ISBN: 978-1-941968-37-6 ©2016 SDIWC
IT, since its control objectives are focused on the
needs of the business. There are 34 different
control objectives associated with this framework,
which help in equalizing the risks related to IT
against investment in IT controls [8].
In order for the organizations to stay
competitive, it is important to manage the progress
of different projects as they move through their
lifecycle. COBIT is one of the best framework for
control of management, however it receives a low
academic support even though it is widely used in
IT organizations [9].
The organizations have to be highly dependent
on IT in the current world in order to make
improvements on the performance of business, so
as to ensure that the management of risks is
properly done. COBIT framework helps in
managing these risks by focusing on the internal
control of the organization, which consists of the
different processes, methods, policies as well as
the different structures of the organization that are
constructed in order to give an acceptable
affirmation that the objectives of the business can
be met, while identifying and revising the
unwanted factors [10].
5. ISO/IEC 20000
International Organization for Standardization
(ISO) and International Electro-technical
Commission (IEC) usually called ISO 20000,
focus to improve the way IT services are delivered
by providing best methods to be used for service
management. ISO 20000 and ITIL are very
compatible, even though their approaches are
different. ISO 20000 has two parts; part 1 is a
standard to be adhered to which helps in
assessment of organization, and the part 2 acts as a
base for supporting part 1 by guidance [11].
According to [2], ISO 20000 is a special
standard for ITSM and it was one of the first
standards to be adopted around the world. The IT
services use this standard as a benchmark due to
the fact that it helps in provision of specifications
to the service providers as well as pointing out if
the management standard related to the services of
the organization is adequate for use.
Unlike the other frameworks, ISO 20000 is a
standard which helps in improving the IT service
delivery by having a look at methods which can
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Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing (DIPECC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2016

satisfy management of services, so that the best principles. definite processes involved
outcome can be achieved, it is used to measure the with IT life cycle.
maturity of ITSM. In order to produce best results, Improvement of Improvement of the IT
effectiveness and quality of governance in terms of
it is used with ITIL framework so that all the
IT customer service and IT qualitative and quantitative
related issues between business and IT can be operations. basis.
covered in a systematic way. Focused on HOW to meet Focused on WHY to meet
the challenge. the challenge.
6. COMPARING ITIL AND COBIT Focused more on ITSM by Based on five principles
Most of the organizations while using IT as an using five (5) stages of (meet stakeholder needs,
enabler are more focused on how to achieve their service life-cycle (service single integrated
strategy, service design, framework, holistic
goals to improve their business practices. These
service transition, service approach, governance and
organizations make use of the guidelines from operation and continual management separation
ITIL and COBIT in order to overcome the service improvement). and end to end cover of
challenges that they face in aligning IT with enterprise).
business [12]. ITIL and COBIT focus on similar
areas as follows [12]:
8. FINDINGS ON BANKS IN TANZANIA
1. To provide an efficient IT governance and
control so that the IT can meet all the A research was conducted on 11 different
requirements of the organization. banks in Tanzania, to understand what kind of
2. To create best ITSM processes so that frameworks or guidelines they use to manage their
management of IT can be done properly IT services. Questionnaires were sent to the IT
from a business aspect and the goals of staff in order for them to help to provide
business can be reached. requirements of the research and which areas are
3. Provision of a way to measure the progress the most challenging for them. The following
of the business as well as process goals of areas were found to be the most challenging,
identified by the banks – Helpdesk, Operations,
organization.
New Technology and Customer Service:
Reference [12] also points out that companies
are still confused with both these frameworks in a
way that they are taken as two different
approaches to achieve the same goal. In actual
fact, they complement each other and if used
together, they contribute to a higher value. They
complement each other such that ITIL is focused
on ‘how’ to overcome the challenges while
COBIT is focused on ‘what’ needs to be done to
overcome the challenges.
Figure 1. Pie chart to identify the most challenging
7. ITIL VS COBIT management areas in the banks
The following table shows the main differences
identified between ITIL and COBIT frameworks.
From the research conducted on 11 different
TABLE I. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ITIL AND COBIT banks in Tanzania, noticed that every bank has to
ITIL COBIT comply with their own guidelines in order to
Focused on the operation Focused on IT governance manage their IT departments. There is no specific
management by provision by defining, implementing, guideline followed fully and it is seen that some
of best practices and measuring and improving

ISBN: 978-1-941968-37-6 ©2016 SDIWC 3

Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing (DIPECC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2016
of the banks have started to adopt to the well-
known guidelines such as ITIL. Majority of the
banks which are part of the samples for the
research are still using MOF (Microsoft Office
Framework) and ISO standard alone for managing
their IT.
There was a question about how strictly the
banks follow their framework based on a scale of
0-10, whereby it resulted that most of the banks
follow their desired frameworks for about 80%,
but do not strictly follow it apart from one bank.
Some of the banks only follow it for about 50%
and 60%. ITIL is used by some of the banks but if
not fully implemented, then the bank may not get
full benefit out of the framework, therefore some
improvements are needed.
Figure 2. Bar graph to show how strictly the banks follow
their frameworks
9 out of the 11 banks use their own guidelines in
order to help them resolve their challenges. One
of the banks has implemented the latest
technology called Service Now which can help
them to manage their helpdesk area. A question
was asked in order to identify how costly it is to
manage in case of any incidents based on the scale
of 0-10. Most of the banks mentioned that IT
equipments, networks and applications to be the
most expensive parts to manage in case of a
problem. Some of them said their database would
be the most costly area in case of any failure. New
technology adoption would also raise costs due to
equipment replacement.
ISBN: 978-1-941968-37-6 ©2016 SDIWC
Figure 3. Bar graph showing how costly it is for the banks
to manage and solve problems
In summary, questions asked were mainly on
what are the different problems that the banks
face, what areas have to be improved, as well as
what are their current problem solving methods
are carefully researched.
9. IDENTIFIED AREAS OF CHALLENGES
There were some common challenging areas
found where the 11 banks face. These areas
mainly were helpdesk, operations, customer
service and new technology.
1. Helpdesk – this area is concerned with
technical problems, where the customers
can call and seek for help to solve problem.
Most of the banks mentioned this as a
challenge, when their customers need
information regarding a certain problem.
This is due to the fact that some of the
issues need time and cannot be resolved
immediately but the customer would
demand the solution immediately.
2. Customer service – This is considered to
be a very important area in the banks,
because the banks need to care for
customers so that their needs and
requirements can be met. A good customer
service can help improve customer
satisfaction and ensures customer remains
using the services of that bank. However,
this is also one of the challenges identified
by the banks, due to the fact that there are
different types of people and they need to
be handled in their own way. Due to this
reason, the banks have to use utmost effort
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Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing (DIPECC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2016
to fulfil each and everyone’s needs on a
timely manner in order to avoid complains.
3. Operations - This concerns the daily tasks
that are actively operated by the banks, so
that the services can be carried out in an
efficient manner. This was also one of the
major area of challenges seen from the
research, which most of the banks face.
This is because the banks have to deliver
quality services to both, their staff and
customers. Thus, there is a close
monitoring and observation needed for
provision of a better service. The
customers require immediate services and
results, making it difficult for the banks to
maintain their service level for their
internal and external operations.
4. New technology – Tanzania being a
developing country, there are always new
technologies from time to time to adapt
and/or adopt in order to stay current. The
banking sector is moving very quickly
towards new technology, making it a
challenge for some of the banks because
the newer technology might not be
compatible with the older versions, hence
the whole system has to be changed. New
technology is good in a way that it can help
to improve processes, but on the other
hand, it can become a challenge.
10. LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH
The data gathering was focused on the IT
departments of the banks, which are the most
active parts of the banks. The information from IT
departments is highly confidential, hence it is not
known how accurate the data provided by the
respondents was. There may be other areas of
challenges in other banks, however this research
was mainly aimed at 11 banks in order to study if
there is any trend in their identified areas.
11. RECOMMENDATIONS
In order to tackle all areas of challenges faced
by the banking sector, a combined framework of
Microsoft Office Framework (MOF), ITIL and
COBIT is recommended. Since some of the banks
already practiced and complying with at least one
of the three, they should use some elements of the
ISBN: 978-1-941968-37-6 ©2016 SDIWC
other frameworks as well for minimizing the
occurrences of challenges. Combining these three
frameworks will produce a positive and optimal
result in the areas of operation, customer service,
and service desk. In contrary, majority of the
banking sector do not follow the readily existing
frameworks. Hence, more awareness regarding
the frameworks would be helpful to improve the
business efficiency and bring about more
advantages. In order to do this, the senior
management should study the importance of the
frameworks for some changes to take place. At
the same time, they should promote them and
motivate their employees on exploring the
capabilities of these frameworks. Furthermore, the
banks should be aware of the initial cost for
implementing a combined framework. It can be
high, but the return in long run will be much
higher. To accomplish this, the banking sector
should take trivial but vital steps progressively
towards implementing the combined frameworks
for continuous improvement.
12. CONCLUSION
The research brought to light about what are the
different methods the banks in Tanzania are
adopting to in managing IT services as well as the
challenges they are currently facing. It can be seen
that how important it is for the banks to follow a
good ITSM method so that optimum results can be
achieved in order to manage the business. There is
still a poor awareness of ITIL in Tanzania, and for
some of the banks that have already started
implementing it, the customers are still not aware
of the standard procedures while requesting
services from the IT department.
Therefore, there should be more awareness
campaign for the banks to know about existing
frameworks like ITIL and COBIT, to increase the
business efficiency. The banks should consider
using the existing frameworks by implementing
them fully and understand how profitable they
could be by bringing about changes to their
operational processes. If training is provided by
the senior management to the employees, then
they will be aware about what changes that can be
made.
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Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing (DIPECC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2016
It is undeniable that technology keeps
advancing every day and it is necessary in today’s
era. In order for the businesses to serve their best
for their customers, they have to adopt new
technologies. The banking industry is not an
exception to this adaptation. Thus, it is a necessary
to invest in IT and apply better ITSM processes to
improve the operations and customer services.
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