Supporting knowledge transfer in web‐based managed IT support
| Published date | 04 May 2010 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/13287261011042930 |
| Date | 04 May 2010 |
| Pages | 140-160 |
| Author | Vanessa A. Cooper,Sharman Lichtenstein |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
JSIT
12,2
140
Journal of Systems and Information
Technology
Vol. 12 No. 2, 2010
pp. 140-160
#Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1328-7265
DOI 10.1108/13287261011042930
Supporting knowledge transfer in
web-based managed IT support
Vanessa A. Cooper
RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, and
Sharman Lichtenstein
Deakin University, Burwood, Australia
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight the impor tance and complexities of the
knowledge transfer process in the provision of effective managed after-sales IT support, when the
web is used for service delivery.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper features an interpretive case study of a multi-
national Managed Service Provider (MSP) and a focus group of representatives from five comparable
MSPs.
Findings – The paper finds that MSPs that use web-based channels for the provision of after-sales
IT support services need to address a range of important social and organisational issues in order to
realise cost and efficiency-based benefits.
Research limitations/implications – The paper provides a four stage processual model of
knowledge transfer in the provision of web-based managed after-sales IT support services. The
barriers and enablers of knowledge transfer at each stage are identified. The paper adopts a MSP
perspective and suggests that further research from the customer perspective is required.
Practical implications – The paper highlights some important social and organisational enablers
and barriers, which will guide MSPs when providing managed after-sales IT support using web-
based channels.
Originality/value – The paper provides the first staged model of inter-organisational knowledge
transfer in a complex multi-organisational and multi-channel web-based context.
Keywords Knowledge transfer, Worldwide web, Self-service, Customer relations,
Communication technologies, After sales service
Paper type Case study
1. Introduction
Managed service providers (MSPs) of information technology (IT) services have
experienced significant service growth in the past decade and are forecast to increase
their market penetration (Hall, 2008). One popular service offered is after-sales IT support
(‘‘managed IT support’’) where MSPs respond to non-ITenterprises’ after-sales IT-based
enquiries,incidents and problems. Two keyenablers for managedIT support are:
(1) self-service channels such as the web, which provide convenient cost-effective
service delivery; and
(2) the application of knowledge management principles.
In particular, effective inter-organizational knowledge transfer is important for successful
managed IT support (Davenport and Klahr, 1998; CSI, 2002; Das, 2003) especially when the
web is used for support delivery. During the delivery of support in this context, key
knowledge about customers, products, problems, incidents and resolutions, flows across
the web and supplementary channels through MSPs and business partners to customer
enterprises (CSI, 2002).
New challenges faced by MSPs offering after-sales IT support via the web are
important to identify, as suggested by recent studies on self-service. Despite predictions
that the web would facilitate 58 per cent of customer interactions in the IT service sector
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Supporting
knowledge
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by 2010 (Kerr, 2005), a recent survey revealed that only 22 per cent of end-users
consistently used the web as a service touch point (Colquhoun and Krajewski, 2008 in
Amdocs, 2009) while another suggested a need to i mprove customer experiences with
self-service (Accenture, 2008). These and other studies sugg est that the use of web-based
self-service for managed IT support presents significant challenges for MSPs and
deserves further research. Knowledge transfer, as an important enabler of successful
managed IT support (CSI, 2002), provides a useful theoretical lens with which to explore
these challenges. However, published inter-organizational knowledge transfer models do
not support complex multi-organizational knowledge transfer taking place over an
extended period with the web utilized as the central delivery channel.
This paper develops a temporal staged model for inter-organizational knowledge
transfer in web-based managed IT support in order to address this gap in the literature.
The model is employed to help identify key enablers and barriers for successful
knowledge transfer in each stage of the transfer process using interpretive research
methods. The findings may guide MSPs by identifying key issues important to address
during each stage of the knowledge transfer process, thus enabling more effective web-
based service provision. The paper focuses on operational after-sales IT support
services relating to assembling and operating the core IT environment, and providing
key value-adding services such as the Service Desk (Peppard, 2001).
The research also adopts a service provider perspective. Prior research on self-
service technology adoption and success has assumed a traditional customer-o riented
focus and primarily studied only the customer perspective of the processes and issues
involved. Gummesson (2008) notes that non-customer stakeholder perspectives are
also important for research. Clearly, MSPs are in the best position to understand
the technologies, knowledge and skills, and other resources deployed in IT support
provision and the complex network of support offered.
By researching, how knowledge can be successfully transferred to customer fir ms
using web-based self-service, this paper contributes to theory on inter-organizational
knowledge transfer in an electronic business setting. Senior support managers and
knowledge managers at MSPs will benefit from a greater understanding of how IT
support knowledge is transferred successfully to customer fir ms whenweb-based self-
service is used, and the key enablers and barriers involved at each stage of a complex
process that takes place over a long time period. As knowledge transfer is central to the
provision of effective after-sales IT support services, such an understanding could
assist MSPs in their efforts to improve IT support. By focusing on the relevant key
enablers and barriers for each stage of the process managers can better allocate scarce
resources during each stage. Given the significant number of supp ort transactions
being moved to web-based channels in the provision of managed IT services, the
findings of this research will have increasingly important implications for both MSPs
and their customers. The research also adds insights to current knowledge transfer
theory in a business-to-business setting where the transfer process occurs over a long
time period and web-based services are employed. The research question explored in
this study is:
RQ. How can MSPs transferafter-sales IT support-orientedknowledge to enterprise
customerssuccessfully when Web-basedSelf-service Systems areused?
The remainder of the paper is organized as follows: section 2 provides a theoretical
background which reviews the use of web-based self-service systems (WSSs) in
managed IT support and overviews inter-organizational knowledge transfer in
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