A framework for streamlining globally integrated services

Abstract

Enterprises are transforming to Globally Integrated Enterprises wherein, among other things, the delivery of services is globally distributed spanning divisions, suppliers and geographies. A service itself can be at the level of business processes like processing expenses or personnel re-location (assignment), or IT changes like applying a patch. Given this trend, streamlining to reduce the time and cost effort needed to perform a service is more important than ever before. The reduction can come due to better coordination among activities, elimination of redundant activities, avoidance of situations that lead to additional costs and finally, automation of repetitive activities wherever possible. We propose a unified framework for streamlining services and apply it to cases from business and IT services. ©2009 IEEE.