How Tangential Problems Limit Value Creation in IT-Based Service Systems

Service systems create value through interactions among people and technology. Though information technology (IT), such as those that support electronic commerce, are key resources in IT-based service systems, it is the people in the system, the computer system administrators, who play the most critical role in making these systems work. In our ethnographic studies of IT service delivery, we found that system administrators typically spend much time troubleshooting. We observed that while configuration and performance work is often guided by explicit procedures or plans, troubleshooting work is not. Problems are handled case-by-case. Our observations also reveal that a substantial fraction of time spent troubleshooting is on issues related only tangentially to the primary problem. These tangential problems divert time and energy from the primary problem. Although tangential problems tax the overall service system, there may be opportunities to identify and remediate them to improve overall service delivery and value co-creation.