Methodology design approach to implement management processes in technology departaments for the digital transformation of educational centers in the framework of the knowledge society

Abstract

Training centers (schools, institutes, universities, academies, business schools...) are commonly small organizations, which means that their management involves certain specific elements. The management of technology departments is generally far from the guidelines set out in industry standards and is generally based on unprofessional ad hoc solutions. The drawback of this type of approach is clear, although the problem is only detected in extremely difficult situations, such as the recent pandemic period we have been through. The alternative is to use process standards defined in the industry such as the ITIL (Infrastructure Technology Information Library) standard, although the difficulty of its implementation retracts many companies from adopting it. The difficulty derives from the fact that the ITIL standard does not determine which processes to implement, nor the order of implementation, nor what is the procedure to implement them. This article exposes what processes are necessary in a training center, as well as the order in which they should be implemented. The methodology used is based on a database with information from schools, academies, universities and other educational centers, which is used to propose a sequence of processes in the IT department through an optimization model. Finally, the set and order of processes to be implemented are defined. This set of processes optimizes the quality of services and IT infrastructures for education services. The main result of the work is, precisely, the explanation and design of the set of technological processes that best meet the needs of technology departments in small-sized education centers, to optimize available resources and offer a technological service appropriate to educational needs. This paper highlights the difficulty that training centers sometimes have in implementing the ITIL standard. It focuses on the ITIL processes that are necessary in a training center, as well as the order in which they should be implemented. From a doctrinal basis, it details what is the set and order of the processes that need to be implemented, to optimize the quality of IT services and infrastructures in education centers. By focusing the analysis on small educational centers, this work is configured as a manual of good practices for technology departments in small educational centers, always taking into consideration the alignment with educational needs.