Developing IT Service Management in Higher Education Institutions: A Case Study of ITIL Implementation in Universities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq
Authors:   Catholic University, Ibrahim Haneen , Hamarash Ibrahim 
Published: February 2025

IT Service Management (ITSM) is defined as a collection of processes, documentation, and practices required to manage Information Technology (IT) services effectively. Different frameworks based on industry best practices are available in the literature for designing and building an ITSM system, with the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) being the most popular and widely accepted as the de facto standard. ITIL offers a systematic collection of best practices, but it does not provide a specific procedure for implementing an ITSM framework in enterprises and organizations.
The core element of ITIL is the process (or practice in ITIL V4), and ITIL V4 includes 34 practices. Effective implementation of ITIL in an organization does not require the use of all these processes; the nature of the organization dictates the selection of necessary processes. However, official ITIL documents do not provide criteria for selecting the appropriate processes.
In this study, a procedure focused on process selection and adaptation for managing ITSM using the ITIL framework in universities has been proposed. This method addresses Critical Success Factors (CSFs) to determine the most suitable ITIL processes for various business functions. Data was collected from university stakeholders, including academic leaders and students, through questionnaires. The proposed framework was applied in a case study involving five private universities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Ultimately, a complete lifecycle for the implementation of the selected processes was designed.
1. Introduction
Universities are among the largest, most complex, and multifaceted organizations that heavily rely on Information Technology (IT) for their operation and development. They view IT as a fundamental asset for their success (
The integration of IT and its sub-field Artificial Intelligence (AI) in teaching and educational sectors is crucial for enhancing learning quality. To achive this, universities need to deploy technology applications across all departments to deliver optimal services to both internal and external customers (Khan, 2012). Services provided by universities—such as online and recorded lectures, assignments, lecture schedules, student and faculty recruitment, infrastructure documentation, management and administration, stakeholder communication, and initiative management—are all managed through information systems (Palilingan and Batmetan, 2018). These services must be accurate, fast, and of high quality to meet customer satisfaction.
Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) is a collection of processes, documentation, and practices essential for managing IT services. It is crucial for designing and delivering services to end users. Reviewing the best practices of ITSM has led to the development of various frameworks such as ITIL, DevOps, COBIT, Six Sigma, and others (Hertvik, 2017). Each ITSM framework has its own structure, lifecycle, processes, and modules, and many are supported by international bodies and recognized certifications. Implementing a complete framework like ITIL or COBIT in a large organization such as a university can be challenging, especially where the level of adoption is low or limited (Bianchi and Sousa, 2015).
ITIL is applicable to organizations of all sizes, particularly large ones like universities and higher education institutions. It is the most popular IT Service Management (ITSM) framework in the IT industry and is considered a de facto standard. However, while ITIL provides a systematic description of best practices, it does not offer a specific procedure for implementing an ITSM framework in enterprises.
This study investigates whether universities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq need a standard ITSM framework and identifies the necessary processes for successfully implementing the ITIL framework on their campuses. This involves reviewing and evaluating the pros and cons of assessing the current status of ITSM at selected universities in the Kurdistan Region, and designing an institutionalized ITSM framework based on ITIL process management for these institutions.