CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS AND BENEFITS OF ITIL ADOPTION: A CASE STUDY IN A TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY

Abstract

Information Technology Governance (ITG) has become a concern for many companies worldwide in the last decade. Often, ITG initiatives are based on the adoption of best practices already available, such as those described in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) or the Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT). This paper describes the results of an exploratory case study focusing on the adoption of ITIL in the IT department of Oi, a large Brazilian company in the telecommunications industry. The analysis of qualitative data on the project and its outcomes revealed potential structural, organizational and social Critical Success Factors (CSF) of investments in IT governance models, such as ITIL. In addition, our results suggest that ITIL adoption can promote significant improvements in operational and managerial processes, increasing the alignment between the services offered by IT and business needs, and thereby, the competitiveness of a company.