Blended Learning Approach in INNOTRAIN-IT Project

Development of information technology (IT) gives companies many new possibilities; however, it is also associated with a number of threats. The complexity of IT solutions exploited by the companies makes it difficult to choose and implement tools that are the most effective and efficient for an organization. Moreover, new standards and ideas arising in the IT field enable the companies to reorganize their business processes and work out innovative products and services. One of these ideas, gaining recently a growing popularity among business managers and IT practitioners, is named Information Technology Service Management (ITSM). There are numerous guidebooks on the adoption of ITSM-related solutions in companies published both by individual experts and institutions. Nonetheless, the vast majority of these publications is addressed to large companies. Also, the most recognized ITSM frameworks, such as ITIL, COBIT, and MOF, are designed first and foremost for large scale projects conducted in big organizations. Therefore, it appears that there is a lack of ITSM solutions dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The availability of such solutions would allow smaller companies to benefit from the effective use of IT accelerated by a conscious application of ITSM frameworks. The article presents the main ideas of INNOvation TRAINing IT Central Europe (INNOTRAIN IT) project whose main goal is to increase innovation level among SMEs by promoting the idea of ITSM and providing practical examples, advice, and useful solutions adapted to SMEs' needs and characteristics. The article starts with a basic introduction to ITSM ideas and the comparison of an ITSM method with the traditional approach to IT. Next, the most important facts about and tasks of INNOTRAIN IT project are presented. In order to increase the efficiency of application of the proposed solutions, a special training program was developed. The INNOTRAIN IT training concept, which is the main focus of this article, consists of both traditional and e-learning training sessions. The study concludes with the discussion of current and anticipated project results