Thermostatically controlled loads have great potential to make a significant contribution to improving energy efficiency in the building sector, which is responsible for 40% of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU. This, in addition to the environmental damage, represents a huge expense in terms of the electricity bill. Therefore, it is very important to train engineers on how to design energy management systems for TCLs. With this goal in mind, it would be very useful to have a simulation-based educational tool (SBET) to understand thermostatically controlled loads, their characteristics, and the possibilities in terms of energy efficiency. In addition, it would be very useful if this tool could be introduced in engineering curricula to help students become better trained and enter the labor market with more opportunities. Based on the shortcomings detected, this work develops an SBET specifically designed to teach on the subject of TCLs (SBET-TCLs), both about their intrinsic characteristics and their better management. To verify the developed SBET-TCLs, it was tested in a real scenario: a survey was carried out among the students of the subject ‘Alternative Energy Sources’ in the degrees of Industrial Engineering. The results show that the use of an SBET-TCLs has very positive effects on the learning process.

One of the main points when implementing the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is which order the processes must be implemented. In the systematic literature review (SLR) developed, it is possible to find references about strategies and factors that ease the implementation of the ITIL, static sequences for the processes to be implemented, and recommendations about the first process to implement, but it is rather complicated to find references that explicitly define the order (adapted to a specific company) of the processes to be implemented. Thus, once it is shown that there is no methodology/algorithm providing a sequence of ITIL processes specifically adapted for each company, an algorithm to solve this problem is presented: The algorithm has a deep mathematical basis and returns a sequence of ITIL processes to optimize the efforts during implementation, so the company implementing the ITIL gets the closest to the competitors. The optimization is made considering parameters such as staff, age of the company, IT size, industry, etc. Thus, the sequence proposed is specific for each company. Finally, a comparative of the sequence obtained (from the proposed algorithm) with sequences discovered in the SLR is presented and applied to a real case.

How small and medium enterprises can begin their implementation of ITIL?

The information technology infrastructure library (ITIL) standard describes processes that should be implemented in Information Technology (IT) departments for proper operations management, which includes human resources management, economic management, and strategic management, among others. This should be especially considered in the business management of industries with no relation to information technologies (IT), such as tourism and hospitality companies. This work aims to present a method to establish the order of adoption of the IT management processes in companies that belong to the tourism industry. We conducted a survey to obtain the necessary data and developed a methodology that is based on an optimization procedure. This procedure generates the optimal sequence of IT tasks to adopt in a generic small company in the tourism industry. The methodology was then applied to a representative tourism company. Through the sequence obtained, it is shown that it is necessary to implement operative processes, and subsequently, strategic processes. A comparative study was developed to find the differences with other authors’ proposals. The most important result we found was the possibility of efficient use of organizations’ information to build an optimized list of IT procedures to improve their administration. The obtained list of processes is specific for each organization, and not dependent on the solutions offered by other authors who proposed a general or underoptimal list of processes.

The objective of this article is the definition of an algorithm aimed to settle the sequence of implementation of Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) processes that should be followed in the technology departments for its proper management. The mathematical model presented solves the question of the best ITIL process to implement by using an optimization function that considers the objectives and restrictions given by the company. This model is the basis for an iterative greedy algorithm proposed that generates the optimal sequence of ITIL processes to implement. The algorithm has been proven in a company with satisfactory results: the proposed sequence of implementation allowed the company to properly manage the IT department as well as get close to competitors based on the objectives and restrictions reported by the company. The novelty of this contribution relies on the design of an algorithm to generate an optimal and specific sequence of ITIL processes to implement in the IT department of a company, as the previous solutions relied on generic sequences or required external consultants to get their opinion and so did not have a mathematical basis.

One of the key elements to consider in business management is the management of IT (Information Technology) departments by implementing processes as described in the ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) standard. This is particularly important in industries that are not directly related to ICT (Information and Communication Technologies), such as the tourism industry. In this paper, we present a methodology to sequence the implementation of the ITIL processes in any company to support its development. The methodology is based on an optimization algorithm and the information extracted from a survey. The optimal sequence is built from this information and from the information of the restrictions imposed by the company that implements the ITIL processes. We applied the methodology to a company in the tourism industry. The sequence obtained shows the need to implement operative processes (initial positions in the sequence), and afterwards strategic processes (final positions in the sequence). A comparison with other authors’ proposals shows differences in the order of processes proposed by this methodology. The main conclusion is that it is possible to use the information of companies to efficiently generate an optimal sequence of ITIL processes which enhances their management; this sequence is unique for every company that wants to implement ITIL in the tourism industry, and it is independent from the proposals of other authors who designed generic/non-optimal sequences.