IT service management (ITSM) is a 360-degree service of information technology (IT) services offered to customers, which includes designing, planning, delivering, operating and controlling the entire system help regularize processes. It is a streamlined approach towards management of customer needs and customer IT services through structured delivery and documentation. This entire system is supported with specialized software tools that offer significant benefits to organizations. The entire procedure of ITSM is very different from the technology-oriented IT management approaches like network management and IT systems management. It is way more than just ‘IT support’ because apart from resolving day-to-day issues, ITSM conducts the end-to-end management of IT services. ITSM’s organized and structured processes, directed by policies, support every procedure performed by an organization. ITSM is crucial for every section in an organization, but primarily for more workflow-driven processes. It offers actionable IT insights to the business, helping them in decision making. Growing businesses these days can no longer suffice their IT requirements with mere IT solution. Organizations are looking for more mature processes to get the best benefits. Implementation of ITSM helps manage expectations better by reducing the impact of incidents on the business. As they say, “ITSM is the craft of implementing, managing, and delivering IT services to meet the needs of an organization”.
ITSM is about optimizing IT by reducing manual labour with automation. It is controlled by a workflow management system and a tool for a configuration management database that deals with incidents, service requests, problems and changes and connects incident, service request, problem and change in records with each other. This helps increase IT efficiency and productivity through defined roles and responsibilities, reducing system issues. Moreover, it also aids process implementation based on best practices, eventually saving costs. ITSM has a system buildup that supports counter-regulatory and compliance challenges with higher visibility and understanding of IT services. ITSM also has several business benefits such as a thorough analysis of the system provides a better understanding of business needs and the advanced IT service offers higher business productivity with increased value and cost-efficiency. Along with better customer satisfaction, ITSM improves governance and reduce risk, while increasing competitive advantage. It ensures the right ROI for organizations by providing an appropriate mix of people, processes, and technology.
ITSM is the overall management of the IT of an organization, for the performance of which, ITSM needs tools, referred to as ITIL. There are several types of ITIL tools available in the market to manage certain defined functional requirements and support a set of ITSM processes. ITIL, the ITSM Best Practice Framework, is a set of values, processes, and strategies for executing ITSM. ITIL focuses on the relationship between IT and end-users, to strategize its services and take care of incidents, service requests, problems, changes, and IT assets.
It is fundamental to choose an ITSM tool based on specific business needs. Ideally, businesses should identify the key processes and their dependencies based on business goals. Charting out the integrations that need to be established to achieve company goal, helps decide which key ITSM processes need to be implemented. Customizable and flexible tools to match current IT requirements, with the ability to upgrade, stands as the ideal tool for ITSM. A tool that’s practical, user-friendly, includes integrations with other IT management tools, ensures a 360-degree service and is budget-friendly is what you need to look for. ITSM tool implementation should be based on the IT infrastructure model of the business because selecting an on-premises or software as a service (SaaS) ITSM tool depends on whether the business prefers to host its applications and data on its servers or use a public or private cloud. Don’t get carried away by the vastness of the offerings an ITSM tool has to provide. Prioritize the requirements to run IT services in the organization that will suffice the basic necessity and invest in tools accordingly. But that does not mean that you can ignore the future IT needs of your company. The ITSM tool you are investing in should have the potential to adapt to the future needs of the organization – flexible and technology-driven. If you still find it difficult to select, you can always consult with ITSM experts, ready to help your business grow.
