Business operations are impacted by technology in one form or another almost everywhere today. Just having access to technology is not enough though; you must also have an organized approach to developing, delivering, and supporting the IT services you are providing. The Process of IT Service Management (ITSM) is about providing that organized way to organize those services.
If your team is being bombarded by lots of IT requests, waiting forever to get responses on those requests, or constantly having their systems fail, then you need to put together a solid plan.
The key to successfully creating a successful IT environment starts with understanding how IT service management identifies the goals of your organization and connects technology to those goals.
This article will help you understand the basic concepts, framework and best practices related to ITSM so you can create a strong and efficient IT environment.
Knowing how the fundamentals of ITSM affect IT operations will help to establish what will improve your company’s IT operations. Let’s define ITSM in a way that even a 5-year-old would understand.
IT service management (ITSM) is the way your company delivers your company’s IT services to users in the company. It is done by creating, delivering, and maintaining IT services.
It is to make sure that you are aligning IT processes and services with your organization’s business goals so that your company can achieve its full potential, as an example.
IT Service Management (ITSM) can be explained in simple terms by thinking of your IT department as a service provider, and the end users of your IT services (your company’s employees) as your customers. In this case, IT service management will be your IT support teams, your customer service support teams and everyone that supports your IT users.
IT support will have a process defined for when someone needs a new computer, reset their password or get access to a software system.
What is the strict technical definition of ITSM IT service management? It is a planned way to handle the whole lifecycle of IT services using policies, structured processes, and technologies that support them. It changes IT from a reactive support role to a proactive service delivery model.
ITSM isn’t just a list of rules. It is a very important strategy that helps your whole company in a big way.
IT shouldn’t work in a bubble. ITSM makes sure that every tech choice helps the business reach its bigger goals. Your IT services will help you reach your goals, whether you want to boost sales, make your business safer, or move into new markets.
The lack of structure often leads to IT requests being ignored. IT Service Management (ITSM) provides an organized approach for dealing with various tasks in order to allow for quicker response time, reduce errors, and thus create a more dependable technology environment for everybody.
When technology runs smoothly, the user is happy (both customers and employees). Employees have one simple way of requesting help with their technology which reduces frustration and allows the employee to concentrate on doing their job.
Successful ITSM relies on three main pillars working together, guided by a continuous lifecycle.
Technology alone will not solve problems; it will take people with skills. ITSM specifies the roles of people who interact with technology (e.g., Service Desk Agent; Problem Manager; Change Advisory Board Member) so everyone knows their exact role and responsibilities.
The rules of the game are the processes. They tell you exactly how to do things from start to finish. Good processes take the guesswork out of things and make sure that every time there is an IT problem, the same thing happens.
You need the right tools to make your processes work. Ticketing systems, knowledge bases, and automation software are all parts of ITSM technology. These tools help your staff carry out tasks quickly and effectively.
IT services are never really “done.” The service lifecycle approach means that you are always designing, launching, keeping an eye on, and improving your IT services. This makes sure that your technology is always up-to-date.
Many frameworks exist to guide your ITSM strategy. Here is a look at the most common methods organizations use.
Framework | Primary Focus | Best Used For |
ITIL | Service lifecycle and best practices | Comprehensive IT service alignment |
COBIT | Governance and risk management | Audit, security, and compliance alignment |
ISO/IEC 20000 | International standardization | Achieving formal certification for service |
Lean IT | Waste reduction and value creation | Streamlining processes and cutting costs |
The IT Service Management (ITSM) framework used most commonly on a global basis is the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). It includes an extensive array of documented best practices for aligning IT services with the requirements of the business.
The ITIL framework includes comprehensive documentation related to the various phases of ITSM, including service strategy and information technology service management (ITSM) during a service operation.
Core concepts of the ITIL framework include:
COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology) is a framework that provides guidance for managing governance, risk, and compliance. The COBIT framework helps IT managers resolve technical issues, manage business risk, and comply with the requirements of various control mechanisms.
The ISO/IEC 20000 standard (the international information technology service management standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization) is the globally recognized international standard for IT service management.
An organization that has received ISO/IEC 20000 certification is able to demonstrate that it complies with strict guidelines for implementing the documented best practices for IT service management.
Lean IT focuses on maximizing value while eliminating waste. Agility in IT service management means breaking down large IT projects into smaller, more manageable pieces. Both lean and agile IT approaches help IT organizations respond faster to changing business conditions.
The benefits are:
The process of ITSM is made up of multiple different processes, with each individual process handling a distinct aspect pertaining to the support and delivery of the IT organization’s services.
Process | Objective | Example |
Incident Management | Restore normal service quickly | Fixing a broken printer |
Problem Management | Find the root cause of issues | Investigating why the printer breaks daily |
Change Management | Control IT environment changes | Upgrading the company server safely |
Service Request Management | Fulfill standard user requests | Ordering a new laptop for a hire |
An incident is an unplanned break in an IT service. The main goal of incident management is to fix the problem and get things back to normal as quickly as possible. The main goal is to lessen the effect on the business.
When there is a fire, incident management puts it out, and problem management finds out how it started. It finds out what caused the same problems to happen over and over again so you can stop them from happening again.
It is risky to change IT systems. Change management makes sure that you follow the same steps and methods for all updates. This lowers the chance that new changes will break things that are already in place.
Not every IT ticket means that something is broken. A lot of them are just requests for things like access to software, new hardware, or information. Service request management takes care of these everyday needs quickly and well.
Configuration management keeps track of all your IT assets and how they work together. This gives you a clear picture of your IT environment. It helps you know exactly what will happen if a certain router or server goes down.
Service level management sets the standards that everyone agrees on for IT services. It uses Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to set standards for how long it takes to respond, how often it goes down, and how well it works.
To manage IT services effectively, an organization must have specialized ITSM software. Business processes are managed through automated workflows, ensuring that aspects of the organization are coordinated in one central management application.
Help Desk and Ticketing Systems are at the heart of all ITSM software tools. These are used to record requests from end-users for support and to track problems that arise in the IT infrastructure.
The ticketing system delivers the request to the appropriate technician so that customer requests can be completed timely.
So, why should you use a help desk and ticketing system?
Automated tools (automation or workflow tools) eliminate the need for manual intervention in completing tasks. The tools can automatically route tickets, email notifications for approvals, and/or reset passwords. Automation greatly speeds up IT service delivery.
Advantages of Workflow and IT Automation Tools:
Performance reporting and dashboards provide performance information to help improve IT operations. ITSM tools provide real-time data regarding the volume of tickets that were raised, the time it took to resolve a ticket, and end-user satisfaction.
This information provides IT managers with the data that will allow them to make smart, data-driven decisions.
There are several major software providers that operate in the ITSM marketplace. They provide various levels of functionality and complexity based on the number of employees of the organization.
People often confuse ITSM with managed IT services. While they relate closely, they are entirely different concepts.
Feature | IT Service Management (ITSM) | Managed IT Services |
Definition | A framework for delivering IT services | Outsourcing IT tasks to an external provider |
Focus | Internal processes, rules, and workflows | External execution, monitoring, and support |
Who executes it? | Internal IT staff (usually) | An external Managed Service Provider (MSP) |
ITSM is the “how-to” guide. It is the internal methodology and set of best practices your company uses to manage IT, regardless of who actually performs the technical work.
When you outsource all your technical work to a managed service provider (MSP), that’s called managed IT services. To learn more about how managed IT services actually work, be sure to read our comprehensive guide on what is managed IT services.
If you want to improve your organization’s efficiency and effectiveness, you should collaborate with a top-tier managed service provider.
This type of provider implements an internal IT Service Management (ITSM) framework, which allows you to benefit from their strict adherence to the ITSM process as well as the best practices associated with ITSM in providing managed services to your company.
ITSM can be used in many different ways. It can be used by businesses of almost any size and structure.
Big companies have complicated IT systems and thousands of workers. To keep things in order, make sure security, and handle huge IT budgets well, they need formal ITSM frameworks like ITIL.
Casual IT support stops working as businesses grow. Mid-sized businesses use ITSM to make onboarding more consistent, keep track of software licenses, and set up a professional help desk for their growing teams.
ITSM is the only thing that Managed Service Providers (MSPs) use. They have to use structured ITSM processes to make sure they always meet their Service Level Agreements (SLAs) because they do IT work for many different clients.
ITSM can be adopted by small to medium enterprises as well, although typically larger organizations provide IT service management in a much more complex fashion than that of small or medium sized organizations.
However, there are still many advantages for all organizations implementing basic ticket and standardized service request systems, e.g., it will be easier for companies of all sizes to manage the delivery of their IT services.
No. While IT service management (ITSM) is the practice for managing IT services in general; ITIL is one of the methodologies that guide the execution of ITSM. ITIL could be compared to football in general, and the individual teams use their playbook (ITIL) to execute the game.
An effective ITSM solution would be advantageous for small businesses, although the level of complexity required will not be similar to that of an organization with many IT staff members.
Instead of creating a large change advisory board, a straightforward tracking system for reported IT problems can avoid chaos as your small staff expands.
Absolutely! The standardization of the procedures used to manage data, change, and security incidents creates an easily followed paper trail. This standardization of procedures facilitates the completion of a regulatory audit and the maintenance of compliance.
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