4 Things the Business Needs from IT Service Management
The needs of business today continue to evolve, and market dynamics are moving faster and are more powerful than ever. However, virtually every business of any size continues to have strong business needs for IT Service Management (ITSM) today, and well into the future.
It is certainly true that needs will continue to evolve, but many of the basic needs associated with ITSM remain as true today as they were 20 years ago. And many of these “wants” from the company will remain in place another 20 years into the future.
It is simply true that ITSM is a key business enabler. The organizations that do ITSM well are likely to find business success, while those that struggle with ITSM will find it manifesting as fundamental challenges with the business.
Understanding what companies want from ITSM raises awareness around this important element of IT and the business. With awareness comes focus, and with focus we are likely to experience improved performance and success.
A closer investigation of the four key needs of the business for ITSM will provide a better understanding of what is expected by the business and how IT can deliver on these requirements.
- Great Service Delivery
A key element of what any company needs from ITSM is great service delivery. This simple and powerful point has big implications for the company. When great service is delivered to any person across the company, that person is then able to perform at his or her very best and bring value to other employees and ultimately to customers.
There is a chain of value here that exists in the company and then extends to partners and customers of that company in ways that are visible and ways that might not immediately be clear.
Let’s take a very simple example. If an employee has a problem with his or her laptop–a machine used for common tasks including email and for running applications that are required to support customers every day–this can potentially have a big impact on productivity and customer service.
However, if this problem is resolved quickly, in a matter of minutes, we have protected the employee’s ability to perform daily work and avoided any impact to customers. Contrast this with any delay in addressing the problem with the employee’s laptop–a delay that could stretch to hours or even days–and this becomes a big risk for the business. Even this simplest of examples around Incident Management reminds us of this important link.
Fast service from ITSM is a great boost to IT and to the business.
- Process Discipline
From the birth of ITSM in the IT organization over 20 years ago, an important contribution of ITSM to the company has been the necessary structure, flow and discipline of key processes. These processes include the fundamentals of Incident Management and Problem Management, the new and more flexible service models of Service Catalog and Service Request, and the more strategic processes of Service Portfolios, Configuration Management and Change Management.
Although these processes are most often associated with the IT organization, the impact of strong ITSM strategy and execution to the full company should not be underestimated. For example, the demands of audit and compliance on the business are very dependent on sound processes as designed and implemented by the ITSM leaders of IT. This is very much a company issue, and what we often see is that healthy strategic processes including Change Management, supported by an equally accurate and healthy CMDB, directly impacts the ability of a company in industries including Banking, Financial Services and Healthcare to be successful with Audits, Governance and Compliance initiatives.
Strong ITSM processes and business rules will normally result in stronger business performance.
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