IT Service Management

IT Service Management (ITSM) is a set of processes and practices used to manage IT services, including planning, designing, building, implementing, delivering, improving and supporting internal and external stakeholders, with the aim of continuously improving services to best meet business objectives.

WHY IS IT SERVICE MANAGEMENT IMPORTANT?

Today's information technology encompasses and integrates the tasks and responsibilities of the entire organization. Managing these services is an ongoing challenge, and customers expect companies to be up to the task. Businesses rely on ITSM to efficiently coordinate these nearly myriad tasks and processes while ensuring they deliver real value to customers.

Because IT service management (ITSM) is a collection of policies and processes used to manage and support IT services throughout their life cycle, ITSM helps to increase the efficiency of the organization and the productivity of the workforce.

KEY CONCEPTS OF IT SERVICE MANAGEMENT

IT Service Management concepts can be applied to all organizations and services, regardless of the type and underlying technology. Some of the most important concepts in ITSM are:

• Co-creation of value and the nature of value
• Organization (Business), service provider organization, service consumer / customer, and all other stakeholders
• Product and services
• Service relationships & management
• Value: output leading to outcomes, costs and risks associated with service.

BENEFITS OF IT SERVICE MANAGEMENT

ITSM ensures that the right technology, processes and people are in place to enable an organization to achieve its long-term goals. ITSM improves the quality and speed of service delivery and maximizes customer satisfaction. Some companies use ITSM software not only to manage and support their IT systems, but also to mediate and manage various processes and services across the organization.

ITSM is the bridge that connects IT professionals within an organization with end users who need IT services, and this brings many benefits. Some of them are:

Benefits for business

• Increased agility - Rapidly adapt to change and innovation
• Reduced costs - Easily visualize workflows to increase efficiency and save costs
• Fewer IT problems and improved response - Reduce IT issues and quickly respond to incidents, reducing associated costs and disruptions
• Easy compliance - Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements
• Better service - Improve satisfaction rates for end users

Benefits for Employees

• Improved IT support – 24x7 IT support provides better performance and higher performance
• Omnichannel Experience – Access relevant information and submit support requests anytime, anywhere, on any device
• Clearer roles and responsibilities - Teams understand who is responsible for what and are more accountable and informed
• Improve business alignment – ​​Understand what the business and end users need and why

WHAT IT AN ITSM SERVICE?

A common example of an ITSM service is an IT service desk or help desk. Using virtual agents (aka chatbots), online help desks can answer questions on common topics, for example “How do I reset my password?”, "Why is the network slow?", etc.

Other examples of ITSM services include:

• Predictive intelligence that uses machine learning to respond to requests
• Performance analysis to create data visualizations, predict trends, prioritize resources and improve performance
• Incident management and problem management to quickly restore service after unplanned outages or major incidents
• Asset management, providing a complete, associative view of all assets

ITSM PROCESSES

Technology is an integral part of the IT process, but not necessarily at the forefront. The scope of ITSM is broader and expanded to include business objectives in addition to traditional IT objectives. As a result, IT service management improves efficiency across the board. ITSM does this by:

• Incident management
• Problem management
• Change and release management
• Service-level management
• Request management
• Configuration management
• Continual improvement management
• Workflow and talent management

WHAT DOES AN IT SERVICE MANAGER DO?

In the current climate, the role of the IT Service Manager is essential for any business that relies on IT systems - and many businesses are clearly involved with IT. Therefore, deciding to pursue a career in this field, will bring a wide range of opportunities and industries to choose from.

Roles in this department have a variety of responsibilities and functions that can be challenging. For example, if you were hired as a Service Level Manager, you would be responsible for all aspects of a company's IT services, including being responsible for delivering IT services based on business needs.

The earning potential of these positions depends on factors such as the size of the company you work for and the size of the team you lead.
In general, IT Service Managers can expect to earn around $60,000 per year. With years of experience and additional responsibilities, the annual income could exceed $100,000. Such salaries are more likely to be offered by mid-sized companies. For larger companies, the upper limit of this sector may be extended.

HOW TO BECOME AN IT SERVICE MANAGER?

While educational requirements may vary, many employers prefer a bachelor's degree in a field such as computer science, computer engineering, or software engineering. A degree in business administration is also attractive to employers if you are familiar with the technical aspects of software and hardware through academic achievement or professional experience.
Taking on roles of increasing responsibility in IT, such as a supervisor role, shows employers that you are ready for the job and helps prepare you for a career as an IT service manager.

Employers may accept relevant training in lieu of work experience, but ideally you will have both.
There are several frameworks and standards that gives guidance on how ITSM can be delivered, but the most requested and recognized certification in ITSM field is ITIL®. Achieving an ITIL certification will prove that you are up to date with market trends and industry developments.

Lean more about ITIL training courses.

ITSM & ITIL

The terms ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) and ITSM are regularly used interchangeably. The confusion is due to the similarity of the two terms and their close relation.

ITIL is a set of best practices commonly used to implement ITSM, the broader discipline covering IT service delivery. ITIL describes best practices for running ITSM. ITSM is the "what", while ITIL is the "how".
For example, ITSM requires IT teams to handle system events. ITIL, on the other hand, will advise how incidents should be handled, including triage, escalation, and resolution.

Organizations in ITSM have traditionally relied on ITIL to simplify change, problem and incident management. However, more and more companies are extending ITIL practices to implement improved self-service and service catalog solutions.
As an integrated, process-based framework, ITIL enables IT organizations to track, manage and deliver technology services within the organization. When managed effectively, ITIL can help increase productivity while also helping to improve employee satisfaction.

Lean more about ITIL certifications