IT service management can be a complicated subject, so in this post, we are going to explain in a simple way what it is and what its impact on business is.
What Is IT Service Management?
IT service management (ITSM) is the job of managing, implementing, and delivering IT services to meet the needs of a business and its customers.
ITSM emphasizes continuous improvement and focuses more on customer needs than IT systems.
One of their roles is to ensure that people, processes, and technologies are seamlessly integrated to provide the greatest possible value.
As the core idea of ITSM is to deliver IT as a service, it goes far beyond conventional IT support.
What we mean is that ITSM is more inclusive because it describes the tools and processes used by teams to manage IT services and covers all information technology within an organization.
ITSM seeks to align the goals of the IT team with the broader goals of the organization, helping to meet both.
Differences Between ITSM, ITIL And DevOps
The right IT framework produces effective monitoring and collaboration.
For this reason, many organizations promote ITSM/ITIL or DevOps. However, a total commitment to any of these approaches can be a mistake.
In reality, ITSM/ITIL and DevOps are not mutually exclusive. Each one has its own functions and objectives, so we will explain their basic definitions and the aspects that differentiate them:
ITSM is a strategic approach to IT management that focuses on creating customer value.
This approach clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of team members and departments in relation to IT services.
Overall, it improves productivity, lowers costs, and increases end-user satisfaction.
ITIL
It is an IT service management framework that provides best practices, which are detailed to align IT functions with an organization’s business results.
ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) is a set of specific organizational skills that aim to create value for end customers in the form of services. ITIL lays the foundation for international practices that organizations can adopt, in whole or in part, to provide valuable services to their customers.
This is part of several ITSM best practice frameworks that provide the necessary tools and techniques to deliver IT services effectively.
The ITIL framework has gone through several iterations, the latest of which is known as ITIL 4.
The Benefits Of ITIL 4
ITIL continues to help organizations and professionals achieve optimal value from IT and digital services. ITIL provides service providers with a very clear model of the skills needed, aligning them with business strategy and customer needs.
The main benefits of the ITIL method are:
- ITIL 4 supports organizations in the new technological era. The fourth industrial revolution is marked by new emerging technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, biotechnology, the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing, autonomous vehicles, and much more.
- ITIL v4 provides a practical and flexible foundation to support organizations on their journey to digital transformation, helping them align their digital and physical resources to compete in an increasingly complex environment.
- The context of ITIL 4 is based on the organizational and technological aspects and how the framework integrates with Agile, DevOps, and digital transformation.
- ITIL v4 is of great importance for software developers and service management professionals and promotes a holistic view of the delivery of products and services.
- ITIL 4 emphasizes the importance of collaboration, transparency, automation where possible, and a holistic approach.
- Change is continuous and organizations must constantly adapt. ITIL v4 is one of the Best Practices that help organizations manage this constant change.
- ITIL 4 ensures that quality is delivered faster and with a greater value for organizations and individuals.
Process Management (DevOps)
The name DevOps derives from the union of “development” and “operations”. DevOps is a set of practices that emphasizes collaboration and communication between software developers and IT operations professionals. Prior to DevOps, developer (Dev) and operations (Ops) teams were separate, communicating only through tickets usually sent from Dev to Ops.
Like ITIL, DevOps is an IT framework. But while ITIL prioritizes service management optimization by focusing on customer satisfaction, DevOps focuses on IT development and delivery.
It can be said that its main function is to unite the development teams with the operations teams to improve collaboration and communication within a company.
Importance Of IT Service Management
Today, IT incorporates and encompasses the responsibilities and tasks of the entire organization.
Managing these services is an ever-evolving challenge and clients expect companies to rise to the occasion and deliver a good result.
Organizations rely on IT service management to handle a myriad of processes and tasks while ensuring they deliver real value to their customers.
As ITSM is a set of processes and policies for managing and supporting IT services throughout their lifecycle, it helps increase worker productivity and business efficiency.
Benefits Of IT Service Management
ITSM is the connection between a company’s IT professionals and the end users who need their services.
By offering a bridge that unites them, IT service management provides many benefits:
Benefits Of ITSM For Organizations
- Greater possibility to react quickly to market changes and innovations.
- Better service at a lower cost.
- Helps the organization comply with regulatory standards and requirements.
- Contribution to making problems less common, impactful, and costly.
Benefits For IT
- Prevention of IT problems and anticipation of solutions.
- More satisfaction of end users thanks to realistic expectations.
- Productivity increase.
- Saving time and effort because the processes are repeatable and scalable.
- Clearer and more defined roles and responsibilities.
- Faster and more effective detection and resolution of incidents.
- Identify and address recurring problems.
Employee Benefits
- Ongoing IT support to support productivity and performance.
- Knowledge of what services are available and how to use them (by workers).
- Access relevant information and make support requests from any device, anywhere in the world, and at any time.
- Transparency in roles and responsibilities, which are much clearer. Workers can understand who is responsible for what tasks, be better informed, and be held accountable.
- Clarity about what the business and end users want and why.
Often the goal of an IT department is damage control when things go wrong.
With IT service management, the IT team is more of an internal consultant and service provider, learning what the organization wants to achieve and working together with technology to meet those goals.
