What is IT Service Management?

IT Service Management or ITSM can be described as the process of delivering IT resources and business practices in a way that the end user experiences the best service

Information technology or IT is a sector that covers an array of areas in terms of computing, like software, hardware, and telecommunication. Responsibilities of the sector range from running and maintaining networks and systems to managing data and keeping it safe and secure.

While there are several segments of IT, IT service management or ITSM is an important part of the industry. Many assume that IT service management has the same functions as IT support, but this is far from the truth. ITSM is built around processes that focus on the end-to-end delivery of IT solutions rather than their development and includes all activities to design, create, deliver, and support IT services.

While a business can benefit greatly from partnering with IT managed service experts like ITaffix, below is an introduction to the approaches and processes of ITSM.

Approach

There are several approaches to ITSM, including HDI Support Centre Standard, Microsoft Operations Framework, and Capability Maturity Model Integration. However, ITIL is one of the most common approaches used by IT managed service experts.

The focus of ITIL is aligning IT services with business needs and the approach understands the importance of a holistic business and customer-value frame of reference and guides teams to it, while also being flexible.

Benefits of IT Service Management

ITSM can benefit a business in several ways, which is why it is recommended that you talk to an IT consulting company like ITaffix about how their services can improve your business processes and functions. While IT consulting firms like ITaffix offer a range of services, for instance hosting services, server management, and network monitoring, their IT service management stands out for its many benefits.
Standardisation and integration is one of the key benefits of ITSM and managed IT services standardise IT procedures across departments, streamlining processes and managing workflow. ITSM also automates mundane and simple tasks, allowing teams to focus their time and energy on more important aspects of the business.
ITSM tools can be used to create quick and easy visualisations of process workflows and pinpoint exactly where a process needs to be simplified. This is done by eliminating redundant steps, automating processes, or rearranging steps.
Return on investment or ROI is another benefit of ITSM. A business may invest heavily in IT services from IT consulting experts like ITaffix and IT service management ensures the business enjoys the returns on these investments.

Processes

There are different ITSM processes and IT consulting firms will use the best for your business. Service request management, one of the core ITSM processes, is a repeatable procedure for handling a wide variety of customer service requests, while knowledge management is the process of creating, sharing, using, and managing the knowledge and information of the business.

IT asset management or ITAM makes sure the assets of a business are accounted for, deployed, maintained, upgraded, and disposed of and this is another ITSM process. Incident management, change management, and problem management are a few other core processes of managed IT services.

Teams and tools

There are three main steps to ITSM. Starting with building and implementing IT technology, an ITSM approach must also enforce the right process and ensure that people learn the technology and abide by the process.

In order to achieve this, IT consulting service experts will focus on two important elements; teams and tools.

An IT consulting company like ITaffix, for instance, will focus on IT teams and how their work can be improved. As part of their managed IT services, companies like ITaffix will empower teams by providing them with all necessary tools and enable them to make informed decisions beyond a tiered reporting structure, especially regarding software implementation.

Besides a strong and skilled team, IT consulting service experts will also look at the support and impact of technology and software. Effective ITSM depends a lot on the software and technology used and good software will enable an IT team to make the most of IT service management.