The core concept of ITSM is the belief that IT should be delivered as a service. A typical ITSM scenario might involve requesting new hardware, such as a laptop. You submit your request through a portal, fill out a request with all the relevant information, and initiate a repeatable workflow. The request then falls into the IT team's queue, where incoming requests are prioritized and addressed.
Because of their daily interactions with IT, people often misinterpret ITSM as basic IT support. Rather, ITSM teams oversee all types of workplace technology, from laptops to servers to business-critical software applications.
There is a common line of thought in the IT industry that a proper approach to ITSM should follow three steps in this order;
IT teams must continually learn and improve. They need to feel valued and empowered to make a difference in the organization. Instead of responding to rules imposed by a tiered reporting structure or rigid process, IT teams can make informed decisions about things like adopting SLAs and what software to implement. Strong IT teams are critical to strong organizations because IT teams drive productivity and digital transformation. The team is at the core of ITSM processes and technologies.
Once you focus on the strengths of the IT team, it's possible to develop unique applications and capabilities that will add value to the organization. No matter how reputable the source, it's not enough to just "copy and paste" another organization's standards and hope they work in your unique environment. Successful IT teams build their approaches from systems like ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library), but they're careful to think about how to adapt processes that will resonate with their customers.
Finally, software and technology should support a team's practices and increase their impact. Good ITSM software helps IT reach out to others in their organization through cross-team collaboration. It empowers end users and automates mundane tasks, giving everyone more time to focus on what matters most. We've all seen technology get in the way and create unnecessary complexity or frustration. When technology works well, it feels like magic. But in reality, it's a reflection of the hard work of the teams using it.
ITSM vs ITIL vs DevOps
IT teams use a variety of systems to guide their work. While there are many other concepts like COBIT, SIAM, IT4IT, the most common ones we hear are ITSM and DevOps.
So what acronyms do you need to know? Here, we'll cover two of the most effective systems for modern IT teams (ITSM and DevOps) and a common approach to ITSM. Let's start by defining some basic terms.
ITSM
As mentioned above, IT Service Management is how IT teams manage the delivery of IT services to customers. A team's ITSM approach can be structured to align with ITIL practices and influenced by DevOps concepts.
ITIL
ITIL is the most widely accepted approach to ITSM. ITIL focuses on practices for aligning IT services with business needs. ITIL can help organizations adapt to ongoing transformation and scale. The latest update to the ITIL standards, ITIL 4, represents a paradigm shift for IT teams. It reorients teams to a holistic, business and customer value framework and encourages a more flexible approach based on how your team operates. The ITIL 4 Guiding Principles encourage collaboration, simplicity, and feedback.
ITIL is sometimes misrepresented as a set of "rules" that are open to interpretation rather than a guide. However, just because we should use processes and documentation doesn't mean we should create cumbersome logs and bureaucratic overhead. There's no excuse for hiding behind processes or ITIL "rules."
DevOps
DevOps emphasizes accelerated IT service delivery through agile and lean practices. DevOps enhances collaboration between development and IT operations teams, so organizations can build, test, and release software faster and more reliably. Promised benefits include increased trust, faster software releases, the ability to quickly resolve critical issues, and better management of unplanned work.
While DevOps involves continuous development, integration, and automated delivery, the concept is based on creating a culture of collaboration across teams that have historically functioned in related silos. Much of the context and ethos behind DevOps is about moving away from legacy divisions and working together—collaboratively. Unfortunately, this is often seen as being about "Dev," not "Ops."
ITSM and DevOps are often pitted against each other as an "either/or" decision – "we are an ITSM or DevOps house." There is confusion about what ITSM and DevOps offer and how they can work together. Modern, high-performing teams recognize that they can both work smarter and faster, but still need process and control.
It's time to move beyond the ITSM vs. DevOps ultimatum and use elements of both – whether you explicitly monitor systems or not. DevOps is much more than automated development and promotes the importance of collaboration and a culture. Furthermore, the ITSM and ITIL approach should not be seen as an administrative burden, but should be used in an agile approach to fit the unique needs of different organizations.
The Importance of ITSM
ITSM benefits your IT team and service management principles can improve your entire organization. ITSM leads to efficiency and productivity gains. A structured approach to service management aligns IT with business goals, standardizing the delivery of services according to budgets, resources, and outcomes. It reduces costs and risks, and ultimately improves the customer experience.
Some of the most common benefits of ITSM include;
All of this reduces costs and leads to better service.
ITSM Processes
What are ITSM processes? ITIL version 4 recently moved from recommending ITSM "processes" to 34 ITSM "practices." Their rationale for this updated terminology is that "elements such as culture, technology, information, and data management can be considered to achieve a holistic vision of how we work." This more comprehensive approach better reflects the realities of modern organizations.
We won't worry about the nuanced differences in using practices or process terminology here. What's important and true, regardless of what system your team follows, is that modern IT service teams use organizational resources and follow repeatable procedures to deliver consistent, efficient service. In fact, using a practice or process is what separates ITSM from IT.
A few of the core ITSM processes include:
Service Request Management
Request management is a repeatable procedure for handling a wide variety of customer service requests, such as requests for access to applications, software enhancements, and hardware updates. The service request workflow often involves recurring requests and benefits greatly from providing information to customers and automating certain tasks.
Knowledge Management
Knowledge management is the process of creating, sharing, using and managing an organization's knowledge and information. It refers to a multidisciplinary approach to achieve corporate goals by using information in the best way possible.
IT Asset Management
IT asset management (also known as ITAM) is the process of ensuring that an organization's assets are accounted for, deployed, maintained, upgraded, and disposed of when the time comes. Simply put, it's about tracking and utilizing the tangible and intangible valuables in your organization.
Incident Management
Incident management is the process of responding to an unplanned incident or service outage and returning the service to a working state. With all the software services that organizations rely on today, there are more potential points of failure than ever before. Therefore, the process must be ready to respond and resolve issues quickly.
Problem Management
Problem management is the process of identifying and managing the causes of incidents in an IT service. Problem management is not just about finding and fixing incidents. It is also about identifying and understanding the underlying causes of an incident and determining the best method to eliminate the root causes.
Change Management
Change management ensures that standard procedures are used to efficiently and quickly process all changes to the IT infrastructure, whether it's introducing new services, managing existing ones, or fixing problems in code. Effective change management provides context and transparency to avoid bottlenecks while minimizing risk.
Don't get overwhelmed by these and even longer lists of ITIL practices. Start where you are, adopt the practices that make the most sense. Your team can grow from there, learn along the way, and adapt as the organization evolves.
ITSM Software and Tools
ITSM software enables IT teams to adapt to business needs and take a strategic approach to organizational change, transformation, and growth. There is a wide variety of ITSM software tools on the market, from standalone applications to platform services.
We often hear IT teams complain that the traditional ITSM tools they use are inflexible and therefore difficult to customize and adapt to evolving requirements. Different tools exist for different ITSM processes. Modular tools create barriers, drain people, and create a lack of visibility across teams. Traditional ITSM tools are often difficult to deploy and manage, and end users are reluctant to adopt tools that are not intuitive, leading to incomplete or non-existent self-service ITSM capabilities.
Since the service desk is the foundation of ITSM, it is crucial to choose the right service desk software for your organization. The service desk will be the interface between customers and the IT team. ITIL defines a service desk as “the single point of contact between a service provider and users.” A typical service desk manages incidents and service requests, as well as manages communication with users. The service desk also plays a key role in managing other ITSM processes. Consider whether your service desk and other ITSM tools meet the following requirements:
ITSM is at the core of modernizing organizations. As the rise of software-enabled service accelerates, IT service teams are empowering employees and teams across organizations to deliver value faster. The role of the IT team has shifted from supporting the business to differentiating the business. It's time to shift to ITSM approaches that emphasize collaboration, ease of use, and faster delivery of value.
Atlassian References
