We’re living in the “outcome economy”.This term, coined by Allan Alter, indicates that we’ve shifted from competing on selling products to competing by selling measurable results that matter to the customer. Buyers are looking for an outcome, and sellers are selling a promise of the outcome. Let us see what is ITSM and how can it benefit your business
Long ago, the late Theodore Levitt had stated that people don’t want to buy six-inch drills, but six-inch holes. Today, businesses are heeding his words.
More organizations are waking up to the importance of customer experience (CX) as a differentiator and using technology to provide it. Technology is proving to be an effective vehicle to help businesses and brands achieve their end goal: providing a superior customer experience.ITSM is one such vehicle.
What is ITSM?
IT Service Management (ITSM) aims to improve IT customer service to align with your business goals.
ITSM is a set of processes, policies and procedures to manage, implement, improve and support customer-oriented IT services. Businesses and brands that aim to deliver valuable services to customers deploy ITSM because they consider IT as more of a facilitator than a department that handles technology.
ITSM promises an outcome of enhanced customer service for organizations deploying it. Though it was originally created in the 1950’s, ITSM has gained prominence recently because of evolving KPI’s of the IT sector. Applied effectively, it positively impacts a business’ top line and bottom line.
The Benefits of ITSM
The ITSM framework benefits a business across departments. But the question you should ask is not what ITSM can do for your business. Instead, it is what your business can do by using this framework.
Some ways in which businesses improve by applying ITSM’s best practices are:
Faster delivery: Companies can deliver faster to their customers who, in turn can resume their services quicker. The quicker such demands get fulfilled, the more customers reconnect and contribute to improving your company’s turnover.
Regulation-compliant frameworks: Such frameworks serve as an all-encompassing guide for a range of functions like quality management, software engineering, information security management, and so on. This ensures your organization adheres to regulatory compliances and stays on the right side of the law.
Cost Savings: Modern ITSM solutions have automated more services, which will lead to a substantial cost saving for businesses.
ITSM Service Desk
The primary role that falls under ITSM is the service desk, which functions as a Single Point of Contact (SPOC) to manage users, customer, IT staff and objectives. Your ITSM service desk should comprise of well-trained staff to handle incident tickets, service requests, issues, queries, support and more.
Companies with IT management services and helpdesks will find ITSM ticketing tools most useful.
Want to know how an ITSM solution can improve your business performance. Connect with us for a free demo to know more.
Processes Under ITSM
ITSM has many frameworks which differ by objective and industry. Some of them include:
- IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) – A framework to document ITSM’s best practices,
- COBIT – Control Objectives for Information and related Technologies, an IT regulatory framework,
- Business Process Framework (eTOM) – A framework for telecom service providers,
- Six Sigma – Invented by Motorola in the 1980s, a system that uses data to locate and mitigate systemic flaws and more
No ITSM framework has a blanket use everywhere, though ITIL is currently the most popular one. The most effective framework is one that fulfils your business objective. Before applying a framework, ask yourself, “What is my objective here?” Check which frameworks meet your needs, even if they’re outside the current spectrum of ITSM.
Want to know which ITSM framework is best suited to match your business needs? Check out Enjay’s Helpdesk CRM.
Let’s dive deeper into ITIL.
What is ITIL?
The Information Technology Infrastructure Library is a compendium of frameworks that describe the best practices to deliver IT services.
Originally developed in the 1980s by the British Government’s Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA), ITIL has gone through multiple revisions. According to the official website, the latest phase (ITIL V3) emphasizes on:
- IT Integration
- Value network integration
- Dynamic service integration
- Holistic service management
ITILV3 also provides the much-needed “how-to” information on implementing best practices.
Is ITIL Necessary?
In one word, no.
Is it useful?
Very.
Every organization agrees on the collecting and responding to customer feedback, maintaining data security, assuring Service Level Agreements, sustenance and improvement, and more. But left to their own, most organizations would flounder when it comes to implementing these.
This is where ITIL V3 best practices, which serve as a standard guide, prove useful for businesses to maintain hygiene and deliver quality service to their customers.
How Should You Apply ITIL?
Merely binge-reading the ITIL volume of books will not improve your IT operations. Like with any process, you first must understand the concepts, followed by a team buy-in of what you want to implement. Third, you need a certified ITIL consultant to ensure that things don’t turn into a mess post implementation.
According to Axelos, the owner of ITIL, the library can help improve business services by:
- Managing risk, disruption and failure
- Strengthening customer relations by delivering efficient services that meet their needs
- Establishing cost-effective practices
- Building a stable environment that allows for growth, scale and change.
Summing Up
IT can no longer afford to play second fiddle for businesses to achieve their goals. It has to go hand-in-hand with other integral functions.
Customer-centric actions might lead to profit today. But it won’t be long before they become a must-have instead of a differentiating factor. Make sure your business is prepared for this shift in paradigm.
To know how ITIL can seamlessly be implemented at your organization to help it achieve its business goals, connect with us today.
