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Difference between revisions of "IT Service Management (ITSM)"

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So while ITSM owes a huge debt to ITIL, its origins can be found in both traditional [[IT Operations (Information Technology Operations)|IT operations’]] best practices and the wider service provider community.
 
So while ITSM owes a huge debt to ITIL, its origins can be found in both traditional [[IT Operations (Information Technology Operations)|IT operations’]] best practices and the wider service provider community.
  
ITSM processes
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== ITSM Processes<ref>ITSM Processes [https://www.manageengine.com/products/service-desk/itsm/#itsm-processes Manage Engine]</ref> ==
 
ITSM processes typically include five stages, all based on the ITIL® framework:
 
ITSM processes typically include five stages, all based on the ITIL® framework:
*Service strategy: This stage forms the foundation or the framework of an organization's ITSM process building. It involves defining the services that the organization will offer, strategically planning processes, and recognizing and developing the required assets to keep processes moving. Service strategy for any organization includes the following aspects:
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*Service Strategy: This stage forms the foundation or the framework of an organization's ITSM process building. It involves defining the services that the organization will offer, strategically planning processes, and recognizing and developing the required assets to keep processes moving. Service strategy for any organization includes the following aspects:
**Strategy management: Assessing the organization's market, offerings, and competition, and developing a strategy for IT services.
+
**Strategy Management: Assessing the organization's market, offerings, and competition, and developing a strategy for IT services.
**Service portfolio management: Managing the service catalog to ensure it has the right IT services, within the defined level of investment, to cater to customers.
+
**Service Portfolio Management: Managing the service catalog to ensure it has the right IT services, within the defined level of investment, to cater to customers.
**Financial management: Managing the organization's budget, accounts, and bills.
+
**Financial Management: Managing the organization's budget, accounts, and bills.
*Demand and capacity management: Understanding and anticipating the demand for the defined IT services, and ensuring that the organization has the capacity to meet customers' demands and needs.  
+
*Demand and Capacity Management: Understanding and anticipating the demand for the defined IT services, and ensuring that the organization has the capacity to meet customers' demands and needs.  
*Business relationship management: Identifying the needs of end users, ensuring that the right services are developed to meet their requirements, to maintain a positive relationship with customers.
+
*Business Relationship Management: Identifying the needs of end users, ensuring that the right services are developed to meet their requirements, to maintain a positive relationship with customers.
 
*Service transition: Once the designs for IT services and their processes have been finalized, it's important to build them and test them out to ensure that processes flow. IT teams need to ensure that the designs don't disrupt services in any way, especially when existing IT service processes are upgraded or redesigned. This calls for change management, evaluation, and risk management. No transition happens without risks and it's important to be proactive during transitions.
 
*Service transition: Once the designs for IT services and their processes have been finalized, it's important to build them and test them out to ensure that processes flow. IT teams need to ensure that the designs don't disrupt services in any way, especially when existing IT service processes are upgraded or redesigned. This calls for change management, evaluation, and risk management. No transition happens without risks and it's important to be proactive during transitions.
**Change management and evaluation: Controlling the life cycle of any IT change, including operational, strategic, or tactical changes.  
+
**Change Management and Evaluation: Controlling the life cycle of any IT change, including operational, strategic, or tactical changes.  
**Project management: Planning and managing major release activities.
+
**Project Management: Planning and managing major release activities.
**Knowledge management: Maintaining a shared IT knowledge base within the organization.
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**Knowledge Management: Maintaining a shared IT knowledge base within the organization.
**Service asset and configuration Management: Maintaining and managing IT assets that are required for the offered IT services, and their configuration items (CIs).
+
**Service Asset and Configuration Management: Maintaining and managing IT assets that are required for the offered IT services, and their configuration items (CIs).
**Release and deployment management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling the deployment of various releases to ensure minimal disruption to existing services.
+
**Release and Deployment Management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling the deployment of various releases to ensure minimal disruption to existing services.
*Service operation: This phase involves implementing the tried and tested new or modified designs in a live environment. While in this stage, the processes have already been tested and the issues fixed, but new processes are bound to have hiccups—especially when customers start using the services. IT teams therefore need to closely monitor processes and workflows and be proactive in ensuring continuity in service delivery. The ITIL® framework defines the following as some of the main processes in the service operation stage:  
+
*Service Operation: This phase involves implementing the tried and tested new or modified designs in a live environment. While in this stage, the processes have already been tested and the issues fixed, but new processes are bound to have hiccups—especially when customers start using the services. IT teams therefore need to closely monitor processes and workflows and be proactive in ensuring continuity in service delivery. The ITIL® framework defines the following as some of the main processes in the service operation stage:  
**Incident and request fulfillment management: Ensuring that all IT incidents are resolved at the earliest and service requests are attended to within the agreed service level targets.
+
**Incident and Request Fulfillment Management: Ensuring that all IT incidents are resolved at the earliest and service requests are attended to within the agreed service level targets.
**Problem management: Managing all IT problems, minimizing the impact of IT incidents that led to the problem, and coming up with a solution or a workaround.
+
**Problem Management: Managing all IT problems, minimizing the impact of IT incidents that led to the problem, and coming up with a solution or a workaround.
**Technical management: Managing the IT infrastructure with the most appropriate technical expertise and support.
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**Technical Management: Managing the IT infrastructure with the most appropriate technical expertise and support.
*Continual service improvement (CSI): Implementing IT processes successfully shouldn't be the final stage in any organization. There's always room for improvement and new development based on issues that pop up, customer needs and demands, and user feedback. Key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics play a significant role in identifying areas that need improvement or change. For better understanding, read this blog on the important KPIs for any organization. The following are a few of the aspects of CSI:  
+
*Continual Service Improvement (CSI): Implementing IT processes successfully shouldn't be the final stage in any organization. There's always room for improvement and new development based on issues that pop up, customer needs and demands, and user feedback. Key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics play a significant role in identifying areas that need improvement or change. For better understanding, read this blog on the important KPIs for any organization. The following are a few of the aspects of CSI:  
 
**IT service review: Reviewing offered services and the IT infrastructure to identify any areas that may require improvements.
 
**IT service review: Reviewing offered services and the IT infrastructure to identify any areas that may require improvements.
 
**Process evaluation: Monitoring processes constantly and evaluating them to ensure that the benchmark is maintained.
 
**Process evaluation: Monitoring processes constantly and evaluating them to ensure that the benchmark is maintained.

Revision as of 17:05, 23 July 2019

IT Service Management (ITSM) is a process-based IT management framework intended to align the delivery of IT services with the needs of our customers. ITSM involves a paradigm shift from managing IT as stacks of individual components to focusing on the delivery of end-to-end services using best practice process models.<Defining IT Service Management (ITSM) Berkeley.edu</ref>


IT Service Management (ITSM)
source: UC Berkeley


Other Definitions of IT Service Management (ITSM)

ITIL defines ITSM as a set of specialized organizational capabilities for providing value to customers in the form of services.

ITIL Glossary defines ITSM as the implementation and management of quality IT services that meet the needs of the business. IT service management is performed by IT service providers through an appropriate mix of people, process and information technology. See also service management.[1]

Wikipedia provides a customer focused definition of ITSM as a discipline for managing information technology (IT) systems, philosophically centered on the customer's perspective of IT's contribution to the business. ITSM stands in deliberate contrast to technology-centered approaches to IT management and business interaction.[2]

“Also termed service management thinking, service management is a systematic method for managing the offering, contracting and provisioning of services to customers, at a known quality, cost and designed experience. Service management ensures the desired results and customer satisfaction levels are achieved cost effectively, and is a means by which the customer experience and interaction with products, services, and the service provider organization is designed and managed. Service management is also a transformation method for any organization that wishes to operate as a service provider organization.” [3]


The Origins of ITSM[4]

Many will point to the introduction of ITIL in 1989, with a set of best practice books, as the starting point for ITSM. However, there was much that preceded ITIL that could be considered ITSM – from both inside and outside the IT community. So ITSM and service management is older than ITIL, although the term “IT service management” was not commonly used pre-ITIL. Much of the early IT-based ITSM thinking (albeit often referred to as IT operations or similar), and support, came from technology vendors/suppliers through the need to help their customers to use their technology. For example, in early large-scale mainframe environments it would be common to find configuration management, change management, problem management, capacity planning, availability management, and disaster recovery used to optimize operations. Outside of IT, the concept of service management was, and still is, relevant to all service providers. The 1984 book “Service Management: Strategy and Leadership in the Service Business” by Richard Normann, often referred to as one of the foundations of service-based thinking and service management excellence, is another source of service management, and thus ITSM, advice. So while ITSM owes a huge debt to ITIL, its origins can be found in both traditional IT operations’ best practices and the wider service provider community.


ITSM Processes[5]

ITSM processes typically include five stages, all based on the ITIL® framework:

  • Service Strategy: This stage forms the foundation or the framework of an organization's ITSM process building. It involves defining the services that the organization will offer, strategically planning processes, and recognizing and developing the required assets to keep processes moving. Service strategy for any organization includes the following aspects:
    • Strategy Management: Assessing the organization's market, offerings, and competition, and developing a strategy for IT services.
    • Service Portfolio Management: Managing the service catalog to ensure it has the right IT services, within the defined level of investment, to cater to customers.
    • Financial Management: Managing the organization's budget, accounts, and bills.
  • Demand and Capacity Management: Understanding and anticipating the demand for the defined IT services, and ensuring that the organization has the capacity to meet customers' demands and needs.
  • Business Relationship Management: Identifying the needs of end users, ensuring that the right services are developed to meet their requirements, to maintain a positive relationship with customers.
  • Service transition: Once the designs for IT services and their processes have been finalized, it's important to build them and test them out to ensure that processes flow. IT teams need to ensure that the designs don't disrupt services in any way, especially when existing IT service processes are upgraded or redesigned. This calls for change management, evaluation, and risk management. No transition happens without risks and it's important to be proactive during transitions.
    • Change Management and Evaluation: Controlling the life cycle of any IT change, including operational, strategic, or tactical changes.
    • Project Management: Planning and managing major release activities.
    • Knowledge Management: Maintaining a shared IT knowledge base within the organization.
    • Service Asset and Configuration Management: Maintaining and managing IT assets that are required for the offered IT services, and their configuration items (CIs).
    • Release and Deployment Management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling the deployment of various releases to ensure minimal disruption to existing services.
  • Service Operation: This phase involves implementing the tried and tested new or modified designs in a live environment. While in this stage, the processes have already been tested and the issues fixed, but new processes are bound to have hiccups—especially when customers start using the services. IT teams therefore need to closely monitor processes and workflows and be proactive in ensuring continuity in service delivery. The ITIL® framework defines the following as some of the main processes in the service operation stage:
    • Incident and Request Fulfillment Management: Ensuring that all IT incidents are resolved at the earliest and service requests are attended to within the agreed service level targets.
    • Problem Management: Managing all IT problems, minimizing the impact of IT incidents that led to the problem, and coming up with a solution or a workaround.
    • Technical Management: Managing the IT infrastructure with the most appropriate technical expertise and support.
  • Continual Service Improvement (CSI): Implementing IT processes successfully shouldn't be the final stage in any organization. There's always room for improvement and new development based on issues that pop up, customer needs and demands, and user feedback. Key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics play a significant role in identifying areas that need improvement or change. For better understanding, read this blog on the important KPIs for any organization. The following are a few of the aspects of CSI:
    • IT service review: Reviewing offered services and the IT infrastructure to identify any areas that may require improvements.
    • Process evaluation: Monitoring processes constantly and evaluating them to ensure that the benchmark is maintained.
    • CSI initiatives management: Defining and monitoring CSI initiatives to ensure that the CSI activities are being carried out as per the plan, and to fix any hiccups that may occur along the way.



ITSM Vs. ITIL[6]

ITSM is an acronym for IT service management. It simply means how you manage the information systems that deliver value to your customers. Even if you’ve never heard the term ITSM, if you’re running IT systems, then you are doing ITSM. ITSM could include activities like planning and managing changes so they don’t cause disruption to the business, fixing things when they go wrong, or managing a budget to ensure you can pay the bills when they arrive. People who use the term ITSM tend to think of IT as a means of delivering valuable services to their customers, rather than as a way to manage technology—but even if you have a completely technical focus, your work still needs to be managed, and that’s what we call ITSM.

ITIL is the name of the world’s most widely recognized framework for ITSM. ITIL is a registered trademark of AXELOS, which owns a range of best practice solutions and their corresponding publications and exams. ITIL has been adopted by many organizations, and there are millions of certified ITIL practitioners worldwide.


See Also

Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
IT Service Continuity Management (ITSCM)


References

  1. What does IT Service Management (ITSM) Mean?ITIL Glossary
  2. What is ITSM? Wikipedia
  3. Explaining ITSM USMBOK
  4. The Origins of ITSM SysAid
  5. ITSM Processes Manage Engine
  6. Difference between ITSM & ITIL BMC Blog