What Is ITSM?- An IT service management guide

Learn about ITSM (IT Service Management), including benefits, frameworks, and processes to improve your IT operations and business performance.

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What is ITSM (IT service management)?

ITSM (or IT service management) refers to all the activities involved in designing, creating, delivering, supporting, and managing the lifecycle of IT services.

Think of all the technology your team uses—the fleet of laptops and smartphones, the dozens of apps installed on each device, the printers and servers, and phone systems. Your IT team is responsible for the end-to-end management of all this hardware and software, from provisioning and configuring it to securing and troubleshooting it to managing user access and updating apps. Beyond providing day-to-day IT support, modern IT departments also have big-picture responsibilities, like developing and integrating apps to build sophisticated hybrid cloud environments that help your team work smarter and faster.

ITSM aligns IT service delivery with business goals, helping your tech team work as efficiently and effectively as possible. To do so, they use a documented ITSM process flow (or framework) to standardize and optimize service delivery, and ITSM software to combine separately managed IT processes and components into a single platform.

Why is ITSM important in your business process?

Your IT department powers the technology that powers your business. As technology has evolved, so have the services that IT provides. As noted in a recent Freshworks report on AI and automation, “The role of IT as we know it is changing and moving from a support function to a business enabler. CEOs trust technology leaders to be strategic business partners and drive organizational change with technology-driven initiatives.”

Modern IT departments need to support operations anywhere and always on business, providing your team with access to best-in-class technology and automating as many workflows as possible. That’s where ITSM comes in. With the right processes and ITSM technology in place, tech teams can standardize and optimize IT services delivery and documentation, cut costs by building a predictable IT organization, and gain actionable IT insights that aid in business decision-making.

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Benefits of ITSM processes

ITSM processes get your IT department on the same page and all the software and hardware they’re responsible for servicing—into one place.

Benefits for business

  • Better alignment of IT service delivery with business needs 

  • Reduced downtime due to faster incident resolution and predictive analytics 

  • Enhanced agility and strategic innovation

  • Reduced IT costs and wastage via effective asset management

  • Increased IT efficiency and profitability 

  • Reduced regulatory and security risks

  • Optimized workflows and improved collaboration due to more strategic use of technology

  • Reduced IT turnover

Benefits for IT

  • A better understanding of business needs

  • Standardization and continuity due to process implementation based on best practices

  • Increased support to address regulatory and compliance challenges

  • Reduced incident lifecycles, admin workload, and waiting times

  • Increased productivity due to ITSM process flow improvements, automation, and AI

  • Enhanced visibility and understanding of IT services

  • Ability to visualize workflows and continuously improve processes and service delivery

  • Continual service improvement

Benefits for employees

  • A better understanding of IT services and available support

  • Reduced downtime due to faster incident resolution

  • Improved IT user experience via software integrations

  • Enhanced satisfaction with IT

  • Ability to work (and receive IT support) from anywhere  

Read more about the benefits of ITSM.

ITSM management, processes, and components

IT Service Management (ITSM) is a comprehensive approach that encompasses a collection of processes and components designed to manage and enhance the delivery of IT services in businesses. These elements play distinct roles in ensuring the efficiency and effectiveness of IT service management.

IT asset management and CMDB

Asset management is crucial for tracking, updating, and managing a combination of hardware and software assets. It often includes a Configuration Management Database (CMDB), a repository that holds data on IT infrastructure and configuration information. This database typically lists assets and their relationships to other components, like systems, facilities, and personnel.

Knowledge management

A knowledge management System (KMS) allows the IT team to organize and track documentation, FAQs, and other vital information in accessible, up-to-date formats. This system helps avoid work duplication, ensures consistent service delivery, and aids users in finding answers independently.

Incident and service request management

Incident management is a key component of ITSM, focusing on resolving IT issues swiftly, primarily through a helpdesk, to restore normal service operations and minimize business impact. Service Request Management, on the other hand, manages formal user requests for items or tasks, outlining steps from receipt to fulfillment.

Release and project management

Release Management moves IT projects through the production cycle for end-user consumption, ensuring the integrity of live environments and correct component release. IT Project Management organizes, coordinates, and implements changes in the IT environment, encompassing tasks like operational process changes, machinery repair or replacement, and new technology deployment.

Change management

Change Management is dedicated to minimizing disruptions while implementing updates or changes in the IT system. This process ensures controlled and systematic changes, maintaining service integrity and quality.

This will change naturally, based on your configuration management (or configuration items) within the organization. And how that’s reflected in your business tooling.

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What are ITSM efficiencies?

At the core of ITSM is increased efficiency. ITSM encompasses various categories that work in tandem to boost productivity and minimize interruptions and costs within an organization. By focusing on the effective allocation of resources, ITSM ensures that every aspect of IT service delivery operates at peak efficiency. ITSM optimizes resources while cutting down on wasteful expenses. Its aim is to create a leaner, more agile IT service structure that supports the broader objectives of the business while maintaining cost-effectiveness.

Streamlining processes

A key efficiency of ITSM lies in its ability to streamline processes. This automation extends beyond mere time-saving; it ensures consistency in service delivery, reduces the likelihood of human error, and frees up valuable staff time for more complex tasks. Furthermore, ITSM is instrumental in identifying and eliminating recurring issues.

By catching these repeat problems, ITSM prevents future disruptions, thereby maintaining a smoother, more reliable IT service operation. This proactive approach to problem management not only improves current service levels (based on your service-level agreement or SLA) but also contributes to long-term service stability.

Mitigating risks

ITSM is highly effective in mitigating risks and preemptively detecting potential IT issues. This proactive stance in IT service management is needed to prevent business operations interruptions.

By using advanced reporting and analytics, ITSM enables businesses to make informed decisions, foresee potential problems, and implement solutions before issues escalate. This foresight helps in maintaining a stable IT environment and swiftly addressing any emerging issues, thereby reducing the impact on business operations.

Responding to risks

Lastly, an essential aspect of ITSM efficiency is its robust response to security breaches. With the ever-increasing threat to digital assets, having resources and protocols in place to quickly recover from security incidents is imperative.

ITSM frameworks provide the necessary tools and procedures for rapid response and recovery, minimizing the downtime and impact of such breaches.

What is an example of ITSM?

There are many potential ITSM processes and tools, and use cases can vary from one industry or company to the next. Freshservice clients use ITSM in a variety of ways, including:

Support remote workers

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, cloud communications provider RingCentral needed to transform +1,000 office employees into remote workers in less than a week. Thankfully, the company had just deployed Freshservice ITSM, which gave their suddenly virtual IT service desk the tools they needed to handle the inevitable spike in IT support tickets. Agents could also automate repetitive tasks and manual processes soon after they were identified, boosting productivity by eliminating redundant tasks. 

Manage services beyond IT

IT Service Management is specific to IT departments, but the technology isn’t necessarily. Other employee-facing departments—such as HR, finance, legal, and facilities management—also provide services that need managing. RingCentral’s ITSM rollout was so successful that other teams wanted the same capabilities, so IT customized workflows for those departments, transforming the ITSM tool into an Enterprise Service Management (ESM) platform.

Scale IT operations

For fast-growing companies like Waterstons—a U.K.-based business and IT consultancy—scaling IT Service Management can be challenging without the right technology in place. Before ITSM, the firm’s IT help desk was plagued with high turnaround time and lack of workflow automation. Using Freshservice’s knowledge management and service catalog capabilities, Waterstons built a self-service portal to offload simple service requests and automated redundant tasks. This significantly reduced the average response and resolution times, enabling agents to handle twice as many tickets in less time than before.

Improve customer service and customer experience

Before investing in ITSM, OfficeMax relied on an in-house ticketing system that didn’t provide visibility into ticket resolution, didn’t support self-service, and wouldn’t allow employees to raise tickets unless a service attendant was logged in. Deploying Freshservice gave IT teams across the organization a single interface for tracking and managing support requests and a centralized knowledge base, which they used to standardize IT service delivery and create a self-service portal. This significantly improved ticket management and agent performance, increasing customer satisfaction levels to 91 percent overall.

These are just a few of the ways IT departments can use ITSM platforms and reap the rewards.

ITSM frameworks

IT Service Management relies on agreed-upon processes (or frameworks) that let your IT team organize and standardize IT service delivery. Many industry groups have developed frameworks that consist of best practice recommendations IT organizations can use to manage the full spectrum of IT services—from network maintenance to device management, to app development and integration—and to measure the efficiency and value of these efforts.

ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) is the most popular ITSM framework, so much so that the terms “ITIL” and “ITSM” are often used synonymously, but there are several other well-established frameworks for your organization to choose from. Most of them are based on ITIL but adapted to serve different business needs. They include:

  • COBIT—a framework for the governance and management of enterprise IT

  • ISO 20000—the international standard for service management

  • MOF (Microsoft Operations Framework)—a series of guides for creating, implementing, and managing cost-effective IT services

  • USMBOK (Universal Service Management Body of Knowledge)—an addendum to ITIL focusing on both strategic and operational levels

  • DevOps—an unattached set of principles that uses the methodology of cross-functional teams, promoting open communication

ITSM, ITIL, DevOps, and AI: How are they all related?

What is the main difference between ITSM and ITIL? How do DevOps and AI factor in?

ITSM

IT Service Management refers to the processes and activities involved in planning, designing, delivering, and improving the services that your IT department delivers. 

ITIL

ITIL is an ITSM framework—a clearly defined set of processes and best practices used to guide IT service delivery. There are other possible ITSM frameworks, but ITIL is the most popular and is the foundation of most other ITSM frameworks.

DevOps

DevOps is a set of practices and tools used to integrate and automate software development and IT operations as efficiently as possible. This could mean developing new apps, building an IT infrastructure, or integrating various custom and third-party apps into a cloud or hybrid cloud environment. 

DevOps is one of many processes involved in ITSM, which can be organized using ITIL or another ITSM framework.

AI

ITSM involves managing a plethora of IT services, many of which are routine, redundant tasks. According to Gartner, the average IT organization spends 66 percent of its time on these basic day-to-day operations—many of which could be automated to free up IT resources for more strategic projects and even revenue-generating endeavors.

By leveraging AI in ITSM, your IT team can predict (and prevent) incidents before they happen and automate service requests as they come in. Researchers from the Hackett Group put it this way in The Future of IT Service Management report: "Technology leaders are realizing that it is time to modernize their IT Service Management (ITSM) capabilities by introducing intelligent automation enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) analysis of process data and AI for technology operations (AIOps)." 

Simply put, AI makes ITSM smarter so your IT team can work harder on big-picture, innovation-driven, revenue-generating projects (such as DevOps), because they’re spending less time “keeping the lights on.”

The application of ITSM across industries and business types

Different businesses have different needs, but IT organizations across industries can reap the rewards of ITSM. What does that look like in practice?

Small Businesses

By deploying a right-sized, no-code solution, ITSM for small businesses enables organizations to leverage logical and intelligent automation, deploy self-service portals for end users, and view and manage IT projects in real-time. 

Enterprise

ITSM for enterprise doesn’t have to be complex and clunky. With a solution designed for the modern cloud, large organizations can get a sophisticated but user-friendly platform that delivers reliable and secure services, automates workflows across multiple departments and use cases, and delights employees with a consumer-grade service experience.

Financial Services

In such a fast-paced, highly regulated industry, ITSM for financial services must be low-code and low-risk, delivering measurable results, reliability, a modern experience, and continual innovation.

Healthcare

To help care providers deliver clinical excellence and drive superior outcomes, the best ITSM for healthcare is cloud-based, ITIL-aligned, and HIPAA-compliant—enabling organizations to build on-call IT services for around-the-clock operations and a mobile workforce. 

Higher Education

ITSM for higher education lets universities unify all campus IT services into a single system—so departments can control their data via designated workspaces, and students and staff can request and receive IT support via the channel of their choice.

High-Tech

High-tech IT departments need right-sized tech solutions. The best ITSM for high-tech is both scalable and intelligent, delivering AI-enhanced employee experiences that drive digital transformation while managing growth.

How to select the right ITSM tool

Choosing ITSM Software for your business depends on your organization’s unique needs, IT infrastructure, and chosen framework. But generally speaking, the best solutions offer:

  • User-friendly and quick deployment: Choose a tool that is easy to configure and use, offering consumer-tech simplicity. Look for solutions like Freshservice that can be quickly deployed, ensuring a faster return on investment.

  • Low-code/no-code and workflow automation: Opt for platforms with low-code/no-code capabilities, allowing your team to easily create workflows and automate tasks without coding expertise. Automated workflows are essential for efficiency, particularly for routine queries.

  • Scalability and AI capabilities: Ensure the software can scale as your business grows and includes advanced features like AI for predictive alerting, event prioritization, and auto-remediation.

  • Integration and enterprise service management: The best ITSM tools integrate seamlessly with collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams, Slack, and WhatsApp and can extend beyond IT to other departments, transforming into Enterprise Service Management solutions.

  • Transparent pricing and strong support: Look for transparent pricing without hidden costs and ensure the vendor offers excellent support, as your IT teams deserve the same level of service they provide.

Freshservice for your ITSM needs

Freshservice delivers modern, intelligent ITSM software packed with a range of benefits and key features. Continue reading to discover how the Freshservice ITSM solution can enhance your organization's efficiency and effectiveness.

Ease of configuration and user-centric design

  • Instant service management modernization.

  • Out-of-the-box setup with a focus on user experience.

  • Powerful AI and automation capabilities integrated into familiar tools.

Integration and collaborative service channels

  • Seamless integration with collaboration tools like MS Teams and Slack.

  • AI-driven ticket deflection and self-service options.

  • Enhanced employee experiences through modern support systems.

Incident and service request management

  • Advanced AI for efficient and speedy service delivery.

  • User-friendly tools for IT technicians.

  • Extend service catalog beyond IT with Freshservice Orchestration Center for powerful, automated workflows.

Problem, change, and release management

  • Best practices for documenting and resolving root causes.

  • Integrated Change Management with contextual information from CMDB and service desk.

  • Streamlined release processes with change automations to mitigate risks.

Scalability and transparent pricing

  • Monitor and manage workloads effectively for balanced team assignments.

  • Scalable cloud infrastructure to accommodate growing needs.

  • Clear, transparent pricing without hidden costs.

Frequently asked questions

How do I implement the ITSM process?

To get started with ITSM, consider the following:

To successfully implement ITSM, assess the growing needs of your organization and the specific issues you aim to resolve, such as recurring IT problems or budget constraints. Choose an ITSM framework that aligns with your organization's size, needs, and goals. Remember, optimizing IT operations often necessitates a cultural shift, where IT is viewed as a service provider rather than just another department.

What is an ITSM Certification?

An ITSM certification typically refers to certifications in popular ITSM frameworks like ITIL or COBIT, with ITIL being the most recognized. ITIL certifications are widely accepted as ITSM qualifications and come in various levels. ITIL v3 offers five levels: Foundation, Practitioner, Intermediate, Expert, and Master. ITIL 4 has four levels: Foundation, Managing Professional, Strategic Leader, and Master. To find a certification center, visit the Axelos website.

What is the future of ITSM?

The future of ITSM, as with most technologies, lies in AI. By automating mundane work and delivering real-time, data-based insights, AI can help deflect L1 tickets, assist agents, provide 24x7 support, and enable predictive maintenance to prevent incidents before they happen. As AI technology continues to evolve, so will the ITSM use cases.

What is an ITSM process?

ITSM processes are integral to a framework, guiding IT service management. They comprise four key stages:

  • Service strategy: Identifying customer needs and assessing service viability.

  • Service description: Showcases a detailed description of a company’s services. 

  • Service transition: Implementing changes while maintaining stability.

  • Service operation: Ensuring effective service functioning and prompt issue resolution.

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