10 Clear Benefits of It Services Management to Simplify Day-To-Day Operations
Most businesses today rely on IT functions as they carry out daily operations. They turn to IT service management (ITSM) best practices known as the information technology infrastructure library (ITIL) to ensure they get the most from the IT systems. What benefits come with doing so?
1. Increased Efficiency
When a company operates efficiently, it makes the most of the resources it has. ITSM helps a company achieve this goal through the use of things such as IT asset management. These processes are designed to optimize the lifecycle management of these assets while finding cost-effective ways to procure new assets and dispose of existing ones. When a company works within this framework, it benefits from processes put into place to allow for continual service improvement. Doing so allows the organization to see ongoing efficiency gains, as these functions are continuously being optimized to meet changing conditions.
2. Lower Operational Costs
IT infrastructure and operations teams view solutions differently today. As a company increases in size and maturity, these teams must bring in more members so they don’t become overwhelmed. With the help of it services management, these teams can scale operations as needed without bringing in new people. They won’t have the expenses associated with recruiting and onboarding new employees only to find these employees aren’t needed during slow periods. IT service management comes with automated features that reduce the manual workload of existing employees, so they have time for critical tasks.
3. Efficient Implementation
Any changes in an IT system can lead to problems, including downtime which no company can afford. When a company uses the ITIL change management process, the odds of problems developing during implementation decrease significantly. These best practices bring together the various components of the implementation to ensure they create and support a system that works. The components include the roles, processes, and policies that will be utilized during the implementation. Doing so ensures changes are approved by the appropriate parties and any issues that might arise by these changes are identified, so there are no issues when the implementation takes place.
4. Accountability
ITSM standardizes services for increased accountability. With this standardization, IT policy compliance improves. This system implements functions and documented processes to ensure each IT service is delivered properly. IT managers can monitor operator actions and see how they are addressing tasks. The increased visibility ensures consistent delivery of services and compliance throughout the organization. It does so with the help of the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) scale.
Businesses carry out many activities daily. Some are core functions that bring in revenue while others are support functions that support the core functions. IT is a support function every business needs. ITSM puts processes in place to monitor activity on the company’s network and IT infrastructure. Doing so allows any security policy breaches to be caught and handled quickly.
5. Increased Effectiveness Within the IT Department
IT managers must select key performance indicators to determine how well their teams are performing. They must track the KPIs to see if improvements are being made. With ITSM’s formalized processes, driving KPI improvements takes less effort. When structured incident responses are in place, the time needed to resolve the issues drops. Focusing on crisis management also allows the company to recover from a service interruption in less time.
6. Self-Service Options
Consumers want more self-service options, particularly if they are tech-savvy and don’t need much assistance. With these options, they can resolve incidents or fulfill service requests without relying on an IT operator. Ticket resolution costs decrease and customer satisfaction improves. However, the self-service option should be part of a larger drive for improvement.
Companies should offer a knowledge base so users can find answers without speaking to a human. With this option in place, self-service productivity will improve. AI-powered chatbots and service portals are two options every business should consider today.
However, these options should be part of a large push to provide a better customer experience. Companies should also look into aligning the IT department’s activities with the needs of the business. The IT team will focus on the services the business wants. In addition, a formalized ticketing and incident response system must be put into place to guarantee every report or request submitted is handled.
7. Better Communication
Communication improves within a company when it adopts ITSM. The IT service desk becomes the single point of contact, so every user knows which channel to use to obtain support. This service desk handles incident and event management along with request fulfillment.
8. Task Automation
Every department within an organization needs to eliminate tedious manual tasks that contribute to human error. ITSM software makes it easy for the IT department to manage its services. Doing so improves service quality and consistency. IT operators find their workload decreases so they can focus on activities that add value to the organization.
9. Improved ROI
Adopting and implementing this system involves more than purchasing software. The company must adopt processes that reflect best practices when it comes to managing IT services and functions. Once these processes have been adopted, policies and procedures need to be put into place to ensure they are used. All parties must buy into this implementation for it to be effective.
10. Time and Money Savings
ITSM processes focus on saving the business both time and money. They do so by making daily operations more efficient. Knowledge management is one way these processes achieve this goal. Businesses won’t need to rediscover information they already have. This information can easily be shared with the help of a knowledge base. This saves the company time. Better time management means more money for the company. Information security processes also help safeguard the company from expenses associated with a security breach, as the processes drive risk mitigation.
Learn more about IT services management today to see if it is right for your organization. Most business owners will find it is and wish they had implemented it sooner. Doing so allows the business to grow in every way while seeing better profits, happier employees, and more satisfied customers.
