Accompanying the digital transition of many companies, ITSM, or Information Technology Service Management, has been gaining momentum in recent years. Based on rigorous standards, ITSM solutions now represent an essential cross-functional tool to better meet user expectations. By exploiting self-service and promoting automation, these tools are the new weapon for CIOs to ensure more satisfaction when processing requests. Two major assets characterize them: on the one hand, compliance with regulatory constraints, and on the other hand, their ability to free up quality time for the processing of complex requests by IT. ITSM software thus meets the constantly increasing needs generated by the digitalization of companies.
With nearly 75% of French companies using these
solutions in 2017, the interest in structuring IT is well established. While
some publishers still have to work on the scalability and user-friendliness of
their solution, the growing demand and the prospects offered by technological
progress suggest bright days for ITSM and its users.
What
is ITSM and what is its history?
The origins of ITSM are closely linked to the
appearance of ITIL, the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, on which
it is based. This set of methods and good practices for the management of
information systems appeared in the early 2000s and quickly became popular with
companies thanks to its ability to structure IT. Constantly evolving to reach
its fourth version today, ITIL first covered very factual subjects such as
incident management, change management or configuration management, before
including, in its V3 (2007) , a more transverse aspect of overall satisfaction
of business services. IT then takes on a more human dimension and integrates
notions of service portfolio management, service catalog and continuous
improvement.
V4 of ITIL, launched at the beginning of 2019, adds to
these elements the need for agility and the unification of the concepts of
development and administration of IS via DevOps practice. Based on a
four-dimensional model, ITIL V4 encourages the consideration, during
development, of the human and technological aspects of the company.
What
are the challenges of using ITSM software?
Centralize
and simplify procedures
The use of an ITSM tool and ITIL practices makes it
possible to formalize a large number of IT-related procedures. Thus, incidents,
modifications, or actions to resolve technical problems are subject to
standardized processing according to the ITIL standard, and are accompanied by
good practices. The objective: to solve the simplest problems upstream and, in
the case of complex problems, to structure the exchanges for a faster
resolution.
The centralization of data via a dedicated tool allows
the creation of service catalogs, assistance centers or knowledge bases, whose
rapid access makes it possible to provide an effective response to requests
from the entire company.
The modeling of the computer park by ITSM ensures a
perfect knowledge of the circulation of data flows and appropriate maintenance
of the equipment over time.
Manage
autonomy and satisfaction
At the heart of ITSM are many intelligent information
compilation devices. Catalogs and service centers constitute well-documented
databases, which users are encouraged to consult for themselves. Ticket
management services allow for better prioritization of requests. ITSM thus
promotes autonomy and frees up time for IT employees and all departments.
The automation of IT tasks is also reinforced: the
modeling of workflows by business managers makes it possible to better manage
access to key information by IT and to speed up interventions
This work of IT in collaboration with other services
and the creation of self-care tools generates more satisfaction on a daily
basis for stakeholders wishing to access information at any time.
Better
quantify the performance of the IT service
IT service management also allows the establishment of
a number of KPIs: these performance indicators are an excellent way to quantify
the effectiveness of the IT service. Technical indicators include, for example,
incident management, application availability statistics, automation rate,
etc., but other very useful KPIs can also be monitored: financial,
organizational and human indicators inform CIOs about the efficiency efficiency
of the services put in place and on the allocation of resources.
The assessments drawn from these indicators not only
make it possible to judge the success of new deployments, but also to justify the
acquisition of new resources or the start of major organizational changes. In
addition, the use of numerical values makes it possible to better understand
the internal satisfaction rate and to draw effective conclusions.
Optimize
costs
As you might expect, ITSM allows, thanks to better
planning, to optimize IT expenses. The monitoring of the computer park, in the
first place, ensures better visibility on the equipment and a better
anticipated renewal of the equipment. Automating certain tasks frees up resources
for other needs and reduces time spent on repetitive actions. Finally, the
creation of assistance centers makes it possible to relieve the teams and better
allocate human resources.
Costs are thus better controlled and essential
expenses can be planned further in advance for long-term optimization.
Who
are the users of ITSM software?
IT management system, but also interface with users,
the ITSM tool is the point of contact for multiple stakeholders:
CIO
Thanks to the software, information systems managers
have a clearer view of the assignment of tasks within their teams. The
implementation of best practices and the use of a single tool ensures more
harmonious exchanges and exhaustive coverage of IT issues. In addition, CIOs
take advantage of ITSM tools to better communicate with business services and
offer a quality of service in line with their strategy.
Support
employees
Thanks to the use of an ITSM tool, employees assigned
to operational tasks have better control over the entry of information, the
processing of requests and the escalation of requests. The user-friendliness of
the recent interfaces and the support provided by the tool on a daily basis, in
particular via alerts, are reassuring elements and generators of greater
efficiency.
Users
Employees interacting with IT through an ITSM solution
benefit from a single, more pleasant and intuitive interface. This helps to
build more trust and allows users to easily track the progress of their
request. Self-care tools, designed to find the information you are looking for
yourself, are factors of autonomy and satisfaction.
Hat
are the main features of ITSM software?
ITSM covers a wide range of functionalities relating
to business service support, IT infrastructure management and security
management. Among the recurring functions of the tools on the market, we find
the following elements:
Incident
management
Located at the heart of IT issues, incident management
requires proper consideration of all technical problems and fluid exchanges.
ITSM tools aim to accelerate the identification and resolution of problems in
order to improve both productivity and employee satisfaction. The
implementation of a single platform makes it possible to better distribute
tasks and collaborate effectively. The introduction of self-care tools reduces
the volume of requests and allows better handling of incidents.
ITSM tools also allow specific targeted processing for
major incidents: these benefit from precise and rapid information collection
and, depending on the tools, intelligent linking with past incidents for
resolution. faster. In addition, automatic suggestion devices allow better
orientation of requests as soon as they are entered, thus avoiding loss of time
or inappropriate processing.
Change
Management
During periods of migration or transition, the IT
department must be able to fully assume its workload and anticipate possible
problems. ITSM has many functions to better anticipate the impact of changes.
Thanks to the formalization of change processes and
the use of a single repository, it is easier to trace the course of the steps
to come. Automation also simplifies the process through automated approvals.
Essential in addition, the prediction of conflicts and
the impact of changes is one of the main assets of ITSM: the combination of
precise data by the tool makes it possible to generate analyzes and make the
right strategic choices when any transition. Risk prediction allows for early
intervention and more accurate calculation of performance.
Configuration
Management
Configuration management, based on a CMDB (for
Configuration Management DataBase), makes it possible to establish a complete
inventory of the resources available to the IT department. The modeling of
processes, even complex ones, ensures better control of the work environment.
By using standards for the data exchanged and verifying their accuracy, the
tool checks that resource forecasts and analyzes are carried out on the right
basis. The environment, made up of elements called CI (Configuration Items),
can be viewed easily by IT stakeholders, with the use of filters to better
study certain events and a constant forecast of risks.
Request
management
Request management makes it possible to establish
quality responses to user requests through service catalogs, service level
agreements (Service Level Agreement) establishing a quality standard and
automated updates for a service that is always functional and adapted to recent
needs. Thus, from any device, users or customers can be informed of the progress
of their request and access a large number of self-service resources to speed
up its resolution. The automated escalation process ensures that requests are
automatically forwarded to the people most qualified to handle them. The
definition of service standards ensures quality processing and good
traceability of all the actions carried out.
Work
environment and mobility of requests
Recent ITSM software also focuses on the
user-friendliness of exchanges between IT and users. Thus, on the IT side, an intuitive
workspace makes it possible to quickly understand the key resolution steps, to
act quickly and to have suggestions from the tool. Functions for searching or
assigning tasks according to availability as well as a dynamic display of
information make it possible to exchange with the user while having the right
information.
In addition, the development of mobile applications
allows users to initiate queries on mobile without losing information quality.
Access to the service catalog and to ticketing is then combined with
mobile-specific features, such as optimized displays or photo search.
Performance
analysis and cost tracking
The very successful processing of requests by ITSM
software is accompanied by comprehensive reporting and intelligent analyses.
The key performance indicators (KPI) chosen are presented by the tool in a
dynamic wayfriendly and in real time. The analysis tools also have the ability
to highlight areas for improvement and to offer a presentation based on a model
for maximum time saving, or customizable for the choice of perfectly adapted
indicators.
The tracking of expenses and resources contributes to
this analysis function and offers more agility during the processing of
requests. Thanks to good inventory management and precise knowledge of assets,
it becomes easier to automate certain ordering processes and therefore save
valuable time
Very rich, the functionalities of ITSM software cover
many other needs. Depending on the version chosen or the budget invested, the
artificial intelligence integrated into the tools increases the number of
possibilities. Predictive intelligence and virtual agents are then added to the
basic functions and improve the company's ability to automate the processing of
requests.
What
points to pay attention to when choosing your ITSM software?
The criteria for choosing an ITSM solution are both
organizational and technical. To the ease of use must be added a great
simplicity of configuration and evolution. Thus, the tool can support the IS at
any time and adapt to their constant changes.
The
ability to automate
Automation is the main asset of ITSM tools: companies
have every interest in exploiting it to successfully tackle the all-digital era
and the rise of artificial intelligence. The use of bots and the performance by
the computer of repetitive and not very complex tasks is now offered by a large
number of management tools on the market and should contribute to a profound improvement
in team productivity.
Beyond efficiency, it is also the interest of jobs and
the attractiveness of companies that benefit from this type of innovation,
since the tasks performed by humans are then more qualitative and therefore
interesting. At a time when users are sometimes negatively impacted by cost
limitations, which generate less qualitative services, automation is a great
and relevant response. For the company, the key is to opt for truly intelligent
automation, which takes into account the entirety of business processes and
establishes a scope for them.
Flexibility
of use and configuration
Whether it is basic or very feature-rich, it is
important that the chosen ITSM tool is easy to use for employees, with also an
intuitive creation of requests for users. User-friendliness is essential to
establish a satisfactory “consumer” type experience. Since frequent process
changes may occur during the total duration of use of the software, the
configuration of the latter must be able to be modified simply, without the
intervention of the publisher or an external consultant. To properly address
this issue of flexibility, it is important to first consider the needs, by
categorizing the essential prerequisites and the desired optional elements. The
compatibility of the ITSM software with other tools should also be examined for
full exploitation of the functionalities, and in the long term.
Simple
integration and interfacing
For maximum efficiency, ITSM software must be able to
communicate with the other tools in place. The full synchronization of the
applications between them makes it possible to then exploit only one user base,
and therefore to greatly simplify the handling of the software on a daily
basis. Similarly, resource management requires inventory functions rich enough
so that no data is forgotten when communicating with other tools. This point is
all the more crucial since ITSM software, which is less subject than other
tools to standards for exchange with business software, offers very variable
integration capabilities depending on the publisher
It will also be useful to plan for the longer term:
ITIL processes affect more and more areas of the company. It is therefore
essential to verify the ability of the tool to easily deploy these processes in
other services, without the need for additional development.
Quality
deployment and maintenance
The challenge of choosing one ITSM solution over
another is twofold: in addition to the cost and quality of implementation, the
solution may include frequent and more or less costly maintenance, depending on
the publisher.
In terms of integration, given the still modest use of
ITSM solutions, publishers frequently play the role of integrator. This factor
can be an asset: the company that produced the tool will indeed be well placed
to guide and support the s employees during its implementation. However, some
publishers only provide limited advice, it is best to inquire in advance.
Independent integrators trained in ITSM codes have a distanced vision and
varied experience, which can be a real advantage.
The maintenance and the scalability of the solution are to be studied beforehand. An essential software element for CIOs, ITSM software must be able to adapt quickly and with less effort to market changes to offer continuous performance.