Service management
IT Service Management (ITSM) is a discipline for managing information technology systems, focussing on the services that are provided to the business, rather than the technology.
What is IT Service Management?
IT Service Management provides a set of integrated principles, methods and techniques, aimed at providing value to customers in the form of services.
IT Service Management can help all organisations that use IT deliver service excellence, through a structured approach that can enable better governance and help manage risk to deliver business services and business value.
IT Service Management is concerned with more though than just delivering services. Each service, process or infrastructure component has a lifecycle, and service management considers the entire lifecycle from strategy through design and transition to operation and continual improvement. When applied in this way across the full IT service life cycle, IT service management helps bring IT and business together, meeting business priorities and improving efficiency and effectiveness.
All of this facilitates:
- Reduced total costs of IT
- Improved availability of IT
- Faster fixes when failures occur
- IT systems that are designed with the user in mind
- Improved understanding of the business by IT
- Overall improvement in the quality of IT services.
ITIL and IT Service Management
ITIL® is the most widely accepted approach to IT service management in the world. ITIL provides a cohesive set of best practice, drawn from the public and private sectors internationally.
IT Service Management (ITSM) derives enormous benefits from a best practice approach. Because ITSM is driven both by technology and the huge range of organisational environments in which it operates, it is in a state of constant evolution. Best practice, based on expert advice and input from ITIL users is both current and practical, combining the latest thinking with sound, common sense guidance.
In 2007 ITIL went through a major and important refresh project. It is supported by a comprehensive qualifications scheme, accredited training organisations, and implementation and assessment tools.
ITIL® is the only consistent and comprehensive documentation of best practice for IT Service Management. Used by thousands of organisations around the world, a whole ITIL philosophy has grown up around the guidance contained within the ITIL books and the supporting professional qualification scheme.
ITIL consists of a series of books giving guidance on the provision of quality IT services, and on the accommodation and environmental facilities needed to support IT. ITIL has been developed in recognition of organisations' growing dependency on IT and embodies best practices for IT Service Management.
ITIL provides a systematic and professional approach to the management of IT service provision. Adopting its guidance offers users a huge range of benefits that include:
- reduced costs
- improved IT services through the use of proven best practice processes
- improved customer satisfaction through a more professional approach to service delivery
- standards and guidance
- improved productivity
- improved use of skills and experience
- improved delivery of third party services through the specification of ITIL or ISO 20000 as the standard for service delivery in services procurements.
Read more about ITIL in this introductory overview (pdf, 690 KB).
Service level management
Service level management ensures that the service targets are documented and agreed in service level agreements (SLAs) and monitors and reviews the actual service levels achieved against their SLA targets. Service level managers should also be trying to proactively improve all service levels within imposed cost constraints.
Qualifications and training in IT Service Management
There are a number of different qualifications on offer to develop and recognise service management skills. These include university degrees and professional qualifications. To further develop your skills, why not network and learn from other service management professionals.