To have a comprehensive and implemented IT service management ITSM strategy comes from the efficient workings of an IT service desk  that is developed by the support team to provide intelligent, multi-layered proficiency. The ITSM strategy provides the support team with a tool that not only supports the organization, but also empowers it. The question here is how does an organization evolve from having a proficient service desk to having a culture of support that promotes originality, invention and the creation of value?

1- Adopt Proven ITSM Standards

It might be assumed that established in-house processes are good enough for purpose, however, although it is necessary to continuously review and update systems, it is recommended that a reputable, proven guideline is used to update procedures. To do this, the adoption of a standard, for example, the information technology infrastructure library (ITIL^®), is advised. These standards offer a base or a guideline for the company to build upon. So, to begin, chose a reputable, verified base and work from there.

2- Generate a Service Catalog as part of ITSM strategy

A service catalog is one of the core elements of a successful ITSM strategy and provides a guideline to the IT services so that they can design the technology and procedures needed to carry them out. This also allows the IT services to become aligned with the company’s business strategies that they support. It also enables the IT services to demonstrate its effectiveness and importance within the company and the value it contributes company-wide.

3- Create CMDB

One of the core components of an ITSM strategy is a Configuration Management Database (CMDB). Some guidelines for building this are as follows:

• Distinguish the main stakeholders and provide them with the relevant information for the process. Ensure that stakeholders ‘buy-in’ is guaranteed as complete backing is needed in case the establishment of governance is necessary.
• Creating a CMDB is not a single step immediate process. Instead it can only be done in phases. The first is to record Configuration Items (CIs) that are able to illustrate the value of CMDB. This give the stakeholders something tangible to scrutinize and provide them information, so they can decide to buy-in. The proper level of governance is vital.
• Criteria for identifying assets needs to be established and precise information needs to be kept in the database. Information needs to be continuously updated and needs to consist of accurate data. A clear compression of combining, integrating and transferring data in the database is also necessary.

4- ITSM Strategy: Be Methodical

In fact, a better IT service management strategy is to roll things out step by step by giving your organization time to adjust to new processes and standards at each stage. You don’t have to implement a comprehensive strategy all at once.

5- Implement Continual Improvement (CSI)

Matrices should be developed to measure both the successes and the failures of each process. The realizations and malfunctions of each stage needs to be logged in a template or spreadsheet. Once the boundaries are decided all of the information can be input into the template and used to monitor progress, identify errors or issues, and improve the system.

6- ITSM Strategy: Assemble a Winning Team

The success of a company depends on the quality and efforts of its workforce who have both direct and indirect input to the successful provision of a product or service.  Quality staff in the right roles is vital to the success of any organization.
The company needs to ensure that it has the best people for the job and that they are engaged, committed and comfortable with the company’s business culture. They need to have well-defined roles and responsibilities and they need to know what they should be doing. This is relevant for all levels of staff and participants from the support team right up to management level and any other shareholders.

Final Thoughts

IT success is not an accident. It is a continuous, purposeful delivery of IT services. This is not an instant success, but rather a process of continuous monitoring and improvement. A carefully planned and implemented framework, for example, ITIL as an ITSM can prepare a business for current and prospective development and profit increases.

Ciatec, is an ITSM consulting firm with expertise that can definitely add to your ITSM strategy, contact us today for a free consultation.

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In fact, international frameworks such as ITIL or COBIT, as well as ISO (International Organization for Standardization), never relates the standard to organization size. Small and medium sized business can apply the standard or framework and get certified based on their own structure in the same manner as big and multinational enterprises. Organizations may also scope limited number of processes or sections of the standard that most applies to their business.

Are you looking for a good reason to implement ITSM at your small or medium-sized organization? Here are five:

1- With ITSM: Deliver more with Less

Implementing the right ITSM system comes with a guarantee to raise productivity at less cost. Small and medium sized business with limited resources will be able to deliver more while saving on their running cost. Thus, increasing overall revenues.

2- IT is the Heart and Soul of any Modern Company

The vast majority of today’s companies, if not all companies, won’t be able to operate without information technology. It is no secret that any business nowadays relies on IT to survive and compete. A server room, data center or even cloud-based solution are now the heart and soul of business, regardless of its size. Investing in a proper ITSM will insure that IT services are operating in the best possible way, being delivered properly, available when needed, changed smoothly and continuously improving.

3- Changes can be Catastrophic!

Change is an essential part in the service life cycle, and if not well planned, it will cause harm more than good. Statistics show that more than 50% of IT incidents are caused by poorly executed changes. Change management in ITSM will ensure that changes are prioritized, properly scheduled, concerned parties notified and rollback plan is already prepared and ready to be executed in case of failure.

4- IT Support Staff, not Fire Fighters

We have discussed in previous post the importance of service desk to end users. Without applying ITSM best practice, support staff in SMB (already on limited resources) will run all day long in a rat race trying to resolve issues reported through phone calls or email messages in chaos without any prioritization, record, or reporting.

Service desk management tool will organize things for both IT staff and management by balancing urgency and priority, keeping record, reporting time needed to resolve issues and measuring its compliance with the service level agreement. When implemented, it will definitely increase productivity and contribute positively to continuous service improvement.

5- Get Ready to Shine

Building a business on solid foundations will make growth potential easier. Many growth opportunities are lost simply because the organization’s IT structure is not ready to handle big clients. Well implemented ITSM will make things move in the right direction and the organization will be well-structured and ready to handle larger number of clients with minimal adjustments.

Those were five reasons for companies to start investing in ITSM today. If you have more reasons to urge executives to invest in ITSM, please share in the comments below.

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