ITIL service management

ITIL service management – What is?

Many organizations have trouble assessing and managing their IT department and the quality of the services that it delivers. This is usually due to a basic misunderstanding. It is easy, and typical, for an IT service organization to focus on the technology and the technical issues rather than the business needs.

The basis of IT Service Management (ITSM) is that the IT services must be aligned with the strategic needs of the company. Processes must be put in place to ensure the consistent quality of IT service, as defined within Service Level Agreements (SLA) between the IT service organization and the company as a whole.

ITIL service management – why have it?

Because, as IT changes from an internal process that supports the business to an integral component for delivering highly effective business services, there is the possibility that some of these organizations need to reorganize and restructure. This is only one of a multitude of possibilities. Also things are now becoming far more complex.

I have a client who, a short time ago had only mainframe services to worry about. Now have the full suite of services such as client server based architecture as well! Now you are probably thinking that ‘what is so different about that?’

Answer – absolutely nothing, you probably have the same and more and would be able to tell me that your organization has an extremely complex set of interdependencies on data from various sources. And yet, you would also tell me that there has never been a significant improvement on the way these services are managed and you are stressed all the time and very reactive. I rest my case!

ITIL service management – complex changes

The complexities surrounding the IT service organization will only increase. Restructuring does not guarantee a successful service provision. There must also be a quantum shift towards alignment of process to needs. IT service organizations will fail to provide the ongoing service levels and performance needed to allow the company to succeed in the new economy, unless we have a good hard look at our direction now!

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