Johannesburg, 27 Jul 2021
What should you expect from an IT service management (ITSM) product? This question may seem obvious, even rhetorical, yet organisations often focus on the wrong areas, says Susan Van Zyl, Head of Sales and Marketing of JMR Software.
"People have the best intentions when selecting ITSM features, but they get drawn in by bells and whistles. Questions I often hear include, 'Is it in the cloud?' and 'Does it support mobility?' These are good questions to ask but they are not the first questions you should ask."
To evaluate an ITSM solution, you should weigh its cost, flexibility, scalability and time to value. You can create a benchmark by evaluating your current needs:
- How many administrators and end-users do you have?
- What is your timeline for the project to happen?
- What is your budget?
- What are you currently spending on your current solution?
- How and for what purpose is the current solution being used?
- Does the current solution easily integrate with the company's in-house IT systems?
- Are there any challenges or pains with your existing solution?
Focusing on business needs and outcomes, as well as user experiences, are paramount. A modern ITSM solution will grow and mature with the company, so it should be a cultural and operational fit. Then you can expand your queries to look at the technology aspects of the ITSM solution.
"Someone can warn you to not get caught up by technology features, but that isn't complete advice," says Van Zyl. "Technology brings value to the table and that value depends on your context. If you look at technology features first, you'll see value on paper but not in practice. But if you know what you want to meet in terms of business and user needs, then you can navigate the technology features with confidence."
Once you have a baseline for what best suits your environment, you can evaluate technology-enabled aspects of ITSM:
More automation, less repetition
Reduce manual, repetitive, low-value work and encourage faster authorisation and provisioning processes. Look for outcomes such as improved ticket management, more efficient ticket logging, and timely resolutions in line with service level agreements.
Digital inventory made easy
Simplify the process for tracking and auditing all equipment, with easy access to up-to-date inventory data. This feature is particularly handy for assisting asset managers.
Simple, one-touch customer experience
Self-service shouldn't be complex, to the point that users can submit one-touch tickets if necessary. This point incorporates omni-channel experiences that enable users to interact with service support consistently across different touchpoints. Again, automation plays a big role here, powering features such as auto-suggest search, and self-service portals and knowledge bases.
Personalisation
An easy to configure and customised system to match your preferences and processes is ideal. No-code configuration and a powerful workflow engine, in particular a visual workflow designer, are key signs of advanced and valuable personalisation features.
Intuitive presentation
The ITSM mustn't waste user and support staff's time with convoluted information systems. As with good web design, fewer clicks are better and lead to faster ticket resolution. Ways to accomplish this include displaying the latest information at the top of interfaces, providing all the tools and data in one window, and visual layouts that teams can understand intuitively.
Quick impact
An ITSM sits at a critical juncture for productivity, causing a direct link between fast deployment, realising high value and maintaining a low total cost of ownership. If adopting a particular ITSM means long deployment delays, it might not be worth your time.
Greater visibility
The ITSM shouldn't just process service requests. It should be a living hub of information that can support service performance and other areas, such as asset management. Expect real-time and up to date information into performance, outcomes and improvements. Each ticket should have an insights panel linked to agents and KPIs. Ask about out-of-the-box reporting features, including scheduled and ad hoc reports, configurable dashboards, and automated one-click report generation.
True scale
The ITSM shouldn't be monolithic and set in its ways. It should scale and grow, supporting your organisation's pace. This includes the ability to add licences and features, and extend helpdesks. The keyword is agility - look for scaling supported by built-in asset management and advanced automation. Expect a full range of IT Infrastructure Library features on one platform, ease of use, a wealth of features and an off-the-shelf approach.
It's easy to focus on the bells and whistles of ITSM because they can often be the same features that add value. The difference is knowing what you want to gain from your ITSM investment, then look for features that will support those requirements.
Build a benchmark based on your business priorities and user experience needs, consider where your current service support falls short and interrogate an ITSM on those benchmarks. You'll soon cut through the noise and find the ITSM solution that will vastly improve your IT support service delivery experience.
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