9/1/2021 What is IT service management?

| ITIL | AXELOS

What is IT service management?

IT service management (ITSM) is a concept that enables an organization to
maximize business value from the use of information technology.

ITSM positions IT services as the key means of delivering and obtaining value,
where an internal or external IT service provider works with business customers,
at the same time taking responsibility for the associated costs and risks. ITSM
works across the whole lifecycle of a service, from the original strategy, through
design, transition and into live operation.

To ensure sustainable quality of IT services, ITSM establishes a set of practices,

or processes, constituting a service management system. There
are industrial, national and international standards for IT service
management, setting up requirements and good practices for the management
system.

ITSM is based on a set of principles, such as focusing on value and continual

improvement. It is not just a set of processes – it is a cultural mindset to ensure
that the desired outcome for the business is achieved. It incorporates principles
and practices from various management approaches, such as lean
manufacturing, organizational change management, system analysis and risk
management.

ITIL® and ITSM

ITIL is the most adopted and recognized body of knowledge for ITSM. ITIL
defines IT service management as:  

 “The implementation and management of quality IT services that meet the needs
of the business. IT service management is performed by IT service providers
through an appropriate mix of people, process and information technology.”

ITIL is a best practice framework that gives guidance on how ITSM can be

delivered. Although there are several frameworks and standards that describe IT
service management, ITIL is by far the most widely adopted and recognized
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globally.

Service value system

ITIL has evolved beyond the delivery of services to providing end-to-end value
delivery. The focus is now on the co-creation of value through service
relationships.

The updated framework will focus on facilitating value co-creation via a Service
Value System (SVS). The SVS represents how different components and
activities can work together, in any type of organization, to facilitate value creation
through IT-enabled services.

In ITIL 4, customers are an essential element in the process of creating value.

Service value chain

Incorporated within the SVS is the service value chain (SVC). The service value
chain is the set of interconnected activities that when sequenced in the right way
provides an operating model for the creation, delivery, and continual improvement
of services. The service value chain allows an organization to define a number of
variants of these sequences known as value streams, of which the v3 service
lifecycle is one such example.

The service value chain is flexible and can be adapted to multiple approaches,
including product-focused delivery teams, DevOps, and centralized IT.

The adaptability of the value chain enables organizations to react to changing

demands from their stakeholders in the most effective and efficient ways.

ITIL as a body of knowledge is continually evolving, the core publications being

amended with case studies, guidance and discussion papers and other
supplementary content. It helps to address emerging practices and methods,
such as DevOps, and to help practitioners combine ITIL with other sources of
good practice, such as IT4IT or COBIT.

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Spotify: An ITIL® Case Study An introduction to Service

Integration and Management
          and ITIL®
         

ITSM roles

Within ITIL, there are generic roles, such as Service owner, as well as specific
roles, such as Service Desk analyst, that are required within a particular lifecycle
stage. Among these roles are:

Service owner, Service manager – responsible for establishing responsibilities

for the lifecycle of specific services;

Process owner, Process manager, Process practitioner – helping to identify

responsibilities in the ITSM processes management and execution;

Process practitioner: e.g. Configuration manager, Capacity manager,

Service Desk specialist – describing specific responsibilities within certain
processes and functions.

IT service manager skills

IT service managers need good business analysis skills and awareness of the

business priorities. They need to apply logical thinking and make both day-to-day
and longer term strategic plans to ensure that the business solution aligns with
the organization and user needs.

They also need strong customer service, negotiation and stakeholder and

relationship managementcapabilities to make sure that supplier and customer
needs are met by the service.  IT service managers need to be good
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communicators and able to work well with people as well having as strong
motivational and organizational skills and the ability to multi-task.

Becoming an ITSM professional

AXELOS has a range of resources focused on IT service management,

including templates, case studies and white papers describing the principles
and use of ITIL and other complementary frameworks.

You can also learn more about ITSM training with our ITIL certifications and

use our sample papersto test your IT service management knowledge.

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