ITIL® PR ACTICES IN 20 0 0 WORDS:

Incident management, ser vice desk,

and ser vice request management

A X ELOS.CO M
A X E LOS.C O M
 CO N T EN TS
1 ITIL® Practices in 2,000 words: Incident management,
service desk, and service request management 4

2 Key terms used in the ITIL practice guides 4

3 Purpose statements 5

4 Key concepts and messages 6

4.1 Incident management 6
4.2 Service request management 7
4.3 Service desk 8

5 Working together 8

6 Summary 9

A X E LOS.C O M 2 ITIL® practices in 2,000 words ITIL 4 Guidance paper 3 A X E LOS.C O M

 1. INTRODUCTION 3. PURPOSE STATEMENTS
ITIL 4 includes 34 management practices, each with a 30-40 page practice guide, The purpose statements of the three practices reviewed in this paper are:
which are available online. This paper will explore the following practice guides:
• incident management
• service desk Practice Purpose statement
• service request management.
Incident management To minimize the negative impact of incidents by restoring
normal service operation as quickly as possible.
2. KEY TERMS USED IN THE ITIL PRACTICE Service request To support the agreed quality of a service by handling all
GUIDES management predefined, user-initiated service requests in an effective
and user-friendly manner.
All ITIL practice guides follow the same structure and feature five main sections:
Service desk To capture demand for incident resolution and service
• General information requests. It should also be the entry point and single
– Purpose and description point of contact for the service provider for all users.
– Terms and concepts
– Scope
– Practice success factors
– Key metrics Together these practices ensure that the organization:
• Value streams and processes
• Organizations and people • quickly restores service when it fails (incident management)
• Information and technology • effectively handles service-related requests (service request management)
• Partners and suppliers. • provides the communication channels for the above and all other service-related
communications (service desk).
The practice guides consistently use the following key terms, which will also be used in
this paper: Incident management and service request management are the classic ITIL practices;
previously they were one process but later separated. The service desk practice is a newly
introduced practice. Previous ITIL versions included the service desk function, but the
purpose of the new service desk practice is limited to enabling communications. In some
organizations, these communications serve incidents resolution and service requests, in
other organizations: “The main purpose of the service desk practice is establishing an
effective communication interface between a service provider and its users, with incidents
Definitions and service requests being just two subjects of communication. Organizations can and
should adjust the practice purpose statements and the other recommendations of ITIL
• Practice
according to their objectives and circumstances.1”
A set of organizational resources designed for performing work or accomplishing
an objective. These resources are grouped into the four dimensions of service
The introduction of the service desk practice shows a shift in the service management
management.
thinking towards humanization of the services and focus on the user and the user journey.
• Practice success factor
This journey should not be challenging, and communications is a key aspect to make
A complex functional component of a practice that is required for the
the journey pleasant. According to the guide: “The service desk practice is involved in all
practice to fulfil its purpose. (Note: in this definition, ‘complex’ refers to the
value streams where the service provider communicates with users. It aims to ensure that
multi-componential character of PSFs. Like practices, PSFs draw upon all four
these communications are effective and convenient for all parties involved.”
types of the organization’s resources.)
• Metric
All three practices are used in the daily life of service desk function, and this may lead
A measurement or calculation that is monitored or reported for management
to some common misconceptions. The service desk practice guide says: “The term
and improvement.
‘service desk’ can refer to various types and groups of resources. For instance, in many
• Process
organizations the service desk is recognized as a function or a team of people. As with
A set of interrelated or interacting activities that transform inputs into outputs.
any team, the service desk team may be involved in the activities of several practices.
A process takes one or more defined inputs and turns them into defined outputs.
These may include service desk, incident management, service request management,
Processes define the sequence of actions and their dependencies.
problem management, service configuration management, relationship management
(Note: each practice guide describes several processes in the ‘Value streams
practices, and others.
and processes’ section.)
This practice guide describes the service desk practice. When other teams, software tools,
The best way to understand the essence of an ITIL practice is to look at its purpose and or other processes are discussed, it is clearly indicated.”
the practice success factors.

1. Service desk practice guide, pp 4

A X E LOS.C O M 4 ITIL® practices in 2,000 words ITIL 4 Guidance paper 5 A X E LOS.C O M

 4. KEY CONCEPTS AND MESSAGES
The key concepts and messages of these practices show how the respective areas of
management have evolved since the last ITIL update in 2007 to 2011. It also equips
organizations to address modern challenges and opportunities. Below, the most important
concepts and messages are discussed.
4.2 SERVICE REQUEST MANAGEMENT
Predictability is one of the main characteristics of service requests. Unlike incidents, service
requests are the ‘business as usual’ part of the service delivery, so their “results and the
timelines are well understood by the customer, users, and operation teams of the service
provider, and are usually predictable2.”

Predictability is achieved through detailed planning, testing, resource allocation, and

4.1 INCIDENT MANAGEMENT optimization of the service request procedures. One of the practice success factors is
“ensuring that the service request fulfilment procedures for all services are optimized.”
The development of the service request procedures should be integrated early into the
Definition product and service lifecycle management. Well-planned service requests ensure easier
automation and cost optimization.
Incident
An unplanned interruption to a service or reduction in the quality of a service. Even more than incidents, there are multiple service requests that are similar in their nature
and flow, which calls for the use of service request models. These describe the conditions
and procedures for service request fulfilment, covering all four dimensions of service
management:
The incident management practice ensures that periods of unplanned service
unavailability or degradation are minimized. Two main factors enable this: early incident
•p  rocedures and workflows, including possible options and decisions
detection and the quick restoration of normal operation.
• roles and teams responsible (usually as a RACI matrix)
•a  utomation and tools used
Previously, the incident detection was mostly based on information from end users and
• third parties involved in and supporting agreements.
IT specialists. Modern good practice suggests detecting and registering (and, ideally,
resolving) incidents automatically, immediately after incidents occur and before they start
Unlike the incident models, the service request models are usually produced during product
affecting users. This approach has multiple benefits, including:
and service design, with the service request management practice involved at all stages,
and are tested and deployed to operations along with other components of the service.
• decreased duration of service unavailability or degradation
The continual improvement of products and services may include the improvement of the
• higher quality initial data supports the correct response and resolution
related service request models.
of incidents, including automated resolution, otherwise known as self-healing
• some incidents remain invisible to users, improving user and customer satisfaction
To make service requests available to users in a convenient and actionable way, they are
• some incidents may be resolved before they affect the service quality agreed with
usually included in user-facing views of the organization’s service catalogue.
customers, improving the perceived service and the formally reported service quality
• costs associated with incidents may decrease.

The detection of incidents is enabled by the monitoring and event management practice. Definition
This includes tools and processes for event categorization that distinguishes incidents
Request catalogue
from information events and warnings.
A view of the service catalogue, providing details on service requests for existing
and new services, which is made available to the user.
Categorization could be automatic, manual, or anything in-between. Detection and
categorization is where automation comes in handy, and the practice may benefit from
machine learning solutions, using the data available from past incidents, events, known
errors, and other sources. Usually, the request catalogue includes information about available service requests
by service prerequisites/conditions, information required to initiate a request, approval
Although proactive incident detection is not always possible, the earlier an incident is workflow, target fulfilment time, and other information.
reported and registered, the better.
The service request catalogue view should to be tailored according to a user’s SLA, so that
Service interruptions and reductions usually demonstrate some patterns, based on which all of the information reflects the conditions and targets agreed for the user.
they can be typified. For typical incidents, service providers may define incident models,
repeatable approaches to the management of a particular type of incident, to optimize the
handling and resolution of repeating or similar incidents.

Use of the models help to resolve incidents quickly and efficiently, often with better results
due to the application of proven and tested solutions. The creation and use of incident
models are important activities in the incident management practice, described in the
practice processes.

2. Service request management practice guide, pp 5

A X E LOS.C O M 6 ITIL® practices in 2,000 words ITIL 4 Guidance paper 7 A X E LOS.C O M

 4.3 SERVICE DESK Although extremely simplified, the diagram shows how practice activities integrate into
a value stream. The lower part of the diagram shows practices that contribute to the
The service desk practice is all about providing and juggling a wide range of communication value stream by information, tools, or methods. For example, service level management
channels. The service desk practice aims to enable the right message through the right contributes with a guidance to service levels for incident management, information
channel, while managing a heterogeneous communication toolset. security management ensures that only authorized users log incidents, and knowledge
management contributes with the methods and knowledge for diagnosis and resolution.
The practice also introduces the concept of omnichannel communications: unified
communications across multiple channels based on sharing information across the channels Figure 5.2 shows another example of a service request value stream map.
and providing a seamless communication experience.
Figure 5.2 An example value stream map for a service request Service request
management
Service
desk

Definition
Triage the user Gathering and
Acknowledge Validate the query and Service request processing

Service empathy user initiate the Request model Information Fulfilment

and record the receipt
query appropriate categoration intiation and sending review
user query confirmations
activities control and the feedback
The ability to recognize, understand, predict, and project the interests, needs,
intentions, and experiences of another party in order to establish, maintain, and
improve the service relationship.
Information security management

Service level management

Automation and tools may increase the overall efficiency of service interactions, but it is
Service catalogue management
service empathy that adds a human touch. Service empathy is usually fulfilled by human
interactions and can be delivered through any channel. Infrastucture and platform management

Service configuration management

Because service empathy is such an important factor of user satisfaction and service
provider success, it should apply to all the service interactions ensured by service desk.

As a communication interface, the service desk practice significantly influences user
satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and the overall success of service relationships. Key user
satisfaction factors include the effectiveness and convenience of communication channels
and interactions.
The service desk practice is also used for collecting information about user satisfaction
through surveys or other satisfaction research tools. To collect this information effectively,
the practice’s communication channels should be perceived as trusted, effective, and
convenient by the users.
5. WORKING TOGETHER
All ITIL practices can interact in the context of the value streams they contribute to.
Value stream mapping is the most practical way to map and understand practices’
interaction and information exchange.
Figure 5.2 shows a simple request with a clear handling procedure. More complex value
streams for a service request handling may also include a contribution from the change
enablement practice (typically, for a standard change), or deployment management (for
example, if a virtual server instance is requested), or service financial management (for a
financial approval in the workflow).
6. SUMMARY
ITIL 4 provides a comprehensive detailed guidance on 34 management practices.
Three of them, described here, provide recommendations for managing incidents and
requests, as well as managing a multi-channel or, ideally, omnichannel communication
interface between users and service teams. The practices should be designed and
managed in a holistic, integrated way, to contribute to the organization’s value streams
and enable value creation for the organization’s stakeholders.

Figure 5.1 shows an example of a simplified value stream for an incident detected by a
user. The diagram is a variation of a Porter value chain, based on Figure 2.22 from
the ITIL® 4: High-velocity IT.

Figure 5.1 Example of a simplified value stream Incident

management
Service
desk

Triage the user

Acknowledge Validate query and
Incident and record Incident the user initiate the Incident Information Incident Incident Information Incident
detection the user query registration query appropriate classification sending diagnosis resolution sending closure
activities

Information security management

Service level management

Knowledge management

Infrastucture and platform management

Service configuration management

A X E LOS.C O M 8 ITIL® practices in 2,000 words ITIL 4 Guidance paper 9 A X E LOS.C O M

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