Using IT Service Management in your Business – Effectively and Affordably

Most businesses and organisations today rely heavily upon IT in order to enable them to achieve their company vision, goals and their overall business strategy. IT service management is implemented by many enterprises to provide planning, designing, developing and the optimisation of IT services to provide the best return on investment possible.

In truth, good IT service management is required to achieve any business benefits from IT at an agreed budget and cost. Without the implementation of good IT service management within a business, it is extremely common for IT projects to fail and result in costing the company a great deal of money. The utilization of document management software, and any other IT management tools can help you implementation.

Business IT setting

The most common uses of IT

As previously mentioned; IT is used in all organisations to complete a variety of functions, here are the most common:

  • To change the way companies conduct communication and operate their business
  • To develop new strategies
  • To gain the main market advantage
  • To drive increased productivity and efficiency
  • To communicate to a larger, global marketplace

The success of a company’s IT department will impact both the sales and revenue it makes. However, whilst the cost of IT is never inexpensive, it is not normally taken into consideration due to the necessity of it and its return on investment – which could cost your business a well-deserved competitive advantage.

What options do I have?

If you want to include an IT department into your management playbook, you need to find a way on how to do it in the most cost-effective possible manner. Fortunately, there are ways you can invest in an IT service department and keep the costs manageable without compromising its service quality.

One of the ways is by streamlining your IT services by adopting a standardised IT management operational that will improve productivity and, in return, lower costs. One of the best ways is by adopting ITIL or Information Technology Infrastructure Library.

So, what’s ITIL?

ITIL – known as Information Technology Infrastructure Library – has been widely acknowledged, accepted and implemented as a guidance to IT service management in organisations across the globe. ITIL’s five-core volumes describe processes, procedures, tasks and checklists that can be applied in order to establishing integration between IT and your company’s strategy and value.

ITIL 2011 edition
photo credit: ITIL.org

ITIL can also help you establish the foundation for you to plan, implement and measure your IT services and policies, making it a great guide to ensure your IT compliance and measure your IT’s effectiveness.

ITIL concerns itself primarily with the operational side of a business’s IT infrastructure and looks at the support of the current IT services and works to tailor it to the organisations needs. However, the way in which ITIL and IT service management functions will differ from one organisation to another as its function depends largely on the structures within the business along with how the development teams work on a daily basis.

There are a number of benefits to adopting the ITIL service management strategy within a business, including:

  • An improved end customer perception and brand image
  • Increased financial savings
  • To manage IT costs and ensures the business plans its finances and budgets
  • Improved user and customer satisfaction

ITIL is accessible via training, qualifications and publications – there are also numerous pieces of software available in the market such as; Sunrise software to assist with the IT service management of any sized business.

Takeaway

Please bear in mind that ITIL is just one of the ways you can manage your company’s IT services better and cost-effectively. There are other ways, as well, such as the adoption of cloud and automation technology, which you may want to explore. However, it is recommended that you start with ITIL to establish a base for your future tech adoption plan.