What is ITSM? The ultimate IT service management guide

What is ITSM?

IT service management (ITSM) is a framework for delivering IT services to customers and employees. It is focused on aligning IT services with business needs to ensure efficiency, reliability, and continuous improvement.

ITSM covers areas such as problem resolution, asset tracking, and service request management. Examples can include handling employee service requests through ticketing systems, resolving unplanned service disruptions, and facilitating the distribution of new hardware or software.

The IT department is one of the most important yet misunderstood teams in business. It is responsible for ensuring employees have the technology they need, those tools work as intended, and that customers and employees resolve their technical issues as soon as possible. While it may seem like many moving parts, IT teams can streamline their support with a comprehensive IT service management strategy.

ITSM is a playbook for delivering IT services to customers and employees as effectively as possible. In this guide, we cover ITSM in detail, including why it’s important, key benefits, and how it can improve your IT service desk

More in this guide:

• Why is ITSM important?
• What are the benefits of ITSM?
• What is an ITSM framework?
• Types of IT service management frameworks
• Important ITSM processes
• How to implement ITSM in your operations
• Frequently asked questions
• Enhance your ITSM with Zendesk

Why is ITSM important?

IT service management is important because it plays a critical role in aligning IT services with business goals.

With a comprehensive ITSM strategy, teams can streamline their IT services—and even turn them into a profit center:

• Employees can get their technical questions answered quickly and get back to more productive work.

• IT departments and wider teams can streamline workflows, resolve more issues, and deliver a better digital employee experience.

• Businesses can decrease costs and increase organizational efficiency.

ITSM can optimize nearly every aspect of a business; we’ll dive into more specific benefits for each end user below.

What are the benefits of ITSM?

ITSM can bring significant advantages to an organization, like faster issue resolution, better resource management, and greater cost control. Here is a full list of the most impactful for employees, IT departments, and businesses.

Benefits for employees

IT service management can enhance employee service, boosting the overall
employee experience (EX). Teams can use an ITSM strategy to deliver benefits like:

• Faster issue resolution through optimized workflows, knowledge bases, and employee self-service resources

• Greater visibility into service requests with comprehensive ticketing systems

• Improved communication between IT and end users, reducing frustration and downtime

ITSM helps employees resolve concerns quickly, so they can focus on their job responsibilities rather than troubleshooting issues.

Benefits for the IT department

ITSM can help IT departments work more efficiently and shift from reactive problem-solving to proactive service. With this approach, IT teams gain:

• Consistent processes for handling incidents and technical problems via best practices and troubleshooting guides

• Enhanced visibility into IT operations through reporting and analytics

• Better resource management and workload distribution through automation and optimized scheduling

These help IT teams solve issues, deliver more value, and reduce burnout and inefficiencies.

Benefits for businesses

Finally, ITSM helps businesses with agility, risk management, and long-term performance:

• Enhanced cost control through better, automated IT processes

• Increased operational efficiency with advanced workflows and reduced downtime

• Stronger alignment between IT initiatives and business objectives

ITSM helps companies deliver consistent, high-quality services that support innovation and growth.

What is an ITSM framework?

An ITSM framework is a structured set of guidelines, practices, and processes that teams can use to manage and improve IT services.

You can think of ITSM frameworks as the rules to a board game or the instructions for setting up a piece of IKEA furniture. When teams use each step, they help teams reach their IT goals and align them with business needs.There are several different ITSM frameworks, and businesses can select the one that best supports their initiatives.

Types of IT service management frameworks

There are several ITSM frameworks available today. Here are two of the most popular.

ITIL

Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a subset or specific framework within ITSM that provides best practices and guidelines for managing IT services effectively. It is arguably the most popular ITSM framework and offers one of the most effective ways of aligning IT needs with business objectives.

DevOps

DevOps is a philosophy that emphasizes collaboration between development and IT operations teams. It helps organizations deliver software updates and advancements quickly and reliably by breaking down silos and emphasizing shared responsibility. While DevOps is distinct from ITSM, they both work together to help teams build high-quality software that meets business needs while maintaining stable and efficient IT services.

Important ITSM processes

ITSM is built on several core processes, each designed to manage specific aspects of IT service delivery. Below are a few of the most impactful.

Knowledge management

Knowledge management (KM) is the process of gathering, organizing, updating, and sharing business information with customers, employees, and organizational partners. Doing so helps users and IT teams solve problems more effectively and provides a database for streamlining resolutions and sharing information.

For example, IT teams could document how they solved a unique technical problem, providing a resource for future service agents who run into the same issue. Teams can also use knowledge management systems to create a more effective and accessible information ecosystem.

Problem management

Problem management helps to identify and eliminate the root causes of recurring incidents and service disruptions. This proactive approach seeks to identify problems at the source, reducing downtime and preventing future problems. Businesses can leverage problem management software to enhance their capabilities.

IT asset management

IT asset management tracks and manages the lifecycle of IT assets—hardware, software, and digital resources—from distribution to disposal. In other words, it helps IT teams equip employees with the necessary technical tools and ensures those tools are returned to the IT department or traded in for better models.

Service request management

Service request management helps teams manage service requests and can assist in areas like:

• Facilitating password resets and other account updates

• Managing software distribution and installation

• Helping with IT-related employee onboarding

Teams can utilize request management software to streamline these processes and provide more effective service.

Incident management

Incident management is the process of quickly restoring service when an unplanned disruption occurs, such as a network outage or hardware malfunction. IT teams often use incident management software to determine the root cause of disruptions and reduce downtime.

Change management

Change management helps employees adapt to changes and ensures they stick. For example, a business may want to migrate to new software or update office computers. This process helps teams coordinate effective changes and ensures that employees adopt the new methods.

How to implement ITSM in your operations

A successful ITSM implementation involves more than just adopting a framework—it requires buy-in across departments, the right tools, and a commitment to continuous improvement. Here are a few tips to implement ITSM effectively:

• Assess your needs: Examine your current processes and identify areas for improvement. For example, maybe your team struggles with finding the most up-to-date procedure steps—in this case, emphasizing knowledge management could be a good place to start your ITSM journey.
• Consult with key stakeholders: Ask different key stakeholders from around your organization for their thoughts on current processes and areas of improvement. This can provide a different perspective and help you gain a full view of your organization.
• Set clear objectives: You won’t know how effective your ITSM strategy is unless you establish benchmarks. Before you adopt your strategy, evaluate key performance indicators and establish goals that you can use to judge your future efforts— you could start with an IT service desk scorecard.
• Get team-wide buy-in: Not every employee will agree with your proposed changes. Consider conducting team meetings and training sessions so every employee sees the value in your new ITSM method.This can help in short-term implementation and long-term employee service management.
• Embrace the right tools: Invest in software that will help your team conduct ITSM more effectively. For example, a solution like Zendesk has multiple capabilities, from knowledge management to incident management, that can help your team perform better.
• Review and improve: Finally, check in with your objectives periodically to monitor your ITSM processes. As you roll out a new system, you may discover inefficiencies, so this step will help you pivot if needed.

With a thoughtful, phased approach, ITSM can become a powerful driver of efficiency, consistency, and strategic value across your operations.

Frequently asked questions

Enhance your ITSM with Zendesk

IT service management is a crucial strategy that helps businesses align IT departments with organizational success. A winning strategy has several moving parts, and teams need to invest in a partner who can help them achieve their goals. Check out our comprehensive capabilities at Zendesk to see how we can empower your IT team and beyond.