ITSM Fundamentals: The Core Functions of ITSM

As businesses grow, hire more employees, and develop larger networks of IT assets, their need for a more comprehensive IT strategy grows. There has to be a framework upon which they handle requests, issues, or anything else relating to their internal network to keep a mid-size business running smoothly,

This is where IT Service Management (ITSM) comes in. ITSM goes beyond just a basic ticketing system, setting a solid foundation with sets of procedures for every key aspect of IT. To break the ITSM fundamentals down more clearly, we are going to go over:

  • What ITSM is
  • The core processes of ITSM
  • How to adopt these ITSM fundamentals for the first time

Let’s dive in and give business leaders some inside info on ITSM.

What is ITSM?

ITSM is a set of procedures and best practices meant to provide quality internal IT service efficiently. These procedures are often informed by one of the industry standard ITSM frameworks, the most popular being ITIL. 

ITSM graphic

Many core processes comprise an ITSM solution, each dealing with the many different problems and opportunities it is designed to handle. Quality ITSM solutions can store and organize information, perform tasks across multiple applications, and manage requests and concerns quickly and thoroughly. All the while, a business should be able to log data on all these processes to inform better practices in the future.

The Core Processes of ITSM

There are a few core functions that most organization focus on when embarking on a switch to an ITSM solution that are fundamental to keep things running smoothly to accomplish all of these goals:

  • Incident Management
  • Problem Management, a process of identifying and resolving the root cause of incidents
  • Change Management

ITSM solutions are complex and perform many different tasks, but these functions are the most fundamental.

Incident Management

This function covers responding to requests from staff regarding IT assets. For example, when a computer, software, or other asset is not working correctly, and the team reaches out to IT for a solution, incident management covers how those issues are communicated, logged, and responded to.

Many businesses have their standard communication channel for reporting issues like this. Some use phones; others use emails or direct messaging software. A quality ITSM solution offers omni-channel functionality, allowing staff to use any communication channels, and their responses are still organized within a centralized system. Self-service portals are also a popular choice, making it easier for associates to know precisely where to seek help.

ITSM handles incident management by pre-planning incident categories. This means that when staff comes with a certain concern, the system may have articles to recommend that may fix their issue. If similar incidents occur several times, the system can log them and recommend solutions that have worked for previous issues.

Problem Management

When many staff members experience similar incidents, they become problems. Therefore, problem management is focused on ensuring that systemic problems are solved so they can’t continue bogging up the department with incidents.

Problem management applications deal with interpreting incident reports and identifying possible failure points. IT managers can also apply some pre-planning to this process by setting department priorities to ensure that more vital issues are handled first. For example, an email server issue may not be as pressing as a finance department software issue on the day payroll is meant to be done.

Change Management

Change management refers to many different processes, like fixing system issues, performing maintenance, or replacing parts in service. These changes benefit from standardized processes, which start with categorization.

As with the other two ITSM fundamentals mentioned, change management starts with categorizing and prioritizing each change. Changes are linked to specific workflows, and different tasks are assigned to the proper associates to ensure every step is taken in the appropriate order, allowing for simultaneous work when possible. 

This not only speeds up changes in the system but also reduces the time cost of helpful redundancies like more thorough inspections, making it easier to control the quality of the work.

Implement ITSM Fundamentals with Vivantio

While each of the benefits listed in this article works wonders for businesses, it won’t help if managers choose a platform that doesn’t offer all the necessary features. Vivantio offers a cutting-edge ITSM solution that offers everything listed and more, including:

  • Proactive incident management that learns and recommends solutions for common issues
  • Change management that cuts time costs and redundancies to help control quality of work
  • Problem management that identifies and resolves the root cause of incidents

For businesses looking to bring their customer experience into the modern age, consider Vivantio.

For more than two decades, Vivantio has been helping clients optimize their service organizations by leveraging a unified service management platform. To find out how Vivantio can help you implement ITSM fundamentals, contact our team today or register for a free demo.

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