IT Service Management Fundamentals
IT service management coordinates people, workflows, information, suppliers, and technology so IT services produce useful, reliable outcomes. It connects day-to-day support with planned change, service targets, and continual improvement.
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Intro
IT service management, or ITSM, is the coordinated management of IT-enabled services from planning through delivery, support, and improvement. A service combines technology with people, information, suppliers, and working methods to help a consumer achieve an outcome. The service is the unit of management. A server, application, or ticket is evidence about that service, not the service by itself.
ITSM exists because technical components cross team and supplier boundaries. A payroll service might depend on an application, identity provider, database, network, support team, and external hosting provider. Managing each component independently can leave nobody accountable for the user-visible result. ITSM creates shared records, responsibilities, targets, and feedback loops around that result.
The service management system
A service management system, or SMS, directs and controls service management activities. ISO/IEC 20000-1 specifies requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an SMS. Its scope covers planning, design, transition, delivery, and improvement. An organization chooses the services and organizational boundary inside the SMS scope.
A useful mental model has four connected layers:
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Sources
- https://www.iso.org/standard/70636.html
Supports
- Requirements to establish, implement, maintain, and continually improve a service management system
- Planning, design, transition, delivery, and improvement of services to meet requirements and deliver value
- SMS scope, monitoring, measurement, review, and conformity-assessment context
- https://www.iso.org/standard/72120.html
Supports
- Guidance for applying an SMS based on ISO/IEC 20000-1
- Interpretation and application guidance rather than additional requirements
- https://committee.iso.org/files/live/sites/jtc1sc40/files/Customer%20Centricity%20in%20ISO_IEC%2020000-1%2020240803.pdf
Supports
- ISO/IEC 20000-1 clauses for incident, service request, service change, continuity, and availability management
- Customer needs and feedback as inputs to service management and adaptation
- https://www.peoplecert.org/help-and-support/faq-itil
Supports
- ITIL as guidance for digital product and service management
- Current grouping of service desk, incident, problem, request, monitoring, change, deployment, release, configuration, asset, relationship, supplier, service level, and improvement practices
- Framework evolution and adaptable, outcome-focused application
- https://www.peoplecert.org/browse-certifications/it-governance-and-service-management/ITIL-1/itil4-practices-incident-management-3684
Supports
- Incident management's role in swift restoration after disruption
- Its processes, roles, information, technology, suppliers, measures, and capability context
- https://www.peoplecert.org/browse-certifications/it-governance-and-service-management/ITIL-1/itil4-practices-problem-management-3688
Supports
- Problem management's role in identifying actual and potential causes and reducing incident likelihood or impact
- Workarounds, known errors, process integration, roles, data, suppliers, and measures
- https://www.peoplecert.org/browse-certifications/it-governance-and-service-management/ITIL-1/itil4-practices-service-request-management-3690
Supports
- Service requests as predefined, user-initiated needs for service, information, or access
- Effective, user-friendly fulfillment and value-stream integration
- https://www.peoplecert.org/browse-certifications/it-governance-and-service-management/ITIL-1/itil-4-practitioner-service-level-management-3867
Supports
- Business-based targets for utility, warranty, and experience
- Defining, negotiating, monitoring, managing, and improving service levels
- https://github.com/sindresorhus/awesome
Supports
- Discovery route to the Awesome Sysadmin curated list
- https://github.com/awesome-foss/awesome-sysadmin
Supports
- Selection of GLPI and iTop as relevant open-source service-management projects
- https://www.glpi-project.org/en/features/
Supports
- Separate incident and request tickets
- Problem, change, asset, help-desk, planning, and reporting relationships used in the Awesome Links rationale and product landscape
- https://combodo.com/features/
Supports
- Service catalog, request, incident, problem, change, supplier, SLA, and configuration relationships used in the Awesome Links rationale and product landscape
- https://www.servicenow.com/products/itsm.html
Supports
- Unified incident, problem, change, request, service catalog, and configuration workflows for the product landscape
- https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/service-management/features
Supports
- Request, incident, problem, change, and configuration management capabilities for the product landscape
- https://www.freshworks.com/freshservice/features/
Supports
- Service desk, incident, change, asset, operations, and enterprise service management capabilities for the product landscape
- https://docs.bmc.com/xwiki/bin/view/Service-Management/IT-Service-Management/BMC-Helix-ITSM/itsm2105/Getting-started/BMC-Helix-ITSM-suite-overview/
Supports
- Incident restoration, problem cause analysis, change, request, and digital workplace relationships for the product landscape
- https://www.manageengine.com/products/service-desk/it-change-management/change-management-software.html
Supports
- Linked incident, problem, change, request, CMDB, asset, service catalog, release, and project records for the product landscape
- https://help.ivanti.com/ht/help/en_US/ISM/2023/admin-user/Content/ServiceDesk/Problem/Problems.htm
Supports
- Incident, problem, change relationships and proactive problem analysis for the product landscape
- https://developers.sysaid.com/reference/service-records
Supports
- Incident, request, problem, and change service-record types for the product landscape
- https://www.topdesk.com/en/solutions/it-service-management/
Supports
- Incident, change, problem, asset, knowledge, service target, and reporting capabilities for the product landscape
- https://knowledge.bsigroup.com/products/specification-for-it-service-management-1
Supports
- Publication of BS 15000 service management specification on 15 November 2000
- https://knowledge.bsigroup.com/products/it-service-management-code-of-practice-for-service-management
Supports
- Publication of BS 15000-2 service management code of practice on 22 January 2003
- https://www.iso.org/standard/41332.html
Supports
- Publication of the first ISO/IEC 20000-1 edition in December 2005
- Its applicability across organizational forms and service-provider sizes
- https://www.peoplecert.org/-/media/peoplecert/images/landing-pages/pink23/itil4-explained.pdf
Supports
- ITIL publication history anchors in 1989, 2007, 2011, and 2019
- https://www.iso.org/standard/51986.html
Supports
- Publication and lifecycle of the second ISO/IEC 20000-1 edition in 2011
- https://knowledge.bsigroup.com/products/information-technology-service-management-service-management-system-requirements
Supports
- September 2018 third edition and its management-system structure, service-value, knowledge, supplier, and separated-practice changes