How to automate management of IT services (ITSM)? TADetails

What gives to business automated management of IT services

In the late eighties before many companies there was an issue of automation of routine tasks and elimination of influence of a human factor. Then the decision to develop a certain methodology which would help to create the process approach to the provided IT services for increase in efficiency of work and satisfaction of business was made.

The most important for business is profit earning. It is necessary for achievement of the maximum results that all staff of the company effectively performed the work, without wasting time in routine and uniform affairs. How a lot of time is spent by employees on different approvals or requests of references in personnel department and accounting? How do employees spend much time, trying to phone to technical support even on the simplest questions? And if the client of the company what probability that he will leave to competitors after couple of similar cases cannot receive the operational help? – the technical adviser of ITSM in Ivanti company Artur Badalyan gives examples.

ITSM (IT Service Management is management of IT services) just became that model which allows to build accurate processes of a company performance in the direction of both IT, and business: increase efficiency and effectiveness of work of employees, to lower a human factor, to increase the speed of reaction to different events.

What manual processes can be automated

Management of IT services – one of many tools which are used by business for digital transformation. Theoretically this way can be passed also without use of ITSM. But experts are sure that to ignore already ready methodology and products offering complex approach to the solution of the whole complex of tasks, at least, it is unreasonable. And therefore transformation with ITSM is considered more effective now, than without it.

Source: EMA, 2017/18

First of all under automation the most routine processes get, those which are required to be executed on a daily basis both in IT, and in business. And also the tasks having the step nature of accomplishment. Examples there can be an infinite set here. In the same directory of services services can be provided, beginning from employment and dismissal of employees – before replacement of bulbs and repair of elevators at office, – Artur Badalyan tells.

ITSM approach and in a public sector is demanded, its specifics in itself mean standardization, a regulation and systematization of all processes. In Russia management of IT services is ideal for coordination of actions of the geographically distributed companies of a public sector and helps to adjust information exchange, to create the general Competence Centers and to collect summary information on regions.

Modern opportunities which ITSM-cistema should have

The most important: An ITSM system should be functional, flexible and simple in use. As for parts, then at different business and the different companies the requirements and tasks, despite uniform standards and similar processes. Therefore in the good solution always there has to be a possibility of setup under the specific enterprise. By itself, all similar work should be implemented most simply and not require attraction of a great number of high quality programmers.

Source: EMA, 2017/18

ITSM-cistema implementation project: main stages and terms

Implementation of ITSM products can be performed both on agile methodology, and on classical cascade model. In case of primary system implementation of management of IT services, working meetings for refining of business processes of the company will be organized and fit-gap the analysis is carried out. He helps to specify changes which need to be entered to the project.

If there is a migration from already existing platforms, then it is worth booking audit of the current system then to define what are necessary for business changes.

On the next stage design of a target configuration is carried out. Here the most critical processes which a system and also a priority of their implementation should support will be defined. After that the ITSM solution is unrolled, configured, tested and displaid in commercial operation.

In practice all these steps very labor-consuming and long. They require good competence and flexibility of the companies for following to the international practicians and recommendations. System implementation of management of IT services – very laborious process, and after end of the main stage always follows a stage of revaluation, completions, connections of additional processes, setup of integration and a set of other works allowing to maximize automation of the enterprise and to simplify work to the employees – are detailed by Artur Badalyan.

How to select integrator

First of all it is worth paying attention to competence of staff of integrator of the necessary company of area and also to estimate flexibility of its approaches. As practice shows, the size of integrator and number of the projects executed earlier (namely customers pay attention to it) is not of particular importance. Often the small companies which are not so widely known approach case more responsibly and too have enough experienced specialists in the state.

As ITSM projects quickly pay off

Payback periods are very individual. They depend on a field of activity of the companies, the number of the automated processes and level of the involvement of employees. Experts consider that to this work it is worth being suitable for achievement of the best results in a complex: connect not only IT services, but also business, to build integration with the systems of inventory, monitoring and so on.

We have customers who paid back the projects for half a year, – Artur Badalyan says. – But someone comes to payback only in a couple of years. If to call average values, then about a year, can be slightly more. We in Ivanti had approximately such statistics for the last implemented projects: economy about 14.5 thousand rubles annually on one user due to automation of standard and routine tasks, creation of the directory of services, optimization and redistribution of working time of IT employees for other works is reached; reduction of a downtime of systems for 62% thanks to integration with monitoring systems and the timely notification of profile specialists; reduction of resolving time of incidents, crucial for business, for 60%, reduction of number of registration of requests by phone from 100% (to system implementation) up to 45%.

What solution to select: cloud, hybrid or it-premis

This question traditionally is particularly acute in Russia. Each of approaches bears both certain conveniences, and some risks.

In our country unambiguously more preferably and more popularly it-premis solutions. Perhaps, feeling that servers with information and software are somewhere nearby, also tranquility in security and safety of data instills more confidence. Despite it, every year the number of the companies looking towards clouds it becomes much bigger and it becomes more extensive and more attractive than the offer on clouds, – Artur Badalyan summarizes.