In the global IT Service Management (ITSM) market, where it seems like every week a new tool is launched, choosing the right ITSM solution has become an increasingly difficult and confusing task. If the wrong solution is implemented in your company, this could negatively affect the services that the solution was designed to support. To avoid this mistake, make sure that the following features are part of the ITSM solutions you and your company are evaluating:
Service Request Management
The solution should allow for the efficient and effective management of IT service requests, resources, budgets and projects. It should also allow companies to map their own request flowcharts and customize forms according to their business needs.
You should also verify that the solution has a centralized database so that all service requests can be tracked and managed in real time. This will increase efficiency and save time.
Incident Management
Incidents related to products and processes must be adequately and efficiently addressed through integrated processes that monitor and manage the entire life cycle of the incident, from its initial registration, through investigation, cause analysis, resulting actions to the verification of efficiency.
The solution should define a standard system for reporting incidents and automating management activities, facilitating collaboration for monitoring and investigating reported deviations.
Problem Management
The solution should help identify the root causes of IT-related problems by providing tools to help your business investigate incidents, accidents, errors, defects, failures, and gaps in different areas of IT service management.
It is important that the solution allows you to register a problem arising from one or more incidents and initiate the root cause analysis and investigation at any stage in the problem-solving process.
It should also automatically assign tasks to team members to investigate the problem and keep records of known issues so that users can easily search for them.
Change Management
Changes can give rise to inconveniences and disruptions because they involve people, and each person has their own culture and priorities, and are often impacted by these changes.
Thus, one of the challenges of IT is to help people understand and believe in the benefits of change. If people cannot visualize the benefits, they simply will not have an interest in change and will offer resistance.
The solution should help minimize the time and effort required to make the changes by controlling all activities, from requisition to the post-implementation review.
This can be done by creating a change plan and managing the configuration items that help users understand, document and implement changes and ongoing improvements.
Asset Management
The solution should help manage all of the company’s assets – ranging from essential equipment, computers, and vehicles, to tables and chairs – by selecting the right equipment for a given task, keeping it in good working condition for as long as possible and replacing it in an organized manner, causing the least possible impact.
In addition, it should also keep detailed records of asset service schedules, locations, verifications, use, and maintenance. It is important that the solution offers advanced search tools that allow for the listing and organization of assets by category, status, condition, special attributes etc.
Want to learn more? Download our comprehensive eBook on the crucial elements for IT Service Management and learn how IT can become more than just a reactive technology provider, to become a provider of strategic services.
