ITSM Software & ITSM Tools – For Optimized IT Service Management
IT Service Management (ITSM) comprises important activities drives company success by providing services and managing the IT infrastructure. Mature ITSM, supported by the right software, is a significant contributor to efficiency and value creation in the company.
ITSM software and special ITSM tools helps IT departments meet the increasing demands of today. It also helps organizations with the challenges of digitalization in the 21st century. End-to-end solutions are, therefore, an integral IT tool for IT service providers and help desk departments.
Learn more about IT service management software requirements and ITSM tool features. Investing in the right platform will support the IT department in delivering top-notch help and service.
What is ITSM?
IT Service Management (ITSM) comprises the activities required to provide, improve and adapt the company’s IT services and infrastructure. IT services encompass all areas of IT, ranging from hardware and software management to secure, efficient IT operations. The aim is to continuously optimize the company’s value creation to provide the best service and help to customers.
Definition of ITSM software and ITSM tools
ITSM software has numerous features to optimally manage all tasks and services in IT service management. The term ITSM tool and ITSM software are often used for the same application, but there is still a difference. ITSM tools are developed for specific ITSM requirements. ITSM software is a platform that can therefore contain different tools and may integrate others via an interface.
What is ITSM software?
ITSM software is a combination of software functions that are necessary for the management of IT services and related assets. It helps IT organizations to plan, manage, support and provide IT services and processes to the user. In most cases, the solution or platform includes a ticket system to ensure structured communication with service users and all involved stakeholders.
Process management functions can be used to define and automate IT workflows. This ensures that all necessary steps in service and IT management processes are followed.
An ITSM software solution should also provide integration to tools or data that are required for specific IT service management requirements. Additionally, IT service management software uses reporting functions to help to increase efficiency and reduce the risk of IT service failure.
Today, ITSM software is often operated as a cloud-based application. This makes the purchase and maintenance of additional hardware unnecessary. Easier scalability is another key reason for choosing a cloud-based ITSM software solution. Thus, a company can perfectly adapt the performance to its own growth.
What are ITSM tools?
ITSM tools are management software developed specifically for a requirement or area. They are often integrated into ITSM software or an IT service management platform. The features of the ITSM tools are tailored to the specific use case. This ensures that the relevant information and associated tasks are processed efficiently.
The integration of ITSM tools in a software solution makes it possible to expand the use of a system. They provide far-reaching information and functions for IT service management and make these available for centralized enterprise wide use.
Requirements for ITSM software
Today, ITSM software must meet growing requirements. It must fully support companies in keeping the IT infrastructure consistently available. This is necessary for business operations and to optimize digitalization in the company. Customers expect short response times and the best services, which cannot be realized without an appropriate digital infrastructure.
Communication and Task Management
Communication and task management based on a ticketing system is essential for efficient IT service management. A ticket ensures complete documentation of service communication. It also allows tasks to be assigned and, through appropriate rights management, information to be displayed exclusively to authorized persons.
In addition, specific processes, assets or devices, such as printers, servers, or even documents, can be assigned to the ticket.
Self-Service Portal
Easy access to self-service functions makes it easier for customers to help themselves. The self-service portal serves as an interface for the service user to the help desk. Information and IT services can be made easily accessible to the service user. This reduces service requests and allows the service desk to focus on support, service delivery and availability.
Service Level Management (SLM)
IT services are often tied to clearly defined requirements for their delivery. Among other things, compliance with response times and recovery times play a major role here.
For efficient Service Level Management, ITIL-compliant ITSM processes define service levels and escalation times. These are essential to ensure that SLAs are met.
Business Process Management (BPM) according to ITIL
To ensure continuous service quality, it is essential to control service operations and workflows using predefined processes. ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) compliant IT service processes help to map all necessary steps to a process. A BPMS (Business Process Management Software) supports the creation of the process workflows through appropriate functions and automation.
Process automation ensures that information is requested at the right time and transferred in the process. Responsible parties can be automatically included in the process workflows.
IT Operations Management
To ensure smooth operations, the availability of the IT infrastructure and IT services must be guaranteed. This includes defining responsibilities, access controls and deployment plans.
IT Asset Management
To improve management of all IT assets, IT service management software should provide information about the company's IT assets.
An integrated CMDB (Configuration Management Database) is used to make the asset information available via a database. This may include the lifecycle, contracts, or the condition of an IT asset.
Configuration Management
IT must also know how assets are configured, meaning how they have been setup. Configuration management outlines the way in which an asset is configured and tracks any changes to its setup.
Knowledge Management
Knowledge is a valuable company asset. Knowledge made available to employees creates consistency in quality and accelerates work processes. This benefits not only customers, but also employees, who can make better use of the available knowledge.
Permission and Role Management
Flexible permissions and role management are essential for controlling processing and access rights. Customers and employees should only see the information that is really necessary for fulfilling the respective service requirements. This creates an overview and structure. Data is protected from unauthorized access.
Resource Management
Service levels must be met in a cost effective manner. For this reason, the IT service team and IT infrastructure resources must be managed. It's important to know how much space servers have and how much time people so that they can be best used.
Reporting Functions
Comprehensive KPI reporting features help with oversight and improves the efficiency of IT services. Only in this way can the resources of IT teams be used optimally, and potential problems identified at an early stage.
Intergrations
Integrations expand the impact of the ITSM software system. Other applications and their data can be integrated via an API. Accessing external data not only saves time, prevents data silos and facilitates support.
ITSM tool use cases
Benefits of ITSM software and ITSM tools
The use of IT service software and ITSM tools brings significant benefits to the IT service organization and the business overall. From satisfied customers and employees to cost savings across the IT infrastructure, it has significant impact on the value chain. Benefit from, among other things:
Choosing the right software and tools
Solutions for IT service management are usually accompanied by financial outlays that should not be ignored. The solution costs and the effort required to implement the system should be considered when planning.
The following should be considered in the selection process:
- Define your requirements as well as those of the service desk, any user or any stakeholder.
- Compare prices not only for purchase, but also for maintenance and service.
- Consider scalability, features, and integration options.
- Choose established vendors with experience. You should also be able to benefit from expert service and support after purchase.
- Be sure the platform complies with data privacy regulations.
Cloud-based ITSM software and ITSM tools
Scalability
Unlike on-premise solutions, cloud-based ITSM software is more adaptable to growing needs. It can support small businesses that are just getting started or large enterprise customers.
Maintenance and service
Software maintenance and added ITSM tools can be better ensured by the cloud-based platform. This ensures greater operational reliability and less downtime.
Data protection
Data protection is playing an increasingly important role. Particularly when it comes to personal data and the user, compliance with data protection regulations is essential. Non-compliance can lead to severe penalties.
Of course, it is also essential to protect data that can be considered essential for business operations and the business model. A cloud-based solution should have comprehensive security mechanisms, such as two-factor authentication (2FA)that enable secure use. Managed service processes should be established in compliance with GDPR.
Company location and GDPR-compliant data processing
Important criteria for the choice should, of course, be the reputation of the provider. Additionally, it's important to know on the location of the servers being used. This is especially true for companies with a headquarters in the EU that must comply with GDPR requirements.
When should on-premise ITSM software solutions be considered?
Today, on-premise ITSM software installations only make sense if a company requires maximum isolation from the Internet. The effort required to operate an on premise platform efficiently increases the demands placed on the internal IT team and environment.
With the ITSM Solution from OTRS, your customers and your IT service team benefit from extensive features. These features relieve the service team and can accelerate the entire company.
The generic interface and the XSLT mapping module of OTRS are features that make system integration seamless. Several OTRS solutions can also be combined. This significantly reduces the risks, effort, and costs normally associated with developing and maintaining traditional interfaces. Find out how OTRS can benefit your ITSM.
- Using an ITSM solution is a change. Prepare the change process carefully. Involve all stakeholders in the planning process at an early stage.
- Clearly define the areas of use and deployment scenarios. This prevents the scope of the implementation from changing during the project.
- Describe work processes in as much detail as possible. Clearly defined processes make automation easier.
- Get support from the software manufacturer as early as possible in the planning phase.
- Train your employees in the use of the ITSM software and tools. Help them understand the purpose for using ITSM solutions.
- Ensure regular maintenance and updates.
- Establish monitoring of all important KPIs and use these to optimize workflows over time.
- Ensure comprehensive documentation of processes and keep this updated.
- Integrate other business applications to avoid breaks in workflows and data silos.
- Ensure regular exchanges between teams to evaluate improvement opportunities.
- Leverage existing knowledge in your organization and create a knowledge base.
Conclusion
ITSM software provides a holistic platform with many features for managing and monitoring enterprise support and IT services. It includes tools for creating and tracking tickets, asset management, incident management, problem management, change management and configuration management, among others. While ITSM tools are focused on specific use cases: ITSM software provides a broader framework for managing all of an organization's IT services.
FAQ
ITSM software, also called an ITSM system, provides a holistic platform for managing and monitoring IT services. It includes features such as ticket creation and tracking, incident management, problem management, change management and configuration management. ITSM software provides a broad framework for managing all of an organization’s IT services.
An ITSM tool is developed specifically for certain IT service management use cases. Frequently used tools include a ticketing system, incident management, problem management, change management, process management and configuration management.
ITIL is an established framework for the implementation of ITSM within a business. Its objective is to continuously improve service quality and thus contribute to value creation in the company. The current ITIL 4 version defines 34 practices and describes the service value system. Good tools provide many of these practices as pre-configured processes.
