ITSM in 2024, have you kept up?

Here is a summary of the key IT Service Management (ITSM) trends/goals that are shaping the Service Management and Service Delivery strategies and priorities of companies in the UK and the rest of the world. We have covered most of these in other recent editions but here they are as a summary -

?? Enhance Automation and AI Integration

?? Improve Customer Experience

?? Strengthen Cybersecurity

?? Promote Sustainability

?? Foster Continuous Improvement

?? Align IT Services with Business Goals

?? Optimise Costs

?? Enhance Talent Management/Professional Development

?? But I’ve seen these before, why should I carry on reading?

The value this article aims to bring, is in this next section, when we talk about WHY companies have struggled to achieve the above, but have changed their approach and achieved positive results.

?? Balancing AI with Human Interaction: AI at the moment is like the loch ness monster. People have heard of it, they have read what it can do, but they haven’t actually ever seen it in action. So, for most, it’s a step into the unknown and like starting with a blank sheet of paper.

Not having specific, industry-led goals to aim for is a challenge, as companies don’t want to get it wrong, and at the same time, customers still value personal interactions with other human beings, and adopting AI without losing the human element is a significant challenge that many companies did not anticipate facing.

The fact that there is no definitive industry standard to aim for, or being able to call on previous experiences is leading companies to approach the whole subject of AI in ITSM/Service Delivery very carefully.

?? Budget Constraints: Many IT departments are dealing with ever decreasing budgets, which is hindering their ability to implement new technologies and improve services. Referring back to the list of trends/goals in the previous section, each one requires significant investment and commitment, and companies are finding out that they can’t fully commit to most of these, as the money and resources just simply aren't there.

?? Talent Shortages: Similarly to AI, the newer, more modern best practices and approaches needed to make these trends/goals a reality take time to fully embed. With internal teams needing time and professional development to adapt to this new world, coupled with a shortage of external people who can be recruited in to fill any gaps, is making companies re-think their aims and ambitions.

There are other areas such as Cyber Security and Customer Experience, but these will be covered in other editions.

Would you like to see some success stories of how pivoting to a pragmatic approach to ITSM transformation has produced excellent, and unexpectedly positive results for global companies? Then please send me a message.

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