The Limits of ITSM in Accelerated and Exponential Change: A Call for New Approaches

You may have come across the term ITSM, which stands for IT Service Management. ITSM is a comprehensive set of policies, processes, and practices designed to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of IT services in support of an organization's business needs. So, what are the potential drawbacks of ITSM in the context of accelerated change and exponential growth?

In today's fast-paced and rapidly changing business environment, your company needs to be constantly looking for ways to gain a competitive advantage. One popular approach is to adopt IT Service Management (ITSM) to align IT services with the needs of the business. However, as change accelerates and technology advances exponentially, the limitations of ITSM are becoming more apparent.

First, traditional, process-oriented ITSM often leads to rigidity and inflexibility, making it ill-suited to the dynamic nature of exponential change. Companies operating in an accelerated environment need to be able to shift and adapt quickly, and ITSM's strong focus on standardized processes can hinder an organization's ability to respond effectively to rapid changes in the marketplace.

Second, ITSM generally assumes a linear evolution of technology and doesn't consider the disruptive potential of exponential technologies. This can lead to a false sense of security, as your company may underestimate the impact of new, emerging technologies. As a result, your organization may be unprepared for the disruption caused by exponential advances in areas such as artificial intelligence, automation, and digital transformation.

ITSM can also be slow to adopt new practices and frameworks and often fail to keep up with the latest trends and developments in the tech and organizational change industry. This can lead to outdated practices and a lack of innovation, leaving organizations struggling to adapt to the pace of change.

Many executives I know want to standardize everything they do so they feel they have more certainty about the future and can reduce some costs. In an era of accelerated change, organizations must strike a balance between optimizing existing processes and adopting new, disruptive models and technologies. A sole focus on ITSM can result in missed opportunities for growth and long-term success.

When I examined various ITSM frameworks, I found that they talk about change management or other traditional methods of representing the capabilities required to bring a product to market. There are several reasons for this, and while ITSM has provided valuable insights and practices for managing IT services, its limitations in meeting the challenges of accelerated and exponential change are becoming increasingly apparent.

Organizations need to move beyond ITSM and develop more adaptive, innovative, and flexible approaches that better prepare them for the future such as Enterprise Agility. This may mean rethinking the traditional focus on stability and control in favor of a culture of constant mobility, adaptation, readiness, and responsiveness.