TY B.Sc.

IT Semester VI

IT Services Management
(Module 1)
Q.1. What is IT Services Management?
Meaning
 IT Service Management (ITSM for short) focuses on customer needs and IT services for customers
rather than on IT systems. ITSM stresses continual improvement.
 The main idea behind ITSM is the delivery of IT as a service. This goes beyond traditional IT support.
Instead, ITSM is more inclusive. It describes the processes and tools IT teams use to manage IT services,
end to end, and covers all information technologies within an organization.
 ITSM aligns an IT team’s goals with the broader objectives of the business, and that their actions support
the overall mission.

Why ITSM is important?

 Information technologies now encompass and incorporate tasks and responsibilities from across the
entire organization.
 Managing these services is an ongoing challenge, and customers expect businesses to be up to the task.
 Businesses depend on ITSM to effectively coordinate these nearly countless tasks and processes, while
ensuring that they are providing real value to the customer.
 Because IT service management (ITSM) is a collection of policies and processes for the management
and support of IT services—throughout their entire lifecycle—ITSM helps improve an enterprise’s
efficiency and increase employee productivity.

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Benefits of ITSM
ITSM is the bridge that connects IT professionals within an organization to the end users who need IT
services. In so doing, it provides several benefits. Here are several advantages to using ITSM:

Benefits for business

1) Increased agility: Quickly adapt to changes and innovation.
2) Reduced costs: Easily visualize workflows, leading to improved efficiency and cost savings.
3) Fewer IT problems and improved response: Decrease IT problems and respond to incidents quickly,
reducing the associated cost and disruption.
4) Easy compliance: Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
5) Better service: Improve satisfaction rates for end users.

Benefits for IT
1) Improved productivity: Aligned goals backed by reliable services ensure that more gets done with
fewer problems.
2) Increased user satisfaction: IT is delivered as a service with the needs of the user as the primary focus.
3) Better process scaling: Processes are more efficient, allowing organizations to handle more IT
development without reducing quality.
4) Faster incident detection and response: Organizations enjoy improved IT visibility, identifying
incidents and responding quickly before they can become an issue.

Benefits for Employees

1) Improved IT support: 24/7 IT support to perform better and do more. They also enjoy a clearer
understanding of available IT services and how to use them correctly.
2) Omni-channel experience: Access relevant information and make support requests from any device,
at any time, from anywhere in the world.
3) Clearer roles and responsibilities: Teams can understand who is responsible for what tasks and are
more accountable and informed.
4) Improved business alignment: Visibility to what the business and the end users need, and why.

Q.2. What Are Service?

Meaning
Services are intangible economic activities that require personal interaction between the consumer and
the service provider at the time of delivery of the services.
Services need not involve any kind of production or sale of goods and are mainly provided to satisfy
individual’s wants.

Features of Services:
1) Intangible: Services are intangible as they cannot be seen or touched. One can only experience them.
This implies that the quality of services cannot be checked before their use. This, it becomes imperative
for service providers to offer services to the satisfaction of the individuals concerned.
2) Inseparable: Services have to be produced and used simultaneously. Unlike goods, which are produced
today for sale later, services have to be used at the same time as they are made available.
3) Inconsistent: No standards can be set for services, they have to be provided each time according to the
demand and expectations of the service users. As each service user has different tastes and preferences,
the type and quality of services provided differ according to the user.

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4) Involvement: The involvement of the service user and the service provider is a prerequisite at the time
of delivery of the services. For instance, in a college, the teacher and the students are actively involved
in the exchange of the service of imparting knowledge.
5) Inventory: Services cannot be stored for sale at a future date. They need to be provided as and when
the service users ask for them. This is because if services are not consumed immediately then they lose
its value.

Difference between Goods & Services

Goods Services
Goods are tangible. Services are intangible.
It can be stored for future use. It is not possible to store it for future use.
Goods can separate from their Services cannot separate from their
owner. providers.
It is a physical object. It is an activity or process.
It is of homogeneous type. It is of heterogeneous type.
Its ownership can transfer to Its ownership cannot transfers to another
another person. person.
We can stock the goods for future We cannot stock the service for future
use. use.
Examples: doctor's treatment, services
Example: car, books, refrigerator,
that the waiter provides in the hotel, hair
etc.
cut at saloon, etc.

Q.3. Business Process

Meaning:
A business process is a series of tasks, or a set of activities performed by a group of stakeholders to
achieve an organizational goal. The processes are performed by people or systems in a structured
manner to attain a pre-defined objective. Efficient and streamlined execution of business processes
directly contributes to the success of business operations and growth.

Steps of Business Processes:

1) Define your objective: Just like any other process, business processes also need you to be clear about
what outcomes you want to achieve. This would help you create the base of your process and give it a

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suitable direction. Attach some quantitative metrics to your objective, so that you can find out the
results after implementation.
2) Creating and analyzing alternatives: Once you have defined what exactly you want as an outcome,
half of the problem is solved. Now you need to create all the alternatives that you can come up with.
There will be an opportunity loss attached to each of these alternatives. The task is to find the most
suitable option with the least opportunity cost.
3) Involve and assign stakeholders: This is one of the most critical steps in creating a business process.
Once you have designed the process out of all the alternatives, you must involve everyone and make
them understand the process. They are directly involved in the running of the process. That is why it is
necessary that they understand all the aspects of the process. This would help you save time in the
longer run.
4) Test the process: After the process is entirely designed, you must run it on a smaller scale. The practical
experience would help you find the gaps that you missed while creating the process. You can fill these
small gaps with solutions and make your process official.
5) Run the process: After filling out all the gaps and solving all the minute inconveniences, you should
implement the process to your business. Since the stakeholders of the processes know about it, the
chances of discrepancies will be reduced to a minimal.
6) Analyze the results: When you designed the process, you had an objective in your mind. Now that you
have implemented it, have you been able to achieve the results that you were planning to get? You need
to draw a comparison between the earlier process and the current one. The quantitative metric would
help you with that.

Types of Business Processes:

1) Operating processes: These processes are the critical functions of a business that directly add value
to the end customers. These processes are critically aligned with the fundamental values, objectives,

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and vision of the business. Businesses must continuously monitor and improve these processes as they
primarily contribute to the growth and revenue flow of the organization.
2) Support processes: These processes enable and support the core processes to be performed
seamlessly. Although they do not contribute to revenue generation, they assist internal departments in
creating a collaborative environment where the core processes can be aligned to work better. Human
resources, finance management, administration, and operations fall under supporting processes as they
help expand a business.
3)Management processes: These processes are responsible for planning, monitoring, managing, and
controlling the core and supporting processes from start to end. These processes are goal-oriented and
ensure that business operations are carried out efficiently and seamlessly. Their focus is to monitor
business functionalities internally and externally, analyse opportunities and challenges, and ensure
continuous improvement of all processes.

Q.4. Principles Of Service Management

1) Focus on Value: Everything you do must create value for your organization and its customers or the
effort is wasted. If you’re doing things that don’t create value, then you need to ask yourself why; and
you need to seriously consider what you can do to reduce this wasted effort.
2) Design for Experience: Don’t think about value too narrowly. The bottom line is vital, but customers
don’t just want financial value. Every interaction with a customer or a user contributes to their
experience of your services. It is an opportunity to impress, and you need to make the most of this. In
an increasingly competitive marketplace, making sure you give your customers the best experience of
IT that you can, will help you to retain them.
3) Start Where You Are: If you need to improve how you work (and every organization has some areas
that need development), don’t just throw away everything you’ve done already and start again. There
will always be some things that you are doing well. Make sure you know what they are and build on
them. Not only is this approach less wasteful than starting from scratch—because it preserves value
that you already have—but it also helps you to keep your people on board.
4) Work Holistically: Remember that when you make changes, they can have a wide impact; if you haven’t
thought carefully about this, the impact can be far wider and less helpful that you had anticipated. This
is because a local optimization can have repercussions further down the line that result in worse overall
service. So, don’t improve one process, or one team, or one piece of technology, without thinking about
how this affects everything around it. You need to understand the impact on the whole system before
you make changes.
5) Progress Iteratively: Experience tells us that multi-year improvement projects that involve large
investment and only deliver value after a very long time rarely deliver the value that was anticipated.
So, it’s better not to do that, even if you are planning a big change. Instead, remember that even a very
large improvement can be broken down into multiple small changes that will each result in measurable
gains.
6) Observe Directly: Nothing beats first-hand experience, so don’t just rely on reports and abstract data.
Go to where the work happens to see for yourself. Talk to the people doing the work, and ask them
about it.
7) Be Transparent: When you hide things from people, they inevitably find out in the end, and the loss of
trust can have a greater impact than whatever difficulty you were trying to conceal in the first place. If

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you are transparent with your customers, your suppliers, and your colleagues, you can build and
maintain an environment of trust that allows everyone to work together to maximize the value you
create.
8) Collaborate: People who work in silos can get very good at performing specific tasks. But when tasks
change, or something outside the immediate skill set happens, they are instantly at a disadvantage. And
since you can’t do everything yourself, that’s something that’s going to happen a lot. Organizations need
to foster collaboration. When people collaborate, everyone benefits. You create more value for yourself,
more value for the people you collaborate with, and more value for your mutual customers and
partners.
9) Keep It Simple: Finally, keep it simple. Don’t do anything that isn’t necessary. Focus on the simple
things that create value, rather than on following complex processes that have been in use for a long
time and that nobody remembers the reason for.

Q.5. Specialization and Coordination

 The aim of service management is to make available capabilities and resources useful to the customer
in the highly usable form of services at acceptable levels of quality, cost, and risks.
 Service providers help relax the constraints on customers of ownership and control of specific
resources. In addition to the value from utilizing such resources now offered as services, customers are
freed to focus on what they consider to be their core competence.
 The relationship between customers and service providers varies by specialization in ownership and
control of resources and the coordination of dependencies between different pools of resources.
 Customers SPECIALIZE in business management to achieve one set of outcomes using a set of resources
(Pool A). Similarly, service providers specialize in service management with another set (Pool B).
Service management coordinates the dependencies between the two sides through assurances and
utilization.

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 SPECIALIZATION is a necessary condition for developing organizational capabilities. Management
potential accumulates from specialized knowledge and experience with a set of resources."
Specialization drives the grouping of capabilities and resources under the same span of control to
achieve focus, expertise, and excellence.
 COORDINATION of capabilities and resources is easier when they are under the same span of control
because of accountability, authority and managerial attention. Capabilities and resources with high
degree of dependency and interaction are grouped together to reduce the need for coordination."
Where coordination is easy through well-defined interfaces, protocols and agreements, they are placed
under the control of the group most capable of managing them." The strength of specialized capabilities
on one side relative to the other creates the difference in potential, which justifies the transfer of
resources from Pool A to Pool B and makes the case for a new or changed service.

Q.6. The Agency Principle

 Principals employ or hire agents to act on their behalf towards some specific objectives. Agents may be
employees, consultants, advisors or service providers.
 Agents act on behalf of principals who provide objectives, resources (or funds), and constraints for
agents to act on. They provide adequate sponsorship and support for agents to succeed on their behalf.
 Agents act in the interest of their principals, for which they receive compensation and reward, and in
their own self-interest.
 Written or implied contracts record this agreement between principals and agents. Employment
contracts, service agreements and performance incentive plans are examples.
 Within the context of service management, customers are principals who have two types of agents
working for them - service providers contracted to provide services, and users of those services
employed by the customer. Users need not be on the payroll of the customer.
 Service agents act as intermediary agents who facilitate the exchange between service providers and
customers in conjunction with users.

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 Service agents are typically the employees of the service provider but they can also be systems and
processes that users interact with in self-service situations.
 Value for customers is created and delivered through these interlocking relationships between
principals and agents.
 The agency model is also applied in client/server models widely used in software design and enterprise
architecture. Software agents interact with users on behalf of back-end functions, processes, and
systems to which they provide access.

Q.7. Encapsulation
 Encapsulation refers to the process of organizing and managing the various components and processes
of an IT service as a single entity.
 This includes the hardware and software infrastructure, processes, and procedures that are used to
deliver and support the service.
 The goal of encapsulation is to make it easier to manage and maintain the service over time, and to
ensure that it is delivered in a consistent and predictable manner.
 Encapsulating an IT service helps the IT organization to focus on delivering value to the business, rather
than on the technical details of how the service is implemented.
 Encapsulation is an important aspect of ITSM, as it helps to ensure that IT services are delivered
effectively and efficiently, and that they meet the needs of the business.
 Here is an example of encapsulation in ITSM:
An organization has a number of different IT systems and processes that are used to manage different
aspects of its operations, including incident management, change management, problem management,
and asset management. Rather than managing each of these systems and processes separately, the
organization decides to encapsulate them within a single IT service management platform. This platform
includes a common set of tools and processes that are used to manage all of the organization's IT assets
and services, including incident and problem resolution, change management, and asset management. By
encapsulating these systems and processes within a single platform, the organization is able to improve
the efficiency and effectiveness of its IT operations, and to reduce the complexity of managing multiple
separate systems and processes.

Q.8. Service Life Cycle

 The service life cycle in IT service management (ITSM) refers to the series of stages that an IT service
goes through from its conception to its retirement. The service life cycle is a way of organizing and
managing the various components and processes of an IT service in order to deliver value to the
business.
 The service life cycle consists of five main stages:
1) Service Strategy: This stage involves defining the overall direction and plan for the IT service,
including the goals and objectives, target audience, and value proposition.
2) Service Design: In this stage, the IT service is designed and developed, including the hardware and
software infrastructure, processes, and procedures that will be used to deliver and support the
service.
3) Service Transition: This stage involves the transition from the design and development phase to
the live operation of the IT service. It includes activities such as testing, deployment, and training.
4) Service Operation: In this stage, the IT service is live and being used by the business. It includes
activities such as monitoring, maintenance, and support.
5) Service Improvement: In this final stage, the IT service is continually reviewed and improved to
ensure that it is meeting the needs of the business and delivering value.

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 Overall, the service life cycle is an important aspect of ITSM, as it helps to ensure that IT services are
delivered effectively and efficiently, and that they meet the needs of the business.
 A function is a group of related activities or tasks that are performed in order to achieve a specific goal
or objective. In the context of ITSM, functions are typically responsible for performing specific roles or
tasks within the service life cycle, such as design, transition, operation, or improvement.
 A process, on the other hand, is a set of activities or tasks that are performed in a specific order to
achieve a particular result. In the context of ITSM, processes are typically used to describe the specific
steps that are involved in delivering or supporting an IT service, such as incident management, change
management, or problem management.
 Both functions and processes are important components of the service life cycle in ITSM, as they help
to ensure that IT services are delivered effectively and efficiently, and that they meet the needs of the
business.

Q.9. Service Strategy Principles

 Service strategy is the plan for designing, delivering, and managing services to achieve the desired
outcomes for customers and stakeholders. Here are some principles that are often used to guide the
development of a service strategy:
1) Understand customer needs and expectations:
Gathering customer feedback and analyzing customer data is essential for understanding the needs and
expectations of your customers. This includes conducting customer surveys, analyzing customer
complaints and compliments, and tracking customer interactions and behaviors. By understanding
what customers value and expect from your service, you can tailor your service strategy to better meet
their needs and exceed their expectations.
2) Align service with business goals:
A service strategy should be aligned with the overall goals and objectives of the organization. This helps
ensure that the service being provided is consistent with the organization's mission and vision. For
example, if one of the organization's goals is to increase revenue, the service strategy might include
initiatives to upsell or cross-sell products and services to customers.
3) Focus on the customer experience:
A good service strategy puts the customer experience at the center of everything it does. This means
focusing on delivering high-quality service that meets or exceeds customer expectations. This can be
achieved through things like providing clear and accurate information to customers, responding
promptly to customer inquiries and complaints, and going above and beyond to solve customer
problems.
4) Foster a culture of service excellence:
A positive and customer-focused culture is essential for delivering excellent service. This means
investing in employee training and development and promoting a culture of continuous improvement.
This can be achieved through things like offering ongoing training and development opportunities for
employees, recognizing and rewarding excellent service, and encouraging employees to identify and
address areas for improvement.
5) Emphasize teamwork and collaboration:
Effective service delivery often requires teamwork and collaboration across different departments and
teams. A service strategy should encourage collaboration and facilitate communication between
different teams. This can be achieved through things like establishing cross-functional teams,

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promoting open communication and information sharing, and providing the necessary tools and
resources to support collaboration.
6) Use data and technology to improve service:
Data and technology can be used to improve service delivery by identifying patterns, trends, and areas
for improvement. A service strategy should take advantage of data and technology to drive continuous
improvement. This can be achieved through things like using customer feedback and data analytics to
identify trends and areas for improvement, implementing technology solutions to streamline service
processes and improve efficiency, and using data to track the effectiveness of service initiatives.

Q.10. Challenges in Service Management

 There are several challenges that organizations may face in service management. Some of the main
challenges include:
1) Managing customer expectations:
Customers have high expectations when it comes to service, and it can be difficult to meet or exceed
these expectations consistently. This can be particularly challenging when dealing with difficult or
unhappy customers.
2) Ensuring service quality:
Providing consistently high-quality service can be a challenge, especially in fast-paced or high-stress
environments. It is important to ensure that employees have the necessary skills, knowledge, and
resources to deliver excellent service.
3) Managing limited resources:
Service organizations often have to work with limited resources, such as budget, staff, and time. This
can make it difficult to deliver high-quality service and meet customer demand.
4) Maintaining service continuity:
Service continuity refers to the ability to maintain service delivery during disruptions or unforeseen
events. Ensuring service continuity can be a challenge, especially in the face of natural disasters,
technological failures, or other unexpected events.
5) Dealing with regulatory compliance:
Many service organizations are subject to various regulations, such as data protection laws or industry-
specific standards. Ensuring compliance with these regulations can be challenging, as it requires
keeping up to date with changes in regulations and implementing the necessary controls and processes.
6) Managing service delivery across multiple channels:
With the rise of digital channels, customers expect to be able to access service through multiple
channels, such as phone, email, chat, or social media. Managing service delivery across multiple
channels can be challenging, as it requires coordinating and integrating different systems and
processes.

Q.11. Critical Success Factors & Risks In Service Management

 Critical success factors (CSFs) are the key factors that are essential for the successful
management of service delivery. Some common CSFs in service management include:
1) Clear goals and objectives:
Having clear and well-defined goals and objectives is essential for ensuring that service delivery is
focused and aligned with the needs and expectations of customers and stakeholders.

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2) Customer focus:
A customer-centric approach is essential for delivering high-quality service that meets or exceeds
customer expectations. This requires a deep understanding of customer needs and expectations and
the ability to tailor service delivery to meet those needs.
3) Process excellence:
Service delivery relies on a range of processes and systems, and it is important to ensure that these
processes are efficient, effective, and continuously improved. This requires a focus on process
excellence and continuous improvement.
4) Employee engagement:
Service delivery is a people-driven process, and it is essential to engage and empower employees to
deliver excellent service. This requires investing in employee training and development and fostering a
positive and customer-focused culture.
5) Technology enablement:
Technology can be a powerful enabler of service delivery, but it is important to ensure that technology
solutions are aligned with business needs and properly integrated into service delivery processes.
6) Collaboration and communication:
Effective service delivery often requires teamwork and collaboration across different departments and
teams. It is important to facilitate communication and collaboration to ensure that service delivery is
seamless and efficient.

 Risks in service management refer to potential threats or negative impacts that could hinder the
successful delivery of service. Some common risks in service management include:
1) Service disruptions:
Service disruptions can occur due to a range of factors, such as technological failures, security breaches,
or natural disasters. Service disruptions can have a significant impact on customer satisfaction and the
reputation of the organization.
2) Poor quality service:
Poor quality service can have a negative impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty. It can also lead to
increased costs due to the need to resolve customer issues and complaints.
3) Regulatory compliance:
Failing to comply with regulations can result in financial penalties, damage to the organization's
reputation, and legal consequences.
4) Data security:
Data breaches and other security incidents can have a serious impact on customer trust and the
organization's reputation.
5) Talent management:
A lack of skilled and talented employees can hinder the delivery of high-quality service and impact the
organization's ability to meet customer demand.
6) Technology challenges:
Incorrectly implementing or using technology can lead to service disruptions and other issues, which
can impact customer satisfaction and the organization's reputation.

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