What are the benefits of using cloud-based ITSM tools?

ITSM is the designing, planning, delivery, building, implementing, deployment, improvement, and support of IT services delivered via people, processes, and technology.

Picture a business organization from any sector of the economy. The organization has employees, vendors, partners, and customers. Some of these constituents work from home, and others from the workplace. To conduct itself successfully in today’s world, the organization needs both IT and non-IT infrastructure. Once deployed, it needs to monitor such infrastructure writes Sumit Kumar, Hyphen (Erasmith Technologies).

Now consider the fact that its business is growing. This necessitates growth in its infrastructure, employees, relationships, geographies that it operates in, and complexity of operations. This is right where ITSM (Information Technology Services Management) steps in to help the organization run Business as Usual and reduce the complexity through the application of IT.

ITSM is the designing, planning, delivery, building, implementing, deployment, improvement, and support of IT services delivered via people, processes, and technology. The goal is to consistently improve services to best meet business objectives. The main idea behind ITSM is to align IT services to customers’ business needs. This is achieved by deploying ITSM tools.

A suite of comprehensive ITSM tools must have IMRR functionalities.

  1. Integrate: Capability to integrate IT infrastructure with non-IT infrastructure.
  2. Monitor: Monitoring the entire infrastructure spanning applications, operating systems, compute, storage, network, security, edge/end-user equipment, services, system metrics, and non-IT equipment.
  3. Report Comprehensive visibility of IT and no-IT infrastructure in the form of live dashboards and scheduled reports.
  4. Resolve: Help desk functionality to manage user requests, incidents, problems, self-service, and changes.

Here are the benefits that an ITSM suite with in-built IMRR functionalities seamlessly delivers:

Improvement in Efficiency: This is best explained with the example of IT asset management. This functionality of ITSM helps optimize the life cycle of IT assets. You may not only sweat out your assets better, but you may also find economical strategies for the disposal of old assets and the acquisition of fresh ones.

Reduction in Operational Cost: ITSM aims for standardization. The next step to standardization is automation. Routine, mundane tasks, like employee onboarding, can be ITSM automated. Self-help scripts can be rolled out to resolve simple incidents. This will free the workforce of higher-value work. Automation helps in improving productivity, scaling up operations, and generating higher value. Now isn’t that music to the CFO’s ears? Moreover, automation and self-service drive higher-end-user satisfaction.

Higher Visibility into IT Operations: An increased visibility of the processes and systems provides higher decision-making insights to management and executives. Information is presented and shared in a structured way so that decision-makers can see what is happening in other areas of business and take corrective action where required.

Control and Accountability: With process standardization, comes a clear definition of process ownership. With defined ownership comes a clear account of what one is supposed to deliver. Business results are dependent on individual contributions. When IT professionals are assigned clear roles, they are accountable for delivering their part to departmental/organizational success.

The rapidity with which IT solutions have been digitized and cloud-enabled in the last few years have not left ITSM tools untouched. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we did things and how. The more digitized, or the more on-cloud your IT operations are, the higher the efficiency that sets in. Some of the easy-to-understand benefits of cloud ITSM tools are:

  1. They’re ready-to-use architecture that helps fast deployment.
  2. Early deployment means early operationalization.
  3. And early operationalization means quicker realization of RoI.
  4. Moreover, cloud-based ITSM tools can be scaled up or down quicker, thereby optimizing expenditure as per need.
  5. Ease of upkeep, upgrades, and updates with OEMs delivering such services online via the cloud on an automatic mode.
  6. Customers get more time to focus on running their business operations.

The world is shifting to cloud-based solutions for obvious reasons. You may choose ITSM tools according to your needs. Even if you go for on-premise deployment, choose a tool that is proven cloud-ready.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ET Edge Insights, its management, or its members

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