I&O leaders continue to search for the right ITSM Tool that best fits their needs and follow industry best-practice frameworks. Reports like the Gartner Magic Quadrant for ITSM Tools are recognized as a trusted resource for an objective perspective on the ITSM market.
With the fast pace of innovation, it can be hard to imagine what the future holds as new technologies appear seemingly overnight. And with more than 300 ITSM tool vendors out there, it might be difficult to narrow down which ITSM tool capabilities are the best suited for your organization.
But when researching for the right ITSM tool selection, it is important to take into consideration capabilities that will help solve some of the most common challenges for I&O leaders including increasing agility, lowering costs, and automating processes.
A big obstacle for IT organizations, however, is keeping up with these technology advances, or better yet, staying ahead of them. For many, that means replacing your current ITSM solution with one that will enable the realization of your service delivery goals. As we know, it’s just not enough to invest in a tool that will power your organization today. Tomorrow is quickly becoming reality and the ITSM tool selection you make must be well equipped to facilitate your future needs.
Think about the following capabilities when selecting your ITSM Tool:
- An Integrated ITSM Platform
- Smart Automation
- Low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
- Robust Service Analytics and Reporting
- A Flexible User Experience
- Intelligent Knowledge Management (Self-Help Technology)
- Context-Aware Capabilities (Chatbots and Virtual Agents)
- A Global Enterprise Perspective
8 ITSM Tool Capabilities Consider
Here’s a list of 8 ITSM tool capabilities to keep in mind while evaluating service management solutions. These tips on what to look for ensure you’ll choose a tool with a strong foundation that your organization can grow with indefinitely.
1. An Integrated ITSM platform
An integrated ITSM platform is a foundational requirement ensuring the vendor has a proven platform—meaning they have experience with global customers and have been operating in the ITSM space for many years. That platform should include features like fully integrated ITIL process lifecycle support with PinkVERIFY ITIL processes and robust third-party integration methods. The solution should allow you to configure the platform using both drag-and-drop codeless tools as well as simple coding, such as SQL queries, making platform administration flexible, easy, and low cost while not sacrificing on maturity.
2. Smart Automation
Smart automation functionality should be made available out-of-the-box for ITSM users to streamline complex processes into simple automated actions like repetitive tasks that may normally require several manual steps, creating business rules, or scheduling tasks for later, to name a few examples.
3. Low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
An ITSM tool that can be implemented quickly with low administrative efforts can benefit organizations that are looking to enhance their basic ITSM offerings without breaking the bank. If you are making a new ITSM tool selection and don’t necessarily need an extensive suite of products, then looking for a tool with lower start-up costs and low maintenance can make an impact in your ROI.
4. Robust Service Analytics & Reporting
Service analytics and reporting should go beyond flat service desk reports by capturing historical data, storing that data long-term and using pre-built reporting capabilities to visualize trends so you can be more actionable and efficient within your organization’s service delivery strategy.
5. A Flexible User Experience for Both IT Staff and end Users
Modern user experience is important because it does not just apply to staff working in the ITSM interface. The solution should allow you to easily deliver intuitive, responsive portals for specific IT and business personas, including self-service for end users, dashboards for executives, and apps for staff. The user experience should also extend to other delivery channels including mobile for a it to be seamless. These should all be created using drag-and-drop capabilities to limit the need for any coding.
6. An Intelligent Knowledge Management System
Having an intelligent knowledge management system is key when wanting to expand (or integrate) new self-service capabilities, not only for your IT staff, but also for all employees and customers. With the use of interactive and easy-to-search knowledge articles as well as content that can be integrated into 3rd party applications, like Microsoft Team, you can reach everyone within your organization—help your users help themselves!
7. Context-Aware Capabilities
An ITSM tool with context-aware capabilities can benefit your organization in different ways. Leveraging contextual awareness through channels such as chatbots or virtual agents can enhance the user experience for everyone in your organization by providing the most relevant information when they needed. A contextualized interface, for example, can also help your IT service desk agents understand user information, like their job role or equipment owned, in order to provide a prompt resolution to an issue without the need to ask unnecessary questions.
8. Don’t forget, make sure it’s global enterprise ready!
A global, enterprise-ready solution should have out-of-the-box features like multi-lingual support and segregation of data and security at the organizational level to support your maturing business.
Next Steps: Download the 2019 Gartner Magic Quadrant for IT Service Management Tools Report
Check out this complimentary Gartner report to ensure you make the best ITSM tool selection for your organization: 2019 Gartner Magic Quadrant for ITSM Tools
Gartner, Magic Quadrant for IT Service Management Tools, Rich Doheny, Chris Matchett, Siddharth Shetty, 29 August 2019
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
