Today, any business must rely on its IT systems to support daily operations such as data processing, communication management, and running critical applications. If these systems break down or slow down, workflows can be disrupted, productivity reduced, and losses can be significant.
This is where Information Technology Operations Management (ITOM) comes into play, a sub-discipline of IT Service Management (ITSM) that focuses on service lifecycle operations, particularly managing aspects that are not visible to the end-user.
ITOM's role in an organization is strategic. By leveraging automation and specific tools, ITOM not only quickly resolves issues but also prevents them. This allows employees to work without interruptions, improves overall efficiency, and simultaneously ensures a constant, high-quality service to customers.
Experience an ITOM demo: Discover how to transform your company's IT operational management
Do you want to reduce costs, increase productivity, and improve customer satisfaction? Are you looking to simplify your operations, reduce incidents and tickets, or accelerate integration?
Our ITOM platform demo allows you to explore the transformative power of highly innovative technological tools.
Request a personalized demonstration of our solutions to concretely learn how the IT operations management system developed by EasyVista can ensure the perfect functioning of a company's IT ecosystem.
From network, server, and device management to IT operations, up to Help Desk tasks, thanks to our demo you will be able to directly experience the potential of ITOM.
You can personally test our process automation technology and our remote access solutions to get a comprehensive and exhaustive end-to-end view of all IT services, from infrastructure to endpoints.
Functions of IT Operations Management
ITOM ensures the smooth operation of an organization's IT infrastructure, including hardware, software, networks, and data centers. It oversees the availability of IT resources, including computing, network, and application resources, both on-premises and in the cloud.
ITOM teams oversee a multitude of operations, such as incident management, data security, or device provisioning.
The fundamental functions of IT Operations Management are three. In each of these, ITOM establishes the processes that IT teams use to deploy, implement, and support services throughout their lifecycle.
Network Infrastructure Management
Network infrastructure management involves supervising and maintaining the hardware and software that make up an organization's network. This includes managing routers, switches and firewalls, hubs, monitoring tools, software applications, operating systems.
ITOM teams are also responsible for administering network service performance, such as VPN and TCP/IP routing, necessary to provide internal and external business communications.
Effective network infrastructure management minimizes downtime and ensures reliable connectivity, crucial for ensuring a safe and efficient data flow and the continuity of business operations and communications.
Help Desk Operations
Help desk operators provide assistance to end-users by answering their questions and resolving computer-related issues. This function involves managing tickets, resolving any frictions, and assigning more complex requests to specialized teams.
There are many activities that can fall under ITOM's help desk scope, including incident resolution, event response, and request fulfillment, in addition to IT infrastructure operations such as planning and managing data backups, managing user accounts, system access, and disaster recovery.
By providing timely assistance, help desk operations supported by ITOM improve user satisfaction, reduce downtime, and safeguard the organization's productivity.
Server and Device Management
This third function focuses on the administration and maintenance of servers and connected devices within an IT infrastructure, including installing updates, monitoring performance, ensuring security compliance, and managing configurations.
It includes managing endpoints (installing updates or vulnerability patches, for example), such as servers, desktops, laptops, mobile devices, and IoT, and ensuring user access to storage.
ITOM ensures that servers and devices operate efficiently, securely, and reliably, supporting the IT needs and business functions of the organization.
Benefits of ITOM
As we have seen, ITOM encompasses important functions that ensure uninterrupted operation of IT services, from network management to server maintenance to help desk support.
The functionalities of ITOM guarantee a more proactive approach to managing IT infrastructure, minimizing interruptions and optimizing efficiency. The benefits are evident.
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Reduction of overall costs. By directly addressing the causes of problems and responding promptly to changes, ITOM helps keep services running and employees productive, while limiting the company's exposure to costly incidents.
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Collaboration among teams. Insights gained from advanced data analysis can be leveraged to align different teams on shared goals and empower staff.
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Compliance assurance. ITOM practices encourage the documentation of the entire workflow and the specific and appropriate use of IT service management tools.
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Security protection. Thanks to ITOM, teams are able to create escalation paths, accelerate cause analysis, and execute workarounds to minimize the impact of potential breaches to business security.
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Quality customer service. By investing in ITOM, we are able to more reliably meet SLAs (Service Level Agreements), communicate greater transparency on workflows, and increase overall customer satisfaction.
Thanks to advanced practices that allow for more accurate problem forecasting and the use of process automation tools, with ITOM, IT operations become more reliable and resilient, improving business continuity and overall performance.
Focus on automation and problem prediction
One of the main advantages of ITOM is the ability to predict problems and prevent faults, redundancies, malfunctions before they impact operations.
Through continuous monitoring and data analysis, ITOM tools are able to identify patterns and anomalies that may indicate the onset of potential frictions. This proactive approach allows IT teams to address problems early on, reducing downtime and preventing disruptions.
Another key advantage of ITOM is automation. Automating routine tasks such as patch management, backups, and system updates, ITOM frees up valuable time for IT staff, who can focus on higher-value strategic initiatives.
Automation also improves the accuracy and consistency of activities, reducing the likelihood of human error and ensuring that processes are carried out efficiently.
Comparison between ITOM and ITSM
To explain the difference between ITOM and ITSM, we need to open a small parenthesis and clarify the concept of ITIL.
ITIL, or Information Technology Infrastructure Library, is the theoretical model we use to unify our understanding of IT services. ITIL describes the range of best IT practices that enable the operation of an organization's technological infrastructure and the overall lifecycle of a company's IT services.
According to ITIL, ITOM falls within the "Service Operation" phase of the IT service lifecycle.
ITOM is also a subset of IT Service Management, or ITSM.
ITSM can be defined as the set of activities that an organization performs to design, plan, deliver, manage, and control the IT services offered to customers. ITOM, on the other hand, can be considered as a framework containing all the daily activities and administrative procedures necessary for the maintenance of infrastructure, devices, components, and applications.
In summary, ITIL provides a framework for ITSM, which focuses on managing IT services to meet business needs. ITOM, a subset of ITSM, specifically deals with the management and monitoring of IT infrastructure and operations. Together, ITOM and ITSM ensure efficient, reliable, and business-aligned IT services.
Challenges of IT Operations Management
In a modern and continuously evolving IT environment, the challenges that ITOM must face are numerous and change with market conditions and technological developments.
One of the main challenges is the complexity of modern IT environments, which often include a mix of on-premise, cloud, and hybrid infrastructures.
With the increase in cybersecurity threats and changes in regulatory requirements, ensuring security and compliance also becomes a crucial challenge.
IT cost management is another concern, as balancing the need for advanced technologies with budget constraints requires careful planning and the ability to identify which capabilities allow a significant reduction in expenses.
Reducing downtime and ensuring reliable delivery of IT services is essential. Downtime periods can lead to disruptions and significant financial losses, making it crucial to implement disaster recovery and business continuity plans that focus on improving resolution times.
Another challenge involves the efficient allocation of IT resources, essential for meeting business needs while avoiding bottlenecks and underutilization.
Managing the growing volume of data is equally challenging and requires effective strategies for data storage, retrieval, and analysis. Only through intelligent knowledge management is it possible to enhance the resources of the knowledge base.
One of the greatest challenges for IT Operation Management is ensuring rapid implementation of new features, allowing quick adaptation to changing business needs and reducing integration times.
Scalability is also a significant challenge in IT operations management (ITOM). Often, the infrastructure to be scaled was not built to be scalable, and it is not clear which services need to be scaled quickly.
The use of outdated tools, finally, can further strain end-users and employees. Service desk operators, for example, who are facing a shift left or dealing with a large number of incoming tickets, may struggle in their work if they have outdated, outdated, or difficult-to-use IT solutions at their disposal.
Only by effectively addressing these challenges can organizations ensure that IT operations are solid, secure, and aligned with business goals.
ITOM Solutions with EasyVista
EasyVista's ITOM solutions can help organizations overcome these challenges and improve IT operations management.
EasyVista's features simplify operations, reduce incidents and tickets, and accelerate integration. They allow for maintaining optimal performance across all systems and cutting management costs, increasing productivity, and improving employee and customer satisfaction.
EasyVista's process automation technology, EV Reach, and remote access support solutions provide a complete and comprehensive end-to-end view of all IT services from infrastructure to endpoints. They also offer the possibility of taking full control of activities and the ability to proactively solve problems before they impact the business.
Our platform also ensures scalability, promotes efficient resource management, allows for planning future growth, and integrates flexible systems that can expand or contract according to needs. In this way, a company can minimize downtime and reduce operational risks.
With EasyVista's ITOM, IT finally becomes more economical, effective, and efficient.
