Pros with Benefits: ITSM Capabilities for Better Business Functions

It’s common to fall into thinking of enterprise service management (ESM)as simply sharing core IT service management (ITSM) capabilities with other business functions. However, the service professionals in these other business functions are in dire need of the ability to create digital workflows. The workflows that will allow them to undertake the work they need to do.

And do it faster. 

Sure, these service management professionals will benefit from sticking to the trusty ITSM best practice processes for handling requests for help, information, new services, and change. 

But, and it’s a BIG but, in 2022, enterprise service management should offer them much more. 

How much more exactly?

This blog explains just that. 

(cue the drum-roll)

Sure, #ITSM pros will benefit from sticking to trusty ITSM best practices for handling requests for help, info, new services, and change. But, & it's a big BUT, in 2022 enterprise service management should offer them so much. #ESM Share on X

What’s In This Article?

• The Traditional View of Enterprise Service Management 
• Not Your Everyday ESM
• Facilitating “citizen developers”
• Citizenship with Benefits.

The Traditional View of Enterprise Service Management 

In large, enterprise service management can thank its origins for the traditional view it adopted from people “on the inside”. Historically, various business functions used the corporate ITSM tool to help teams formalize manual practices, coping with increasing workloads. 

And probably save a pretty penny too. 

Where enterprise service management is defined as something like: “the use of ITSM principles and capabilities by other business functions to improve operations, services, experiences, and outcomes.”

This approach has meant that other business functions have benefited from the corporate ITSM tool’s automated workflows for incident management, service request management, and asset management. 

Plus, potentially, change management and problem management along with capabilities such as orchestration, notifications, alerts, escalations, approvals, service level agreement (SLA) targets, omnichannel capabilities (including self-service portals and mobile-device access), knowledge management (we’re still going), dashboards and reporting capabilities, and artificial intelligence (AI)-enablement via machine learning and natural language understanding (NLU).

You know, the good stuff.

The thing is, the service professionals in other business functions need more.

An #ITSM tool hat offers 'citizen developer' capabilities makes it easy for non-technical personnel to leverage all native capabilities to build whatever they need to facilitate their work. #ESM #citizendeveloper Share on X

Not Your Everyday ESM

It’s easy to see how extending core ITSM capabilities to other business functions through enterprise service management will improve other teams’ operational efficiency and outcomes. And probably make them smile even more (but don’t quote us on this one).

For example, corporate facilities teams will benefit from:

1. Workflow automation – employee onboarding where SLA targets are used to identify potential issues with process speed.
2. Knowledge management – allowing all team members to assist others – using shared knowledge – even if they haven’t experienced an issue and its resolution before.
3. A self-service portal – an employee can request a desk move and track the request’s progress, rather than calling the facilities help desk.
4. Mobile support capabilities – for example, the real-time routing of field-support staff based on their location and issue priority or the ability to scan the asset barcodes on assets.

This helps improve the facilities team’s operations, services, experiences, and outcomes, much like the enterprise service management definition we mentioned above. 

Hmmm…

However, as every Dad’s favorite proverb states:

“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime,” 

There’s also the opportunity for ITSM tools to provide the service professionals in other business functions, such as facilities, with more.

Specifically, the ability to create and update their own digital workflows, when needed, and without the assistance of IT (yeah, who needs THESE folks).

There's an opportunity for #ITSM tools to provide the service professionals in other business functions, such as facilities, with so much more than simply the traditional definition of enterprise service management. This blog explores. #ESM Share on X

Facilitating “Citizen Developers”

An enterprise service management strategy should also facilitate “citizen developers”. The goal of enterprise service management is better business operations and outcomes, which the sharing of core ITSM capabilities assists.

However, to increase the opportunities to improve these further, it also needs to go beyond sharing the core process-related ITSM tool capabilities. Placing the ability to automate workflows – or digitally transform manual operations – in the hands of non-IT personnel will help ESM achieve just that. Allowing them to use the corporate service management, or a workflow automation platform, to design and amend their own digital workflows as and when it’s needed. 

Empowering your corporate everymen, sort of speak.

These non-IT personnel are “citizen developers” and might work in facilities, human resources (HR), legal services, sales and marketing, finance, security, business operations, or any other business function. 

Importantly, thanks to a fit-for-purpose ITSM, or service management, tool’s ease of workflow creation, their lack of technical expertise isn’t a barrier to their ability to self-create work-enabling capabilities.

Simply put, “not good with computers” is no longer a valid excuse, folks.

A “citizen developer” is described by Gartner as

“…an employee who creates application capabilities for consumption by themselves or others, using tools that are not actively forbidden by IT or business units. A citizen developer is a persona, not a title or targeted role. They report to a business unit or function other than IT.”

As with our beloved fish proverb, “citizen development” is very much about self-sufficiency. But it also provides business function with greater flexibility and the capacity for speedier change.

It's time to allow 'citizen developers' to use your corporate service management, or workflow #automation platform, to design and amend their own digital workflows as and when it’s needed. This blog explains why. #ITSM #citizendeveloper Share on X

Citizenship with Benefits

An ITSM, or service management, tool that provides “citizen developer” self-creation capabilities empowers service professionals, no matter their business function, with the digital workflows they need to get their work done. 

“Citizen development” uses the native capabilities the corporate ITSM tool or service management platform offers. These include:

• Workflow automation
• Service orchestration
• Notifications, alerts, and escalations
• Approvals
• SLA targets
• Omnichannel capabilities such as self-service portals and chat
• Knowledge management
• Dashboards and reporting 

Plus, platform-level AI-enablement can increase the potential of each of these capabilities when appropriate.

Put simply, an ITSM tool or service management platform that offers “citizen developer” capabilities makes it easy for non-technical personnel to leverage all these native capabilities to build whatever they need to facilitate their work. 

Themselves. 

And with limited reliance on the IT department. 

It finally makes enterprise service management less about ITSM and more about the digital transformation these business functions want, need and deserve.