Practical Business Use Cases for ESM

While enterprise service management is frequently described as the extension of IT service management (ITSM) capabilities to other business function departments to help improve their operations, services, experiences, and outcomes, the reality is that the shared capabilities are often related to the IT service desk and its service and support capabilities. There’s more insight on this below.

With this in mind, it’s good for organizations looking to start or expand on existing enterprise service management strategies to understand where enterprise service management is commonly applied. To help, this blog shares some practical business use cases for enterprise service management.

What the enterprise service management “footprint” looks like

While enterprise service management definitions might make it look like organizations are sharing all 34 ITIL 4 management practices with other business functions, the reality is that some ITSM processes or practices are shared more than others. Plus, some business functions are more amenable to enterprise service management than others. These spectrums are evidenced in Axelos and HDI surveys.

The global Axelos Enterprise Service Management Industry Report 2021 found that:

• Customer service/support was the most common recipient of shared service management capabilities (50% of organizations). This figure equated to 74% of the organizations with ongoing enterprise service management strategies.
• The level of adoption for other business functions, across all organizations, was business operations 42%, human resources (HR) 29%, security 27%, facilities 21%, finance 21%, procurement 19%, sales and/or marketing 15%, and legal 9%.
• The most commonly shared ITSM capabilities were incident management 53%, service request management 46%, asset management 45%, continual improvement 45%, knowledge management 45%, problem management 41%, and change enablement 40%.

While the more recent (late 2022) but North-American-focused HDI The State of Service Management Report found that:

• 45% of respondents reported that their organizations are using the principles and practices of ITSM outside of the IT department.
• Business operations was the most targeted recipient of shared service management practices at 57% of organizations versus 58% for ITSM solutions.
• The level of adoption for other business functions, for the organizations sharing ITSM capabilities (rather than all organizations), was customer service/support 55%/45%, security 51%/32%, finance 35%/37%, procurement 32%/31%, HR 32%/35%, facilities 29%/37%, sales and/or marketing 24%/19%, and legal 16%/13%.

Finally, the SysAid 2023 State of Service Management Report found that a third of respondents would consider deploying their service desk to other departments.

Example practical business use cases for enterprise service management

These example practical business use cases for enterprise service management are listed in the order of greatest business function practice adoption in the HDI data:

• Business operations – the use cases here will depend on the business an organization is in. However, some common areas can be used for practical examples, such as research and development and product development. The possible use cases here include streamlining the planning, execution, and monitoring of R&D projects using workflow automation, to help improve resource utilization and project outcomes. And product lifecycle management, from concept to retirement, for more successful product launches and continual improvement.
• Customer service/support – the possible use cases here include automating customer service request processing, from submission to resolution, to help improve service delivery and customer satisfaction. And using ITSM capabilities for collecting, analyzing, and acting on customer feedback more effectively to enable the continual improvement of products and services.
• Security – the possible use cases here include using automated workflows for security-issue handling, with this very similar to IT incident management capabilities. And using self-service capabilities for employees to report security issues, including data breaches.
• Finance – the possible use cases here include automating the processing of incoming invoices, from validation to payment authorization, to help ensure timely payments and efficient record-keeping. And the streamlining of the submission, approval, and reimbursement of employee expenses, to help reduce the administrative overhead and improve compliance.
• Procurement – the possible use cases here include the efficient management of vendor relationships, from selection to performance evaluation, to help ensure the delivery of high-quality goods and services. And the streamlining of the creation, approval, and fulfillment of purchase orders, to help reduce the administrative overhead and improve procurement efficiency.
• HR – the possible use cases here include the automated streamlining of the process of bringing new employees into the organization (employee onboarding), from contract generation to provisioning IT resources, to managing induction training. And managing employee benefits more efficiently, such as healthcare, pensions, and paid time off (PTO), to help ensure the timely and accurate delivery against employee expectations.
• Facilities – the possible use cases here include maintaining an accurate and up-to-date record of physical assets, such as buildings, vehicles, and equipment, to enable better asset utilization and maintenance planning. And optimizing the allocation and utilization of workspaces, to help improve employee satisfaction and reduce real estate costs.
• Sales and/or marketing – the possible use cases here include coordinating the planning, execution, and analysis of marketing campaigns, to help improve marketing return on investment (ROI) and customer engagement. And automating the tracking and management of sales leads, to improve sales efficiency and conversion rates.
• Legal – the possible use cases here include streamlining the creation, review, approval, and renewal of contracts, to help reduce the legal risks and help ensure compliance with contractual obligations. And more efficiently managing legal cases, from intake to resolution, to help ensure timely and effective legal support.

If you want to learn more about the opportunities of enterprise service management, please get in touch.