How to start your journey with ITIL 4 and IT Service Management

According to a recent ITSM Tools survey, the top ITIL 4 practices that are adopted first are Incident Management, Service Request Management, and Change Enablement. It’s not surprising that in the last 25 years, nothing has changed among organizations adopting IT Service Management. 

The following table displays the results of ITSM Tools’ survey:

Companies are struggling with basic Service Management elements, preventing them from fully capitalizing on ITSM advantages. This includes achieving mature practices in IT Asset Management, Configuration Management, Supplier Management (to manage the increasing players in the service value chain), and IT financial management.

This also aligns with my observations in numerous engagements over the past years. Many companies input massive amounts of data (100,000s of elements) into their CMDB without appropriate qualification, leading them to discard the approach due to obsolete and inconsistent data. Conversely, some organizations have maintained their CMDB for over a decade with minimal substantial information input. 

Incident Management, Service Request Management, and Change Enablement are enough for addressing the most urgent issues of an IT organization (“Stabilize the patient”). But, to establish the core advantages of ITSM—Responsiveness, Stability, Agility, Velocity, and Control—and demonstrate IT’s value, incorporating configuration management and ongoing improvement is essential. 

So, the key to success is to quickly establish the foundation in ITIL 4’s four dimensions (People, Process, Technology, Partner) and have a concrete roadmap. I’ve previously discussed roadmap development in my previous blog. Now, I’ll present approaches to fast-track your journey:

Technology and processes

ServiceNow is a recognized leader in the ITSM industry. The following aims to align the 34 ITIL 4 practices with the capabilities of ServiceNow. This shows us ServiceNow is a perfect match: 

For a fast start, ServiceNow is an ideal platform providing high degrees of compliance to the basic ITIL 4 practices   
 
If you want to get started quickly, ServiceNow is a great platform that closely follows the essential ITIL 4 practices.

People

No Service Management project is successful without considering the impact on people and the organization.  Additionally, effective Organizational Change Management can track changes in tools, processes, and the overall structure.

Partner

Based on extensive experience implementing ITSM with ServiceNow we have developed a fast-track implementation program, that helps you realize the benefits of ITSM sooner, safer and happier!  

Plat4mation’s RAPID4ITSM approach allows you to be up and ready within 60 days in a balanced & holistic way:  

• Responsible
• Asset-driven
• People Focus
• Integrated
• Data Driven

Using a modular offering for the next steps allows you the execute your roadmap with experience-based building blocks at a fixed price. 

Thus, whether you want to improve your user experience, optimize your cost or velocity, or stabilize your environment, a ServiceNow partner can support you on your journey.