4 ITIL Best Practices to Revive Your Service Management

ITIL best practices cover a vast range of fields when it comes to assisting IT service management. Here’s a quick overview of where ITIL is applicable:

• Asset Management: Staying on top of replacement costs, refresh cycles and contract renewals is key for Asset Discovery Services. CMDB will help you discover, identify and track assets; plan for changes; and respond to issues with an understanding of CI configuration history and blackout and maintenance windows, as well as impact maps.
• Change Management: Tech is the heart of your organization, so maintaining a stable IT infrastructure is crucial. Even the most carefully executed IT deployments can fail and lead to unplanned downtime if proper change management processes are not in place. You can facilitate new technology and maintain existing services by using a single ITSM platform to organize and manage the plans, execution and communication. It’s crucial to ensure that the implementation of new technology is executed without disruptions in ongoing services.
• Incident Management: When you run a help desk fast routing, grouping tickets and a great communication platform are paramount. ITIL outlines that a problem is the root cause of one or more incidents; the defining factor being that each has a somewhat distinctive critical path. Each of these needs your attention.
• Release Management: The ability to maintain an uninterrupted level of the services you provide is critical when implementing new technology. With an IT Service Management (ITSM) solution that aligns with ITIL, you can follow the release management process and keep your production environment running smoothly. You can also leverage standardized methods and procedures for efficient and prompt release management; minimize the number of related incidents; gauge performance; and communicate with those impacted. Sometimes a release can evolve into a new full-on project, you’ll need a system that allows you to pick up where you left off. With a single platform approach for ITSM and Project Portfolio Management (PPM), you’ll never have to jump between systems.
• Help Desk Management: With the increase in remote work and virtual workplaces organizations are looking to technology to connect with clients, customers, employees and users. A great internal helpdesk is a huge piece of keeping your ITSM running smoothly through clear communication and problem-solving.
• Knowledge center Management: Knowledge-Centered Service(KCS®) tracks and documents as problems arise, creating and cataloging content along the way, building up a knowledge base (KB). KB articles are real-time assets that can be used by both the users and technicians. Create relevant KB articles based on real issues.
• Endpoint Control: It is critical to have a reliable antivirus and anti-malware solution, monitor its effectiveness and be smart about backups in order to thwart ransomware attempts. TeamDynamix IT Service Management offers out-of-the-box integrations with Kaseya and other solutions to help you do just this.

It’s projected IT spending will reach unparalleled levels in the coming years as organizations gear up for accelerated adoption of advanced technology initiatives. This is driving many organizations to find ways to improve IT maturity and streamline internal processes to manage the influx of demand. Managing resources in this environment while ensuring clear and valid communications among stakeholders is a unique challenge.

In a TeamDynamix Pulse Study, 44% of participants ranked their IT service’s following of ITIL best practices on the lower end of the IT maturity scale. As a set of practices that provides practical and strategic guidance for IT service management, the main goal of ITIL is to improve the business service. The business service will be enhanced when its support system—the specialized capabilities of the process, people, suppliers, and technology—is optimized. Providing a self-service solution to ITSM is a consistent hurdle for many organizations. A lack of a self-service solution remains on the low end of the IT maturity scale (levels 1 or 2). That is where ITIL comes into the picture.