How Automation Has Changed IT Service Management

As anyone in the IT industry can attest, automation has changed the way we do things. It’s brought about efficiency and cost savings like never before. But what does the future hold for IT Service Management? And how can you make sure your organization is ready for it? In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the latest trends in ITSM automation and how they’re changing the game.

Supercharging ITSM

ITSM has come a long way since its inception. From manual processes to automation and everything in between, ITSM is continuing to evolve. Automation has made IT service management more efficient, cost-effective, and reliable. It’s also enabled organizations to focus on strategic tasks rather than mundane ones like maintaining systems or dealing with tedious tickets.

While ITSM tools help organizations improve service delivery, enhance customer experience, and reduce operational costs, automation has allowed ITSM to move beyond manual processes for tasks like incident response, problem management, and change management. ITSM automation helps streamline operations and enables teams to focus on delivering value to customers rather than tedious activities.

The benefits of automation and ITSM are numerous. Here are just a few:

1. Automation allows you to streamline and improve your IT service management process. This can save your organization time and money while also improving the quality of your services.
2. Automation helps you to optimize your resources and reduce waste. This can improve your efficiency and bottom line.
3. Automation makes it easier to manage change and compliance, reducing the risk of disruption to your services.
4. Automation can improve customer satisfaction by ensuring that services are delivered faster and more reliably.
5. Automation enables you to focus on strategic tasks rather than mundane activities, improving your overall productivity.

Using automation to reduce the drain on IT resources and provide a better service experience is one of the key initiatives for digital transformation in the financial services industry. And to achieve success in this area, you need the right people, processes and technology in place.

“We’re lean and mean,” Deborah Rojas, Chief Information Officer for Charter Oak Financial says. Her department supports the IT needs of 300+ financial professionals and nearly 200 other staff with only a handful of full-time employees.

With TeamDynamix ITSM, the practice optimization team has created a single point of contact for IT and other types of support: a “one-stop shop” for people to get help.

“We had a merger three years ago, and people are still trying to learn names, functions, and responsibilities,” Rojas says. “Seats changed, and responsibilities changed. So, we said, let’s just keep it simple and use one email address and one phone number. With that, we’re providing the simplest way that people can find an answer to their questions.”

Automated workflows help ensure that IT service tasks are completed in a timely manner, and Rojas and her team have full visibility into the status of service requests—as well as the data they need to measure the team’s effectiveness.

Besides improving the ticketing experience for users, Rojas’ team has also streamlined offboarding processes, and they’re now working on transforming onboarding and developing the knowledge base.

“When you think about bringing someone into an organization, there’s so much that needs to be done,” Rojas says. “We want to help that person feel welcomed into our organization, understand the entire platform and who to talk to. We need to think bigger and bolder and then have some consistent way to deliver that experience, and TeamDynamix lines up well for that.”

Finding the Right Automation Tool for Your ITSM

When it comes to automated ITSM, most platforms have some automation built in. However, this automation is limited to the tool. When you pair your ITSM with an integration and automation tool like iPaaS (integration platform as a service) you get a modern, cloud-based solution for automating ITSM tasks both within your ITSM solution and with other tech and tools throughout your organization. With iPaaS, you can quickly and easily integrate your ITSM tools with other applications and platforms (Salesforce, Workday, Active Directory and many more), allowing you to automate tasks and improve efficiency.

When evaluating iPaaS vendors, it’s important to consider the following:

• Ease of Use: Look for a no-code platform that can empower anyone to use it, not just IT developers.
• Speed of Deployment: You want an integration and automation tool that you can quickly implement and use. Again, no-code platforms stand out as they allow you to quickly build new integrations and automated workflows between systems.
• Modern and Scalable Architecture: Don’t invest in a tool that will box you in or limit what you can do. Instead, find an iPaaS vendor that fits your business needs now and can scale for future growth.
• Flexibility: Flexibility is key to success, look for a tool that makes it easy to edit, add and remove workflow steps or modify connectors quickly.
• Security, Compliance and Governance: pick an iPaaS vendor that has a deep understanding of security, compliance and governance, and has a track record of working with reputed and trusted clients in the enterprise space.
• Pricing: It is important to pick an iPaaS vendor whose pricing philosophy aligns with the value they deliver for your current and future business needs. Specifically, you should pick a vendor whose pricing is simple, transparent and does not result in any surprises when you try to connect new systems and applications to your workflows as your business needs evolve.

Looking Ahead: ITSM Automation Trends to Watch

There are a number of trends in ITSM automation that organizations should be aware of. Here are a few:

1. Self-Service Automation: One of the biggest trends in ITSM automation is self-service. With self-service, end users can quickly and easily request and manage services themselves without having to go through a help desk. This not only speeds up service delivery but also frees up the help desk to focus on more complex tasks.
2. Chatbots: Another big trend in ITSM automation is the use of chatbots. Chatbots can help organizations automate tasks like problem resolution, change management, and ticket routing. They can also help to improve customer satisfaction by providing faster support. But don’t settle for just any chatbot. Look for a conversational AI chatbot – these chatbots are smart and can tailor interactions using integration and automation.
3. Artificial Intelligence: Artificial intelligence (AI) is another trend that is rapidly gaining ground in ITSM automation. AI can be used to automate tasks like incident response, problem management, and change management. It can also be used to improve decision-making and optimize resources.

All these trends point towards a future where ITSM is increasingly automated and driven by technology. Organizations that want to stay ahead of the curve should start planning now for how they will accommodate these changes and leverage the power of automation for their own benefit.

To learn more about trends in ITSM and iPaaS check out the latest market study from InformationWeek: State of IT – Resource Drain.