How to look beyond the toolset and those who use it to get a full picture

Looking beyond IT

The cost of service management has long been firmly allocated to the IT budget. As the demand for service has increased and morphed with the process of digital transformation, this cost has steadily increased. In most cases it is still part of the IT budget, perhaps with licence costs allocated to departmental budgets or business centres across a geographically dispersed organisation. The key to greater transformation is to understand not only how the organisation can improve the way that it works and the way it manages processes, but also how much all of this costs.

Costs for ITSM and ESM teams go beyond the license and staffing level, and must also include how much is spent on servicing technologies, assets, people and processes across the business. This includes service being received from third parties such as suppliers or business partners.

3 cost centres

There are three main service cost centres that we need to consider if we are to get the full cost picture. These are:

• Time
• Assets
• Outsourced services

The information needed to get the full picture of costs within each of these areas is usually available, but not always easily accessible as it is often not consolidated or available in a quick and easy-to-digest way.

Revo can help you to track all service costs in 4me and give you the complete view of service costs within your organisation.

To learn more about these service costs centres and how to get all the information you need to understand your service management costs, download our eBook How to get a complete view of service management costs:

Managing the perceived pitfalls of changing to a new Service Management toolset

Struggling with inflexible, costly or slow ITSM?

The majority of organisations with a significant requirement for IT infrastructure and support services will already have an ITSM solution in place. In many cases, this system was originally purchased to cater for ticketing and managing support workflow. Typically, as the organisation grows in size and complexity, the ITSM tool will begin to struggle to cope with demand. The key strain placed on an early ITSM system, and the team that is using it, will be related to changes in organisational structure and the more complex processes that come with it. Older and more basic toolsets simply do not have the flexibility to grow with the wants and needs of the modern organisation, resulting in the dumbing down of support and service capability. This frustrates both the providers and, more importantly, the consumers of the services needed.

So what are the barriers to change?

ITSM tools are only as good as the processes configured to take care of customer enquiries. Tools are often limited by the extent of the knowledge of the person or people setting up these processes. Service can quickly come apart when customer demand shifts or a new issue arises.

ITSM tools use knowledge bases to automate and adapt service. The team operating them uses knowledge data to help with new and existing customer issues. But the right knowledge can be hard to access and difficult to automate, preventing fast and efficient service from call handlers.

Let’s talk about the cost of ITSM

In reality, the cost of an older toolset will be greater than more modern, agile and SaaS-based ITSM solutions. SaaS ITSM delivers more flexible pricing, user account deployment and device-to-device availability than older, on-prem counterparts. SaaS ITSM also offers an easier path to the scalability that many organisations are searching for. In many cases, the problem is not the cost of per seat or overall licensing, more the cost of the consultancy or implementation hours needed to switch the ITSM to how the business requires it to work. Legacy projects are often associated with high consultancy costs and painful and drawn-out projects that always take longer than expected and, indeed, deliver more pain than expected. In reality, it is a time is money issue, where the consultants and configuration time needed to deliver a new ITSM system prevent organisations from switching.

Breaking down the perceived barriers

Although not all modern ITSM toolsets are the same, there has been a significant switch in recent years to more agile, flexible and easily configured systems that solve key project time issues. Revo’s experience with such toolsets has enabled us to significantly reduce our time-to-deploy and cut the overheads that customers need to pay when switching. This is the way it should be, with the consultants’ time focused on where true value is added – integrating the solution to best effect across the business and often enabling digital transformation beyond the project scope.

Value is a key phrase here. We often see businesses that are focused on the toolset and its capability and not on how great an impact the right toolset will have on other areas outside of IT.

A little time can pay huge dividends

At Revo, we are confident that if you are using another leading ITSM toolset we will be able to remove the pain you may be experiencing and also improve your service management processes – all with 4me. We appreciate that switching ITSM or taking time to truly assess the limitations of your current system is a big, and often scary, ask but it will reward you with clarity, control and cost saving. Please reach out to us at any time and we will be happy to run through how switching with Revo can benefit your business.