Good IT Service Management provides a rational path for providing services, with the ability to regularly improve areas that would benefit from it.

Metrics and Reports

Metrics are understandable and actionable. They can be reviewed for incidents, requests, problems, and changes, broken out by team, group, or service. These highlight areas where increased attention or a change can make services better to use or save support effort.

Real-time dashboards are available. They help teams manage their current workload and anticipate future changes and demand.

Efficiency and Effectiveness

Work can be prioritized.  Prioritization is based on impact to the university and urgency of the need for change.

There are standard response and escalation processes.  When monitoring alerts, these ensure issues are identified and handled properly and everyone who needs to be notified, is. When a high-impact event occurs, it's handled professionally, with teams pulled together rapidly.

You can quickly establish improvement project teams. These teams address specific needs, such as when a service level agreement isn't met, a new report is needed, or a process has to be streamlined.

Service Clarity

There's a clear understanding of service and support commitments.  Service providers and customers are in agreement and aware of what the service does and doesn't provide.

Customers and those supporting them can see what services they have. They are able to see what hardware is assigned to them and what software they have a special license for.

They can also learn what else is available to them. An ordering catalog lets customers make requests, do self-service, report issues, and find out more about other services they may want.

Knowledge articles are better suited to customer needs. These provide workarounds, raising awareness of known issues, or otherwise helping the customer or their support to solve a ticket. Regular review cycles ensure knowledge articles stay up to date.

Long-Term Strategies

A portfolio details investments in technology. This reduces redundancy and helps keep track of what we have and what we are expected to deliver.

Requests to make changes are reviewed.  This assures there will be minimal impact to customers and maintenance over time is considered in support costs. A schedule shows present and upcoming changes to minimize the possibility of conflicts and aid with preparation.