IT Services Integration - Creates a Measurable IT Service Portfolio
IT services management are the activities which are carried out by an organization to manage, design, plan, deploy, analyze and secure information technology solutions provided to clients. This process also involves timely detection of any emerging requirements and developing a strategy for the provision of IT services. The need for such services is increasing with the increase in software development, user base and business trends. IT managers often refer to this as SCM (Software Development Life Cycle), because this accounts for the "life-cycle" of a software project.
This definition may seem quite complex, but it is made simpler in this article by considering the fact that a successful IT manager must first identify the business needs of his/her organization. The business needs can be analyzed using a number of different approaches. The most common being the customer experience survey, where customers themselves define services required. From this, the needs of the customers can be translated into IT services and designed to meet their specific business capabilities.
In order to apply this concept into an organizations IT service portfolio, the goal must first be defined. The end result is then measured against a series of performance indicators. For example, a typical outcome might be the number of calls made by CRM representatives to their customer base or the number of tickets issued. More specifically, the indicators used may include the number of sales calls made by a service provider per day, the number of user tickets registered and/or the number of new user accounts created per day. It is important to note that while customer satisfaction is one of the most important outcomes of IT service provisioning activities, operational quality is also highly important.
Based on the identified end results, the IT service management team then designs a strategy based on the identified outcomes. In most cases, the strategy is then implemented by integrating and aligning all the elements of the service delivery process. The information technologies service management firms will work with customers to develop a customized strategy to address specific costs and operational requirements. The ultimate objective is to improve the level of service provided and deliver improved tangible and financial outcomes.
The final component of a comprehensive service portfolio plan is integration of IT business processes. IT business processes are those procedures, policies and systems that are necessary to support the IT services delivered by your company. Therefore, it is important to identify which processes are critical to the IT services you provide. Once this is done, the IT service provider can then design and create a framework for the implementation of the processes. The framework typically consists of business processes that include database integration, application architecture, desktop management, desktop optimization and software configuration management.
Once the IT service delivery frameworks are designed and implemented, the next step is to test them according to specified standards. The testing process can involve both on-site testing and off-site testing. On-site testing typically involves running a collection of benchmark applications that run on a selected collection of hardware. Off-site testing allows the IT professionals to evaluate the accuracy and efficiency of the IT process framework, while obtaining tangible results from the performance of these previously developed benchmarks. An alternative post for more info on the topic here:. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology.
