ITSM+ITAM:
5 Examples of IT Success
Learn how to increase IT insights and improve your operations
This eBook presents five examples where combining ITSM and ITAM can:
Maximize operational efficiencies. Improve service delivery and employee experience. Optimize compliance and cost.
• • •
Overview
Empowering Users with Self-Service
Faster and Better Incident Resolution
Proactive Management of Problem Assets
Effective Change Management
Complete Lifecycle Visibility
Conclusion
Why Combine ITSM and ITAM?
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IT Service Management (ITSM) and IT Asset Management (ITAM) have historically been separate disciplines, each providing significant value to the business. But when ITSM and ITAM are closely aligned and integrated, many activities and processes become more automated, efficient and responsive, with fewer things “falling through the cracks.” This symbiosis means IT teams can gain more insight and are better positioned to move from reactive activities to more proactive practices, delivering higher service levels and efficiency at lower cost.
ITSM
ITAM
ensures timely delivery of essential services and support for the enterprise
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discovers and tracks the hardware and software assets for those services and optimizes the overall value, costs, and compliance across the asset lifecycle
With unified ITSM and ITAM, you can cut cost and optimize existing asset performance, achieving higher customer satisfaction and improved productivity.
IT Service Desk often lacks the insights into what applications are available and how they’re being used. As a result, organizations often fail in fulfilling self-service requests in a timely manner and end up purchasing more software, causing unnecessary spend and compliance issues.
Organizations can save
50%
costs through self-service vs. walk-up support
of ticket handling
1
Challenge
Fully automated software requests through self-service leverage integrated approval workflows and license compliance checks, reclaim unused software to optimize software spend, and can deploy software automatically to users’ devices.
Solution
Urgent need of sales manager
Potential Scenario: a sales manager wants to add Microsoft Visio
What This Means for You
With unified ITSM and ITAM, the whole process completes in minutes instead of days, empowering users and freeing up the service desk to work on other strategic projects.
Typical Process
Accelerated Process
A sales manager needs prompt access to Visio and can’t afford to lose several days waiting for the purchase and installation.
Access denied
The sales manager tries to launch Visio, but access is denied. Traditionally, they would call the Service Desk to make the request.
License purchasing request
Purchasing department would order a new software license after waiting to get approval for the purchase.
Software installation
Then the IT technician would perform a manual lookup of the device and the user and initiate the install of Microsoft Visio. This is now several days after the initial request.
Then the IT technician would perform a manual lookup of the device and the user and initiate the install of Microsoft Visio. This now several days after the initial request.
Acceleration with self-service
When ITSM and ITAM work together, software request processes can be accelerated via self-service.
License availability identification
The sales manager submits the software request, the system checks and identifies that Visio licenses are available, yet unused.
Auto-assignment & installation
The Visio application can then be assigned to the sales manager and through endpoint management processes, automatically installed in compliance with entitlement.
Request closure
The service management solution documents and tracks the process, notifies the sales manager, and closes the software request.
Potential Scenario:
a sales manager wants to add Microsoft Visio
2
Resolve incidents better and faster, leading to higher satisfaction and better processes.
achieved higher customer satisfaction
43%
with an ITSM solution
Potential Scenario: Faulty laptop
Keeping ITSM and ITAM tightly together means you can leverage asset information for faster resolution times, higher employee satisfaction, and lower support costs without sacrificing quality. Not to mention, you can better control your overall IT spend.
Better and faster incidents resolution means more productive business and more satisfied employees.
Incident resolution speed and quality is helped by the immediate access to more asset information related to an incident, allowing the Service Desk analysts to make better informed decisions.
Laptop charging issue
Employee contacts the Service Desk because the laptop won’t charge or shut down properly.
Asset status evaluation
Service desk analyst can see it was acquired only a few months earlier and is still under warranty, meaning they can replace it rather than spend internal resources on fixing the machine. In then meantime they check the asset repository for an available loaner or replacement laptop so the employee can keep working.
Reclaiming licenses
When the faulty laptop is returned, any software licenses associated with the device can be reclaimed for re-use by other employees.
Keeping track-record
With more hardware and software information, analysts can quickly identify possible causes for other types of common incidents, such as lower performance or application crashes caused by insufficient RAM or conflicting software versions. Logging all the steps and actions helps for later analysis or audit requirements.
Faulty laptop
3
Identify why certain devices regularly fail by correlating asset information with incident and problem management.
of all data loss and systems downtime
53%
is caused by hardware failure
Enable your IT to proactively manage the overall risk rather than trying to react and fix issues as each device fails. Avoid unnecessary costs and downtime by better understanding of the state of your entire IT estate.
IT Manager prepares for vendor negotiation
Just making a few key changes to procedures and device standards, you can optimize your IT spend across the organization. By understanding your assets performance, usage, warranty status and licensing proactively, you are able to manage your budget smarter and get more out of devices you already own.
Potential Scenario: IT Manager prepares for vendor negotiation and standardization initiative
State of the IT environment
By analyzing device information, the IT manager finds that certain types of devices fail at a 30% higher rate than other models.
Deep-dive for context
Diving further into the asset information like purchase history and warranty coverage, they decide to no longer fix these devices going forward and instead make a switch to a different type of device to keep users productive.
Available options evaluation
The IT Manager assesses which hardware still has value beyond its initial lifecycle. Analysis shows they can switch from a three-year hardware refresh cycle to four years.
Smarter device use
Proactive monitoring of recurring issues and trends allows the organization to gain more life out of existing devices.
4
Ensure changes are more effective and successful by identifying potential risks up front as well as making the process more efficient.
of surveyed organizations achieved IT
32%
operational efficiencies through improved insights
The Change Advisory Board (CAB) can review and answer key questions as part of the review cycle.
Potential Scenario: Server crash
Making asset information available as part of the Change Management process only helps ensure changes are more effective and successful. This means that:
Emergency change requests can be sped up where resolution times are critical.
Potential risks can be identified and resolved before changes are approved and implemented.
Resolution time is critical. Complete asset information shortens the time before the application is available again, without introducing potential failure points due to missing components or configuration.
Including asset information and processes in change management allows for easier identification and resolution of potential risks before changes are approved and implemented.
Without complete asset insights, the alternative result can be a costly clean-up effort after a rollout, with potential increases in cost, performance issues, unplanned downtime or non-compliance.
Server crash
A server running a business-critical application crashes and needs to be replaced quickly.
Business-critical response
The incident response team immediately checks the asset inventory to see if there’s another replacement server readily available.
Emergency Change in action
Once a replacement is found, the team initiates an Emergency Change with complete information on the replacement server, including its exact location, where it needs to go, and any necessary software and add-ons.
5
Complete lifecycle visibility through unified ITSM and ITAM is often the missing piece to the IT puzzle for many organizations.
of organizations verify asset location
only once a year
Potential Scenario: Staffing Company with many devices changing hands
It’s critical to manage assets throughout their entire lifecycle by tracking performance data, issues, fixes, patch information, contracts, and licensing. This ensures your software and hardware investments are running at optimal performance and not impacting employee productivity.
Full understanding of what assets are in the environment, where they are and how they are used — all without cumbersome spreadsheets — is vital for Service Desk analysts to do their job efficiently, with quicker resolution times on incidents and problems.
Many organizations still use spreadsheets to track their hardware and software. They often only verify an asset’s location once a year, and some only every five years.
10-15%
of organizations verify asset
location only every five years
of IT professionals still use spreadsheets
to track their devices:
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Staffing Company with many devices changing hands
Changing device data
A temporary staffing company provides devices at the start of an assignment. Across different job roles, devices will be switching hands, changing locations, and demanding access rights at an exploding rate.
Audit risks
If an IT organization is carrying out a manual inventory audit, these user changes would either be poorly tracked or not tracked at all. This poses a significant security risk, not to mention denying IT much-needed understanding of a device’s health and performance.
Real-time, actionable data
With unified ITSM and ITAM processes and tools, organizations can perform real-time scans and reconcile user and location information.
Quicker issue resolution
This enables the Service Desk to resolve incidents much faster, increase customer satisfaction, and enable more self-service.
Better security posture
Also, knowing where all organizational assets are, at all times, is not only vital from a service and support perspective, but from a security standpoint, where lost or stolen assets become a risk to data integrity.
With closely aligned and integrated ITSM and ITAM, your organization can accomplish more while minimizing costs and administrative efforts, leading to more direct business value.
Better insights to make informed decisions and improve business operations.
Better self-service and faster incident resolutions, keeping employees productive.
Focus shift of your IT staff from reactive activities to more strategic projects.
See how ITSM & ITAM can work together for you
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Key Benefits to Your Organization
With unified ITSM and ITAM you get:
