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IT service management (ITSM) is all about enhancing support-related processes, so IT organizations can deliver superior service to end users. But, nothing facilitates improvement more than intelligence – insight into what works, what doesn’t, and why, as well as the ability to predict and proactively prevent problems.
That’s where IT intelligence comes in. Most businesses view IT intelligence as a means of analyzing the characteristics and configurations of their assets, to detect important patterns and trends that can aid in improving reliability and uptime.
But, a wealth of critical insight also exists within IT service management and help desk systems – insight that can be used to dramatically improve the way support teams operate. But, unless it is reviewed and analyzed in the right way, this valuable information resource may remain untapped.
Through a series of reports and analyses, or more sophisticated scorecards that enable the measurement of key performance indicators and metrics, IT intelligence empowers IT organizations with the knowledge they need to optimize their service and support activities.
They key value of IT intelligence, as it relates to ITSM, lies in its ability to give IT support teams visibility into:
System Performance
Which assets fail or require repair most often, and why? Which ones almost never require support? Armed with this information, support teams can proactively modify configurations or perform other maintenance or service, to prevent problems and issues from occurring.
End User Request Activity
Do certain end users make requests far more often than others? If so, this can indicate that the underlying cause of these tickets may not be issues with the assets themselves, but with how they are being utilized. IT organizations can then investigate, and call for additional training or other solutions as needed.
Staff Productivity
How rapidly and effectively do teams handle and resolve issues and problems? Are certain teams better at addressing certain types of tickets than others? Do specific individuals take longer than average to complete particular activities? The answer to these, and other crucial questions, can be answered through comprehensive analysis of service data, giving supervisors and managers the ability to improve staff proficiency and/or more intelligently allocate human resources.
Process Effectiveness
Which documented solutions result in the fastest ticket closures? Which ones require additional steps, or frequently result in follow-up tickets being opened? By determining how effective solutions and other procedures and workflows are, IT organizations can create a culture of continuous improvement, where best practices are created and constantly refined in order to meet the changing needs of end users, and ensure superior support.