ITSM industry: together against conservatism

This is one of the few positive signs at the beginning of the corona pandemic: a story that the shutdown in March will go hand-in-hand with the significant increase in digitalization and bring about the same increase in demand for the entire industry. Six months later, experience has shown that, unfortunately, this assessment is only partially correct: SAP’s latest inventory plunge shows that IT can never decouple itself from overall economic development, which is one of the most obvious indicators.

The facts are too numerous to enumerate: many companies are forced to switch to remote work quickly and provide the appropriate minimum equipment within a short period of time-with laptops and collaboration platforms-and the positive results surprised everyone. In many executive meetings, people think that the problem has been solved. After all, the operation can continue and more serious problems can be solved. After all, management can focus on other issues, which is understandable, especially in times of crisis.

Matthias Roth of FNT Software concluded: “Our customers have disagreements on lock-in.” “This situation has responded quickly in many places, and production operations can also be carried out remotely. However, it is understandable that long-term digitalization or modernization projects It’s understandable to deal with more hesitation than before. Set some form of normalcy.”

From an IT service management perspective, some hesitation in modernizing one’s own organization is well known, not the only corona problem. To be precise, this is an idea that is still reluctant to express, especially in Germany, as Dieter Schöne of ServiceNow has learned from experience, further thinking about digitization. “There is an essential difference between digitalization and transformation, and companies must realize time and time again: adding separate technologies to their daily business will usually only bring “quick wins” rather than lasting changes. This is mainly It’s a high-level made by employees within the company.”

Schöne described the key fundamental conflicts of ITSM: technology and organization. There is technology there, but it is still relatively slow to convert existing processes to digital workflows. For ITSM experts who discussed this topic at the virtual IDG roundtable, this is mainly a cultural issue or an internal organization network issue.

For a long time, it has been necessary to transfer the knowledge of standardized management and control methods represented by IT management from IT service management to the entire company, and to establish a company-wide service with centralized control and the highest degree of automation. Enterprise Service Management (ESM) has established itself as the concept of hours. However, so far, this ideal state almost only exists in theory, or often does not go beyond the proof-of-concept stage (POC).

ServiceNow Manager Schöne emphasized: “Many companies are still far away from the real ESM. When the process involves different departments, the restrictions are usually obvious. When employees are onboard, from IT to human resources to parking management departments, there are different cultures involved. For many different departments, long-term transformation can only take effect if this factor is fully considered.”

However, long-term transformation means that the company must first work hard and rethink its rigid departmental structure, existing culture, and constant desire for control. However, experts gathered at the IDG roundtable pointed out that there is still a general conservative attitude in many administrative meetings, which puts hierarchy and control first.

“Covid-19 has exposed the limitations of traditional management. It has now become clear whether company bosses can really express the necessary trust in employees. Unfortunately, there are still many people who act according to the motto: I only see employees when Only believe that “they really work,” Bernhard Marondel of InterFace AG points out.

In many places, there is also a lack of willingness to test the entire organization. In other words: if you want to connect silos, you must at least question them and even remove them completely if necessary. It is important to think in the overall process and adjust the IT organization accordingly. Many of the processes that have developed over the years make sense in the local structure, are outdated in the cloud-based ESM environment, or at least have to be adjusted to a large extent. Only when employees feel that they are not introducing new processes for the ultimate goal (such as “digitalization” at all costs), but pursuing a specific and measurable goal, can they accept it in the long term.

Felix Heintz of Topdesk knows: “No matter how many processes I can change, if I don’t let employees understand the reasons, then every transformation is doomed to fail. This kind of communication is time-consuming, but Very important. As an employee, if I don’t believe in the usefulness of a tool, I always have the opportunity to use it. Acceptance increases only when the added value of the solution is obvious internally.”

Information about partner software packages for ITSM research

If you listen to the current discussions about ITSM, first you will notice that changes are slowly proceeding. However, the question is whether the corona crisis of all things provides the decisive impetus to break this continuity. Ultimately, it can be expected that the “new normal” will strive to achieve lean and automated processes. If it is possible to explain its meaning to all relevant personnel in a reasonable way, the acceptance of the changed overall design workflow will increase. This means: more controversy, more dialogue, and constant progress.

Ivanti’s Andreas Schmid concludes: “As a service provider, we can only succeed if we make rapid and significant changes. We must ensure that consultants’ time is used wisely and not excessively. This also means: always The solution is adjusted to the last detail, but the process is reconsidered from the beginning to accurately generate this efficiency.”