The IT Service Management Survey 2017
This is the second year of this survey and its encouraging to see that the results, views and outcomes for Service Management are generally holding up. 89% of respondents see ITSM as a value add to their business – mostly in support of customer experience (35%) and service quality (48%). Supporting the management of risk (5%) and innovation (6%) are both emerging as objectives from ITSM although still in generally at a low level. The big challenge remains in how to quantify this value in business terms – there is still the direct correlation between the successful presentation of business-focussed metrics and outcomes, and the extent to which the IT organisation is perceived to be delivering value. Improvement in service bundle definition, Business Relationship Management (BRM), Customer Experience Mapping, etc. will help here, but the big challenge is simply how to present and show how IT supports its customers – in a way the customer understands. ITSM beyond IT seems to be stalling with no major progress and some negative responses on success. ITIL is still by far the predominant framework in use, although this has slipped down slightly (-4%). DevOps has increased by 3%.
ITSM in general is seen to be most effective in large organisations, although interestingly the area most keen to invest more in ITSM is the SME sector. Other areas such as Digital Transformation and Cyber Security continue to be important to ITSM and vice versa. There is a continued and increased focus on the definition of the ‘ITSM professional’ and the broad range of skills and competencies needed to maintain and develop in ITSM roles.
Most comfortingly overall, there is a slight increase in the planned investment in ITSM in the coming year – this is reducing slightly in very large organisations but in general is holding up and a very positive picture for the industry. This is particularly impressive at this time where there is considerable market uncertainty.
In summary, our industry continues to flourish and maintain its financial investment, with improvement in how value is defined and appreciated. ITIL is reducing slightly in its grip on the training market but only slightly – more new frameworks are emerging that offer alternatives, however the brand is still dominant. This will be a useful point of debate for next year’s survey as there is now increased competition in this market plus a new version of ITIL planned for 2018.
Barclay Rae, President, itSMF UK
