How to enable digital transformation in enterprise IT

IT teams are under a lot of pressure to support their organizations’ constantly evolving products and services. As a result, a large percentage of companies are shifting their budgets to focus on the digital future, increasing the use of technologies that have a greater impact across the business. This is where IT service management (ITSM) and enterprise service management (ESM) plays a crucial role in digital transformation.

ITSM is a strategic approach to designing, delivering, managing, and improving the way information technology is used within an organization.¹ In many ways, it functions as the bridge between business operations and technology implementation. The goal of ITSM is to provide the right people, establish processes, and implement technology to meet business goals. ESM serves as an extension of ITSM, is based on IT workflows, and serves to improve service delivery for specific areas of a business, like human resources and legal.

It's all well and good to prioritize ESM practices, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to manage multiple applications and platforms across an enterprise. As businesses evolve, innovation in enterprise tech will push organizations to streamline tools and adopt new service management methodologies.

Streamline your tech stack

The only way to truly align ESM with operational efficiency is to reduce the number of tools and applications being utilized across a business. Unifying ITSM and ESM under a single platform, such as ServiceNow®, will be the difference between companies that embrace transformation and those who are left perpetually playing catch up. A unified platform approach helps to improve communication and collaboration among teams and increases visibility into the ticketing system.

Embrace innovation

Recent studies show that ITSM and ESM technology is leaning into artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and automation trends. This might sound complicated, but there are many practical applications.

Using AI to assist with tasks and actions on an IT service desk can reduce errors and improve the overall efficiency of infrastructure and operations staff. Coupled with ML, search habits and user data can be evaluated, patterns can be identified, and this can allow support staff to work proactively. Automating certain onboarding or logistical tasks can minimize the time spent on manual, repetitive work, and free up resources for more critical projects.

Plan for a remote future

Adapting ITSM and ESM to the landscape of a modern enterprise is essential, especially because of the shift to remote work. For many, this new normal is here to stay, and businesses should plan for a future that includes a remote workforce.

Service delivery platforms like ServiceNow give 360-degree visibility into tickets being worked on, regardless of work location. No need to schedule multiple meetings, send follow up emails, or track down information about updates and resolution. This is a game changer for remote teams who would otherwise rely on disparate methods of communication.

Opting for self-service models (or implementing automation in the more process-oriented tasks) allows infrastructure and support staff to focus their efforts on more complex work. This can be a huge benefit to remote workers, who are then given the tools to work independently and contact IT only when they are unable to resolve an issue on their own.

The impact of digital transformation in enterprise IT

The move toward automation and enterprise integration in ESM will speed up the lifecycle of service delivery. And using a central, holistic platform has implications beyond the immediate efficiency gains. Companies that embrace a more organized process can break down siloes and improve transparency and trust among their internal teams.

For the individuals and IT staff engaged in the work, a single source of truth allows them to address recurrent problems more effectively. This could also translate to a more favorable brand perception. Ensuring your employees are working smarter, not harder, can help prevent burnout and churn in the workplace. In a world where so much information is just an internet search away, it’s important to consider how arduous internal processes might impact the image of a company, both internally and externally.

Conclusion

As the business landscape continues to change at break-neck speed, organizations will feel the pressure to slim down their tools and align enterprise IT with a more holistic platform. Innovation in ESM with the adoption of AI, ML, and automation will help enterprises differentiate in the market and remain competitive. These things, along with optimizing tools that facilitate remote work, will allow organizations to embrace digital transformation for the long haul.