Top 5 Service Management
Strategies for the Roaring 20s

ivanti.com

Table of Contents
Top 5 Service Management Strategies for the Roaring 20s

3

Digital Transformation Leading Investments

3

IT is Trending Off Premises

4

Strategy 1 - Get to one data set

5Strategy 2 - Deliver higher quality service experiences

6

Strategy 3 - Extend service management into the enterprise

8

Strategy 4 - Ensure security across multiple sources to increase visibility

10Strategy 5 - Invest in value stream management

11

Change How You Measure Performance

12

About Ivanti

13

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Top 5 Service Management Strategies for the Roaring 20s | EBOOK

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Top 5 Service Management
Strategies for the Roaring 20s

Digital Transformation
Leading Investments

The pandemic absolutely changed how we do

The last few years have been defined by companies

business. In a matter of weeks, organizations weremoving to the cloud, but now organizations must

forced to rely on less than well-oiled technologies

optimize the cloud experience, primarily for off-sitethat were seemingly underfunded and underused.

workers. Gartner predicts that over the next three

Much of the burden was shifted onto IT, who had

years, “the change in the nature of work will increase

to quickly recalibrate and assess the holes as thethe total available remote worker market to 60% of all

workforce went largely (or entirely) virtual in record

employees.”1 Because of such an exponential increase

time. Now that we’re firmly planted in our new realities,

in remote work, IT budgets are largely turning theircompanies have a clearer view of the frontier ahead,resources towards digital transformation, overhaulingwith a couple of mainstays like remote work andIT processes to ensure networks are secure, agile anda greater reliance on self-service, automation andable to be maintained from afar.

intelligent solutions.

In the age of the cloud, businesses are betting on

There’s also a growing undercurrent of concern

platforms that are pliable and allow for collaboration.

from CIOs over the future of ITIL. Many are

More specifically, they are seeking software thatquestioning its relevance in favor of DevOps andoffers a human presence in an era when teams are

wondering what ITSM best practices look like in thelocated virtually everywhere without having to report

new digital era. How can we reconfigure processes

to a physical office.

so that product and customers are at the helmof service management? The 2020s are alreadydemanding a shift in priorities, strategy and how
we measure success.

This phenomenon is causing some unique challenges
as systems are having to become nearly omniscient.
Companies need adequate in-depth analysis,monitoring and continuous engineering to ensure
quality and service remain on the up. While relying
heavily on cloud technologies, IT teams are alreadyhaving to adopt practices that support heightened
security measures and create a standard for governing
all these new platforms.

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Figure 1

IT is Trending Off-PremisesWith IT infrastructure moving from on-premises to off-site, the tools
and methods for managing these systems must change. This means
having the right tooling is more critical than ever before. Thus,
it’s essential for companies to invest and re-envision their
management methods with a focus on:
1. Data Integrity
2. Experiences
3. Security
4. Value Stream Management
5. Extending Service Management
As we forge ahead with adoption of remote work, companies must:■ Closely examine their business goals and product offerings toensure practices and technologies are fully in sync
■ Monitor mass migration to Infrastructure as a Service/Platform

as a Service (IaaS/PaaS) cloud platforms and leverage APIs to
increase transparency and improve anomaly detection■ Integrate AIOps tech into IT value streams to make it easierand more efficient to share data and identify performance
problems before they snowball

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Strategy 1
Get to one data set.

Center resilient delivery methods

Data is more than just figures to assess. Data tells us a lot about

study, organizations that adopt a composable approach will outpace the competition by 80

the health of a system, its efficiency and how well we’re serving

percent.2 Your company’s ability to easily reengineer and adapt to a business moment speaks to its

our clients. With remote and cloud components impacting the ways

malleability as well as its capacity to respond swiftly to changes in business.

in which we work, IT teams will constantly need to fine-tune theirdependency-mapping approach in order to provide easily accessible,
trustworthy data all in one place.

Focus on enhancing visibility
To get more value from your CMDB tooling, you must enhance
visibility across every department. The goal is to create a single
source of truth. By investing in technology that enhances visibility,
your company can make more informed business decisions in the
moment and tackle problems before they happen.

Resilience and adaptability are key components in the new age. According to a recent GartnerStart by surveying your major pain points. Once you’ve pinned these down, you’ll need to rethink
the process for how decisions are made as well as who can make them. Often, there’s flexibility here
to allow for non-executive level associates to resolve an incident without having to ascend higher
in the approval ranks. Giving your team increased permission to make a decision on their own can
alleviate service bottlenecks and boost resiliency.
Also, consider the rate at which your business changes outpace your technology’s ability torespond. Can you adapt quickly to new scenarios? This should expose the gaps in your tech andhelp you identify areas to modernize and adopt a more resilient approach.

Reduce Mean Time to Know (MTTK)

Figure 2

Having an enterprise monitoring platform is now more important
than ever. Distributed infrastructures and increasingly complex
systems have amplified the need for further investment in service
management software — resources that can oversee operations intheir entirety and rapidly communicate issues before they happen.

As you improve yourtech, you should be
intuitively mirroring thesechanges with internal

Consider combining intelligence with collaborative solutions for a

protocols that offer astronger incident management solution that closes the gap between

higher adaptability anddepartments. While artificial intelligence can aggregate and apply

extend more autonomy

advanced analytics to a massive amount of data, collaborative

to your team.

platforms allow operations to coordinate with multiple teams crossorganizationally to resolve incidents and give context to data.

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Strategy 2
Deliver higher quality
service experiences.

Adopt tools employees find productive

Provide a total experience

In the 2020s, employees are in the driver’s seat

Often, teams are weighed down with outdated

Recovering from the pandemic is no easy feat.

when it comes to infrastructure and tech investment.

processes that slow productivity and add a ton ofCompanies must differentiate and providing a

Their experience at work and their ability to accessbureaucracy, which keeps them from making decisions

total experience (TX) can be what sets you apart.

essential resources easily will influence many factors

as quickly as the business might demand. In addition,

The TX philosophy stems from the idea of streamlining

such as productivity, customer experience, innovation

many of the tools available to them aren’t the mostvarious user experiences into one. By combining

and incident management. But currently, organizations

intuitive, requiring more steps than necessary. Thisconsistent design, marketing content and strategy,

are missing the opportunity to deliver higher quality

can leave team members feeling constantly behindcustomers, employees and stakeholders will gain

experiences to their team.

and unproductive, and ultimately apathetic.

an elevated and more unified level of engagement

A Forrester study found that only 60 percent ofShow your team and stakeholders that their time

workers report having the resources necessary to be

is valued by investing in the tools they find mostproductive, with only 17 percent of global workers

effective. This will involve some querying, since somesaying it’s a simple process to access the dataapps may not align with company IT policy. Try to

According to Gartner, by 2024, organizations thatthey need when they need it.3

figure out what can work. Involve your team in theprovide a total experience will outperform competitors

selection process, gather insights on their pain points,

by 25 percent in satisfaction for Customer Service

and see if you can find solutions that are effective for(CX) and Employee Experience (EX.)4 Information

them and for the business as a whole.

accessibility and standardized tools that meetThis restriction of information and essential tools
impacts not only employee retention but also customer
satisfaction. Any output from your team (or lackthereof) trickles down to their ability to deliver topnotch service to stakeholders, customers and beyond.
So, it’s a great idea to strategize around streamlining
processes and extending technology beyond IT.

with your brand. An effective TX essentially breaks
up silos, bringing various users together under
one seamless experience.

the moment are key to establishing a quality user

Only 60 percent ofworkers report having
the resources necessary
to be productive.

experience and positioning your company for success.

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To provide a total experience, you’ll need toEmphasize faster, easier incident resolution

examine how service management tools can be

How quickly and easily you can resolve an

Another essential piece that will increase agility is

incident is a key factor of success in the new frontier.

investing in SaaS-based tools that leverage AI andWhen examining your strategy, you should strive

machine learning. AI allows for intelligent analysis

for techniques that provide the nimblest resolution.

while machine learning ensures the machine can learn

According to Gartner, in the coming years

from acquired data and make more accurate decisions

infrastructure enhancements focused onin the future. By deploying AI/ML insights to match

endpoint analytics and automation remediation

identified issues, you can better detect errors, crashes

will comprise 30 percent of IT efforts. The bestand performance issues that degrade the user

tools will focus on blending automation andexperience and disrupt work.

extended beyond IT cross-departmentally. The
goal here is to remove harmful silos that restrict
information to just one team.
There’s high value in offering a total experience thathelps to make information more visible and intuitive forusers. Imagine sharing the technical intelligence of ITwith areas like human resources, legal and marketing.
Often overlooked in service management, thesedepartments stand to benefit greatly from the easeand access of having more automated features andstreamlined processes. Increased accessibility canboost self-service objectives and create a holistic UX.

The goal here is to remove
harmful silos that restrict
information to just one team.
A good route to securing a TX is by investing in anenterprise service management solution (see next

intelligence, helping your team to resolve incidents
proactively and more quickly.5

Intelligent routing will also help you realize quick
results. With the combination of machine learning and

Self-service portals are a perfect solution to faster

artificial intelligence, your system can process andresults. Since they allow users to seamlessly reach foranalyze customer queries and other issues without

the resources they need to resolve their own issues,

relying on your team to route it. From creating intuitive

specialists can remain focused on problems thatsolutions to predictive routing, intelligent routing

require expert-level attention. Also, users don’t havefast tracks requests to the best available agent,

to wait in a queue or delay getting the correct answer

streamlining the resolution process and boosting CX.

— everything they need is at their fingertips.
Figure 3

section). Enterprise solutions integrate all yoursystems, allowing every arm of the business to cometogether through a common self-service portal. With
the help of an enterprise solution, productivity issure to jump exponentially, ultimately improving how
employees feel about the work they do.

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Strategy 3
Extend service
management
into the enterprise.
As mentioned earlier, there are endless benefits toconsolidating the service management experienceand pulling all of that data into one purview. Whenyou extend service management tools into theenterprise, you create a standardized experiencethat spans departments, allowing you to see issues
before they bubble up. Access to a tremendous
scope of data and analytics minus the often-hinderingsilos truly enables top-notch service to stakeholders,customers and your team. Resolution becomeseasier and more intuitive when you can see

True enterprise solutions are equalizers. They
break down silos between departments and provide
a collaborative space that supports data sharing
and analytics. Enterprise solutions are also
purposeful in pulling information into one purview.
With unified branding and a consistent user
experience, you can navigate around theplatform easily without the need for integrations.

It’s quite commonplace
to see within a single
company several
different service
management solutions.

around all the corners.

Meanwhile, most organizations are still struggling toIt’s quite commonplace to see within a single

IT. Without high visibility and ease to resolve issues,company several different service management
solutions, each department with its own way of doing
things Obviously, this makes it challenging to get acomprehensive view of the business, from processes
and product pipelines to the general management ofknowledge and pertinent information.
Having various solutions also creates an inconsistentuser experience, making it harder to get to one data
set.

alleviate one of their largest internal threats — shadow
employees will certainly take it upon themselves tocreate the tools they need. In a recent Gartner survey,
it was reported that 40 percent of employees havecreated their own tech workarounds even though
they don’t directly work in IT.6
The shadow IT problem grows when companies fail tohave a clear understanding of how their team carries
out tasks and what issues they face that hinder
productivity. It’s up to you to anticipate these techgaps within each department and provide solutions
for your team that are not only company-approved,
but also efficient and effective.
Top 5 Service Management Strategies for the Roaring 20s | EBOOK

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Value tools that makeprocesses clear and effective

They also create a smooth user experience with a

One of the main reasons shadow IT is a threat is thevisual dashboard that matches the branding and UI of

burden of unclear or ineffective processes.
Employees will adopt unapproved tech or apps
as quick fixes to get the work done, leading to
unsecure data and siloed information.
Ensuring a streamlined experience for your team is thefirst step to maximizing workplace productivity. It also
makes the most sense when it comes to the employee
experience. They want to be productive at work, too.

the rest of your service management software.7
The beauty of low-code/no-code platforms
is that they don’t require a developer. You canplace the solution in the hands of the person who
knows the problem best and save on expensive
development resources. These platforms are
typically easy enough to navigate that your in-houseteam can shape and construct the software as needed

So, give them the tools that help them thrive.

without having to hire a consultant.

Focus on consolidating data and, when possible,

Because of how straightforward low-code platforms

eliminate the middleman. Empowering employees
to make decisions that directly impact them cango a long way in building trust and encouraging

are, they’re also an effective tool to deter shadow IT.
Employees can freely build the tools on demandwith seamless interfaces that integrate wellinnovation. If there’s an app or platform they’vewith other approved software.

adapted because the one they’ve been given hobbles

Increase team training on platform use

them or is archaic in some way, open up a dialog tovet out the tools they like and find common ground.
The more useful and clear the path is, the more yourteam can be set up for success.

Consistency in information is a key takeaway here,
and the best way to disseminate that information isthrough accessible and frequent training. It may seem
obvious that proper training is important, but too often

Invest in low-code/no-code platforms

it is overlooked due to budget or time constraints.

As reported by Gartner, by 2023, over 50% of medium

Prioritizing the demo and explanation of new platforms

to large enterprises will have adopted a low-code
application platform (LCAP) as one of their strategic
application platforms. Low-code/no-code platforms
provide a great solution that’s customizable and easy
to adapt with the needs of your business.

will reduce the use of outside tech tremendously andensure your team is adopting approved resources.

Strategy 4
Ensure security acrossmultiple sources toincrease visibility.

Implement the Zero Trust model

As more companies migrate to cloud platforms, it’s

the zero trust architecture is a necessary move.

become increasingly difficult to monitor and control
the flow of information. Ensuring transparency acrosssystems and devices is essential to meeting thedemands of your business. Enhancing visibility goes
hand in hand with reinforcing a secure environment,
especially with the reality of cloud-located

The trillions of dollars lost to cybercrime worldwide
annually make the case that organizations should
implement a more stringent security protocol — too
often companies have been sorry rather than safe.
As cyberattacks become more sophisticated, adopting

Moving into an entirely zerotrust landscape will take time.
The zero trust standard means that nothing is toapplications and distributed data.

be trusted, whether it’s internal or external to yourObtaining the needed visibility may come in various

which assumed everything already inside theforms, from collaboration tools to self-healing
technology, but the goal is the same: to enhancecommunication, resolve incidents before they occur
and prevent security breaches.

environment. This is distinct from the old model,
corporate firewall didn’t pose a threat. The zerotrust philosophy is the way many organizations aretaking back control with an environment thatassumes there’s already a breach.
Moving into an entirely zero trust landscapewill take time, particularly if your organization isrelying on legacy systems that aren’t as agreeable
to this transition.

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Gartner predicts that the mostsuccessful organizations of
tomorrow are already
employing various forms ofcybersecurity mesh services.
Every access request will require authentication,authorization and encryption, and your organization
will need to completely overhaul how it thinks

Anticipate security as a service
With CIOs and consumers alike having more confidence in the securityof cloud-based services, now is the time to harness a flexible security
philosophy. Your ability to protect data while it’s being used and provide
location-independent cybersecurity has the potential to set yourorganization apart with a simpler and more scalable framework.
Higher privacy and compliance risks along with the need to ensure
secure access outside of traditional walls have made organizations
reexamine plasticity in their networking approach.

about security. Don’t try to retrofit the zero trust

Gartner predicts that the most successful organizations of tomorrow aremodel on a preexisting system. You’ll definitely wantalready employing various forms of cybersecurity mesh services, making

to include this as part of a total digital transformation

it more practical to integrate enterprise solutions. Largely driven by thewith a careful consideration of new technology thatevolution of anywhere operations, security as a service is expected to bemeets this goal.

used by 80 percent of organizations by 2023, with the cybersecurity mesh

Centralize data with distributed cloud

supporting over half of digital access control requests by 2025.9

IT teams are increasingly challenged to findsolutions that manage the influx in data-driven
technologies securely and reliably. While
companies are enacting hybrid cloud practices,
trends are moving us towards a distributed cloud— one that can monitor multiple cloud applications
and ensure security and compliance from numerous
locations. In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2025,
more than half of organizations will use a
distributed cloud option.8

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Strategy 5
Invest in value
stream management.

Identify waste using an integrated approach

Build strategy around employee needs

Lack of visibility is a real hindrance in optimizing

Employee success is a serious indicator of businessTo achieve maturity in your organization, you must get

development, delivery and governance. It’s become

success — particularly in the era of remote work.

a handle on managing and optimizing development

increasingly difficult to see how new initiatives areYour team must be able to work without interruption

while improving how metrics are captured. Right now,

impacting the business or to spot where productwith all the resources they need at their fingertips.

many are struggling to make sense of the data andofferings are in the lifecycle process. Through value

The greatest challenge here is remapping theare missing out on key performance indicators. There’s

stream management, you can improve transparency

company culture by moving away from archaic

also an argument that traditional ITSM and DevOps

and provide clearer metrics for your team, helping

processes that slow decision making. Leaders areare at odds, which is leading to even more confusion

them make the shift to a product-centric mindset.

called to embrace a more flexible way of thinking

about which approach will lead us into the new era.

VSM tools also support the visualization andthat requires understanding the work-stylepreferences of their team.

But the truth is, both ITSM and DevOps are essential

management of the product pipeline. Since VSM tools

to developing a mature ecosystem — one that can

actively capture metadata throughout each process

Unfortunately, most organizations still have ahandle development and innovation while managing

and use insights to govern flow, your team will be able

distance to go when it comes to leveraging digitalthe delivery and support of services. Automation is at

to identify waste and receive intel on how to improvesensibilities into how they do work. To get to an

the heart of this combined solution, with value stream

continuously. Your project managers, QA teams andemployee-centric model, you’ll need to expand

management (VSM) tools at the helm to measuredevelopment will also be able to connect easily with

self-service and develop personas that bring intobusiness value and performance.

stakeholders and see what’s coming down thefocus the science behind what makes people truly

pipeline and communicate shifts in business priorities.

productive. It’s a journey that won’t be completed

Provide value beyond traditional tooling
Service expectations are much greater now thanever and traditional tooling just isn’t as effectiveat meeting the demand, particularly when it comesto cloud deployments. This is your opportunity
to switch gears.
Although many organizations are alreadymodernizing their application delivery with Agileand DevOps, they are struggling to measure overall

overnight, but remote work is here to stay. Therefore,

From capturing historicalbaseline metrics to providing
real-time reporting, value
stream management tools
can help you make a case fororganizational improvements.
and bolster collaboration.

the goal is to place the right technology in the handsof your workforce, making productivity as pain-free,personalized and predictive as possible.

value to stakeholders. Approach CMDB tooling as one
integrated system and focus on service performance.
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Change How You
Measure Performance
The future of service management calls for a change

Moving towards a holistic IT service model that values

With smaller, cross-functional teams, you’ll be able

in how we measure and view performance. As we divespeed, predictability and personalization can prepare

to serve a single customer journey with a holistic

deeper into the “roaring 20s,” what we’re really seeing

you for a more comprehensive service mindset toapproach that’s agile and effective. The more you

is a shift in culture. Traditionally, service desk models

help you change the way your team works. A common

embrace collaboration and a product-centric/— though high on accountability and process — tend

theme is the pairing of employee-centricity and rapid

employee-centric model, the better prepared you’ll beto restrict and prolong decisions, sometimes delivering

prototyping with processes that elevate the needs ofto usher in service management strategies that meetpoor service outcomes. To truly revolutionize yourboth the customers and the staff. Try restructuring

the needs of today’s robust remote landscape.

operating model in order to achieve the levels ofyour team to a more autonomous cluster model.

creativity, productivity and agility you desire,you must begin to measure success differently.

Top 5 Service Management Strategies for the Roaring 20s | EBOOK

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About Ivanti
Ivanti makes the Everywhere Workplace possible. In
the Everywhere Workplace, employees use myriad
devices to access IT networks, applications, and data
to stay productive as they work from anywhere. The
Ivanti automation platform connects the company’s
industry-leading unified endpoint management, zeroivanti.com
1 800 982 2130
sales@ivanti.com

trust security, and enterprise service management
solutions, providing a single pane of glass forenterprises to self-heal and self-secure devices, andself-service end users. More than 40,000 customers,
including 78 of the Fortune 100, have chosen Ivanti todiscover, manage, secure and service their IT assets
from cloud to edge, and deliver excellent end user
experiences for employees, wherever and however
they work. For more information,visit ivanti.com

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