Increase efficiency: automation in IT service management

Few other industries help companies achieve as much automation and digitalization as IT service management. It is clear that corresponding service providers want to automate as much of their own operations as possible. Anything else would contradict your own service. So how does automation work for IT service providers? That's what we'll look at in this article.

We'll show you how modern ITSM tools take over recurring tasks, eliminate human errors and why automation is a prerequisite for scalability. You will also learn what are the best practices when it comes to automating processes.

Why is automation needed in ITSM?

ITSM needs automation for the same reasons as every industry. The effort for simple, recurring tasks should be minimized and new capacities created. New capacities for what? More customers, more innovation, more sales.

In other words, scaling is impossible without automation. Because: Only those who free themselves as much as possible from everyday processes create a basis for plannable growth.

Before a company even thinks about creating new departments and filling corresponding positions, it should ask itself the following question: Do we still have manual processes that run manually?

Which processes can be automated in ITSM?

To put it somewhat bluntly, you could say that we can automate away all boring jobs. This means: In principle, any process that consists of recurring, standardized procedures can be automated:

• Password resets: If the employee has forgotten his password, he can get a new one using an automatic password reset – without the help of the system administrator. Should be standard for most companies, but it still isn't today.
• Onboarding und Offboarding: When a new employee joins the team, user accounts and access rights are set up automatically. The same applies to offboarding when an employee leaves the company.
• Incident Management: Automated systems record incidents, prioritize them and notify the responsible team. As a result, processes are safer and more efficient.
• System monitoring: Automated monitoring tools detect disruptions or bottlenecks and trigger alarms before major problems arise. Probability models can be used to identify certain patterns at an early stage, so that certain incidents can be identified in advance.
• Service-Reports: Reports on service levels, system availability or ticket volume can be created regularly and reliably through automation. These reports provide insights into the performance of the IT infrastructure and are an important component in controlling.

Of course, these are just the most obvious areas where automation occurs in an ITSM operation. Depending on the size of your company, automation is not necessarily easy.

Because: Who should set up the automated processes if there are no in-house IT experts?

There are separate service providers for this. For example 7P Mobility. 7P Mobility is a comprehensive digitalization service provider with over 25 years of industry experience – one of the longest-serving providers in this area.

The company offers, among other things, solutions in the areas of AI, mobility and compliance – always with a strong focus on automation. You can find further information directly on the provider’s website.

Added value through automation

Time isn't the only thing that can be saved through automation. The quality of the IT services offered also increases.

Because automated processes are not only faster, but also almost immune to human errors. Where manual work is often error-prone and time-consuming, automation ensures consistently high accuracy and reliability.

This advantage also carries over to the outside world – because customers will notice the quality they get for what they pay. And a satisfied customer is the best marketing.

Conclusion

Automation is the number one requirement for scalable and predictable growth – in the ITSM industry as well as elsewhere.

It creates relief, saves time and money and creates the basis for what is essential: more capacity to improve your own offering and have more time for customers.

The result? More customers who are happier and pay more for a better product.