IT service management (ITSM) is the process of designing, delivering, managing, and improving the IT services an organization provides to its end users. ITSM is focused on aligning IT processes and services with business objectives to help an organization grow.
IT service management (ITSM) is a general term that describes a strategic approach to design, deliver, manage and improve the way businesses use information technology (IT). ITSM includes all the discrete activities and processes that support a service throughout its lifecycle, from service management to change management, problem and incident management, asset management, and knowledge management.
An IT service enables access to information and processes to accomplish important business goals or otherwise provide value. IT services include the deployment and support of enterprise applications, such as Exchange Server; architecting and optimizing IT infrastructure such as storage, networking and cloud resources; creation and management of processes such as helpdesk support and troubleshooting procedures, and other areas. IT teams must create, deploy, manage, optimize and potentially retire each service, with input from the business. Each service can have an associated service-level agreement (SLA), which codifies the expectations of performance and availability and the ramifications if the service falls below these expectations.