The IT Service Management (ITSM) industry is evolving. After many years of consolidation, recent advancements in artificial intelligence and automation, cloud technologies, and changes in operational strategies and priorities are changing the dynamics of the industry.
In addition, the need to reduce costs, boost productivity, and meet the demands of an increasingly hybrid workforce are key drivers pushing IT leaders to rethink their approaches.
These factors have led to several top ITSM trends we see for 2024 and beyond, such as the adoption of generative AI, no-code automation, new operating models and approaches, and divergent vendor demand.
In this article, we explore these trends which include:
- Automation, productivity, and efficiency at scale with genAI and autonomous agents
- New operating models
- No-code automation platforms and citizen developers
- Expanded use cases of ITSM solutions
- Cloud-first strategies
- New capabilities for a hybrid workforce
- Different buying patterns and expanded vendor offerings
1. Automation, productivity, and efficiency at scale with genAI and autonomous agents
It’s fair to say that ChatGPT's success has raised expectations across many boardrooms, with many executives appreciating the massive potential of adopting generative artificial intelligence (GenAI).
It’s no wonder that 86% of IT leaders in Salesforce’s 2023 State of IT survey expected “generative AI to play a prominent role at their organisations soon,” which is now playing out as many entities seek cost reduction and service optimisation at scale.
About 67% of this same cohort noted that their companies have prioritised generative AI deployment over the next 18 months.
Currently, the prevalent use case for generative AI is still similar to how ChatGPT is used: agents providing prompts to custom large language models to perform tasks such as:
- Incident and chat summaries
- Making incident resolution notes
- Creating knowledge bases for a company’s ITSM processes
- Converting text to code, and more.
Autonomous agents take these capabilities to a whole new level. They do not function only by prompts; they can also sense and act without human input. The possibilities with autonomous agents are primarily automating entire workflows and enabling simulations at scale.
We are already seeing the market shift and prepping for autonomous agents to become an ITSM staple. In September 2024, Salesforce and IBM announced their collaboration “to deliver AI and autonomous agents to improve decision-making, productivity, and efficiency in service delivery.”
We reckon that over the next few years, such partnerships and, in some cases, mergers and acquisitions will become commonplace as IT and enterprise service management solutions scramble to differentiate themselves.
2. New operating models
Traditional ITSM has always favoured a centralised approach, where central ITSM teams drive the decision-making and strategy. However, companies are moving to a more product-centric operating model to compete in this digital era.
In this new dynamic, product teams contribute significantly to IT decision-making and strategy, leading to a more agile approach. This new paradigm is triggering a switch to new governance models to provide structure and guidelines for a more distributed and collaborative approach.
Furthermore, traditional frameworks like Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) no longer suffice and are being replaced or used in combination with approaches like DevOps, Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT), Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), and site reliability engineering (SRE), essentially making ITSM more customer-centric and ushering in new ways of work.
3. No-code automation platforms and citizen developers
No-code or low-code platforms for building internal tools are one of the leading reasons ITSM is becoming more agile.
Beyond enhancing operational efficiency of IT teams themselves, no-code capabilities allow IT teams to further support adjacent business functions like HR, marketing, and facilities management by building custom tools for those teams that would previously be the responsibility of software engineers.
Not only that, but technically minded individuals outside of IT teams are using no-code platforms themselves in a so called citizen developer boom. While the no-code tools these citizen developers use are designed to be relatively simple, often IT teams are asked to provide support when it comes to things like data models and complex automations.
As companies increasingly adopt no-code/low-code platforms, the line between IT teams and other business departments is blurring, leading to outcomes such as:
- Greater collaboration between IT teams and other departments
- Cost savings and operational efficiency
- Flexibility in dealing with changing market or operational conditions by building and testing ideas quickly
- Better software solutions that are custom to the organisation
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4. Expanded use cases of ITSM solutions
Enterprise service management (ESM), the act of taking ITSM practices and applying them to other business functions, has been a trend for many years now. Slowly but surely, more organisations are moving towards an ESM approach. But often it happens naturally, where the existing ITSM tool is utilised for a new use case beyond the team.
However, ITSM software vendors face the challenge of providing deep support in these non-traditional IT domains beyond basic templates and workflows. The core limitation is extending the very IT-focused service management framework to other domains, where the fit may not be 100%. For example, some ITSM tools do not allow different naming of the tickets. Incidents are very common terminology for IT teams but not so much for HR teams, where 'urgent task' may be more appropriate.
We do see traditional ITSM vendors tackling this head-on with more talk of ESM applications, new features that cater to non-IT teams, and continued investments in AI and machine learning, like robotic process automation and natural language processing, that can easily adapt to any use case provided.
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5. Cloud-first strategies
Another ITSM trend we see shaping the future of the industry is cloud-first strategies. A cloud-first strategy means that whenever there’s a need for a new IT solution, most organisations opt for cloud-based services as the default option due to advantages such as scalability, flexibility, and cost efficiency.
Despite these potential benefits, the cloud-first strategy has its challenges and complexities.
For starters, there’s an added emphasis on vendor management, including vendor risk assessments and continuous monitoring and ensuring service level agreements (SLA) are clear and maximised for its business needs.
Additionally, we see this pivot to a cloud-first strategy, shifting the support model from the IT department to a more federated support structure. This means that different teams or departments manage their cloud services while coordinating with the central ITSM function.
Examples of these central functions include maintaining the configuration management database and creating governance structures and oversight mechanisms to ensure synergy and cohesion.
Again, we also see the role of AI and automation in this trend, which facilitates self-service and further decentralises support from central IT teams.
6. New capabilities for a hybrid workforce
The pandemic had a profound effect on many industries, including ITSM. Many companies transitioned—and continue to transition —into remote and hybrid work environments. This development continues to pose questions and challenges to infrastructure and operations (I&O) leaders seeking to maintain a healthy employee experience and engagement.
Examples of these challenges include control over digital assets, increased security concerns, more burden on existing infrastructure, prompt access to technical support, and facilitating greater collaboration.
With the consensus that hybrid work is here to stay, despite previous pushback from executives, many I&O leaders have begun to come to terms with this reality. This realisation is leading to a continued focus on how hybrid employees consume IT services and how to align them with present work realities.
Consequently, we see this shaping the future of ITSM with leaders focusing on managing employee experiences out of the office with capabilities such as:
- Integrations between ITSM platforms and remote monitoring tools for proactive incident management.
- Self-service portals ensure that employees get the support they need when necessary and minimise the workload on the IT workforce.
- Delivering an omnichannel employee experience, such as integrations with tools like Slack, to deal with issues speedily, irrespective of the channel they’re reported on.
- Resource planning, using automation to assign tasks to IT support staff based on expertise and availability.
7. Different buying patterns and expanded vendor offerings
We also see a new trend emerging where the evolving needs of organisations are leading to contrasting vendor demand.
On one side, there are organisations, often big enterprises, seeking to consolidate their IT operations management (ITOM), primarily driven by the need to improve incident management.
ITSM vendors are responding to this trend by investing in capabilities such as observability and monitoring, event correlation, and automation.
On the flip side of the demand divergence are companies seeking more lightweight options like Starhive offering unlimited scope to not only be an ITSM platform but let teams build connected productivity apps and eliminate data silos. The key driver here is that these nimble ITSM options are better suited to agile and DevOps approaches.
These different needs underpin how ITSM platforms are pivotal anchors of an organisation's digital transformation and strategy.
Takeaway: Embrace the future of ITSM for success
The future of ITSM is being shaped by disruptive technologies and evolving organisational needs, with generative AI and no-code automation particularly leading the charge.
As ITSM continues to blur the lines between IT and other business functions, the key to success lies in aligning your current and planned ITSM strategy with a definitive AI-centric roadmap.
The roadmap must include details such as the service desk software of choice, goals of your infrastructure and operations function, and strategy for transitioning from a centralised model to a distributed one.
One thing is clear: organisations must be sure of their digital strategy to choose the right ITSM platform for their needs.
For those leaning towards nimble and agile ITSM solutions, Starhive is a viable no-code app builder with multiple use cases, including asset management, project management, service management, product information management, CRM creation, and much more at a fraction of the cost of individual SaaS apps.
Book a demo today to explore the unending possibilities of creating your own productivity tools without writing a line of code.
FAQ
Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about ITSM:
What is the primary objective of ITSM?
ITSM aims to ensure reliable, efficient, and effective service delivery, meeting customer expectations, optimising costs, and minimising risks, ultimately supporting business outcomes and success. The ultimate goal is ensuring IT services align with and support an organisation's business goals.
What is the ITSM growth rate?
Multiple reports indicate that the global ITSM market is expected to enjoy a cumulative annual growth rate between 11.23% and 12.5%.
What are the stages of ITSM?
The five stages of ITSM, as stipulated in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework, include service strategy, service design, service transition, service operation, and continual service improvement.
What are the dimensions of ITSM?
The four dimensions of ITSM per ITIL include organisations and their people, information and technology, value streams and business processes, and partners, vendors, and suppliers.
What is the key difference between ITSM and ITIL?
The key difference is that ITIL is a specific framework within ITSM, providing guidelines and strategies for implementing and managing the latter. Think of ITSM as the "what" and ITIL as the "how." ITSM defines the objectives and principles, while ITIL provides practical guidance to achieve those objectives and improve service quality. Other frameworks, such as knowledge-centered service, exist within the ITSM industry.
