ITOM stands for IT Operations Management and pertains to managing technology and application needs within an organization. It encompasses areas like capacity handling, IT infrastructure oversight, security protocols, ensuring system availability, performance optimization, and budget-friendly operations.
Compared to IT Service Management (ITSM), ITOM often goes hand in hand, as ITSM focuses on the delivery and support of IT services, while IT Operations Management ensures the underlying infrastructure is robust and efficient. Together, they provide a comprehensive approach to effective IT management.
Maximizing Business Performance with ITOM
By providing a way to administer and manage your company’s applications, hardware, data centers, and network needs, IT Operations Management is a must-have capability rather than a merely nice-to-have capability. You can also look at ITOM as a service-focused approach to IT networking, IT infrastructure, IT support operations, and end-user support for resolving issues.
Did you know that the information technology operations management (ITOM) software market was, according to IDC, reportedly worth up to $14.7 billion last year? The market intelligence firm adds that it expects double-digit growth over the 2022 to 2026 forecast period due to what an IDC research vice president calls “needs to support highly available and performant environments for digital commerce and remote work.”
When the best practices embedded within the IT Operations management concept are understood and carried out correctly, your IT department will provide greater value to your company and help it accomplish business objectives.
Utilizing ITOM is not limited to US companies; it is a global focus for large IT organizations. For instance, Indian IT giants like Tata in Mumbai and Infosys in Bangalore are leveraging ITOM in their operations and infrastructure to enhance efficiency and performance.
Challenges in ITOM
Challenges to ITOM include incomplete IT architecture visibility and increasingly disparate systems and technology. On the one hand, your IT team needs to gain an unobstructed view of the entire IT architecture to make sound decisions on allocating resources and addressing security problems. On the other hand, your IT team must address any issues involving processes, technologies, and tools independently of each other.
Failing to gain control can negatively impact the corporate IT infrastructure. And with the threat landscape, IT teams face these days, the last thing you need is to be at a competitive disadvantage. With that said, keep reading to learn about the benefits of combining machine learning, artificial intelligence, and ITOM platforms or an AIOps platform offered to your IT team.
The Role of IT Operations Management Tools (Use Cases)
If you’re part of your business’s IT operations management team, you’ll want to keep reading to see six specific ITOM benefits that you can’t afford to do without. But before that, it makes sense to dig deeper into what ITOM is and why it matters to you and your IT department.
1. Reduce Downtime
ITOM can help cut down on any unplanned downtime. If your network crashes and your clients can’t get in touch or buy your products and services, there’s no guarantee they’ll wait it out. Consumers these days want what they want when they want it. E-commerce means they don’t have to go to brick-and-mortar retail outlets during regular business hours. They can get what they want when they want it. Rather than waiting until your IT department identifies the cause of the disruption and fixes the problem, your customers might find another company offering products and services similar to what your company sells.
When your IT team is on top of IT Operations Management best practices, your infrastructure will be adequately maintained and safeguarded. It’ll be easier to manage the threat landscape when you have the right tools and processes in place, which will minimize risks associated with downtime.
2. Boost Profits
When your IT department implements Generative AI for IT Operations or AIOps platform in its ITOM strategy, clients will have a better end-user experience. Consistency is important. So, any interruptions in service are bound to impact customer satisfaction levels negatively. And, as was mentioned above, consumers know they have options and won’t continue to patronize businesses that let them down. Generative AI for IT Operations will give your IT team the tools to manage availability and capacity performance.
3. Increase Customer Satisfaction
When your IT department implements Generative AI for IT Operations or AIOps platform in its ITOM strategy, clients will have a better end-user experience. Consistency is important. So, any interruptions in service are bound to impact customer satisfaction levels negatively. And, as was mentioned above, consumers know they have options and won’t continue to patronize businesses that let them down. Generative AI for IT Operations will give your IT team the tools to manage availability and capacity performance.
4. Improve Worker Productivity
Are you interested in increasing employee productivity? ITOM is one way to accomplish this. Leveraging ITOM tools like ServiceNow, your company can maintain a well-performing help desk that can resolve workers’ problems sooner rather than later. Only the most serious of issues will be referred to the IT team while other issues will be directed to the help desk or service desk. This will boost productivity.
5. Lower Operational Cost
Adopting the ITOM methodology means you can keep on top of your company’s provisioning capacity to ensure you’re getting the most out of your technology and systems. You might find that you can leverage better configuration management to better use, for instance, cloud service and servers. And by doing so, you won’t necessarily have to spend more. Many IT departments, including those using Generative AI for IT, spend more than they need to since they buy new equipment rather than optimize the use of what they do have.
6. Enhance Disaster Recovery Efforts
No company wants to deal with a situation where disaster recovery is necessary. But things happen, and you’ll want your company to be prepared for the worst-case scenarios. With ITOM, your IT department can help your company cope with and rebound from any issues.
ITOM will help your company protect sensitive data and deal with server failure and data breach issues. Following the IT Operations Management methodology, your IT department will back up everything routinely. Backup measures won’t be done haphazardly. It will be done on a set schedule, which will minimize risk.
As you can see, ITOM is an essential tool in any IT department’s arsenal. The threat landscape is fraught with dangers. While you won’t be able to avoid all of them, leveraging ITOM means you’ll be prepared to deal with threats as they present themselves. And, more importantly, you’ll be able to avoid many problems when using ITOM. Your company’s department has a lot to deal with, so it makes sense to leverage the right tools.
ITOM vs ITSM: Differences and Similarities
Let’s compare ITOM vs ITSM side by side to see the main differences.
IT Operations Management (ITOM):
- Concerns the suite of services and processes ensuring a business’s operational efficiency, availability, and continuity.
- Involves strategies related to provisioning, networking, ensuring computing availability, and performance monitoring.
- Emphasizes root cause analyses to troubleshoot and resolve operational challenges.
- Understanding ITOM is vital for maintaining consistent business service continuity.
IT Service Management (ITSM):
- Focuses on the comprehensive approach for managing the holistic delivery of IT services to clients.
- Encompasses processes and activities including the design, creation, delivery, and support of IT services.
- Central principle: IT should be perceived and executed as a service.
- Implementing cloud-based ITSM can result in substantial financial savings and increase productivity by up to 60%.
ITOM vs ITAM: Understanding IT Solutions
What is ITAM?
According to the glossary of AI terms, IT Asset Management (ITAM) is a set of practices in IT operations that involves tracking, managing, and optimizing all physical and digital assets within an organization.
This includes hardware like servers, computers, and peripherals, as well as software licenses and digital information. ITAM strategies help businesses control costs, improve operational efficiency, mitigate risks, and make informed strategic decisions regarding their IT environment. To compare ITOM vs ITAM for their responsibilities and functionalities we can point out the below items.
ITAM (IT Asset Management)
Addresses pivotal questions at the IT help desk concerning the organization’s IT assets.
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- Which assets are depleted or out of stock?
- Is the warranty of specific assets still valid?
- What are the associated costs of these assets?
ITAM tools monitor various assets, including:
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- Software (through Software Asset Management or SAM)
- Hardware
- Licensing compliance
- License expiration dates
These tools seamlessly integrate with IT service management activities, such as logging when a laptop is assigned to an employee shifting to a different work location. Effective ITAM solutions facilitate tracking service deliveries, repairs, and replacements of both hardware and software components.
On the other hand, ITOM focuses on:
- Overarching strategies the IT team deploys to streamline and manage the IT department’s functionalities.
- Concerns operational efficiency, availability, continuity, and the strategic alignment of IT resources with business objectives.
Conclusion
Are you ready to take your IT department’s capabilities to another level with the right AIOps solution? According to the Forrester Wave AIOps report, Aisera was recognized as an AIOps leader in 2023. You can Request an AI demo for your enterprise today!