For many employees, the IT service desk is the face of IT. Modern IT service management (ITSM) focuses less on how many tickets are closed and more on how quickly people can get back to work.
Shift left with self-service
A well-organised knowledge base and service catalogue let employees solve common problems themselves — password resets, software requests, access to shared drives. Every request that can be fulfilled automatically frees agents for complex issues.
Automate routine fulfilment
Connect the service portal to identity, device management and cloud platforms so approved requests are fulfilled without manual steps. Start with the highest-volume, lowest-risk requests.
Measure experience, not just speed
- Track time to resolution alongside satisfaction scores.
- Measure how often issues are reopened or recur.
- Ask for short feedback after each interaction and act on themes.
Connect incidents, problems and changes
Recurring incidents point to underlying problems. Link incidents to problem records, fix root causes and manage the resulting changes with appropriate risk-based approval — fast for routine changes, more careful for high-risk ones.
Use a common framework
Frameworks such as ITIL provide shared language for practices like incident, problem and change management. Adopt the practices that solve your problems rather than implementing everything at once.
Quick win: review your top ten ticket categories by volume and automate or document a self-service fix for at least three of them.
5 proven best practices for modern ITSM
- Design around employee journeys. Map common moments such as onboarding, device replacement and access requests, and remove unnecessary handoffs.
- Invest in knowledge. Up-to-date, searchable articles enable self-service and help agents resolve issues faster. Make updating knowledge part of closing a ticket.
- Automate fulfilment. Standard requests such as software installation, password resets and access to approved groups should be fulfilled automatically after approval.
- Use AI carefully. Virtual agents, ticket summarisation and intelligent routing can reduce effort, but they depend on good knowledge and data quality.
- Measure experience, not only SLAs. Combine resolution times with satisfaction surveys and lost productivity metrics to understand real impact.
Connecting ITSM to the wider business
Many organisations extend service management practices to HR, facilities and finance through enterprise service management. A single portal for employees reduces confusion and makes cross-department workflows, such as onboarding, easier to coordinate.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Measuring success by ticket volume closed rather than issues prevented.
- Launching a self-service portal with too few useful services or articles.
- Over-customising the ITSM platform, making upgrades difficult.
- Keeping change approval processes that slow low-risk standard changes.
Frequently asked questions
Is ITIL still relevant?
Yes. ITIL 4 emphasises value streams, collaboration and continual improvement, which align well with modern ITSM.
What is shift-left?
Shift-left means resolving issues closer to the user, through self-service, automation or first-line teams, rather than escalating them.
A 90-day action plan
Days 1 to 30: analyse ticket data to find the twenty most common requests and incidents, measure how long employees wait and gather feedback through short surveys.
Days 31 to 60: write or refresh knowledge articles for the top issues, automate three high-volume requests and improve the portal’s search and categories.
Days 61 to 90: launch the improvements, track self-service adoption and satisfaction, and share before-and-after results with business leaders.
Questions to ask platform vendors
- How easily can non-developers build catalogue items and workflows?
- What virtual agent and AI features are included, and how are they priced?
- How does the platform integrate with identity, endpoint and HR systems?
- Which experience and productivity analytics are available?
- How are upgrades handled for configured and customised processes?
Key terms explained
- Service catalogue: the list of services and requests employees can order.
- Experience level agreement: targets based on user experience rather than technical timings alone.
- Knowledge-centred service: a method for capturing and improving knowledge as part of resolving issues.
- Enterprise service management: applying service practices to HR, facilities and other departments.
The bottom line
Employees now expect workplace support to be as simple as the consumer services they use at home. Designing around journeys, investing in knowledge, automating routine requests, applying AI carefully and measuring experience as well as speed all help IT support meet that expectation. Small, visible improvements build momentum, and extending the same practices to HR and facilities creates a single front door for employees across the organisation.
Further reading on IT service management
For authoritative, vendor-neutral guidance on IT service management, see PeopleCert, the home of ITIL. You can also browse our free whitepapers.
