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9 ITSM Skills That Make Awesome IT Service Management Professionals

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With new technologies like AI, Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, and IoT changing the way businesses serve their customers, IT Service Management Professionals are now expected to have the right skills.

IT Service Management Professionals need to thoroughly understand business priorities and how IT supports them, have excellent customer service skills, the ability to innovate, and so much more.

Do you want to become a great IT Service Management Professional? Or is your company looking to fill some IT Service Management roles?

Whatever the case may be, here are nine must-have skills that IT Service Management Professionals need in 2021 and beyond.

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI has escaped the realm of Sci-Fi movies and is now a reality. If you want more advanced and efficient IT operations, then AI is the solution.

Intelligent technologies, such as chatbots, automated operations, and virtual assistants, will help offload the service desk and automate non-value-adding IT activities, leaving IT staff with more time for the proactive, value-adding work.

AI can analyse large data sets, perform intelligence-based reporting and data mining. As a result, AI will enable IT support teams to make better-informed decisions.

IT Service Management Professionals need to understand how AI can increase efficiency, reduce costs, and contribute to organisational success.

Related Training Course: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Foundation

2. Problem Management

Incidents can come from a service, which has errors, flaws, or even vulnerabilities. If these are left unidentified, it may be a risk to live services.

In simple terms, Problem Management in ITIL is used to minimise the impact of incidents or prevent incidents from happening in the first place. In addition, the Problem Management process allows you to prevent incidents from happening again in the future.

In ITIL®, a problem is defined as the underlying cause of one or more incidents.

IT Service Management Professionals should understand complex systems and think about how or why different failures occurred.

Problem Management can also support Service Desk activities by making information on a known error available to the Service Desk.

IT Service Management Professionals need strong analytical and problem-solving skills to help lead their organisation in the right direction.

Related Training Course: Problem Management & Root Cause Analysis Techniques Workshop

3. Business Relationship Management (BRM)

Relationships are everywhere, and in the IT World, relationships should continuously change as the business or project evolves.

Essentially, Business Relationship Management is a philosophy or discipline to build partnerships, drive value and satisfy purpose.

IT Service Management Professionals need to practice stable and sustainable communication, collaboration, and agility to bridge the gap between IT and the rest of the organisation. After all, the IT Department is key to business success, not separate to the business.

Related Training Course: ITIL® 4 Specialist Business Relationship Management (BRM)

4. Organisational Change Management & Change Enablement

What Is Organisational Change Management?

Change Management manages the people aspects of changes to ensure improvements and organisational transformation initiatives are implemented successfully.

✔️ In Organisational Change Management, a small number of people are responsible for the change.

✔️ In Organisational Change Management, there is top-down messaging about what's changing, and it impacts members of staff.

✔️ In Organisational Change Management, the main focus on what has to be done.

What Is Change Enablement?

While Change Enablement tends to focus on changes in products or services.

✔️ In Change Enablement, everyone shares a mutual responsibility for the change.

✔️ In Change Enablement, there is transparent, company-wide communication about why change is happening and why it’s exciting.

✔️ In Change Enablement, the main focus is on accelerating adoption.

Organisational Change Management and Change Enablement are core concepts in IT Service Management.

IT Service Management Professionals should have the ability to manage changes effectively and ensure the risks are assessed and mitigated, which will result in less failed change.

Related Training Course: IT Change Management Workshop

5. IT Asset Management (ITAM)

IT Asset Management and IT Service Management are a match made in heaven. This powerful combination can minimise financial risks, unnecessary costs and add even greater value to the business.

Some people think of IT Asset Management and IT Service Management as being in direct competition, but they complement each other in reality. If you think about it, you can't have IT services without IT assets - can you?

IT Asset Management and IT Service Management have similar goals. For example, IT Service Management requires effective financial management, but this can't ever be fully met without managing IT asset costs.

IT Service Management Professionals need to increase their knowledge of how to perform IT Asset Management and Configuration and base business decisions on the lifecycle of IT assets.

Related Training Course: IT Asset Management (ITAM) Foundation

6. Business Management

How do you measure success in IT Service Management?

In IT Service Management, you usually measure against internally-focused metrics. For example, the number of incidents, service level agreements on incidents, the number of failed changes that cause incidents, etc.

All of this doesn't reflect business outcomes or provide business value. Instead, it's mitigating business loss. The IT Service Management Framework helps to blend the line between IT and the business, so you will want to know how the business works to run an effective IT Service Management strategy.

Just because IT works, it doesn't mean the business is succeeding.

IT Service Management Professionals need to understand what they can achieve at a business level and need to engage with others beyond the IT Department.

Related Training Courses: Value Stream Mapping Online Workshop (90 Minutes) & ITIL® 4 Specialist Drive Stakeholder Value (DSV)

7. User Experience (UX)

Now, this might get a little confusing. In ITIL®, the terms customer, sponsor and user mean different things.

The customer defines the service requirements – they understand the service outcomes.

The sponsor has financial involvement - they pay for the product or service.

The user is someone who uses the service - they deal with the inputs and outputs. Users might have opinions based on what the service does.

IT Service Management Professional should understand users and identify what their needs are, based on evidence. You might be expected to translate user stories and proposed design approaches to meet these needs. You need to empathise with users and balance their needs with the overall business goals.

Related Training Course: BCS Foundation Certificate In User Experience

8. Ownership, Accountability & Initiative

Is there a lack of clear ownership in your organisation? Do you spend a lot of time trying to determine who makes the decisions?

Well, ownership is prominent in IT Service Management Frameworks.

If there is weak ownership or accountability in your IT organisation, you need to build it into the culture. Unfortunately, this can often be overlooked in IT Service Management.

The ITIL® framework was designed to produce business value in a wide range of organisations and situations. Both ownership and accountability should NOT be optional. The success of your IT Service Management program might depend on it.

IT Service Management Professionals should take ownership of problems, learn how to resolve technical issues proactively, ensure that solutions meet business requirements, and understand how to take accountability for actions taken and decisions made. Ownership and accountability will give you a strong sense of responsibility for a piece of a larger puzzle.

Related Training Courses: ITIL® 4 Leader Digital & IT Strategy (DITS) & ITIL® 4 Strategist Direct, Plan & Improve (DPI)

9. Lifelong Learning

Over time, your product, service, or processes will continue to change.

The desire to learn is an essential prerequisite for career progression. To move forward in any industry, not just ITSM - it's important to train and develop your skills. If you are open to new ways of working, it will help you learn how to do your job better, improve your abilities and increase job satisfaction.

Employers generally look for professionals who can demonstrate a willingness to learn. This doesn't mean they're looking for someone who is academically brilliant. Being committed to lifelong learning is a behaviour that anyone can have - regardless of qualifications.

IT Service Management Professionals must be ready to learn and innovate. This could be understanding how past, present, and future technology will work together in the enterprise or visualising new concepts that will create value for the customer.

We hope that you use these in-demand ITSM skills to make a real positive difference for your organisation, now and into the future.

If you think we have missed anything from this list, comment below and let us know.

(You might also be interested in this blog post we wrote about being an IT service delivery manager).

About The Author

Lois McConnachie

Lois McConnachie

I have been working at Purple Griffon for a total of 8 years. In my role as Senior Sales Executive, I always strive to deliver a high standard of customer service, which forms the basis of all of my interactions with customers, both old and new. I believe that fostering positive relationships and understanding customer needs are essential for providing effective training solutions. In my personal time, I enjoy relaxing with my Fiancé, drinking iced coffee and watching too much anime.

Tel: +44 (0)1539 736 828

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