U.S. firms are leading the charge when it comes to applying service management suites—software that optimizes operational flow—outside of the classic IT domain. In fact, research has revealed that more than 75 percent of organizations in the U.S. are now using service management for optimized service delivery in at least one department outside IT.
Enterprise service management, or ESM, Is used to reduce the overhead commonly associated with department-to-department interaction; increase predictability in terms of both the quality and timescale of output; and increase process efficiency. Essentially, it means applying a service-oriented business model to the way an organization works internally.
Each functional area of the business is defined as a domain that offers services. These services in turn deliver outcomes for other business functions, and help to support them in their ability to deliver results for external customers. Thus, the productivity and profitability of the company will be impacted by improving the efficiency of internal operations and giving teams the opportunity to divert resources from manual, time-consuming tasks to instead focus on innovation and higher-level tasks.
According to research published today by service management provider Axios Systems (News - Alert), within U.S.-based organizations, HR, procurement and facilities management show equal and significant participation in service management beyond IT; and procurement and HR are likely to be the biggest priorities for ESM expansion in the US this year. Finance and other departments are also active in ESM.
ESM uptake in the U.S. is ahead of the UK (66 percent uptake), as well as Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg (Benelux – 49 percent uptake), and Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH – 32 percent uptake).
The research also reveals that U.S. enterprises are most likely to cite budget/costs, followed by training/knowledge, as concerns about implementing ESM—while increased operational efficiency is the strongest motivation for implementing it.
“We’re pleased to see that most organizations across the U.S. are realizing the benefits of a service management strategy that spans the enterprise,” said Markos Symeonides, executive vice president of Axios Systems. “But we also want to see the remaining 25 percent of organizations begin to enjoy these benefits, including increased ROI from their service management investment and noticeably better customer service. In order for US businesses to retain competitive advantage, they need to fully leverage all opportunities to focus on innovation.”
He added that this means looking for ways to automate tasks, streamline service provision and measure efficiency — not just in IT, but in every department.
“ESM allows you to take advantage of such benefits and fully align limited resources to deliver on stakeholder expectations and big-picture business requirements,” he noted.