IT service management

"ITSM" redirects here. For the backup system, see IBM Tivoli Storage Manager.

IT service management (ITSM or IT services) refers to the implementation and management of quality IT services that meet the needs of the business. IT service management is performed by IT service providers through an appropriate mix of people, process and information technology.^[1] The following represents a characteristic statement from the ITSM literature:

Providers of IT services can no longer afford to focus on technology and their internal organization[;] they now have to consider the quality of the services they provide and focus on the relationship with customers.^[2]

No one author, organization, or vendor owns the term "IT service management" and the origins of the phrase are unclear.

ITSM is process-focused and in this sense has ties and common interests with process improvement movement (e.g., TQM, Six Sigma, business process management, CMMI) frameworks and methodologies. The discipline is not concerned with the details of how to use a particular vendor's product, or necessarily with the technical details of the systems under management. Instead, it focuses upon providing a framework to structure IT-related activities and the interactions of IT technical personnel with business customers and users.

ITSM is generally concerned with the "back office" or operational concerns of information technology management (sometimes known as operations architecture), and not with technology development. For example, the process of writing computer software for sale, or designing a microprocessor would not be the focus of the discipline, but the computer systems used by marketing and business development staff in software and hardware companies would be. Many non-technology companies, such as those in the financial, retail, and travel industries, have significant information technology systems which are not exposed to customers.

In this respect, ITSM can be seen as analogous to an enterprise resource planning (ERP) discipline for IT – although its historical roots in IT operations may limit its applicability across other major IT activities, such as IT portfolio management andsoftware engineering.

Binary is a two-digit (Base-2) numerical system, which computers use to store data and compute functions. The reason computers use the binary system is because digital switches inside the computer can only be set to either on or off, which are represented by a 1 or 0. Though the binary system consists of only ones and zeros, the two digits can be used to represent any number.

For example:

A single 0 in binary represents zero.
A single 1 represents (2^0) or 1.
10 represents (2^1) or 2.
11 represents (2^1 + 2^0) or 3.
100 represents (2^2) or 4.
101 represents (2^2 + 2^0) or 5.
110 represents (2^2 + 2^1) or 6.
111 represents (2^2 + 2^1 + 2^0) or 7.
1000 represents (2^3) or 8, and so on.