Every business is at least a little bit different from other companies. As no two organizations are the same, finding technologies that will have the same positive impact on distinct businesses can be difficult. This isn’t to say that out-of-the-box software is not valuable, but instead to point out that companies will need to develop their own methods to maximize the value of the technologies they have at their disposal. Five organizations could deploy the same software platform and have five completely different experiences.
The inherent diversity of the modern enterprise makes strategic planning critical whenever a company rolls out a new software solution. Businesses considering an investment in problem management to beef up their IT service management strategies must carefully consider how they can fine tune their usage strategies to maximize the value of their solution.
Problem management offers organizations the potential to solve the underlying IT issues that lead to repetitive end-user disruption. Dealing with these complex problems demands that organizations find ways to use data effectively and collaborate across technology stakeholder groups. You need a software platform that can work for your business’ specific demands. Following these five quick tips will help you get your initiative off to a good start and maintain success over its service life.
You may want software that can do everything, but don’t let the desire for broad functionality distract from the primary capabilities you need your problem management system to offer. Any gains offered by the investment can be undermined if the platform doesn’t meet everyday user demands effectively. Many ITSM leaders will initially look into the biggest, most powerful ITSM tools on the market because they come with high levels of prestige. However, finding a solution that is the right size for your company is more important than winning an ITSM arms race.
Chances are that you will need to compromise something when choosing software – the likelihood of finding a solution that delivers every feature you want out of the box is tiny. However, problem management systems that emphasize flexibility can give you the tools you need to add capabilities over time, maximizing the potential value of the technology.
With the days of cloud-based ITSM platforms upon us, creating a solution and leaving it as is for a few years isn’t an option. Instead of releasing large, semi-annual software updates, solution providers are increasingly creating their software with a plan for ongoing updates throughout the product’s life. Having an idea of where the vendor is planning on taking the problem management system over the course of the next few months, and even years, can have a huge impact on your decision-making process.
The user experience needs to trump functionality. All of the capabilities possible won’t do your organization any good if your users get so frustrated with the platform that they try to avoid working with it in the first place. Carefully evaluate the end-user experience offered by any problem management module you are considering. You can do this, in part, by analyzing the user interface. However, your best bet may be to get a demo version of the system and have a few of your employees test it out for a while.
Plenty of software projects have run into trouble when, after an arduous purchasing and deployment processes, end users took months to learn the system or never really embraced the technology. Change can be difficult as people who are entrenched in specific processes that are built around software capabilities are asked to adjust the way they work. If the new software makes a few key tasks more difficult for employees, users can get frustrated and productivity can spiral.
Before making a final decision on problem management systems, it is vital that you have users from multiple levels of the organization test out the solution to make sure it meets their needs.
Problem management systems can have a huge impact on your IT and support teams’ ability to deliver value to the business, but you need to choose carefully to ensure you get a platform that can meet your business’ specific demands.
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