How to build an ITSM business case in 5 steps

Maybe you’ve already been convinced of the benefits of IT Service Management (ITSM) for some time. But how do you get your colleagues or your C-suite on the same page?

With a solid business case, you can make the benefits of ITSM transparent, from having an overview of your service desk’s performance to keeping the workload manageable, to reducing costs.

Read on to get tips on how to create a strong business case for introducing ITSM to your organization.

ITSM: It's (still) worth the investment

A question we get a lot at TOPdesk is "Is ITSM still relevant in today's modern IT world?" We believe the answer is yes. ITSM is much more than a 'nice to have' for IT departments. With ITSM, you take a structured approach to the design, delivery, management and improvement of your IT services. Not only does ITSM allow you to create structure, but it also helps you better meet customer expectations and actively contribute towards business goals.

An investment in ITSM will quickly pay off in improved efficiency and quality of services. It’s an approach that’s scalable, flexible, and helps to reduce risks. Plus, a professional ITSM implementation ensures faster and more reliable IT services, giving your organization a competitive advantage. But to get there, you first need to get buy-in from the rest of the organization.

This guide to building an ITSM business case will help you identify the benefits of ITSM and ensure broad support from management and colleagues in just 5 steps.

Step 1 - ITSM business case: organizational objectives

Before you can align ITSM with your business objectives, make sure they’re clearly defined. Does your organization want to reduce costs, are you working on customer satisfaction or is the focus on improving compliance? Conversations with stakeholders give you an insight into your organization’s needs and challenges and what the priorities are.

Then, you need to look at your IT services to see how they impact business processes and facilitate employees' work. Think of services like application support, network management, cybersecurity and data analytics.

Translate your key objectives or needs into measurable KPIs. This way, you show contribution of ITSM processes more concretely. Take customer satisfaction KPIs, for example, which you can measure based on incident response times, resolution times and survey results.

Step 2 - ITSM business case: quantifying benefits

Every good business case needs some concrete benefits. After all, measuring is knowing. But quantifying the benefits of ITSM is easier said than done. Here are 3 examples below to help you get started:

Cost savings at the IT helpdesk

• Measure the number of support requests before and after the introduction of ITSM. A drop in the number of tickets may indicate an improvement in your system stability and user experience.
• Calculate labour savings by comparing the time it takes to handle IT tickets before and after ITSM and multiplying the difference by the cost of IT service desk staff.
• Pay attention to your resolution times. Improving your average resolution time can lead to cost savings, as well as increased productivity.

Higher customer satisfaction

• Measure response times to support requests and compare them with established service level targets. The shorter your response times, the higher your customer satisfaction will be.
• By carrying out periodic customer surveys to measure end users’ satisfaction with your IT support, you should be able to spot a positive trend after the implementation of ITSM.

More room for innovation and strategic contributions

• Analyse how much time your IT staff are spending on routine maintenance tasks. Compare this with time spent on innovative projects and see if this shifts over time.
• Measure the number of new projects from the IT service team. In many cases, an increase in new projects means more room for innovation.

Improved compliance and risk management

• Monitor regulatory compliance. Improved compliance with required standards within the IT environment means fewer fines and penalties.
• Evaluate the frequency and severity of security incidents and issues before and after ITSM implementation. A decrease in the number of incidents indicates better risk management and compliance.

Step 3 - ITSM business case: leverage the power of benchmarks

Use industry benchmarks to strengthen your ITSM business case. In doing so, you put the impact of your ITSM initiative into context, which be helpful when it comes to convincing key stakeholders.

Industry benchmarks provide a frame of reference to determine how your IT services are performing compared to those of your competitors. Nobody wants to fall behind or be late to the party.

With benchmarks, you show how your ITSM initiative is going to help bring your organization to the level of top-performers in the industry. It’s also a great opportunity to see which best practices are being used in your industry, so you can apply them to your own ITSM.

Check out the ITSM benchmarking report from AXELOS.

Step 4 - ITSM business case: techniques to increase engagement

And if your stakeholders still aren’t convinced? Try and integrate some of these behavioural science techniques into your business case:

Social proof

People tend to follow the behaviors of others when they're not sure what to do. Try to include success stories from similar organizations in the industry in your business case, to show how others have benefited from similar projects.

Authority

People usually listen to and trust individuals they consider to be authorities in a particular field. Take advantage of this by involving executives, experts or external consultants when presenting your business case.

Reciprocity

People are generally more likely to give you something in return when they have received something. Involve stakeholders in the process, giving them valuable information and letting them participate in decision-making.

Loss aversion

In general, people are more responsive when you talk about what they stand to lose than what they could gain by doing something.

By highlighting the negative consequences of not implementing ITSM, such as being at a competitive disadvantage or increasing costs, you'll highlight the urgency of your proposed initiative.

Step 5 - ITSM business case: communication is key

For a business case, good communication can be make or break. And we're not just talking about how you communicate in your proposal itself, but also around it.

Rather than just reeling off facts and figures, you want to build a story that illustrates the benefits of ITSM in a lively and appealing way. You can do this by using case studies, success stories, or anecdotes for a more personal touch.

Not everyone thinks in text — many people find it easier to process information visually. Visual aids like diagrams, graphs and infographics can help you to present complex information in a way that’s easier to understand.

By investing in your communication around ITSM, you‘ll provide your stakeholders with more clarity, build their trust, deal constructively with resistance, and increase your own credibility. All of these will help you to get buy-in where you need it most.

How to get started

Remember, every project, big or small, starts with a first step. With these 5 steps, you should be well on your way to creating a great ITSM business case.

Planning on including TOPdesk in your list of ITSM tools? Check out our ITSM software page to learn more.

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