Press OfficeLatest Axios News

IT Departments are not supporting the business says Axios Systems

August 21, 2006

Axios survey reveals lack of standards and best practice in ITSM; Axios urges IT departments to become business service not technology centric

Axios Systems (www.axiossystems.com), the leading international IT Service Management (ITSM) company, today announced that despite ITSM’s importance to organizations there is a significant lack of adoption in Best Practice and ITIL®-based standards. Axios also warned IT departments to shift their mindsets from being a technology function to an IT service provider in order to help support their organizations more effectively. Axios conducted research at several leading industry events to explore the current trends and challenges in ITSM.

Axios found that 38 per cent of all respondents to its survey felt their role was to ensure IT systems worked and 30 per cent said it was to react to IT incidents. Only 53 per cent felt that ITSM should proactively work with the business. However, improving IT service delivery (43%) and aligning IT to business (37%) were the two most important challenges facing IT departments, with increasing the status of IT within the organization (33%) the third biggest challenge. The discrepancy highlights the need to deploy Best Practice (ITIL®) based ITSM solutions to help IT become a service to the business.

The research revealed that most organizations are failing to adopt Best Practice because few have deployed ITIL®-based frameworks for ITSM. Only 23 per cent of respondents said that they were looking to become ISO/IEC 20000 accredited, while a worrying 43 per cent have no plans. Axios believes that this failure will result in IT being unable to truly support organizations fully in their strategic objectives. By adopting ISO/IEC 20000, enterprises will have the most efficient IT support possible and ensure processes meet all levels of compliance, while managed services providers will be able to demonstrate proven, Best Practice ITSM.

Tasos Symeonides, CEO of Axios Systems, said, “The fact that so many companies are not deploying Best Practice ITSM solutions based on ITIL® is concerning. The success of many organizations is becoming dependent on IT and coupled with the complexity of today's infrastructures, it is critical that IT environments are managed effectively. IT departments must also break the shackles of the past and find ways to ensure that they are no longer simply the ‘IT help desk’ but a service to the business. ITSM is the antidote.”
Axios also found that organizations are too reliant on phone and e-mail to resolve IT issues with 93 per cent of respondents citing them as the main methods of communication. Only 26 per cent said that they were using web self service which Axios believes is the fastest, most cost effective and efficient way to communicate. By using web self service, such as assystNET, which is used by customers to log, monitor and track their IT incidents, organizations will reduce the volume of calls (e.g. basic password enquires) and allow support staff to focus their attention of more advanced IT requirements.

In terms of ITSM technology, only 25 per cent said that they use an ITIL®-based Configuration Management Database (CMDB), while a worrying 78 per cent said that they did not know about the concept of federated CMBD. According to Axios, CMDB is integral to any ITIL® Asset and Configuration Management software implementation as it provides an accurate inventory of IT resources and the relationships between them. By federating data from external data sources into a centralized system, it provides a holistic view of Configuration Items and related information so as to ensure successful help desk management, incident management, problem management, change management and service level management.

The research was conducted by Axios Systems at several leading ITSM events and was based on the responses of 147 IT directors and managers at leading UK and International organizations.

Share this

More information from: