ITSM Migration: 3 Key Factors for Success

October 26, 2022

Brooke Tajer

Migrating away from an antiquated IT Service Management (ITSM) platform or from an ITSM tool that’s too complex and costly may seem like a daunting task. The search can be overly time-consuming and the actual migration might seem out of reach when you take into account everything that goes into it. But it’s not impossible. For those that do make the move to a new ITSM platform, the drive for change usually comes down to one key factor: the pain of staying on the existing system has become too great. This could be the pain associated with using a system that is heavy on admin requirements or an ITSM that needs technical resources to build automation and workflow, or it could be that the platform simply does not offer enough to reach the level of service desired. For example, maybe your existing ITSM tool doesn’t offer a self-service portal or the knowledge base may be missing, or perhaps you want a more complete platform that incorporates all of the elements of ITIL, including change management.

Finding the Right ITSM Vendor

ITSM

system migration doesn’t need to be a big deal and you do not need to live with a platform that is not meeting your needs or your budget out of fear of change. To ensure a successful migration to new ITSM software, follow these tips:

Look for a full-service vendor that offers technology and migration services: What resources will you need to migrate to the platform? What services does the vendor offer? Many vendors will leverage a third party to do the services, and this can add to the cost and complexity of migration. With a full-service vendor, you can benefit from the best practices and deep expertise of the implementation team.
Evaluate the requirements for ongoing administration: A driver for change is often that the system you use today is overly complex, it may require technical resources to create automations and workflows, or it may be too rudimentary and require multiple platforms – increasing the drain on IT resources for the ongoing care and feeding of the system. Look for a system that is codeless and highly configurable. This will also allow you to implement and be up and running quickly. Then over time, you can incorporate more and more automation and workflow as you can do this without deep technical resources.
Be sure that you have room to grow into full enterprise service management: Enterprise Service Management is fast growing, and with an easy, codeless platform, the ability to quickly spin up new apps makes the adoption rapid. Groups like HR, marketing and facilities will be able to easily benefit from a single platform without the need for technical resources. If your vendor offers online training and tutorials these groups can become self-sufficient with segregated admin functions. This means that you do not need to constantly tweak or configure their applications.

6 ITSM Software Features You Need

When evaluating ITSM software for your organization, here’s a list of features and functionalities that should be non-negotiable for you and your business:

End-user Self-Service – Make sure your ITSM tool has an intuitive and configurable portal with WCAG 2.0 AA compliance.
Knowledge Management – You’ll want your ITSM tool to have a knowledge base that’s integrated with ticketing so you can share information with both techs and end-users.
Multi-site & Multi-Department Capabilities– The ability to have one platform that can be used across multiple locations and departments is critical to achieving Enterprise Service Management (ESM) success; the ITSM solution you select should allow for the codeless creation of new applications without the need for additional service hours or a reliance on IT.
Service Catalog – For the best user experience, make sure users can request products and services through a catalog that integrates with ticketing.
ITSM/ESM + PPM + Automation on One Platform – When you have an ITSM/ESM platform that includes PPM (Project Portfolio Management) and enterprise automation and integration (iPaaS), you get a view of all work going on in your entire organization, from ticketing to change management and projects. Plus, you can automate tasks and integrate systems to ease the burden of things like password changes, onboarding and offboarding, name change quests, software provisioning, etc.
Codeless Integration and Workflow – With a no-code platform you can supercharge your organization. Take advantage of codeless configuration, workflow building and automation with integration to other enterprise systems using ITSM with iPaaS.

By measuring your ITSM options against this list, you can find a tool that can be customized to fit your needs and scale for the future.

Tips for Implementing New ITSM Software

To realize all of the benefits of ITSM, you need the right processes in place. Before you start to make the switch to a new system, make sure you get buy-in internally for the new software. You need to sell the concept of using your new ITSM for service delivery – as well as change and project management – at all levels of the organization, not just within IT or the executive level. With a solid strategic plan, a heavy education process and emphasizing the high level of usability of the platform – you should succeed in getting everyone on board. It’s important to make sure that every stakeholder within your organization knows how usable this new ITSM software will be organization-wide, not just within the IT department. Specific organizational concepts and tasks that you should demonstrate on the ITSM platform in order to educate and get buy-in include:

Business value
Technical value
System consolidation
Paydown of technical debt
Cost savings
Risk reduction
Operational efficiency
Increased business engagement
Transparency

Because having a strategy is so important in regard to the successful implementation of an ITSM platform, we’ve put together a three-step process you can use to guide the creation of your own implementation strategy:

Inform of the opportunity– One TeamDynamix customer found the creation of an internal whitepaper about ITSM/ESM was helpful to inform stakeholders within the company. He included appropriate terminology and kept it focused on business terms and values. The point of this was to introduce the concept and get leaders thinking about transformation, maturity, and business enablement through technology.
Define the current state– Conduct a benchmarking gap analysis and use the results to demonstrate how your organization measures against those in its peer group in an AS-IS maturity model.
Prioritize and roadmap– Stack rank the results. Based on the gap analysis and vendor-recommended best practices, you can develop a priority order to show where your organization needs help the most – i.e., you might learn that incident management needs more immediate attention than design coordination.

In addition to following these steps, create a simple, organized visual that shows a timeline explaining what processes will be implemented at what time. You can include, along with this visual, a more in-depth spreadsheet that lays out the following details of each phase: what resources are required, the percent of time needed, what value it provides to the organization, the associated system retirement, and the associated cost reduction. These two files will appeal to the non-technical audience and help to get them on board with the new ITSM solution.