Social Media: Key For IT Service Management

Access to social media facilities is now a key requirement in IT service management, and organisations that delay implementation could be making a big mistake, according to Ovum. In a new report the independent technology analyst claims that IT users will increasingly view “social software” as a must-have, and failure to provide it could result in issues for IT departments.

“IT users are coming to expect similar levels of interaction in their corporate lives as they do when conducting online life as private consumers. Social media tools can work well in IT service management, especially in bringing about improvements in the service provided to users. Delaying an organisation’s participation in incorporating social media IT service management related functions could be a big mistake. As IT service desks increasingly move up the agenda in terms of importance for organisations, integration of social media will be seen by employees as a must-have, and a lack of availability could generate inefficiencies, such as workarounds, creating compliance issues,” said Mark Blowers, lead analyst, Ovum and co-author of the report.

Mainstream social media channels are already being used by some organisations to convey information about IT issues. For example, Twitter is used to broadcast information about incidents and alerts, particularly by small enterprises that do not have access to a bespoke system and by large organisations, such as Internet service providers, that take advantage of its wide reach.

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According to the report, enterprises need to take this ad-hoc use forward and integrate their IT service management facilities with the appropriate social media.

“Organisations should be taking steps such as integrating IT service management with Twitter feeds. This allows business users to turn a tweet into a customer support ticket known as a ’twicket’. When responding, the service desk agent can respond quickly to the Twitter account or privately using the Twitter Message facility,” said Blowers.