In a recent trend report conducted by Canam Research and sponsored by Bright Pattern to research trends in ITSM and ESM channels, many key trends were identified in the IT service management field in 2021. This trend report surveyed IT professionals from a wide range of seniority levels, including c-levels, directors, managers, and VPs.
Top ITSM and ESM Initiatives
Among the group surveyed, the top ITSM and ESM initiative is to improve customer and employee satisfaction. Almost half of the respondents in the survey indicated that their top ITSM initiative was improving customer and employee satisfaction, as seen in the graph below.
Other top initiatives include implementing customer self-service, adding automation, and saving costs in the IT organization.
Emerging Service Channels for ITSM
While phone and email dominated ITSM space as the most used channels, there was a growing interest and growing usage in channels like self-service, web chat, mobile applications, and SMS/text messaging. Over half of respondents were using self-service, 35% were using web chat, 14% were using mobile applications, and 10% were using SMS.
Although email and phone calls dominate the ITSM industry, many are expressing interest in expanding to other channels as well. Many respondents expressed great interest in implementing new digital channels in their IT organization like mobile applications, web chat, bots, SMS and text messaging, and self-service, as seen in the graph below.
The Rise of Automation and AI
Automation and AI is of great interest in the ITSM industry. Nearly a third of respondents already use automation for ITSM and 43% plan to implement automation in the future. AI is also of great interest. While only 12% of respondents have implemented AI, 45% are planning to implement advanced AI in their service management in the future.
Implementing AI can help automate many repetitive tasks in the help desk or service desk, including tasks like password reset, routing and escalation of tickets, outbound notifications of outages and service degradation, and creation of incident record or service request. These use cases often take up a lot of resources in the IT help desk, and many service desks are seeing the value in implementing AI and automation to help automate these tasks.
How to Adapt to the Trends of 2021
In 2021, it’s evident that there will continue to be a rise in the number of digital channels that service desks support as well as an increase in the implementation of advanced technology, like AI and automation, in the help desk. To adapt to these trends, help desks and service desks need a solution that can help streamline the workflow and make the IT process more efficient.
Bright Pattern’s platform is the perfect solution to help your service desk adapt to the trends of 2021. Bright Pattern is fully omnichannel, meaning end-users and IT analysts are able to switch between digital channels effortlessly, making the entire journey seamless and frictionless. With Bright Pattern’s intuitive platform, integrating various features like automation and self-service is a breeze as well, unlocking the power of supporting brand new digital channels to improve customer and end-user satisfaction.
To implement the right ITSM framework and ITSM processes in your organization, you need the right ITSM tools for the job. Check out Bright Pattern’s latest ITSM and ESM Trend Report for how you can adapt your IT organization to the demands of 2021.
