🚀 Atlassian’s Approach to Modern ITSM Processes

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Hello Atlassian Community! 👋

Whether you joined the community to ask a work-related question, network with like-minded people, or read more about Jira—we’re all here because of one thing. What is it? 

Atlassian’s suite of tools, including Jira Software, Confluence, Jira Service Management, and more.

For years, the entire Atlassian Platform has been empowering teams all around the world to deliver top-notch IT services.

But, navigating the complex world of IT Service Management (ITSM) requires more than just tools—it's about merging them with culture, working practices, and agility.

Today we would like to take you through the Atlassian’s process of modern ITSM.

Offering key products like Jira Service Management, Jira Software, and Confluence, they bridge the gap between traditional and contemporary ITSM approaches. Dive into this article as we show you key elements of the service management process that make it possible.

Atlassian’s Approach to ITSM

Atlassian recognizes that today, ITSM's role extends beyond just delivering technology services. By aligning internal processes using the structured approach of ITSM, you can enable better service delivery throughout the entire company. That means business teams like marketing, HR, or facilities.

As a result, you not only reduce risks or costs, but also deliver better services to your clients. 

This recognition led to the integration of Enterprise Service Management (ESM), blurring the lines between traditional IT departments and other business functions. Merging the business, software, and IT teams under one umbrella, organizations can expect plenty of both business and technology benefits.

Making the ITSM framework an enterprise-wide approach shared by all teams, we not only foster innovation, agility and better results, but also accomplish operational excellence, optimize costs, and ensure security and compliance.

How exactly can organizations achieve that?

Key Elements of Modern ITSM (ESM)

Atlassian's vision for modern ITSM revolves around a mesh of a few key elements:

• the tools teams use
• the agility
• the culture
• the practices team members employ to accomplish tasks.

The tools are the backbone of the entire ESM process. Atlassian Platform includes Jira Software, Jira Service Management, Confluence, and more. We’ll talk more about them later.

When it comes to culture, increased communication and collaboration are the most vital here. In ESM, different teams that previously worked in siloes, join forces to achieve a common objective.

They can build on that using the agile methodology, where the cross-functional teams collaborate, experiment, and are focused on continuous improvement.

What’s more, Atlassian created a set of practices that help teams achieve that. No matter where they live or what’s their role, they learn how to build stronger relationships, align on common goals, embrace remote collaboration, and more. To support them, Atlassian created a Team Playbook (with a set of practices used to build better teams) and Team Anywhere, focused on distributed work.

Modern ITSM Process: from an Idea to Delivering Value

To help you better understand the entire process (and how ITSM differs from ESM), we will describe a specific example, both from ITSM and ESM perspectives. Along with that, we will tell you how the Atlassian suite is used throughout the whole lifecycle of a service.

Let’s use an example of launching a customer support hotline.

 1. Plan

Here’s where the entire process begins, a need from a particular team arises. It can be a sudden influx of requests. This is when the service development teams create their initial service vision.

From the ITSM perspective, the IT department focuses on understanding the technical requirements of the hotline. They should consider questions like: What kind of technology would support the hotline's requirements best? Will it be hosted on-premises or in the cloud? What will be the disaster recovery mechanism?

From a broader enterprise standpoint, this phase is about understanding how the hotline fits into the company's wider objectives. Departments such as HR, Sales, and Marketing collaborate to discuss staffing the hotline, promoting it to customers, and how it aligns with the company's overall customer service strategy.

What Atlassian tools are used at this point?

The team begins by setting up a new project in Jira Software to map out all the tasks involved in launching the hotline. These tasks might include researching available technologies, deciding on the hotline's hours of operation, and identifying the training needs for support agents.

Concurrently, the team uses Confluence to create a collaborative document outlining the hotline's objectives, potential challenges, and key milestones. This document serves as a centralized location for all background information and strategic thinking about the hotline.

 2. Build

Then, the building phase begins and service operations teams show up. 

This is a hands-on phase for IT. They are involved in sourcing and setting up the necessary technology for the hotline, integrating it with existing systems, ensuring data security and privacy protocols, and testing the entire setup for robustness.

From the ESM Perspective, various departments collaborate on building out the hotline. HR might be responsible for recruiting and training hotline staff, Marketing creates materials to promote the hotline, and the Customer Service department drafts policies and scripts for the hotline operators.

What Atlassian tools are used?

As the build phase starts, the team uses Jira Software to assign and track various build tasks. For example, a task could be to 'Implement a call routing system for the hotline'. Each task is assigned to a team member, with a deadline and any necessary details attached.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), scripts for the customer support agents, and training materials are drafted and stored in Confluence for easy access.

 3. Operate

Step three is also managed by the service operations team.

For IT, this phase is about maintaining the health of the hotline's technical infrastructure. They monitor the system's uptime, address technical glitches, ensure software updates are installed, and safeguard against security threats.

Looking at it through an ESM lens, as the hotline becomes operational, different departments use their resources to run it smoothly. Customer Service ensures queries are answered promptly, HR may hold regular training sessions for staff, and Marketing assesses the effectiveness of promotional strategies.

The tools used:

Once the hotline is live, Jira Service Management comes into play. It helps in tracking the resolution of customer issues, ensuring that service-level agreements (SLAs) are met, and managing any internal service requests like 'Add a new support agent to the hotline system'. If any operational incidents happen, such as the hotline going down, it alerts the relevant team members immediately.

 4. Support

The last phase is in the hands of a service support team.

Looking solely at ITSM, in the support phase IT is on standby to provide technical support. If a server goes down or there's a software issue, IT teams are ready to diagnose and solve the problem, minimizing downtime and ensuring service continuity.

From the ESM Perspective, this is about the ongoing management and refinement of the hotline. The Customer Service department might analyze call data to improve service quality, HR could seek feedback from hotline staff to enhance training, and Marketing might run surveys to understand customer satisfaction levels.

What tools are used?

Jira Service Management is used for ongoing support. Any customer feedback, necessary updates, or additional training requirements for the hotline are managed through it.

A knowledge base is created in Confluence, where common issues and resolutions are documented. This database helps support agents to resolve customer queries more efficiently.

In summary, while ITSM predominantly looks at the technological facets of service management, ESM takes a more holistic view, incorporating various departments and focusing on the end-to-end service delivery and experience.

As you can see, ESM allows organizations to use modern tools and frameworks not only to succeed from an IT perspective, but also a broader perspective of an entire organization. Atlassian shows us a vision where all teams unite to achieve one common goal.

Does your organization already have modern ITSM frameworks in place? Or are you just starting out the transformation? Either way, Deviniti can support you in this adventure. Our ITSM Services team is eager to help you.