What is Business Service Management?

Business service management (BSM) is a management system applied to information technology (IT) utilizing a business viewpoint. Using a business model allows IT to be monitored and calibrated to better serve the business side of things rather than just the IT portion. This process differentiates it from the traditional model of monitoring a network, which only looks at managing and improving IT from a technological standpoint.

The process for utilizing a business service management model begins with software. Software tools and applications calculate what a business’ most important functions are with regard to other software applications, procedures and services. If there is ever a problem with any aspect of the IT department, such as a network outage, the software can tell which services need to be reinstated first in order to achieve the best outcome from a business perspective.

In addition to software that calculates optimum performance in case of failure, many software tools are utilized to monitor real-time statistics. This allows for adjustments to be made during business hours on-the-fly. If, for instance, one server is overloaded, the software monitoring tools would make the adjustment to help prevent it from crashing. These same tools could also keep statistics and let IT personnel know when performance is not ideal. Adjustments could then be made to improve overall performance, whether it be changing the routing of the network or adjusting server resources, to best benefit things from a business perspective.

This real-time strategy is what differentiates the business service management model from its progenitor, a model known as business impact management (BIM). BIM would typically only address a failure scenario. It was not geared toward dynamically monitoring and improving the overall performance.

While software is the primary tool, business service management also includes a guiding philosophy as part of the model. This would include specific processes and methods for implementing any changes as well as goals to be achieved. Management schemes regarding the function of employee’s duties would also be included.

The primary goal of business service management will vary from business to business. A production company might want the priorities to be on making their products, whereas a customer service oriented business might want delivery of goods or services to their clients and customers to be the priority. Regardless of the business, the overall goal is to keep the balance between the IT technology and the service aspect of a business intact.