With the constantly growing volume of data from operations, and the increasing complexity of enterprise IT infrastructure, staying on top of all aspects that affect IT functioning and performance become a key element for success.
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IT Operations Management (ITOM) essentially aims to ensure, that all IT infrastructure elements and its operational environment work flawlessly. It provides stable application deployment to both internal and external customers. ITOM activities involve and manage a wide variety of aspects, including network infrastructure, device management, helpdesk services, server management, security management, and many more.
As an increasing number of businesses are relying on IT for their daily operations, maintaining well-functioning IT operations becomes key for business success. More specifically, an enterprise’s business activities will rely more on the efficiency and performance of their IT teams, who rely on effective IT operations management.
The Functions of ITOM
With the expansion of enterprise IT infrastructure, the number of tasks and responsibilities of IT Ops is growing simultaneously. Keeping operations running smoothly 24/7 is not an easy task.
There are many subsets within ITOM, but we can highlight 3 main functions for ITOM teams, which are encompassing a wide range of activities and cover a lot of the bases, which is essential for flawless IT operations:
Managing The IT Infrastructure
Managing the IT infrastructure ensures that all the necessary network equipment is up and running, and are providing the desired services for the users (both internal and external) of the network. It also involves other functions, such as firewall regulation, maintaining network security, providing remote access networks.
Providing Help Desk Services
Additionally to managing the network infrastructure, ITOM also involves help desk management. It includes receiving incident notifications and resolving incoming issues within the network. Moreover, IT operations are also responsible for making sure the network data have back-ups, service issues are predicted and communicated to the users in due time, and making sure that the IT infrastructure is ready for any extreme events, that might pose a threat to it.
Managing Network Endpoints
IT Ops teams are also responsible for ensuring that network endpoints are secure, and function according to the expectations. These endpoints can be servers, and other devices connected to the network (i.e.: laptops, desktop computers, smartphones, tablets, IoT assets, etc.). They need to ensure that servers are up and running, and provide a high level of service to the users of applications that these servers are hosting. Additionally, managing devices, granting access to internal applications, and functions are also the responsibilities of IT Ops teams.
Software-supported IT Operations
Today, the increasing volume of devices connected to the enterprise networks, and the growing complexity of IT network infrastructures generate constant challenges to IT Ops teams.
With the advances in technology and IT solutions, however, more and more companies are changing the way they are conducting their ITOM services. A growing number of companies are now either outsourcing and/or automating their ITOM, to free up internal resources so that they can prioritize activities that are directly related to their core business.
This is where ITOM software can come in handy, which essentially monitors and controls all software, hardware, and network elements for the enterprise.
According to the definition of Gartner:
“IT operations management (ITOM) software is intended to represent all the tools needed to manage the provisioning, capacity, performance, and availability of computing, networking, and application resources — as well as the overall quality, efficiency, and experience of their delivery.”
Tools, such as IT Operations Analytics (ITOA) can help companies to better understand their IT processes, optimize their performance, and make better decisions with support from data. ITOA can also decrease the frequency and duration of downtimes, and make the collection and analysis of data from various sources easier.
There are many great ITOA tools available on the market today. It is important for companies to be aware of their specific requirements, and if necessary, reach out for external support to identify which solution might fit their needs.
You can learn more about IT Operations Management (ITOM) and IT Operations Analytics (ITOA) on the MCG website.
If you have any specific inquiries, feel free to contact us directly.
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