Service Manager 2010 rounds out Microsoft's System Center offering
With Service Manager 2010, Microsoft continues rounding out System Center’s ITIL and MOF-focused architecture by adding centralized incident and problem management capabilities to the product suite. Through connectors, Service Manager 2010 can import data from Operations Manager, Configuration Manager, and Active Directory, enabling it to become a centralized repository of information.
Service Manager is all about ITIL. But regardless of whether you plan to implement fully the various IT operational frameworks, there will always be fundamental issues to address. One area is IT service management, which includes functions such as incident tracking and resolution, asset management, and change management.
Service management includes those aspects of Information Technology management involving the end user. Given its wide span of potential issues, end user support is perhaps one of the most critical and most challenging aspects of IT operations. Without processes in place for users to address at least some of their own support needs, the help desk can become overwhelmed with common and repeated tasks.
Service Manager endeavors to improve and simplify IT service desk operations, and has the capability to simplify and normalize support processes across your entire IT organization. In addition to providing end users with a support submission tool and self-service tools, Service Manager integrates with other System Center products with an objective of improving IT operations. As an example, when Operations Manager generates an alert for a server access issue, Service Manager can automatically create an incident and assign it to support staff. The automation between the products eliminates the requirement to go through a manual ticket creation process.
This automation, in addition to removing manual procedures and operations, ensures that any request, whether created by a user or automatically generated due to a server issue, will generate an activity log. This helps prevent tasks from “disappearing into the bit bucket.” In addition, tracking all tasks helps IT management to gauge workloads and make informed decisions regarding budgets and staffing.
One way to summarize what Service Manager does is by looking at what Microsoft calls “pillars.” The pillars of Service Manager 2010 include:
- User-centric Support – With its Self-Service portal and integration with Configuration Manager, Service Manager can improve user productivity (and thus increase satisfaction) while reducing support costs.
- Datacenter Management Efficiency – Service Manager’s facilitates centralized incident, problem, change, and release management, helping to restore service quickly and reduce downtime while it improves the reliability of IT services running in your datacenter.
- Business Alignment – By optimizing your organization’s resources to align to its business goals and requirements, Service Manager 2010 works to lower the high costs of IT compliance, and provides integrated knowledge and reporting.
