* By Guilherme Morais Gonçalves
The changes brought about by digital transformation affect companies in all markets. For this reason, the Information Technology sector is gaining more and more strategic importance. In the world, the IT sector grew 6.7% and in Brazil, it showed an increase of 9.8%, with a total of US$ 47 billion invested in software, hardware and services, according to a 2019 study by the Brazilian Association of Business Companies. Software (ABES).
In this scenario, it is not enough to just invest in the creation and evolution of technology without designating a management structure that supports it. You need to invest in IT Service Management (ITSM) or IT Service Management in the right way. Check out the top five ITSM trends that will change service management in 2020 below.
1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions will focus on Augmented Intelligence - For most service companies, AI-based solutions are still an interesting prospect. However, it is important to analyze how AI can help agents do their jobs more efficiently. The recent Gartner survey reveals that only 4% of companies actually use the technology.
It is important to note that Artificial Intelligence is effective if the company has its resources and strategy aligned, since AI replicates everything and only what has been taught to it. If something goes wrong at any point, it will be played continuously. Therefore, AI is a trend, but it should be applied with this caveat. An ESM / ITSM tool can help to organize processes prior to the implementation of any AI, mitigating the issue.
2. Intelligent automation solutions will gain market share - Automation has always been important, but in 2019 it merged with artificial intelligence. A specific form of intelligent automation that is gaining popularity is RPA, or Robotic Process Automation, which consists of programming a robot to perform a series of repetitive tasks, such as handling orders or expense requests received through a intranet form. So the service team can dedicate their time to customers.
3. The employee's experience will guide the ESM - In 2020, collaboration between service departments is expected to intensify. This does not necessarily mean that they will merge into a huge support department. Some organizations will introduce a shared self-service portal and others will make a joint effort to improve the integration process.
4. ITIL 4 brings alignment with digital transformation - The update of the ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library, or in Portuguese, library of information technology and infrastructure), made by the ITIL Foundation changed its approach. The ITIL 4 certification brought an alignment between the guide to good practices and the trends of digital transformation, such as DevOps, agile development and the use of the cloud. ITIL 4 contains nine guiding principles, covering organizational change management, communication, measurement and metrics.
5. People and culture will be vital - As service management is a people-oriented industry, the company's culture has to change. There is an increasing importance of the employee and customer experience, placing the human service journey at the center of everything. The past has made it clear that for any initiative to work, the team needs the right mindset. This is how trends such as ESM (Energy Smart Management), AI and Agile continue to take people's performance to the forefront of service management.
* Guilherme Morais Gonçalves is Marketing Manager and co-responsible for the professional well-being of TOPdesk Brasil employees
Notice: The opinion presented in this article is the responsibility of its author and not of ABES - Brazilian Association of Software Companies
EN 
PT 
