IT Departments are increasingly called upon to take on more complex tasks. This has to be done in the context of having to justify expenditure by demonstrating the ways in which value is added to the business. This scenario (having to do more in the midst of budgetary constraints) lends itself perfectly to the implementation of a continual service management program. This article makes a powerful case for IT service management and the benefits it can deliver through benchmarking, automation and risk mitigation.

Rushing blindly into service transitions will almost certainly end in tears for the companies that attempt it. Service transitions should, instead, be carefully planned and executed. This helpful article presents a helpful outline of the different elements of the transitioning process, namely: service transition planning, change management, configuration and asset management, evaluation, release and deployment, testing and validation and, finally, knowledge management.