The 5 Hottest ITSM Trends and Topics for 2018

Note: There is an updated version of this post for 2023. You can read it here. People who work in IT service management (ITSM) and service desk roles always seem to want (and appreciate) information – sometimes to help improve and sometimes just to confirm that what they’re already doing is right. But what do they really, really want? Which are the key areas for help-providers – such as us here at ITSM.tools – to focus on in 2018 (and beyond)? What are the hottest ITSM trends and topics?

Of course, we could all take a guess – and we’d get some of the hottest ITSM trends and topics right. But, as with establishing how well an IT service is performing, we’ll never truly know until we ask the customer. Thus, we asked ITSM.tools readers to vote – to select up to five of the following ITSM trends and topics that they felt would be the most important for us to cover in 2018:

  1. Agile
  2. Artificial intelligence (AI)
  3. Automation
  4. Business relationship management (BRM)
  5. ITSM “basics”
  6. ITSM “advanced”
  7. Cloud
  8. COBIT
  9. Customer experience (CX)
  10. DevOps
  11. Digital transformation
  12. Enterprise service management
  13. Internet of Things (IoT)
  14. IT asset management (ITAM) and software asset management (SAM)
  15. IT4IT
  16. ITIL
  17. ITSM tools
  18. Knowledge management
  19. Metrics
  20. People (including attitude, behavior, and culture (ABC))
  21. Security
  22. Self-service
  23. Service integration and management (SIAM)
  24. VeriSM
  25. Other

And the survey said…

There was a clear winner – automation – which surprisingly beat off two of the hottest “IT media” ITSM trends and topics – AI and digital transformation. These and the rest of the top 5 (which is actually a top 9) are covered in detail below, but it’s also worth a quick look at the tail end of the table – at those topics that drew little interest.

Looking from the bottom up:

  • The lack of interest in IoT and ITAM/SAM is disappointing but not unexpected. We’d love to have greater demand for content related to the better management of IT (and business) assets – plus better financial stewardship – but these topics continue to be low on the learning (and doing) agenda for ITSM pros. Something will have to give though – and probably helped by AI – with the volumes of IoT devices making ITAM/SAM (plus security) harder to ignore.
  • The three approaches in the bottom half of the table are at different stages in their lifecycles. IT4IT and VeriSM are both relatively new, but COBIT is very mature. In many ways, it’s a mystery as to why COBIT continues to be such a poor relation to ITIL.
  • I guess no one votes for ITSM “basics” when there are so many newer ITSM challenges (and opportunities) to address. We’ll continue to publish on the basics though as it’s often what people tend to be looking for via Google.
  • Joining the dots (and maybe incorrectly), the fact that security is so low down the table is probably symptomatic of the ongoing disconnect between ITSM strategies/activities and business wants/needs. Security has to be a top 3 business concern and should definitely be an operational concern for more than just the corporate IT security personnel.
  • People and BRM are touching on mid-table performance but, in a modern ITSM world where we continue to promote the need for better people-y capabilities, why are we not focused on these two topics? Maybe they are tier 2 topics, with the plan being to sort out the technology stuff first before addressing the people issues and opportunities? And we know how well that has worked for the last 30 years!

So, that’s the bottom half of the table covered – now onto the top 5.

Hot ITSM Trends and Topics #1 – Automation

Automation is nothing new. IT management and ITSM solutions have been sold for decades based on the ability to automate previously manual activities for speedier and better outcomes, plus lower costs.

And now, in addition to traditional IT automation capabilities – such as scripts, process-workflow automation, and third-party system orchestration – AI, and in particular machine learning, is capable of extending and enhancing automation capabilities.

Automation is not only a valued topic for ITSM.tools readers, Service Desk Institute (SDI) research also shows it to be a key influencer of new ITSM tool selection.

Hot ITSM Trends and Topics #2 – AI

It’s surprising that this wasn’t in pole position for ITSM trends and topics, but then again the phrase “AI and automation” is becoming more common. There’s no doubt that ITSM tool vendors will be increasingly creating and sharing content related to AI in 2018 – whether it’s native AI capabilities (home grown or acquired), integrations with third-party solution providers, or newer ITSM tool vendors that start with AI as a unique selling point (USP).

Hot ITSM Trends and Topics #3 – Digital Transformation

There’s no doubt that a key ITSM challenge for 2018 will be delivering against the business need for “digital transformation” – from generating new revenues (driven by technology and data), providing better customer engagement capabilities, and the need to bring corporate back-office operations into the 21st century.

Hot ITSM Trends and Topics #4 – ITSM “Advanced” and CX (in joint 4th)

While organizations continue to move on past the ITSM “basics” – related to service-desk operations in the main – to more “advanced” capabilities, the CX will suffer. If only because ITSM activities are bogged down in reactive activities rather than maturing to be more proactive.

Hot Topic #5 – DevOps, ITIL, Metrics, and Self-Service (in joint 5th)

Nothing new here in ITSM Trends and Topics terms. Well, OK there is with DevOps still. And, importantly, ITSM pros still have the opportunity to play a much bigger role in their organizations’ DevOps initiatives. Getting more from ITIL is hopefully something that the “ITIL 2018” lead architect team at AXELOS will address with its forthcoming update (and I’m confident that they will).