By Troy - The AttivaSoft Blog Team

In a fast paced, ever changing IT industry, when is enough, enough?  Just when you thought you had a handle on the BMC ITSM 7.x suite with its streamlined Incident/Problem, Change, Asset & CMDB processes, here comes BMC SRM (Service Request Management). 

I know it was difficult to get the various groups to buy into adopting the flow of ITIL, but, people have to realize the importance a well defined Service Catalog holds not just within IT, but within an organization. Users require the ability to have a one stop shop, a place they can simply go to browse the Services available to them within a company; Software/Hardware requests, telephone access, company credit cards, parking spaces and the list goes on. 

When an SRM implementation has been done properly, the outcome is a streamlined group of processes that save time and money for an organization and users that appreciate the system they are interfacing with. It’s my opinion that the SRM application should be pushed with the various parts of the ITSM suite as a phased approach.  Service Request Management being the whipped cream on the sundae of course, the finishing touch, the final segment of an organizations ITSM implementation. 

SRM, when looked at from a birds eye view should help the user to understand the differing parts of the ITSM architecture and the way they can be combined to comprise a process.  Users would no longer have to submit different requests in order to accomplish one goal.  An example of this would be a new employee hire process;

1. Parking space
2. Building access
3. Email account
4. Phone extension
5. Desktop computer
6. Payroll setup
7. Name tag 

The new hire process should be represented as one available entry within the service catalog that hides the multiple application objects being kicked off on the backend in order for the Request to be completed. Not only am I suggesting that SRM should be considered an add-on to any ITSM implementation, I’m suggesting that the design of an organizations Service catalog is a serious business that involves serious consideration and interdepartmental feedback/involvement is a must. 

Ultimately, SRM is here to stay as long as customers see the potential it offers. For more information on SRM please contact us at info@attivasoft.com