It Service Management - White Paper

IT Service Management (ITSM) is a way of viewing IT services from the perspective of the customer. Customers have a holistic view of IT services. If their computer doesn't connect to a server, they don't know whether the problem is with the server, the network, or their computer, all they know if that they are experiencing a service disruption. The goal of ITSM is to manage the various IT systems that deliver that a service to customers in a way that enables IT management to make reasonable assurances regarding the reliability of that service. For example, if that service depends on five components, each with a reliability of 99%, the service itself has 95% reliability (since there is a 5% chance that one of the components has a problem).