As the shift towards digital accelerates, a growing number of organizations have used IT to add value to their business and gain a competitive advantage. Users within these companies rely on IT departments for many essential services related to workstations, Internet, e-mail, software and more.
How can you know what services an IT department offers? If you answered “IT service catalogue,” you’ve hit the bull’s eye.
Our experts will explain in detail what an IT service catalogue is.
Definition of IT service catalogue
According to ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library), an IT service catalogue is “a database or structured document with information about all live IT services, including those available for deployment.”
In other words, it is a digital, organized and searchable database of the services offered by an IT department with the goal of creating a single source of information about their IT services. This is done through a directory that every user can consult to find out how to access the IT service they are looking for in a timely manner. It is usually managed and kept up to date via a customizable ITSM solution such as iTop.
The two faces of an IT service catalogue
There are two sides of an IT service catalogue: the user (usually an employee) and the internal IT department. Typically, both of these are part of the same IT service management solution.
The service catalogue from the user’s point of view
The user can generally access the service catalogue through a service portal on the company’s website or an intranet portal.
This portal presents the available services in common, easy-to-understand terms instead of technical jargon. The company’s employees can consult the catalogue when they encounter a technical problem and require a certain level of IT support.
Every catalogue entry should therefore ideally provide service information, including specific tips that help address potential problems.
The service catalogue from the IT department’s point of view
The more technical content of the IT service catalogue is only accessible by the IT department. This includes documentation on the steps required to provide each service to end users.
Other information available to IT specialists:
- Name and description of each service
- Service category
- Person responsible for each service
- Service contract between the company and any potential service provider
- Users authorized to request services
- Any approvals required prior to providing the service
- Service agreement defining delivery times
- Any other technical information necessary to provide the service effectively
Benefits of an IT service catalogue
Organizations that use IT service catalogues save a lot of time by ensuring that employees can easily request the services they need within the organization. The catalogue information may even allow employees to solve the problem themselves.
IT service catalogues also standardize the IT services used, leading to improved productivity due to faster problem solving and better assignment of technical support staff.
Does your business need an IT service catalogue?
That sums up what you need to know about IT service catalogues. You should now ask yourself the following question: “Does my business need an IT service catalogue?”
For any concerns, why not ask our experts for help? SEI Team can help your business succeed by offering advice on IT support and solutions.
Contact us today!