If your business is looking to prioritize efficient cross-department service delivery, you are probably in the quest for reliable and feature-rich Enterprise Service Management (ESM) software.
It’s no secret that Enterprise Service Management is on everyone’s radar: this practice will make sure all service delivery is aligned with your overall company’s goals, which is no small task.
ESM plays a crucial role in driving a digital transformation strategy by enabling automation, integration, and a more data-driven approach to Service Management. Plus, it’s a great way to increase your company’s service desk software ROI!
Since ESM extends the principles of IT Service Management (ITSM) to other parts of the organization, it's expected that the tools employed from this area. Nonetheless, with sufficient adaptability, these solutions can be seamlessly integrated into other departments of the company.
To assist you in this quest, we have curated a list of the five best ESM suitable software options available today in the market. You must consider certain key features for a successful experience.
Making the wrong choice will compromise both your budget and your team, so read on to make sure you get it right!
Table of contents
- TL;DR
- Enterprise Service Management definition
- 5 best ESM software in the market
- 5 benefits of Enterprise Service Management
- 7 ESM must-have features
TL;DR
- ESM software provides a centralized platform to offer support services across different departments of an organization. It expands ITSM principles to other areas, contributing to unify Ticket Management and centralize metrics and knowledge.
- Key benefits include higher quality of the services provided, enhanced cross-area collaboration and decision making, and better alignment with overarching business objectives.
- Must-have ESM software features to look for are an intuitive interface, to encourage adoption across different areas, a centralized ticketing system, for customers to submit all their requests in one single platform, and omnichannel options to offer support through various channels.
Enterprise Service Management definition
Enterprise Service Management is the practice of using standardized processes, technologies, and tools to manage and deliver a wide range of services within an organization.
The approach extends the principles of IT Service Management beyond IT to other areas of the business, such as HR, finance, and customer service.
By leveraging ESM, organizations can streamline their operations, improve service delivery, and enhance overall efficiency.
Enterprise Service Management Tools encompass capabilities, features, and benefits such as filling in service management gaps, standardizing service delivery across the business, enhancing service delivery outside of IT, providing self-service tools (such as the self-service portal and the knowledge base), and ensuring 24/7/365 access to the ESM portal for employees and customers.
Previously known as shared services, ESM guru and author Phyllis Drucker defines it as “every provider in the enterprise delivering service either through a global shared service center or individually but the same way, with the same tools.” Asked about it on our IT podcast Ticket Volume, she explained that the key lies in offering the same level of experience across the organization, regardless of the area providing the service.
5 best Enterprise Service Management software in the market
When it comes to Enterprise Service Management, there are several software options available in the market that can effectively support the implementation of these practices by ticking all or most of these boxes.
Here are 5 top service desk options suitable for ESM.
1. InvGate Service Management
InvGate Service Management is a comprehensive Service Management solution. Its easy-to-use interface and simple implementation is ideal to allow any non-technical users to request and offer services through it. It includes a wide range of features relevant to ESM Software:
- Cross-functional Service Management - Enables organizations to manage services across different business functions, allowing for the integration of IT, HR, Facilities, and more. The help desk structure is designed to allow you to branch them among all the areas in your organization and create different levels of service. InvGate Service Management can streamline processes and automate workflows in human resources, particularly in areas like onboarding and service requests.
- Service Catalog and Request Management - It provides you with the possibility to build a robust service catalog, enabling the creation and management of service offerings for different departments within an organization.
- Incident Management and Problem Management - These practices facilitate efficient issue resolution and root cause analysis. They are ideal for complex issues that involve and affect multiple areas. The best part is that you can build them as workflows to customize them to your organization’s specific needs.
- Knowledge Management - The solution promotes collaboration and knowledge sharing among teams, improving efficiency and reducing silos. It allows you to create knowledge base articles and attach them to different categories of the service catalog and to choose who can have access to them.
- Multiple channels of communication - You can offer omnichannel communication for the different areas across the organization.
- Customization - Create custom forms for each request in your service catalog that meets the needs of each area.
- Integrations - It includes native and third-party integrations, such as InvGate Asset Management, Microsoft Teams, and Zapier. Plus, a free API that allows you to connect your services to each area’s most used applications. This will help you with certain processes that include multiple departments, such as onboarding. It allows you to create complex workflows for Ticket Management.
- AI capabilities - Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities, such as Response Suggestions and Support Assist, can help train agents and provide the same level of service across multiple areas.
InvGate Service Management has all the capabilities and power needed to boost services across the whole organization. And that’s exactly what Peoples Bank and the retailer Farmacity did.
The first currently handles more than 65 help desks across ten areas of the company, while the second one onboarded 24 departments and almost eliminated the use of email to submit requests.
2. ServiceNow
ServiceNow overview
ServiceNow is a leading Enterprise Service Management platform known for its extensive Service Management capabilities and scalability. It offers features such as IT Service Management, Enterprise Service Integration, automation, workflows, reporting, and analytics.
These functionalities are designed to be customized to meet your specific organizational needs. However, some users have reported that the learning curve for ServiceNow can be steep, especially for non-technical users.
ServiceNow alternatives
- ServiceNow vs. ManageEngine
- ServiceNow vs. Freshservice
- ServiceNow vs. Ivanti Neurons
- ServiceNow vs. Cherwell
- ServiceNow vs. Jira
- ServiceNow vs. SolarWinds
- ServiceNow vs. SysAid
- ServiceNow vs. BMC Helix
- ServiceNow vs. TOPdesk
- ServiceNow vs. Aranda Service Management
- ServiceNow vs. Zendesk
- ServiceNow vs. SymphonyAI Summit
- ServiceNow vs. EasyVista
- ServiceNow vs. TeamDynamix
3. Jira Service Management
Jira Service Management overview
Jira Service Management is a popular service desk solution that offers features suitable for ESM implementation. It is highly regarded for its agile project management capabilities, and provides excellent ticketing and issue tracking functionalities, allowing for efficient task management.
We can highlight its ITIL-based Service Management, cross-functional collaboration, self-service portal, automation, and SLA Management. Keep in mind that it's interface can be overwhelming and not very intuitive for beginners, so it requires some time to get adapted to.
Jira Service Management alternatives
- Jira Service Management vs. Freshservice
- Jira Service Management vs. ServiceNow
- Jira Service Management vs. Ivanti Neurons
- Jira Service Management vs. Cherwell
- Jira Service Management vs. ManageEngine
- Jira Service Management vs. SolarWinds
- Jira Service Management vs. TOPdesk
- Jira Service Management vs. Aranda Service Management
- Jira Service Management vs. BMC Helix
- Jira Service Management vs. Zendesk
- Jira Service Management vs. SymphonyAI Summit
- Jira Service Management vs. EasyVista
- Jira Service Management vs. TeamDynamix
4. Freshservice
Freshservice overview
Freshservice is a cloud-based service desk software that offers features aligned with ESM requirements. It is known for its user-friendly interface and intuitive design. It offers a simple and visually appealing user experience, making it easy for both agents and end-users to navigate and use the software.
Among its main functionalities, you will find an intuitive self-service portal, Incident and Problem Management, Knowledge Management, and a unified service catalog. On the other hand, you might find limitations in their customization options. While the out-of-the-box features are user-friendly, there may be constraints in tailoring the software to specific organizational workflows and requirements.
Freshservice alternatives
- Freshservice vs. ServiceNow
- Freshservice vs. Jira
- Freshservice vs. Ivanti Neurons
- Freshservice vs. Cherwell
- Freshservice vs. ManageEngine
- Freshservice vs. Zendesk
- Freshservice vs. SolarWinds
- Freshservice vs. Aranda Service Management
- Freshservice vs. BMC Helix
- Freshservice vs. TOPdesk
- Freshservice vs. SysAid
- Freshservice vs. SymphonyAI Summit
- Freshservice vs. EasyVista
- Freshservice vs. TeamDynamix
5. BMC Helix ITSM
BMC Helix overview
BMC Helix ITSM is an enterprise-grade IT Service Management Tool that can support ESM initiatives effectively. It is recognized powerful workflow automation and integration options, allowing organizations to streamline their IT service management processes and improve operational efficiency.
It also includes some key features such as multi-cloud Service Management, service catalog, Request Management, Change Management, and powerful reporting and analytics. However, it may require dedicated resources and expertise to set up the software properly, which can be a challenge for smaller organizations or those with limited resources.
BMC Helix alternatives
- BMC Helix vs. ServiceNow
- BMC Helix vs. Solarwinds
- BMC Helix Aranda Service Management
- BMC Helix vs. Ivanti
- BMC Helix vs. Cherwell
- BMC Helix vs. Jira
- BMC Helix vs. ManageEngine
- BMC Helix vs. TOPdesk
- BMC Helix vs. SysAid
- BMC Helix vs. SymphonyAI Summit
- BMC Helix vs. EasyVista
5 benefits of ESM System
As you can imagine, standardizing processes across the entire business to provide a common experience has multiple benefits in itself. By applying Service Management principles to various departments and functional areas such as HR, finance, procurement, and customer service, organizations can achieve a unified approach to service delivery and optimize business processes.
In fact, the Washington state community bank Peoples Bank tried this approach and the IT Service Desk Manager ensures: “We have been able to essentially achieve support synergy. There is a single place to go, not 23 different email accounts, and we love the new portal experience. That is an absolute game changer. We are one full support department now, which is amazing, even though it’s spanning so many groups and teams. It’s one place to go for help. And from an end user perspective, that’s just amazing.”
In a nutshell, there are seven most relevant advantages of implementing an ESM approach:
- Enhanced service delivery - A change in mindset combined with a fit-for-purpose tool not only facilitates issue resolution but improves the quality of the services provided. Unifying the service process will make a better experience for end-users as they can solve all their issues from one single platform.
- Cross-area collaboration - ESM Tools promotes collaboration and communication among different departments on a common platform. Encouraging cross-functional interaction leads to better coordination, knowledge sharing, and better problem-solving.
- Improved decision-making - By leveraging integrated Service Management data, organizations can analyze trends, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions to optimize service delivery and resource allocation.
- Better resource allocation - As it allows organizations to effectively allocate resources based on business priorities, it provides visibility into resource availability, utilization, and demand. This can be achieved by building multiple help desks in the same tool, creating workflows to collaborate in Request Management, and a knowledge base available to agents across the organization.
- Alignment with business objectives - With a solid ESM strategy, organizations can ensure that service delivery supports the strategic goals and priorities of the company, leading to better business outcomes.
7 Enterprise Service Management Tools must-have features
Since ESM is an expansion of the IT Service Management framework into other areas of the company, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the tools used for this purpose primarily belong to that area. However, with enough flexibility, they can easily adapt to other areas of the company.
Thus, to be considered suitable for ESM, a software solution must provide a range of indispensable capabilities. These features are essential for streamlining Service Management:
- Accessible user experience (UX) - ESM software should offer an intuitive and user-friendly interface, ensuring that even less tech-savvy agents can use it without extensive training. A simplified UX reduces onboarding time, enhances productivity, and encourages adoption across different departments.
- Self-service capabilities - They are designed to empower users by allowing them to solve simple issues on their own through knowledge bases. And for those cases that they need help from an agent, they can easily submit and follow requests on a self-service portal across multiple departments.
- Ticketing capabilities - The software should offer a comprehensive ticketing system that allows for the creation, assignment, and tracking of tickets throughout their lifecycle, ensuring timely and efficient issue resolution. This is the ABC of any service, but in the case of ESM, it’s key to improve collaboration among areas and allowing customers to submit all their requests in one single platform.
- Multiple help desk integration - To cater to the diverse needs of different departments within an organization, software should support the creation of multiple help desks. This feature enables each department to have its own customized environment, tailored to their specific requirements.
- Workflow automation - Enterprise workflow automation is a great way to automate coordinated tasks across departments, such as employee onboarding. By eliminating manual interventions, it improves efficiency and reduces errors.
- Omnichannel options - Omnichannel capabilities allow users to access services and support through various channels like email, chat, phone, or Microsoft Teams.
- Reporting and analytics - Robust reporting and analytics functionalities enable organizations to gain insights into overall service performance, identify bottlenecks, and make decisions based on real data.
To sum up
Enterprise Service Management has changed how organizations approach service delivery and cross-functional collaboration. The right ESM software creates no less than standardized processes across the whole enterprise, making processes simpler and more transparent.
Additionally, ESM helps standardize service delivery across various business functions such as HR, finance, legal, and facilities, enhancing the user experience outside of IT.
It must also make the agent’s job more efficient and easier and help employees solve their issues faster. Unified metrics will allow your organization to have a better understanding of its overall Service Management and make improvements for the future.
As the whole service market is being driven to ESM, it has become essential to expand ITSM processes to the rest of the organization. These solutions empower businesses to adapt swiftly to evolving market conditions, optimize resource utilization, and ultimately deliver superior value to customers.
So, ask for InvGate Service Management’s 30 day free trial and start implementing ESM across your organization!
