People Articles

Two portraits set into vintage washing machine windows, illustrating AI and humanising IT

A Process Is Still a Conversation: Humanising Service Management

Simone Jo Moore has spent decades arguing that the human sits at the center of every IT process, every tool rollout, every supplier relationship. In her Conversations with Giants episode, she talks about AI as a creative muse and a way to clear the drudgery, why SIAM is a relationship problem at heart, and why she’s still waiting for the industry to drop the dogma and get more honest about the people doing the work.
Cartoon child dressed as a superhero standing in a server room representing ITSM heroics culture

Why ITSM Heroics Are Hurting Your Organization

From ancient myths to modern workplaces, we’ve always admired the people who step into chaos and save the day. In ITSM, that mindset plays out when organizations reward the person who resolves the crisis while ignoring the systemic issues that caused it. Alexandros Christias covers why ITSM heroics persist and how to shift recognition from firefighting to prevention.
Two portrait photos pinned to a corkboard covered in colorful notes and papers, representing Daniel Breston and the service management story

Want to Get Service Management Right? Grab a Post-it!

What is service management, really? Daniel Breston’s answer isn’t a framework, and it doesn’t need one. It’s a single question, picked up from his first CEO walking a Houston bank with a Post-it pad. This article unpacks the question, why it still works four decades later, and why frameworks keep failing to capture what it captures immediately.
Illustrated figures standing on pillars of varying heights, representing simulation-based learning and decision-making in ITSM training

Why Simulation-based Learning Belongs in Every ITSM Program

Most ITSM training programs stop at the certificate, which is fine for proving someone knows the theory. It says nothing about what they’ll do at 2 a.m. under pressure to close the ticket. Henry Strouts argues the gap between knowing a practice and applying it under pressure is where simulation-based learning belongs, not as a replacement for training but as where teaching finally gets tested.
The ITSM Industry’s Repeating Failure Pattern

The ITSM Industry’s Repeating Failure Pattern

For over 20 years, ITSM has repeated the same failures. Through the ABC cards, Paul Wilkinson has spent decades tracing how culture, leadership, and behavior consistently derail success, not tools or frameworks. AI is now the latest shiny thing being sold to organizations that haven’t fixed the underlying pattern. This article looks at why the industry still hasn’t learned, and what it would take.
Neurodivergence in ITSM

Neurodivergence in ITSM: Why Being Called a “Legend” Feels Uncomfortable

This article by Daniel Breston is about neurodivergence in ITSM and was sparked (pardon the pun) by his attendance – and what he did and didn’t feel – at the Service Desk Institute (SDI) SPARK26 event.
What I Learned from SDI SPARK26

Superheroes, Service Desks, and Chaos Monkeys – What I Learned from SDI SPARK26

The Service Desk Institute held its annual SPARK conference in Birmingham in March. Vawns Murphy captures her pick of the best sessions, the presenters worth listening to a second time, and the practical takeaways that stood out over three days of talks. This article is her selected version of the event for anyone who couldn’t get there in person.
2026 ITSM Trends

2026 ITSM Trends: What the Community Actually Wants Help With

Every year we ask the ITSM community what topics they want help with, and the 2026 results are in. This article covers what the community is asking for, how priorities have changed over six years, and what it all means. Spoiler: GenAI has fallen off a cliff and nobody wants to talk about people anymore.
2026 ITSM Risks

The 2026 ITSM Risks Leaders Are Underestimating

The biggest ITSM risks for 2026 span four areas: people challenges, including exclusion and talent shortages, process maturity gaps in AI adoption, technology risks from unauthorized AI use and poor data quality, and value delivery failures from focusing on tools over outcomes.
2026 ITSM Content

2026 ITSM Content: What IT Service Management Topics Do You Need Most?

What do you need help with next year? Take our quick 2026 ITSM Topics poll to help shape the articles, guides, and practical content ITSM.tools puts out. The aggregated results also give us an early read on the hottest trends in ITSM right now, and where the industry conversation is heading in 2026.
Anti-Powernoia Guide

The Anti-Powernoia Practical Implementation Guide

A candid, experience-based guide to ITSM implementation failures caused by power and fear. Learn how Powernoia distorts ITIL practices, metrics, and tools – and what to measure instead to preserve dignity, trust, and real service excellence.
itSMF UK 2025

itSMF UK 2025: People Over Process, Finally

The itSMF UK 2025 conference has come and gone. In this personal reflection, Sophie Danby covers the standout sessions she attended, the themes that shaped the event, what worked, and where the programme could still be tightened for next year. A picture of what happened for anyone who couldn’t be there in person.
Sleepwalking into Exclusion

Sleepwalking into Exclusion: The Hidden ITSM Risk for 2026

When ITSM and other digital leaders discuss risks entering 2026, the conversation typically revolves around outages, cyber threats, rising costs, tooling, or vendor lock-in. These are all important risks. But they’re also predictable. David Barrow believes the ITSM risk we’re most underestimating is exclusion.
Why ITSM is Breaking People

Why ITSM is Breaking People (And What We Can Do)

We talk endlessly about processes, tools, and technology in ITSM. But here’s what we don’t talk about enough: the mental health of the people actually doing the work. The conversation is happening – there are posts about well-being, mental health awareness weeks, and workplace stress. But what about when it comes to the specific pressures of ITSM roles? Or the unique challenges teams face? This is where the conversation gets a bit thin. In this article, Sophie Danby explains what and how things need to change.
The Future of IT Is Human - Global IT Experience Benchmark Findings

The Future of IT Is Human – What We Learned from 130+ Countries

The HappySignals Global IT Experience Benchmark Report 2025, based on 2.28 million employee feedback responses from over 130 countries, is a comprehensive snapshot of how employees experience IT services and how organizations are using that data to create better, more people-centric support. This article explains more.