Service Desk Articles

ITIL 4 explained

ITIL 4 Explained: Framework, Practices, and Key Changes

Akshay Anand, Lead Architect for the ITIL update, gives the lowdown on ITIL 4: the new service value system, the four dimensions, the updated guiding principles originally found in ITIL Practitioner, and the change from processes to practices. ITSM changed with ITIL 4, and it will continue to change. This article covers what practitioners still need to know.
Context-Aware Remote Support

Context-Aware Remote Support – the Future of IT Service Management

No matter where an employee is, they expect consumer-grade speed and simplicity. However, their issues are increasingly intertwined with complex networks of devices, SaaS applications, VPNs, and networks that you may not fully control. In this article, discover how context-aware remote support closes the IT resolution gap, reduces MTTR, improves security, and transforms ITSM for hybrid work.
What is ITIL?

What Is ITIL? Complete Definition, Benefits, & Evolution (2026 Guide)

A short primer on ITIL 4 and ITIL v5 for anyone getting up to speed quickly. From what it is to the key elements that comprise the latest ITIL 4 service management best practice guidance, this article covers what practitioners need to know to work with the framework, plus where to go for the deeper detail once the basics are in.
ITSM Tools List

Comprehensive ITSM Tools List 2026: Compare Top ITSM Platforms

Are you looking for a new IT service management (ITSM) tool? If so, do you know what your options are? Here we provide an overview of 42 ITSM tools to suit organizations of all different sizes and ITSM maturity.
ITSM explained - what is ITSM?

What is ITSM? Definition, Benefits, and Best Practices (2026 Guide)

What is ITSM? Why is it important? What are its benefits, and what are the quick wins? This article covers the essentials for anyone building or evaluating an ITSM function, from the definition and its history to the practical outcomes IT teams can expect once the discipline is running properly across the organization.
Service Model Development Using ITIL 4

Service Model Development Using ITIL 4 for Effective Service Delivery

If you’re a large organization, or an IT service provider offering services to large enterprises, reviewing your standard service model on a regular basis is imperative to keep it aligned with your business and IT strategy. Graham Heard explains why the review is essential, and how to create a service model if you don’t already have one in place.
Kotter Change Management

Kotter Change Management: How to Apply the 8 Steps Successfully

Kotter’s 8-step Model is one of the most widely adopted approaches to change management globally. This article walks through what each of the eight steps involves, how they connect, and how ITSM and change enablement teams can put the model to work without reducing it to a checklist. It also covers where the model is most often misapplied.
Define, Measure, and Report IT Service Availability

How to Define, Measure, and Report IT Service Availability That Truly Reflects Customer Value

To measure, document, and report IT service availability in ways that are useful to your organization and its customers, you need to do two things. Stuart Rance walks through what those two things are, why the standard availability reports most organizations produce fail to give a useful picture, and how to get to something better.
ITIL 4 Service Value Chain

ITIL 4 Service Value Chain: Model, Activities, and Examples

Daniel Breston takes a closer look at the ITIL 4 Service Value Chain and asks you to observe and consider what the framework depicts against the way you deliver value with technology-based solutions today. A practical prompt to test whether the model is describing what your organization does, or what it thinks it does.
Service Desk Best Practices

Service Desk Best Practices: What to Do When Users Don’t Respond

How should a service desk deal with end user unresponsiveness? Here we look at various opinions sourced from the Back2ITSM Facebook group. First in 2016 and now in 2023.
How to Reduce Service Desk Agent Stress

How to Reduce Service Desk Agent Stress: 11 Practical Tips for IT Support Teams

How do you start to dealing with service desk agent stress. Here you’ll find 11 tips to reduce stress based on latest GFI Research findings.
A Real Customer Support Lesson for ITSM Teams

When Service Desk Scripts Fail: How “Good” Customer Support Turns Bad

This article is about a personal customer support experience with a very successful online retailer and what IT support organizations can learn from it.
Technical Support Is Really Customer Support

Technical Support Is Really Customer Support (Here’s Why It Matters)

Let’s stop reinforcing the fact that technical support fixes IT, it really fixes the issues people have because IT isn’t working.
7 Fun Service Desk Tips

7 Fun Service Desk Tips from the Greatest Wizard of All Time

Ever wondered what sage IT service desk and IT service management advice Dumbledore would offer to IT support teams and personnel? Well here you go…
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.