Service Manager Aids IT Process Standardization

System Center 2012 Service Manager became available in Apr. 2012. The update to Microsoft’s first trouble ticketing and process automation product includes new features for standard IT processes such as release management and reporting. Service Manager has also been updated to integrate with other System Center 2012 suite components, and it is no longer available separately. Service Manager is still a relatively young product, and many companies already have similar solutions in place.

Service Manager Standardizes Operations

Microsoft has modeled its management tools and technologies around a set of IT operational process guidelines known as the Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF). The MOF is based on the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), a set of concepts and policies that are generally accepted as comprehensive documentation of best practices for IT service management and facilities planning. System Center products, such as Configuration Manager and Operations Manager, provide elements that help implement MOF, but they don’t assist or enforce MOF human workflows and processes. System Center Service Manager fills that gap by providing three major functions: incident and problem management, asset life-cycle management, and change management.