Home > Articles > Software Development & Management

System Center 2012 Service Management Basics

This chapter from System Center 2012 Service Manager Unleashed introduces System Center Service Manager. Service Manager provides user-centric support, enables data center management efficiency, and enables you to align to your organization’s business goals and adapt to ever-changing business requirements.
This chapter is from the book

System Center 2012 Service Manager is an integrated platform for automating and adapting information technology service management (ITSM) best practices, such as those found in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF), to your organization’s requirements. Service Manager provides built-in processes for Incident Management, Problem Management, Change Management, Service Request Fulfillment, Release Management, Knowledge Management, and Configuration Management. It includes a service catalog, dashboards, and reporting.

As an ITSM solution, Service Manager uses its configuration management database (CMDB) and process integration to help deliver IT as a service. Service Manager automatically connects knowledge and information from System Center Orchestrator, System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM), System Center Operations Manager, System Center Configuration Manager, and Active Directory (AD) Domain Services. Service Manager provides the following capabilities to deliver integration, efficiency, and business alignment for your Information Technology (IT) services:

  • Integrating process and knowledge across System Center: Through its integration capabilities with other System Center components, Service Manager provides an integrated service management platform. This helps reduce downtime and improve the quality of services in the data center.
  • Providing an accurate and relevant knowledge base: Knowledge base information resides in the CMDB; this contains product and user knowledge that enables IT analysts to quickly identify and resolve incidents. The knowledge base also assists end users, who can use the self-service portal (SSP) to search for information to help solve issues. Organizations can create and manage their own knowledge base articles and make this information accessible to IT analysts and end users.
  • Lowering costs and improving responsiveness: As IT organizations increasingly must become more efficient and do more with less, Service Manager’s capabilities can help improve end user satisfaction. Service Manager improves end user satisfaction in two ways:

    • By enabling self-service for end users
    • By implementing ITIL process and standards such as Incident Management, Problem Management, and Knowledge Management

    These increase the service team’s responsiveness to end users and lower costs by facilitating better standards within IT.

  • Improving business alignment: Service Manager helps your organization align with its business goals and adapt to new requirements through its configuration management, compliance, risk management, reporting, and analysis capabilities.
  • Delivering immediate value with built-in process management packs: Included with Service Manager are core process management packs for Incident Management, Problem Management, Service Request Fulfillment, Change Management, Release Management, Configuration Management, and Knowledge Management.
  • Automating processes: Service Manager helps automate repetitive, simple, and manual processes through integration with System Center Orchestrator. Examples of automation with Orchestrator include creating user accounts, resetting passwords, creating databases, provisioning virtual machines, and more.
  • Offering IT as a Service (ITaaS): Through its service catalog, Service Manager can meet ITIL Service Request Fulfillment functionality. This enables IT departments to offer an effective and efficient means for handling service requests from end users. The service catalog consists of service offerings and request offerings published via the SSP.

This chapter introduces System Center Service Manager. Various abbreviations include SCSM, SM, and Service Manager; this book uses the nomenclature of Service Manager. Service Manager provides user-centric support, enables data center management efficiency, and enables you to align to your organization’s business goals and adapt to ever-changing business requirements.

Ten Reasons to Use Service Manager

Why should you use Service Manager 2012 in the first place? How does this make your daily life easier? Although this book covers the features and benefits of Service Manager in detail, it definitely helps to have some quick ideas to illustrate why Service Manager is worth a look!

Consider ten compelling reasons why you might want to use Service Manager:

  1. Your support desk is overwhelmed with manually entering user requests...24/7 while end users are demanding self-service and cloud services.
  2. You realize service desk management would be much simpler if you had visibility and information for all your systems on a single console.
  3. You discover email is down when upper management calls the service desk. Although this mechanism is effective in getting your attention, it is stress inducing and not particularly proactive.
  4. You would be more productive if you weren’t dealing with user issues all day...and night. And during lunch and vacation.
  5. The bulk of your department’s budget pays for teams of contractors to manage user support and the service desk when self-service and automation could cut down on this and relieve IT to focus on more strategic tasks.
  6. You’re tired of going through each of your servers looking for reports you need on your client, server, physical, and virtual environments.
  7. Your system admins are patching and updating production systems during business hours, often bringing down servers in the process.
  8. By the time you update your user documentation, everything has changed and you have to start all over again!
  9. You can’t stay on top of adapting to your organization’s business needs when you’re not sure of your current capabilities.
  10. You don’t have the time to write down all the troubleshooting information that is in your brain, and your boss is concerned you might be hit by a truck (or want to take that vacation). This probably is not the best way to support end users.

While somewhat tongue-in-cheek, these topics represent real problems for many IT managers and support staff. If you are one of these individuals, you owe to it yourself to explore how you can leverage Service Manager to solve many of these common issues. These pain points are common to almost all users of Microsoft technologies to some degree, and Service Manager holds solutions for all of them.

However, perhaps the most important reason for using Service Manager is the peace of mind it can bring, knowing that you have complete visibility and control of your IT systems. The productivity this can bring to your organization is a tremendous benefit as well.

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020