In thinking about the latest happenings in the ITSM product industry (a.k.a. watching ServiceNow take over the market), I couldn’t help but wonder “where are we going?”  Most importantly, I’ve begun to wonder, “what’s next?”  It wasn’t too long ago in which we had a good amount of players in the product space that pretty much seemed to pass clients back and forth.  BMC, CA, HP, IBM…all top companies that have a long history of software development.  Please keep in mind that I’m not stating any product is better than any other; I still like the feel of CA Service Desk, and I always hear about BMC Remedy being a great product.  I simply have most of my experience on ServiceNow.  Despite that experience, and what other people may view as my fan-boy affinity for the product, I hold the belief that no technology will ever stay permanently on top.  Case in point, look at how only a few years ago Blackberry was the number 1 selling smart-phone and the iPhone and Android were lucky to even have a slice of the profits.  The same goes with Dell, Microsoft, and even Apple prior to the first fall.  No matter what, new and different technologies will rise to overtake the top performers.  It’s a cycle that simply will never stop.

Based on the fact that the tides of change are ever present, I’ve been wondering where technology will take us in ITSM.  It’s very obvious that much of the way we work is going mobile, so maybe it’s time for ITSM to do the same.  And I’m not referring to add-on apps for existing tools, or even HTML 5 based web portals to make the front-end work better on a mobile device.  No…I want to see an ITSM product that’s designed and developed solely for the mobile platform.  In fact, I would like to not only see mobile, but something built with a core of social media.  After all, if people are social creatures, doesn’t it make sense to make the tools with a foundation in social IT?

As I’m calling out for a new ITSM platform built with mobile and social in mind, I would like to bring attention to the fact that it’s not impossible that a current vendor won’t come out with a solution like the one I (briefly) described.  After all, it’s entirely probable software companies will simply adjust to the changing market and as their products evolve, they’ll evolve towards the mobile and social union.  Where I see difficulty is the lack of foundation for such products.  So far, nothing out there was built around social IT or for mobility.  Sure, some of the vendors have incorporated those aspects into their solutions, but it’s along the lines of add-ons and enhancements and not as a basis for fundamental ITSM workflow.

So there you have it – a fundamental request to all the developers and vendors out there in ITSM product land.  Will anyone come along to provide a product that can upset the IT world in such a way?  Maybe.  If they do, then I’ll have yet another chance to brag “I told you so” to my colleagues and peers.  If not, I won’t worry about it since opinions and ideas change and this can be passed off as another idealistic blog post.

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Started working in IT in 1999 as a support desk analyst as a way to help pay for food during college. Studied Electrical Engineering for two years before realizing biochemistry was more fun than differential equations, and so ultimately graduated with a Biology degree in 2006. Having (reluctantly) failed at getting accepted into dental school, embraced working in IT and has gone broke becoming an ITIL Expert. Likes to jog, sing camp songs, quote Mel Brooks movie lines and make dumb jokes and loves working for an Israeli tech company where December 25th is a regular work day.