To many CIOs, holding on to old IT Service Management (ITSM) infrastructure is a sensible way to preserve budget. Are they wrong or right? Does your business use HP Service Manager (HPSM)?
“I’m quite happy sweating our assets, thanks very much.”
If you’ve ever used this phrase, chances are you’re one of those IT leaders who hang on as long as possible to legacy ITSM infrastructure. For example, we’ve seen businesses hold onto HP Service Manager for many years past its shelf life.
Notoriously, the banking industry is still using COBOL systems written in the 1960s. But most IT environments accept that systems – laptops, desktops, servers, networks – need to be recycled even five to seven years or so. (And to be fair to the banks, they do at least port that old spaghetti code on to new iron every decade or so.)
The problem is that, in the wake of the long global recession we’ve been working through, those five to seven years are getting stretched. Many businesses cling onto legacy ITSM systems, seeing it as extracting all the value out of the investment sunk into them.
…it’s believed as much as 38% of ITSM migration
projects end badly.
There’s two issues here. One, you will end up paying a lot for that decision, as you need to keep patching and maintaining stuff really not built for the latest operating systems and software. And two, you’re really preventing yourself from taking advantage of the innovation and extended functionality of more modern IT; research carried out by Vanson Bourne, 9 out of 10 IT heads claim legacy systems are preventing them from harnessing the digital technologies required to grow and become more efficient, for instance.
Given that CIOs aren’t stupid, there must be some method in this madness. And there is, of course; folks are scared of the disruption and risk of a migration project. That makes sense, as it’s believed as much as 38% of ITSM migration projects end badly.
The good news is that a more flexible approach that can minimise any potential at all of mess or disruption. This is in the shape of a good migration partner, which, if allied with robust SLAs and KPIs can easily keep ITSM migration projects on track and under budget. You can get there by only partnering with a company that can prove to you it has talented, qualified and experienced staff, alongside good partner accreditations and industry-standard ways of delivering your project, such as ITIL, PMP, PRINCE2, and Six Sigma, for example.
…9 out of 10 IT heads claim legacy systems are
preventing them from harnessing the digital
technologies required to grow and become
more efficient…
The reality is that ITSM migration is a nettle you have to grasp at some point, as it’s only by finally moving away from restrictive legacy systems and migrating to the new, best technology out there that you’ll be able to seize opportunity. We are finding ServiceNow (SNow) a very powerful solution to this relatively common problem.
It’s time to stop sweating tired assets – and instead, make someone else sweat and migrate you to a better future.