Managing Director
IT Operations Management (ITOM)
ITOM: IT Operations Management (ITOM for short) comprises all processes and measures that are necessary for the stable, efficient and secure operation of a company's entire IT infrastructure.
- Last update: 16.04.2025
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ITOM - Key Takeaways
| Subject area | Description |
|---|---|
| Stable IT operations as the basis for business | IT Operations Management (ITOM) ensures the smooth operation of the IT infrastructure through monitoring, automation and error prevention - a key prerequisite for a stable and scalable business. |
| Higher customer satisfaction through reliable services | Through early error detection, less downtime and better performance, ITOM helps to improve the user experience and increase customer satisfaction in the long term. |
| Efficient management of complex IT landscapes | Modern ITOM solutions enable centralized control of cloud and on-premises systems and facilitate the management of hybrid IT environments. |
| Strong IT organization through automation | ITOM relieves IT teams by automating repetitive tasks and creates space for strategic tasks, making the entire IT organization more efficient. |
| Seamless integration with ITSM for a holistic experience | In conjunction with IT Service Management (ITSM), ITOM ensures that not only the provision but also the technical operation of IT services functions optimally. |
What is IT Operations Management (ITOM)?
The term ITOM is the abbreviation for IT Operations Management and refers to all activities and processes that are essential for operating IT infrastructures efficiently and ensuring the availability of IT services.
ITOM measures include the monitoring of system statuses, the management of system events and the maintenance of configuration and inventory data. In this way, faults can be detected at an early stage, their effects minimized and a Continuous IT operation be ensured.
In addition, the Automation of routine processes is playing an increasingly important role in reducing operating costs and avoiding manual errors. This is a particularly important factor in highly complex IT landscapes and modern cloud infrastructures.
IT operations management solutions also help with this, Control IT processes uniformly and adapt them flexibly to new requirements - for example, when integrating new systems, managing hybrid IT environments or dealing with growing data volumes. They promote smooth processes, create more transparency in operations and facilitate collaboration between different departments and teams.
The exact structure of ITOM can vary depending on the size of the company and the industry, but the focus is always on the Organization and control of the technical processes required to reliably provide IT services.
ITOM thus serves as a kind of Connecting element between the underlying infrastructure and the IT services based on it that companies use in their day-to-day routines. The overriding goal is always to ensure availability, performance and quality.
Important advantages for companies
IT Operations Management (ITOM) creates the basis for stable, efficient and transparent IT operations - and thus offers companies decisive added value in day-to-day operations and in the strategic further development of their IT.
Standardized processes, automation and end-to-end monitoring of IT systems allow downtimes to be reduced, resources to be used more efficiently and sources of error to be identified more quickly. At the same time, ITOM enables better planning, greater security and a noticeable reduction in the workload of IT teams, who can concentrate on strategic tasks.
The most important advantages include:
Higher availability and stability of IT systems: ITOM helps to reduce unplanned downtime by identifying and resolving problems at an early stage.
Efficient use of resources: Intelligent monitoring and targeted capacity planning allow both hardware and software resources to be optimally utilized.
Cost control and planning security: The comprehensive transparency of IT resources and processes enables sound budget planning and better expenditure control.
Automation of repetitive tasks: Standardized routine processes such as system checks or configuration changes can be carried out automatically, which saves time and reduces errors.
Better basis for decision-making through real-time data: ITOM continuously provides up-to-date information on the status of the systems and thus supports well-founded decisions at management level.
Support for IT security and compliance: Systematic monitoring, complete documentation and clear access rules allow security risks to be identified at an early stage and compliance requirements to be better met.
The role of ITOM in ServiceNow
As part of the ServiceNow platform, ITOM an integral part of the IT service management strategy and comprises several powerful modules that help companies to operate their IT infrastructure transparently, automatically and efficiently. ServiceNow ITOM helps to proactively monitor IT environments, identify sources of error, automate processes and provide services seamlessly.
Discovery
The Discovery module automatically scans networks, servers, applications and cloud environments and recognizes all IT components ("configuration items", or CIs for short). This information is stored in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) centrally documented - including their relationships and dependencies.
Event Management
Event Management collects event data from various monitoring systems and brings it together in a central interface. With the help of Correlation techniques and prioritization mechanisms irrelevant "noise" events are hidden so that only really critical incidents that could affect IT operations are highlighted and forwarded.
Service Mapping
With service mapping, all IT components such as servers, databases and applications are automatically linked with each other - This allows you to see at a glance how they work together. Particularly practical: if a system fails, Service Mapping immediately shows which other services are affected.
Operational Intelligence
Through the use of Machine Learning Operational Intelligence evaluates large volumes of current and historical system data. Typical system behaviour patterns are recognized and it can be determined if something deviates from them - such deviations are called Anomalies. These are detected automatically and can be issued as warning messages at an early stage. This means that potential faults or failures can be identified in advance and prevented in a targeted manner.
Cloud management
Thanks to the integrated cloud management, cloud resources such as storage space, computing power or applications can be centrally. This allows companies to maintain an overview of their cloud usage at all times, control costs better and provide new resources more quickly.
ITOM vs. ITSM: differences at a glance
Although IT Operations Management (ITOM) and IT Service Management (ITSM) are closely related, they pursue different goals. ITSM focuses on the provision and management of IT services for end users, while ITOM is concerned with the operational management of the underlying infrastructure.
ITSM is a process-oriented approach that organizes IT services optimized for end users and business processes. The focus here is on clearly defined processes such as incident or opportunity management, which ensure that support processes are optimized and susceptibility to faults is reduced. The primary goal is to improve service quality.
ITOM, on the other hand, focuses on the Technical management of the IT infrastructure to ensure its stability and performance for ITSM. This includes the following areas, among others:
Monitoring (detection of server problems)
Capacity planning (resources for peak loads)
Automation (e.g. automatic backups)
The difference between ITOM and ITSM is therefore primarily in perspective: While ITSM focuses on the user experience and aims to provide the best possible service for users, ITOM ensures the technical stability of the underlying IT environment.
Frequently asked questions and answers
What is IT Operations Management (ITOM)?
IT Operations Management (ITOM) is an area of IT that deals with the operational businessmaintenance and monitoring of IT infrastructures. The aim is to ensure the stable and secure operation of all IT systems.
What is ServiceNow ITOM?
ServiceNow ITOM is a specialized module within the ServiceNow platform that helps companies to Management of your IT infrastructure supported. Among other things, it enables the automatic recognition of IT assets, real-time monitoring of systems and intelligent error analysis using AI-supported functions.
What does an IT operations manager do?
An IT Operations Manager is responsible for the Monitoring and control of a company's IT infrastructure. They coordinate IT teams, implement and manage monitoring systems, rectify technical faults and ensure that day-to-day IT operations run smoothly, securely and efficiently in order to minimize downtime and optimize system performance.
What is Operations Management in the IT industry?
In the IT industry, operations management can be defined as the targeted Control and optimization of all processes relating to IT operations.
