Business services refer to the actions/activities that help companies, but don’t always result in a tangible product. They are a part of the service industry and are essential to the success of businesses across the world.
In addition to helping businesses, business services also play an important role in their employees’ happiness and motivation. Here are some common business services given and used in different parts of the world:
Delivery services
Many businesses rely on these services to get necessary supplies for their operations. For example, companies may hire delivery services to pick up office supplies such as paper, glue and tape, or to transport products from warehouses to customers’ locations.
Construction/Renovation Services
Companies often use construction and renovation services to renovate or expand their facilities. These services are usually provided by professional or experienced teams that know how to do the job safely and efficiently.
Utility services
Similarly, many businesses rely on utilities services to provide water and electricity in their premises. Some of these services are provided by local governments, while others are by private providers.
A company can also hire a business services provider to deliver software applications or outsource back-office functions such as mail delivery, payroll, finance and building security.
Service design
As with products, the design of a service can determine the success or failure of a business. To build a successful service, managers must think about their customers’ experiences and how they will evaluate a service.
The service design process begins by gathering customer requirements and defining them into a set of business objectives. Then, a team must replicate those objectives to create a service concept.
After a service concept has been approved, the team must develop a system of action to fulfill that service. Once a system of action is developed, it must be tested with the intended audience. This will ensure that the proposed service meets their needs and provides value to them.
Start with a few pilot business services to refine your processes and approach. Assign a service owner to each of these services, and frequently check in with them for input.
Gather and analyze key performance indicators (KPIs) for each business service. These KPIs should include the number of business transactions supported, quality of service/reduction of errors and cost of service. Keep these KPIs limited and focused, and change them only when the target customer’s objectives change.
Define and map out your business services in ServiceNow(r). You can use the business service definitions page or the Create a new service template feature to begin the creation process.
Monitor the health, availability and risk of your services using the dashboards on the Business Services page. These metrics allow you to see how your services are performing and can help you spot issues that might affect the performance of your business.
Defining and mapping out your services in ServiceNow(r) requires that you understand the underlying dependencies between the components of each service and how they work together to deliver that service to your customers. This includes understanding the business, IT, and device dependencies between the services themselves.