Report: IT departments must harness social media

Ovum report argues that social media is becoming a must-have service management tool

Organisations that delay incorporating social media facilities into IT service management are making a big mistake, according to a new report from analyst firm Ovum.

The report suggests that IT users increasingly view social software as a necessity, and failure to provide it could result in serious problems for IT departments.

"IT users are coming to expect similar levels of interaction in their corporate lives as they do in their online life as private consumers," said Ovum lead analyst Mark Blowers.

"Social media tools can work well in IT service management, especially in bringing about improvements in the service provided to users," he added.

Popular social media channels are already being used by some companies to tackle IT problems.

For example, Twitter is being used to broadcast information about incidents and alerts.

"Delaying an organisation's participation in incorporating social media into IT service management-related functions could be a big mistake," said Blowers.

"As IT service desks increasingly move up the agenda in terms of importance for organisations, integration of social media will be seen by employees as a must-have, and a lack of availability could generate inefficiencies, such as workarounds, creating compliance issues."

The report says that enterprises need to adopt an ad-hoc approach going forward, if they do not have a bespoke system in place, and integrate their IT service management with the appropriate social media.