Business services are services that help businesses perform their day-to-day operations. These services can include consulting, property maintenance, financial and accounting, computer and information management, advertising, and graphic services. Business services are essential for a company to function effectively and efficiently. Companies that offer business services can improve their relationship with manufacturers and customers by offering a wide range of services to meet the needs of both parties.
There are several characteristics of Business services that make them unique from other services. The first is that they are intangible, which means they do not exist in physical form. They also do not have a fixed cost and cannot be stored for future use. This characteristic can be a challenge when managing Business services, because it makes it difficult to budget for them.
Another characteristic of Business services is that they require the active involvement of both service consumers and providers. This can be a challenge for managers, because it requires a great deal of time and effort to provide high-quality Business services. For example, a customer who takes too long at a fast-food counter can affect the service level for everyone behind him or her. In addition, the business services industry is not always easy to define, and the exact nature of Business services can vary depending on the type of industry.
Business service monitoring helps you organize your business services in order to make them easier to manage and monitor. To monitor Business services, navigate to Services > Business Services. You can also create custom dashboards that display Business services in a specific way, such as by Favorite service status or by the number of incidents per hour.
To add a Business service to the list, click New Business Service in the Actions menu. Enter a name for the Business service and select a team (optional). You can also configure Business services to require that all incidents have a particular priority level in order to impact the service. For example, you can create a Business service that monitors the availability of e-mail by using a combination of devices (such as a DNS and Collector Group) and an application (such as a database).
Defined and designed for success, Business services help to reduce costs and improve quality. This applies to internal as well as customer-facing Services, and to both existing and new Services. The best techniques for defining and designing successful Business services focus foremost on understanding the needs of those who will represent the customer and the business context in which the Services operate. The most effective techniques include a series of methods that involve all of the stakeholders, including both customers and the employees who will represent them. These methods also translate the resulting needs into simple, measurable requirements. These requirements become the basis for your Service design. This approach is particularly useful for new Services that are being developed and launched. It can also be used to upgrade existing Services as the business environment changes.
