Business services are activities, processes and solutions that support the primary activities of a business. They deliver value and results through intangible elements like outcomes, experiences and knowledge. These services are often a key enabler for achieving strategic business objectives and driving efficiency and competitiveness.
They can be delivered from inside or outside the organization and are provided to both customers and internal stakeholders. Examples include outsourcing, which enables companies to get specialized expertise without adding overhead by contracting with external providers. Outsourcing can also help reduce risk by allowing companies to focus on core competencies and leave noncore functions to the experts.
A business service may be delivered directly to a customer or to an internal stakeholder, such as a company’s own employees. Some of the most common types of business services are marketing, consulting, legal and financial. Other types of business services are administrative, IT and human resources services.
The primary characteristics of business services are that they are intangible, that they do not result in the production of a physical product and that they have no inventory element – meaning they can only be produced at the moment they are demanded. This makes it important to involve the customer in every step of the service delivery process in order to ensure a favourable experience.
A business service can be linked to configuration items in the IT service management (ITSM) system using a ServiceNow business service map. This map allows you to add lookup data right into the business service record, such as tier 1 assignment groups, business approvers and escalation support groups.
