Challenges in service catalog management and recommendations for higher success

Abstract

The service catalog is a priceless resource, providing a single point of access to all of the services that the company provides to external and internal clients through IT and other departments. It delivers several benefits when it works effectively and is structured holistically, including clarity in pricing the services given, cost reduction, operational efficiency, successful service level management, and increased customer satisfaction. Furthermore, because it is linked to so many other processes, unsuccessful applications here have a detrimental impact on many other operations. Despite all its criticality and usefulness, many companies fail to build the service catalog structure successfully. This research aims to identify the challenges companies face while trying to implement and manage service catalogs and, based on their criticality, share some recommendations for better adoption. The stages of service catalog process implementation are grouped under four categories for service identification, service catalog implementation, maintenance, and adoption. Based on the data collected from 98 respondents, the critical challenges in providing higher success in IT service catalog management are identified and recommendations are given for higher success. Accordingly, keeping service catalog up-to-date, identifying the services and service relations, and creating ownership and adoption have been identified as the top three most important challenges for successful service catalog management. Companies that have strategic plan, assign service catalog manager and implement best practices have higher success in SCM.