This report summarizes the results of a survey of 336 service management professionals regarding the state of service management in 2021. Some key findings include: - 85% of organizations staff at least one dedicated service management role such as ITSM Process Owner or Service Delivery Manager. - Two-thirds of service management specialists have over 5 years of experience in their roles. - Salaries for service management roles tend to lag behind those of general IT support roles. - The top value provided by service management is increased customer satisfaction, successful changes, and decreased incident volume. - Eighty percent of organizations use a service management solution, with over half using SaaS solutions.

2. THE STATE OF
SERVICE MANAGEMENT
IN 2021
An HDI Practices & Salary Presentation

3. This report, focusing on the state of service management in 2021, provides service
management and technical support leaders with the essential insights and knowledge
needed to make data-based decisions that will ultimately improve the services and
support provided by their organizations and help them advance in their careers. It
illustrates current practices, processes, solutions, and strategies related to service
management and enterprise service management.
All survey responses were collected via a web-based survey from May-June 2021.This
report compiles the responses from 336 service management and technical support
professionals in more than 20 vertical industries. Nearly two-thirds of respondents are
at the director-level or above (62%); 28% are either managers or specialist managers
(knowledge, project, change, etc.). Just over two-thirds (68%) of the respondents are
aligned with service management; 46% with both the service desk and service
management; 35% with the service desk, desktop support, and service management;
and 10% are exclusively affiliated with service management.
ABOUTTHE STUDY
Use this report! If you want to incorporate
one of the charts into your presentation(s),
we ask only that you cite HDI:
HDI, “The State of Service Management in
2021,” www.thinkhdi.com.

4. KEY FINDINGS
• For the purposes of this study, we solicited feedback on three roles within service
management: ITSM Process Owner/Manager, ITSM Service Delivery Manager, and Business
Relationship Manager. Eighty-five percent of respondents’ organizations staff at least one
of these roles.
• Two-thirds of service management specialists have tenure of five years or more in their
roles.
• Filling dedicated service management roles can be challenging. Less than one-quarter of
respondents report having no difficulty at all filling roles, but two out of five respondents
struggle.
• Salaries for service management roles lag behind salaries for general technical support
roles, based on comparison against salaries reported in Robert Half’s 2021 Technology
Salary Guide (US only). ITSM Process Owners/Managers average $111,790 a year; ITSM
Service Delivery Managers, $91,777; and Business Relationship Managers, $99,444.
• The value of service management is linked to an increase in customer satisfaction (52%),
an increase in successful changes (45%), and a decrease in incident volume (40%). For 7%
of respondents’ organizations, the value of service management is taken for granted – it’s
simply the price of doing business.

5. KEY FINDINGS (cont’d)
• Eight out of ten respondents’ organizations are currently using a service management
solution, though nearly a quarter are in the process of replacing their existing
solutions. Those who are replacing their current solutions are doing so with an eye
toward improving the user/customer experience (40%), accommodating changes to
their service delivery model (33%) or business model (30%), or upgrading an end-of-
lifecycle solution (33%).
• Fifty-five percent of respondents’ organizations are using SaaS solutions; 42% are
running on-premises solutions. Just over one-third are operating PaaS in the cloud, and
17% are hosting a licensed solution in their organization’s cloud.
• These days, many service management solutions are capable of being applied to non-IT
business areas, such as HR, finance, facilities, etc. This is the case for most
respondents to this study; 88% report that their organizations’ solutions can be used in
non-IT areas, and 61% report that their organizations are using their solutions in this
way (with a further 32% planning to do so). Just 6% have no plans to leverage this
capability.
• Fifty-two percent of respondents report that their organizations are using the
principles and practices of ITSM outside of the IT department; 91% of respondents
report that their organizations have a defined strategy or approach for using ITSM
practices/capabilities outside of the IT department.

6. KEY FINDINGS (cont’d)
• As a business strategy, the expansion of ITSM practices and capabilities beyond the IT
department goes by many names: IT service management (63%), enterprise service
management (40%), digital transformation (39%), service management (39%), and/or
digital workflow enablement (17%). For the purposes of this report, we refer to this
strategy as enterprise service management (ESM).
• By and large, ESM is being championed by leaders at the top of the organizational
chart. CTOs (56%) and CIOs (48%) are leading the charge, followed distantly by service
desk managers (29%) and even more distantly by dedicated practice/process managers
(9%).
• Seventy percent of respondents report that ESM has required IT to expand its scope of
services/support, and in 52% of respondents’ organizations, IT is required to support
the tools other business areas uses for service management. For 38%, this additional
responsibility has come with additional funding, while for 29% of respondents it’s also
come with more visibility for IT and a recognition of the value IT provides to the
business.
• Nearly all survey respondents (98%) include employees in the process of determining
how service management practices/capabilities will be applied in the areas they work
in; 68% involve employees in developing the plan and program, and 57% solicit
feedback from employees before, during, and after the expansion.

7. STAFFING, SKILLS &
SALARIES

8. Service Management Roles
For the purposes of this study, we
solicited feedback on three roles
within service management
(percentage of organizations that
staff these roles in parenthesis):
• ITSM Process Owner/Manager (72%)
• ITSM Service Delivery Manager (53%)
• Business Relationship Manager (34%)
An ITSM Process Owner/Manager is a specialist manager and subject matter
expert responsible for enforcing compliance, monitoring, measuring, and
continually improving one or more process/practice areas. This individual
provides guidance to service desk and service management staff who execute
day-to-day process and support activities.
An ITSM Service Delivery Manager is a specialist manager responsible for
ensuring service management processes are in place to meet the business’s
needs. This role is often stakeholder-facing, and it requires skill at setting and
delivering on expectations.
A Business Relationship Manager is a strategic specialist responsible for seeing
the big picture, understanding the business (mission, vision, goals), helping to
prioritize projects and initiatives to maximize return on investment, and
ensuring that the organization’s IT and service management strategies support
the business’s overall strategy.

9. Tenure by Role
1% 1%
12%
15%
11%
21%
13%
15%
11%
2%2%
9%
13%
11%
25%
16%
10%
12%
1%
6%
11%
17%
4%
16%
10%
16%
19%
Less than 1 year 1 year 2 years
3 years 4 years 5 years
5-8 years 8-10 years More than 10 years
Business
Relationship
Manager
ITSM
Service
Delivery
Manager
ITSM
Process
Owner/Manager
Within the wider technical support
community, managers and specialist
managers tend to have high tenure; in
our 2020 community interest survey,
92% of manager and specialist
manager respondents reported
average tenures of more than five
years.
For specialist roles in service
management, one-third have four
years of tenure or less. On average,
however, these are long-term, high-
tenure positions.
Percentage of respondents

10. Filling Roles
Filling dedicated service
management roles can be
challenging. Less than one-quarter
of respondents report having no
difficulty at all filling roles, but
two out of five respondents
struggle.
Why is that?
Hard to
find people with
the right amount
of experience
Roles are new,
need time to grow
people into the
skillset
Hard to find
people with the
right mix of skills
and knowledge

11. Skill Profile by Role
71%
69%
64%
58%
58%
58%
55%
51%
46%
42%
31%
31%
26%
26%
25%
23%
21%
Problem-solving skills
Communication skills
Knowledge management
Interpersonal skills
Innovation and creativity
Customer service skills
Collaboration skills
Data analysis skills
Business management
Professional development
Agility
Change management
Automation
DevOps
Mobility/device management
Digital security
Artificial intelligence
Sought-After Skills, Overall ITSM Process Owner/Manager
1. Problem-solving skills
2. Communication skills
3. Knowledge management
4. Innovation and creativity
5. Interpersonal skills
ITSM Service Delivery Manager
1. Communication skills
2. Knowledge management
3. Problem-solving skills
4. Interpersonal skills
5. Innovation and creativity
Business Relationship Manager
1. Communication skills
2. Problem-solving skills
3. Knowledge management
4. Collaboration skills
5. Interpersonal skills
6. Collaboration skills
7. Data analysis skills
8. Customer service skills
9. Business management
10. Professional development
6. Customer service skills
7. Collaboration skills
8. Data analysis skills
9. Business management
10. Professional development
6. Innovation and creativity
7. Customer service skills
8. Data analysis skills
9. Business management
10. Professional development
Percentage of organizations

12. Salary by Role
Average salaries for service
management roles lag behind salaries
for general technical support roles. As
reported in Robert Half’s 2021
Technology Salary Guide, technical
support and operations managers
average $111,500 on the low end and
$190,750 on the high end (USD).
ITSM Process Owner/Manager
ITSM Service Delivery Manager
Business Relationship Manager
$65k $75k $85k $95k $105k $115k $125k $135k $145k $155k
$83,781 $153,287
$111,790
$67,955 $106,425
$91,777
$74,021 $118,624
$99,444
Average (USD)

13. PROCESSES &
PRACTICES

14. Methodologies, Frameworks & Standards
47% 29% 16% 52% 34% 29% 29% 28% 32% 20% 37% 23% 43% 20% 41% 26% 26% 19%
25%
30%
27%
21%
23%
19% 22% 20%
30%
20%
23%
19%
20%
24%
21%
21% 23%
20%
14%
13%
21%
12%
22%
21%
18%
30%
15%
25%
13%
25%
15%
21%
16%
20%
18%
28%
14%
29%
36%
15%
22%
31% 31%
23% 23%
35%
27%
33%
21%
36%
22%
33% 33% 33%
Currently use Planning to use Have used in the past Haven't used and don't plan to use
Percentage of organizations

15. Service Management Practices (A-P)
20%
29%
36%
34%
20%
37%
22%
44%
47%
24%
63%
44%
27%
39%
20%
24%
40%
43%
85%
79%
79%
72%
87%
66%
93%
93%
90%
88%
84%
73%
81%
78%
80%
83%
83%
85%
59%
55%
75%
57%
69%
49%
71%
66%
83%
85%
76%
57%
50%
66%
58%
77%
67%
78%
Practice adopted Process defined Dedicated manager
Percentage of organizations

16. Service Management Practices (R-Z)
27%
17%
33%
20%
19%
35%
25%
56%
25%
29%
42%
17%
35%
53%
19%
32%
77%
98%
88%
84%
83%
76%
81%
89%
80%
87%
79%
85%
87%
91%
82%
83%
70%
79%
79%
61%
68%
62%
63%
82%
72%
61%
63%
63%
82%
74%
71%
75%
Practice adopted Process defined Dedicated manager
Percentage of organizations

17. Measuring the Value of Service Management
58%
45%
40%
34%
34%
33%
29%
24%
24%
22%
7%
Increase in customer satisfaction
Percentage of successful changes
Decrease in incident volume
Improved security management
Increase in incidents resolved without business impact
Decrease in mean time to resolve (MTTR)
Increase in knowledge articles linked in ticket/case records
Increase in number of problem records opened
Decrease in incidents due to failed/unapproved changes
Increase in number of known errors in the known error database
Service management is accepted as the cost of doing business
Percentage of organizations

18. TECHNOLOGY

19. Budget and Solution/Framework Alignment
9%
11%
19%
20%
25%
16%
Annual Budget
Less than $500k $500k - $1M
$1M - $2.5M $2.5M - $5M
$5M - $10M More than $10M
43%
35%
30%
29%
27%
26%
24%
22%
21%
21%
19%
18%
16%
16%
15%
DevOps
Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF)
ITIL 4
Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS)
Capability Maturity Model (CMMI)
Total Quality Management (TQM)
ITIL 3 or earlier
HDI Support Center Standard
ISO/IEC 20000
ISO 9000
Six Sigma
Kaizen
Lean
COBIT
Process Maturity Framework (PMF)
Desired Framework/Methodology Alignment When Acquiring
New Tools and Solutions
Percentage of organizations
Percentage of organizations

20. Service Management Solutions
Eight out of ten respondents’
organizations are currently using a
service management solution, though
nearly a quarter are in the process of
replacing their existing solutions. Those
who are replacing their current solutions
are doing so with an eye toward
improving the user/customer experience
(40%), accommodating changes to their
service delivery model (33%) or business
model (30%), or upgrading an end-of-
lifecycle solution (33%).
Fifty-five percent of respondents’
organizations are using SaaS solutions;
42% are running on-premises solutions.
Just over one-third are operating PaaS in
the cloud, and 17% are hosting a
licensed solution in their organization’s
cloud.
24%
14%
7%
6%
5%
5%
4%
4%
4%
3%
3%
2%
2%
2%
2%
2%
2%
2%
Microsoft
ServiceNow
Oracle
Salesforce.com
Atlassian
ManageEngine
IBM
BMC
Cherwell
VMWare
CA
Freshworks
Axios
SolarWinds
Micro Focus
Ivanti
iET
TechExcel
< 1%
• Hornbill
• EasyVista
• SysAid
• HP
• Homegrown (developed in-house)
• Connectwise
Percentage of organizations

21. Solution Capabilities & Applications
These days, many service management
solutions are capable of being applied to
non-IT business areas, such as HR,
finance, facilities, etc. This is the case
for most respondents to this study; 88%
report that their organizations’ solutions
can be used in non-IT areas, and 61%
report that their organizations are using
their solutions in this way (with a further
32% planning to do so). Just 6% have no
plans to leverage this capability.
46%
46%
35%
35%
32%
26%
26%
20%
18%
18%
Business operations
Security
Customer service/support
HR
Finance
Procurement
Facilities
Learning and development
Sales and/or marketing
Legal
Business Area Targets for Service Management Solutions
Percentage of organizations

22. STRATEGY

23. Maturity & Objectives of ITSM
67%
61%
56%
48%
40%
38%
37%
37%
20%
Improve service quality
Improve the customer experience
Improve service delivery
Improve knowledge management
Control costs
Streamline operations ("do more with less")
Improve the ability to achieve service level commitments
Improve the ability to innovate
Mitigate risks
Core Objectives Driving Interest in ITSM
Not started, but planned,
4%
Early stages/in progress,
25%
Proficient/advanced,
52%
Leading, 20%
Overall ITSM Maturity
Percentage of organizations

24. Strategic Expansion of ITSM
52%
of respondents report
that their organizations
are using the principles
and practices of ITSM
outside of the IT
department
91%
of respondents report
that their organizations
have a defined strategy or
approach for using ITSM
practices/capabilities
outside of the IT
department
Early stages/in progress,
19%
Proficient/advanced,
63%
Leading, 18%
Maturity with Expanding ITSM

25. Definition & Drivers
As a business strategy, the expansion of
ITSM practices and capabilities beyond
the IT department goes by many
names:
• IT service management (63%)
• Enterprise service management
(40%)
• Digital transformation (39%)
• Service management (39%)
• Digital workflow enablement (17%)
For the remainder of this report, we’ll
refer to this strategy as enterprise
service management.
67%
61%
47%
6%
To improve the customer
experience
The expanded capabilities of
service management
solutions
To improve employee
satisfaction/engagement
A specific business need or
challenge
ESM Drivers
Percentage of organizations

26. Targets & Champions
By and large, ESM is being championed
by leaders at the top of the
organizational chart. CTOs (56%) and
CIOs (48%) are leading the charge,
followed distantly by service desk
managers (29%) and even more
distantly by dedicated practice/process
managers (9%).
62%
61%
56%
39%
35%
31%
31%
29%
27%
17%
Security
Business operations
Customer service/support
Finance
Facilities
HR
Sales and/or marketing
Procurement
Legal
Learning and development
Business Areas Targeted for ESM
Percentage of organizations

27. Practices, Capabilities & Impact
The impacts of ESM on IT can be
significant. Seventy percent of
respondents report that ESM has
required IT to expand its scope of
services/support, and in 52% of
respondents’ organizations, IT is
required to support the tools other
business areas uses for service
management. For 38%, this additional
responsibility has come with additional
funding, while for 29% it’s also come
with more visibility for IT and a
recognition of the value IT provides to
the business.
44%
40%
40%
39%
37%
37%
33%
33%
28%
27%
26%
26%
25%
20%
Service catalog management and/or self-service
Continual improvement
Financial management
Service configuration management
Asset management
Relationship management
Problem management
Service request management
Incident management
Change enablement
Service design
Case management
Supplier management
Knowledge management
Practices and Capabilities Prioritized for ESM
Percentage of organizations

28. Engagement, Satisfaction & Productivity
Nearly all survey respondents (98%)
include employees in the process of
determining how service management
practices/capabilities will be applied in
the areas they work in; 68% involve
employees in developing the plan and
program, and 57% solicit feedback from
employees before, during, and after
the expansion. Crucially, the majority
(84%) provide service management
training to non-IT staff, improving the
likelihood that their input and
feedback will be informed and
relevant.
85% 91% 82%
Measuring Satisfaction and Productivity
Employee
satisfaction
Customer
satisfaction
Productivity
79% 62% 74%
Improvement After ESM
Percentage of organizations

29. DEMOGRAPHICS

30. Industries Represented
<2% from government, K-12 education, media/entertainment, nonprofit/association, and food service.

31. Company & Support Organization Size
5%
6%
16%
20%
25%
10%
8%
5%
4%
Company Size, by Number of
Employees
Fewer than 50
50-99
100-499
500-999
1,000-4,999
5,000-9,999
10,000-19,999
20,000-49,999
More than 50,000
23%
16%
26%
15%
11%
4%
2%
2%
Support Organization Size, by Number of
Employees
Fewer than 50
50-99
100-499
500-999
1,000-4,999
5,000-9,999
10,000-19,999
20,000-49.999
50,000 or more
Percentage of organizations Percentage of organizations

32. Role & Function
40%
12%
30%
7%
7%
4%
Role
Practitioner: Internal service/support Practitioner: External service/support
Practitioner: Blended service and support Consultant
Outsourced or managed service provider Vendor/solution provider
9%
35%
19%
23%
6%
6%
2%
Function
Non-IT executive management
IT/technical executive management
Senior management (VP, director)
Mid-level management (manager)
Specialist management (knowledge, project, problem, etc.)
Supervisor/team lead
Customer support
Percentage of
respondents
Percentage of
respondents

33. Area & Focus
70%
68%
52%
34%
31%
28%
20%
13%
13%
3%
Service desk
Service management
Desktop support
Mobility/endpoint management
Development
Contact center operations
Human resources
Finance
Facilities
Other
Business Area
64%
44%
32%
20%
16%
3%
Service management
Operations management
Project/program management
DevOps
Strategy management
Other
Primary Focus for Service Management,
Service Desk, and Development
Business Areas
Percentage of respondents Percentage of respondents

34. ABOUT HDI
For over 30 years, HDI has partnered with thousands of
organizations to improve their customer service and
service management performance by educating their
people, elevating their processes, and empowering their
strategy. From C-level professionals to directors,
managers, and frontline staff, HDI is the definitive source
of industry information, leadership, and performance
planning.Through events, certification and training,
consulting, community, and industry resources, HDI aims
to transform service and support organizations and
reimagine their approach to delivering exceptional service
and value. Learn more atThinkHDI.com.
HDI is a part of InformaTech, a division of Informa PLC, a
leading B2B information services group and the largest
B2B events organizer in the world.To learn more and for
the latest news and information,
visit tech.informa.com.
Copyright © 2021 HDI. All rights reserved.
HDI is a part of Informa Tech. KCSSM is a registered service mark of the Consortium for Service Innovation. ITIL® is a registered trademark of AXELOS Limited. All other trademarks, service marks, and product
or trade names are property of their respective owners.