While IT asset management is about managing IT assets throughout their lifecycles, IT service management (ITSM) is about managing and delivering IT services.

IT service management is the process of managing IT services in an organization. It includes many components, from planning and implementing IT services to monitoring and auditing them to make sure they are running smoothly and efficiently. IT services include help desk and service desk support (such as guiding a user on how to change their password) and change management procedures, which involve efficient handling of changes to IT infrastructure.

The goal of IT service management is to provide reliable, high-quality IT services that meet the needs of the business and its end users, including customers, employees and business partners. ITSM aims to improve user experience and service quality.

The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is considered the best approach for delivering ITSM. It is a library that provides the best practices and framework for efficient ITSM. The most recent ITIL version, ITIL 4, comprises five volumes — namely, Service Strategy, Service Design, Service Transition, Service Operation and Continual Service Improvement — that detail 34 ITSM practices.

In a way, ITSM encompasses ITAM. Asset and configuration management are among the many ITSM processes, and a CMDB — which is the tool dedicated to this process — is a centralized repository of an organization’s IT assets and the relationships between them.