How ITSM professionals are using process maps

At the recent Ivanti LIVE event held in London, over 100 business and technical leaders came together for one day to learn, share and network. This was the perfect opportunity to run a market research survey to get insights into how ITSM professionals are using process maps.

The survey was completed by ITSM practitioners – the very people who are responsible for, work with or rely on robust processes. We’ve summarised below the key insights from the survey.  This reflects what we have learned and what it means for tackling the challenges and opportunities for fully benefiting from good process mapping in IT Service Management.

Process diagrams used widely – but room for growth

To kick things off we wanted to understand about the frequency of using process maps.  We asked:

‘How often do you use process diagrams to understand or communicate IT workflows (e.g. incident management, service request management, change management, IT security)?’

• Encouragingly, more than a third (36%) of respondents use process diagrams daily
• 28% use them weekly
• 36% use them on a monthly basis
• No-one selected zero frequency

It is positive to see that a majority of people are engaging with process diagrams on a regular basis (daily or weekly). This indicates that for many ITSM professionals, process maps are not a nice to have. They are essential to how work gets done.

In contrast, the fact that over a third of people only use them infrequently may point to a missed opportunity. Organisations that do not regularly map and maintain process maps may struggle with issues such as consistency of service delivery, training, retention of knowledge and the ability to drive continual service improvement (CSI).

The value of more frequent use of process maps should be championed across all ITSM teams. Benefits include standardisation, quicker onboarding and handovers and clearer stakeholder engagement and communication.

The primary role: alignment, compliance and CSI

We then wanted to explore what people were using process maps for. We like to think that we know but the survey did reveal some interesting insights when we asked:

‘In your role, what is the primary purpose of using process diagrams?’

• 72% Align business and technical processes
• 64% Troubleshoot or improve workflows
• 60% Document procedures for compliance/audit
• 48% Train new team members
• 36% Communicate with stakeholders

The leading trend is clear: process maps are a key enabler of process alignment and CSI. They also serve vital roles in compliance which is a growing concern as many organisations face tighter regulatory oversight and ensuring SLA performance is often a key part of this.

Additionally, process maps are vital in ensuring accurate knowledge retention and transfer. This is an increasingly important consideration in hybrid and remote environments and can help mitigate single person risk or dilution of knowledge when staff turnover happens.

The broad use of process maps show that they are no longer regarded as fancy looking diagrams or workflows documented for use in niche use cases.  They are an important multi-functional application that needs to be well-designed, accurate and widely accessible.

Another insight that the results point to is the communication with stakeholders at 36%.  In our experience, the lack of stakeholder involvement can significantly hinder the adoption of robust process diagrams.

Amongst the other responses, one stood out – ‘visibility of architecture and any bottlenecks’. This will be an interesting aspect to build into the main survey next time.  It talks to the ability to clearly visualise your architecture and then using that visibility, hone in on any bottlenecks.

At CTMS we advocate that when reviewing or creating new processes, it is vital that all stakeholders views are represented.  Whilst it can be challenging on a practical level to co-ordinate multiple diaries, particularly for senior staff, the pay-off lies in the buy-in from all parties that is necessary when documenting and then rolling out new processes.

Bridging the perception gap

A long held belief at CTMS is to avoid automating a bad process.  The ability to avoid this common issue is typically reflected in the accuracy of an organisation’s process maps.

We asked:  ‘How well do current process diagrams reflect the real-world systems and tools your team uses?’

• Only 20% say their diagrams closely match real systems
• 44% admit diagrams only reflect parts of what happens on a practical level
• 32% say they are mostly aligned but with gaps

The survey has already revealed that process maps are used widely.  But the fact that 80% of people surveyed do not feel that their process maps accurately represent real-world tools and workflows would indicate that there remains a lot of work to be done in this area.

It could be argued that this gap is actually a chasm as it undermines the very purpose of mapping processes. If stakeholders do not have the trust in the process maps for representing how processes work, it can hamper efforts to drive service improvement or support fundamental decision-making.

Addressing this gap is therefore a major recommendation from this survey.  The secret lies in creating accurate process maps in the first place, metrifying the health of the process, establishing a review cadence and ensuring there is an accountable stakeholder for each process. Then you need to commit to updating the process maps on a frequent basis and along with this, consistently improve your processes and systems accordingly.

The main challenge: how to keep diagrams up to date

The gap between how close your process maps reflect the real world is likely to lie in the challenges and difficulties faced by organisations in how they are using process maps.  We asked:

‘What are the main challenges you face when using or creating process diagrams?’

• 60% Diagrams are outdated or hard to keep current
• 56% Not enough time to update them
• 40% (each) Lack of tools, limited collaboration, lack of standardisation
• 32% Diagrams are too complex or misaligned with real systems

The key challenge the survey highlights here is that of keeping process maps up to date.  Aged diagrams that no longer reflect how processes work can be worse than none at all. Poor mapping can mislead, misdirect resources, waste time and often increase risk. Combined with time pressures and inconsistent tooling, it’s no wonder teams struggle to maintain quality process mapping.

This reflects a common challenge we see in client environments. Manual process mapping approaches often falter under real-world complexity.  The use of data driven process management technology for mapping processes brings a number of key benefits.  They allow you to map, visualise and optimise processes, empowering your team to uncover efficiencies, improve understanding across your organisation and collaborate more effectively.

However time constraints can be a significant bottleneck (cited by 56%).  This may be linked to the level of process mapping expertise in-house. In our experience, the ability to hold effective process mapping workshops, gathering input from all relevant stakeholders, is a fine art as much as a skill.  You have to be part documenter, part negotiator with a healthy dose of thinking of your feet.

Final takeaway: driving increased value from process mapping in ITSM

This snapshot from the Ivanti LIVE! audience highlights a tension in modern ITSM. Professionals clearly value process diagrams and they are widely used to align, audit, troubleshoot, and train. Yet many still rely on manual or infrequently updated visuals that fail to keep pace with system changes which devalues their use and can lead to limited buy-in.

As workflows become more integrated across hybrid infrastructure, cloud platforms, and SaaS tools, the pressure to maintain real-time accuracy in process mapping will only increase.

At CTMS, we believe this challenge creates a unique opportunity. By integrating process mapping with modern service management platforms such as Ivanti Neurons for ITSM, organisations can build more effective, dynamic process maps that:

• Accurately reflect real systems and real processes
• Are updated more frequently and stay aligned to service changes
• Are accessible and standardised across teams

The future of ITSM is visual. It is collaborative. And it is data-driven. It’s time to ensure your process maps reflect this.