Business Services in SL1
Business services are activities or solutions that help a company perform efficiently and effectively. They can include everything from marketing and finance to accounting and human resources. Many companies outsource their business services to specialists or experts to save time and money, improve productivity and efficiency, and stay competitive.
Services are a recognisable subset of economic services and share the same characteristics as goods, but they have the added advantage that they can be used to deliver value directly to customers. Business services can be delivered by businesses, institutions, or individuals. They can be provided in exchange for a fee or free of charge and can be consumed either immediately or at a later date.
The key differences between goods and business services are that services are intangible and cannot be stored like inventory for future use. They are produced and consumed simultaneously, and they can vary in quality depending on the needs and expectations of the customer. This inseparability between production and consumption can lead to unpredictable or unreliable results, a challenge that is often mitigated by the use of quality assurance tools.
Managing and delivering quality business services can be difficult, especially in large organizations with multiple systems and processes. A common challenge is lack of visibility into business service performance, leading to inefficiencies and duplicate efforts. To combat this challenge, businesses can leverage technology to support and streamline business service management (BSM).
BSM is the process of aligning IT services with business objectives and ensuring that IT operations are supporting core business goals. By implementing BSM, businesses can maximize operational efficiency and accelerate innovation, enabling them to compete successfully in today’s challenging business landscape.
The types of business services that a company can utilize vary by industry. For example, healthcare organizations rely on IT services for electronic health records management, financial services companies use HR services to facilitate talent acquisition, and retail businesses rely on logistics services for effective supply chain management. The streamlined approach that business services provide enhances operational efficiency, fosters innovation, and allows businesses to focus on their core strengths.
In SL1, you can add one or more services to your Favorites list so that they always display at the top of the Business Services page by default, and appear when using the multi-sort function in the toolbar. To add a service to your favorites list, click the star icon () next to the service on the Business Services page. To remove a service from your favorites list, click the star icon again. You can also create your own custom Business Services dashboards to organize your favorite services however you want. To learn how to do this, read Creating Dashboards.