The Business services industry encompasses the provision of non-financial, value-added activities to businesses. They may include consulting, marketing, transportation and facilities management, waste handling, staffing services, administrative support and shipping services to name a few.
Business service management is the process of managing a business service from its creation and deployment to its retirement. It involves defining the digital means for engagement (such as a service portal), identifying how to fulfill it and providing a set of operational metrics for measuring success. It also includes governance processes for ensuring that the service is being delivered according to a commitment to customers and for making decisions about whether to keep or retire the service.
In the digital world, business services are delivered through a system of engagement that consolidates and simplifies how customers access them. This system of engagement is comprised of a service catalog and a set of service transaction workflows. To succeed, digital business services must meet the same business goals and objectives as physical products: They need to be reliable, secure, scalable, available and responsive. They must also be cost-effective and meet the needs of a diverse group of customers.
The most effective way to deliver digital business services is by creating a service ecosystem. This includes an organizational structure that manages the lifecycle of a digital service, from conception to delivery, while ensuring its technical and functional integrity. It also ensures that a digital business service is delivered in compliance with a company’s security and service level commitments. In addition, a comprehensive service ecosystem also includes an IT infrastructure that supports the digital business services, including the network, hardware and software required to deploy them.
Another important factor in delivering business services is the ability to provide an exceptional customer experience. This is critical to customer loyalty and retention, which in turn helps drive revenue growth. To achieve this, companies must understand their customer segments and develop a deep understanding of their behaviors and motivations to use business services. In addition, companies must continually measure and monitor performance and service quality to identify gaps and opportunities for improvement.
In addition, the business services industry faces a number of challenges, such as declining productivity and persisting legal barriers to the free movement of goods and services. However, EU Internal Market legislation and policy actions aim to remove these barriers and stimulate competitiveness in the sector.
