IT service management forms the backbone of any forward looking IT infrastructure.  Whether it’s the latest trends, techniques or strategies, the content in this channel will help you optimize your organization's IT operations.

IT Support Outsourcing is at an inflection point, and there are no shortage of stumbling blocks to navigate. How do we clear these hurdles and journey towards successful IT Support Outsourcing relationships? It’s time to dissect and address the issues that can make or break the outsourcing experience. 

Leveraging over three decades of experience, Jeff Rumburg, Managing Partner of MetricNet, will dive into real-world case studies, analyzing these obstacles and providing practical solutions to overcome them. 

In this enlightening webcast, you’ll get to:

• Review the 11 major failure modes in IT outsourcing relationships and their impact on performance. 
• Unearth effective strategies to dodge these pitfalls and ensure a mutually beneficial outsourcing contract. 
• Learn how to establish a non-zero-sum perspective in an IT outsourcing contract, fostering a mindset of shared success. 

Don’t miss this opportunity to go beyond the surface-level challenges and dig into the root causes.

IT Support Outsourcing in 2026: Rising Above the Typical Challenges

Managed Service Providers face mounting pressure to adapt to rapid shifts in technology, increasing cyber threats and tightening demands around regulation and compliance. Making all of this more complex is the increasing role of artificial intelligence and living up to customer expectations in an “I want it now” world.

We’ll ask a panel of top MSPs which trends – including the role of AI in automation, constant cyber threats and the challenges posed by tool sprawl – they’re focused on as 2026 approaches.

Expect to hear how:

· AI can deliver ROI and make your MSP business more efficient.
· To tailor cybersecurity offerings for customers in an increasingly hostile environment.
· To scale your business by focusing on high-margin services, building strategic partnerships and automating operations.

How Top North American MSPs Are Navigating the Shifting Tech and Business Landscape

AI is both a technology that MSPs have to deliver and support for their customers as well as holding the potential to transform their own operations. There is a need to deliver AI solutions that are secure, meet compliance regulations and produce the anticipated productivity gains. 

Given those demands, how are MSPs reacting to AI and what potential does it have to positively transform the life of a managed service provider and their customers?

The MSP AI Journey: How AI is Impacting the World of MSPs

The hype about AI is everywhere, and organizations are rushing to buy and use AI-powered tools and technologies. But where can the powers of AI and automation do the most good and provide tangible improvements? Is AI going to wind up being just another “shiny new thing” that fails to live up to the marketing promises, or will it make substantial improvements in the working lives of IT service consumers? 

One surefire way to make sure you are getting results that make a real difference is to know where speed and ease matter most. (Hint: Not everything has to be fast to be better.) Gathering and analyzing experience data from your service consumers and acting on what they tell you—in other words, being data-driven—takes the guesswork out of bringing new technologies into your toolkit. 

Key takeaways: 
- Why experience goes far beyond the legacy satisfaction data. 
- The consequences of inside-out thinking and how experience data helps avoid it.
- Making your investment in AI-powered tools produce the best results and better ROI. 
 
About the speaker
Roy Atkinson serves as CEO and Principal Advisor for award-winning advisory firm Clifton Butterfield, LLC, and is a Top 10 Thought Leader in both IT Strategy and IT Operations, according to Thinkers360. He is a certified Experience Champion and certified ITXM Professional. He has written and spoken extensively on the topic of AI in ITSM.

The Future of ITSM: Using Experience Data to Dial-In AI and Automation

Digital disruption and cybersecurity threats are fundamentally changing how businesses deliver IT services. Organizations must simultaneously protect their infrastructure, speed up innovation, and meet rising customer expectations - creating a complex balancing act for IT leaders who need to demonstrate clear business value while maintaining operational excellence.

The integration of ITIL4 and Agile methodologies provides a robust foundation for modern service delivery. This unified approach breaks down traditional barriers between development and operations, enabling teams to innovate rapidly while maintaining service quality. By combining ITIL4's structured governance with Agile's adaptive planning, organizations can create resilient IT services that evolve with business needs while keeping risks in check.

In this session, Maria Sansom (Digital Delivery Manager) delves into key concepts, such as continuous improvement and adaptive planning and explores how combining ITIL4 and Agile can drive efficiency, boost innovation and supercharge value creation. 

Key takeaways:
- Understand Synergies: Learn how ITIL4 and Agile practices complement each other to enhance digital delivery.
- Implementation Insights: Gain practical strategies for integrating ITIL4 and Agile in your organization.
- Overcome Challenges: Discover common challenges and effective solutions for implementing these methodologies.
- Measure Success: Learn how to measure the success of ITIL4 and Agile practices in driving operational excellence.
- Customer-Centric Approach: Understand the importance of customer-centricity in optimizing digital delivery.


About the Speaker
With a decade of experience in the telecommunications industry, Maria Sansom is an ITIL4 Master and Prince2 Agile certified professional. They bring five years of expertise in Service Management, ensuring efficient and effective service delivery.

Next-Gen Service Delivery: The ITIL4 and Agile Formula

To drive efficiency with ITSM, companies should understand the components needed to manage their current and future digital technology estate. While this may sound simple, there are significant pressures on digital technology platforms on top of governance requirements and time allotted for incident resolution. As they say, “the devil is in the detail.” 

Companies must consider the complexity within their service management system as well as their incident response and resolution plans when considering ITSM goals. 

This webinar will challenge your understanding of good ITSM practices and focus on the key concerns to driving efficiency with ITSM, by asking companies: 
1) What are the efficiency challenges your organization should focus on? 
2) Why should you prioritize the drivers for efficiency? 
3) How can operational resilience compliance assist you in meeting the key challenges?  

Tune into this session presented by operational resilience expert Steve Yates, as he explores ITSM challenges and covers the importance of this function and its criticality within compliance. 

By the end of the session, you will be able to:
- Form an understanding of the challenges facing efficiency for ITSM.
- Consider the challenges within ITSM you should consider for prioritizing efficiency.
- Be aware of why operational resilience should be a key operational requirement.

Why is ITSM so Critical for Operational Resilience?

What does it take to build a service desk that consistently delivers exceptional performance? 

In this webcast, industry thought leader Jeff Rumburg will share insights from MetricNet’s database of top-performing service desks. He’ll discuss the key drivers of success, including workforce management, technology investments, and leadership practices. Attendees will learn actionable strategies to elevate their service desk performance and benchmark against the best in the industry.

How to Build a High-Performance Service Desk: Lessons from the Best

How can IT organizations provide great employee and customer experiences using ITSM principles? By ensuring they provide a solid and reliable system and application environment. ITSM promises to get you there, but many organizations stop after some basic practices because it gets too hard or labor intensive.

Using AI and automation both within ITSM management suites and to integrate other tools in the environment makes it a lot easier to succeed by being able to leverage the reams of data available from monitoring, security and other tools. However, you still need a business-oriented plan and an ITSM operating model that gets you there. 

This session from Influencer Phyllis Drucker will demonstrate how to use AI or automation to deliver the ITSM foundational items needs and a solid operating model that sustains a human-focused operational approach.

Kicking ITSM Up a Notch With AI And Automation

Service delivery is at a breaking point. Every day, headlines scream about another major outage or security breach, while stakeholder demands and system complexities skyrocket. IT leaders are at a crossroads: how can they navigate these challenges and come out on top?

Join Jeffrey Tefertiller - Founder of Service Management Leadership for this session to dive into the game-changing potential of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and intelligent automation. Discover how these technologies can be seamlessly integrated into your existing systems to exceed stakeholder expectations and explore practical strategies for incorporating these powerful enablers, focusing on the right timing and methods to maximize impact. 

Key Takeaways:
- Grasp the current landscape of service delivery challenges.
- Gain actionable strategies for integrating AI and intelligent automation.
- Understand the benefits of these technologies in enhancing stakeholder value.
- Learn the optimal timing and methods for successful implementation.

The C-Suite Blueprint: Solving Service Delivery Challenges with AI and Intelligent Automation

Are you prepared for the future of IT support? Emerging technologies and shifting customer expectations are reshaping the industry. 

In this webcast, industry thought leader Jeff Rumburg will explore the trends and predictions that will define IT support in 2025. He’ll discuss AI, automation, remote support, and other innovations that are transforming the landscape. Attendees will learn how to stay ahead of the curve and position their organizations for success in the years to come.

The Future of IT Support: Trends and Predictions for 2025

Join Jeff Rumburg, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at MetricNet, as he explores how AI is revolutionizing IT service management. Using case study examples, Jeff will share practical insights on how these technologies have driven significant improvements in service delivery, focusing on measurable outcomes such as reduced ticket volumes, improved resolution times, and enhanced customer satisfaction.

Attendees Will Learn:
- Real-world examples of AI integration within IT service management and the measurable benefits achieved.
- Practical strategies for implementing AI technologies to optimize IT service operations.
- Metrics and KPIs critical for evaluating the success of AI integrations in IT services.

Enhance IT Service Management with AI: Proven Strategies and Metrics for Success

Is the Service Portal dead? If you think it is, this session is for you!

We’ll look at the impact of AI and other emerging technologies on human-centered support design, focusing on the service portal. This session covers the foundational elements of building a human-centered service experience and how emerging trends will impact that design.

Key topics and takeaways include:
- Designing the service portal as a contact channel in an omnichannel support design.
- Information and application center.
- Entry for walk-up services.
- True self-service (vs. just logging a ticket).
- Replacement for the corporate intranet.
- A dive into the ways generative AI changes knowledge management and the service portal.
- A look at the self-service experience of the future: Will it happen in the portal? What replaces the portal if it doesn’t?

As participants will learn, until tools mature beyond the service portal, it will always need to be built. Learn how to build it from an expert in the field who focuses on the human experience, designing portals customers love!

About the Speaker
Phyllis Drucker, the 2023 HDI Lifetime Achievement Award winner, is a service management and leadership expert with over 20 years of experience in Business/IT Strategy, enterprise service management, governance, customer service, and support. She is an expert in Service Management tool design, including the service portal and service request catalog, HR automation, leadership, and team building. Her specialty is looking at innovative approaches to how people work that use today’s digital solutions: taking advantage of technological advances to transform how service and support are delivered.

The Service Portal Reimagined: AI, Human Design, and Beyond

Individual processes and practices are easy. There I said it. 

Standing alone, Incident Management, Change Enablement, Problem Management et al can improve quickly. After an initial spurt of improvement, pretty soon you are living with marginal gains but still missing real opportunities. 

The interfaces between the processes and their associated the value chains are the real future of service management. 

This presentation will show you how to manage key interfaces and the opportunities that presents to your stakeholders.

Service Integration and Management – The Key to Enterprise Transformation

The evolution of IT service management (ITSM) stands at a crucial juncture, shaped profoundly by the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), network operations (NetOps), and security operations (SecOps). 

This presentation delves into the transformative impacts of these technologies on ITSM, forecasting a future where ITSM not only adapts but thrives in the complexity of modern digital ecosystems.

The Once and Future ITSM

Explore the transformative role of AI metrics in IT service and support with AI-Driven Success: Metrics That Matter. Jeff Rumburg delves into the critical AI metrics that are reshaping the landscape of IT service management. This session provides a comprehensive look at how these metrics not only enhance operational efficiency but also drive success in the era of AI.

Key Takeaways:
- Deep dive into essential AI metrics for IT service success.
- Strategies for implementing and interpreting AI metrics effectively.
- Insights from real-world case studies of AI-driven service improvements.
- Future trends in AI metrics and staying ahead in the IT industry.

This presentation is tailored for IT professionals aiming to harness AI for superior service delivery and operational excellence.

AI-Driven Success: Metrics That Matter

Most organizations are busy improving or transforming their IT operating model by introducing new ways of working (e.g. DevOps, ITIL 4, Lean Portfolio Management) and modernizing their IT management tool chain (e.g. DevOps tool chain, ITSM platforms, AIOps / Observability tools, CICD pipeline, etc.). 

But despite all our efforts we are still not in control! We lack transparency and traceability across our value streams, the CMDB is not up-to-date, we don't what applications we have, or what cloud resources are used. We have siloed teams and fragmented processes. We have no control on value, risk and costs. 

This is all due to fact that we miss the most important ingredient as part of our ITSM approach: DATA 

Data is the fuel for your IT service management processes. Without a solid data foundation (and common data model) your IT organization will run slow at pace, inability to take the right decisions, frictions, inability to automate IT processes, longer lead time for resolving incidents, and so on. 

ITSM data is for example about service / application portfolio, service catalogue, enterprise architecture and the CMDB, but also about all activities e.g. epics, features, changes, incidents, service requests, vulnerabilities as well as contracts, licenses, and so. 

This presentation will explain how a DATA DRIVEN approach to ITSM can deliver better value, safer and sooner, while optimizing user experience. By taking a data driven approach the system can be fixed and revolutionize the way the IT operates.

About the Speaker
Rob Akershoek is senior IT Management / DevOps architect at DXC and Co-Chair of the IT4IT Forum within The Open Group. He helps IT organizations to transform to become a lean and agile service provider, ready to manage the new digital ecosystem consisting of a hybrid cloud and multi-vendor sourcing landscape.

Data Driven ITSM- A New Approach to Manage Digital

Small and medium enterprises are drowning in data while starving for insights. With unstructured data projected to represent up to 90% of all enterprise data by late 2025, and only 35% of SMEs leveraging cloud-based analytics, there's an enormous untapped potential for competitive advantage. In today's AI-driven landscape, the ability to transform raw data into actionable intelligence isn't just beneficial—it's essential for survival and growth.

While large enterprises deploy specialized teams and substantial budgets to tackle data challenges, SMEs face unique obstacles in extracting value from their information assets. Without proper frameworks for data cleansing, integration, and governance, organizations risk making critical decisions based on flawed insights. This session delivers practical, cost-effective strategies specifically designed for businesses without enterprise-scale resources, helping you navigate regional compliance variations and integrate data across disparate systems to drive measurable ROI.

Join Eugina Jordan (CEO and Co-founder of YOUnifiedAI) to explore proven methods for converting data chaos into strategic advantage.

Key Takeaways:
- Practical frameworks for effectively managing both structured and unstructured data sources
- Step-by-step methods for ensuring data quality and integrity across your organization
- Integration strategies that bridge legacy systems with modern platforms without breaking the budget
- Governance approaches that address regional compliance variations while maintaining data accessibility
- Real-world examples of SMEs that have successfully converted disparate data into revenue-driving insights

From Data Chaos to ROI: Practical Frameworks for SMEs

The way employees communicate and collaborate is constantly evolving, and so too are the security threats they face. The rise of generative AI adds a new layer of complexity, requiring CISOs to proactively address the risks of data loss and potential harm to the organization.

Traditional security approaches often fall short in addressing the unique challenges posed by modern collaboration tools and the integration of GenAI. Understanding and mitigating these risks is critical for maintaining data privacy, preventing leakage, and ensuring compliance. We'll share Metrigy's latest research data to reveal actionable strategies for a comprehensive, business-aligned security strategy.

Join Irwin Lazar (President and Principal Analyst at Metrigy)  to discover the key components of a modern security approach, including how to: 

- Establish alignment between IT, collaboration, and security teams to address evolving threats.
- Identify emerging threats stemming from new applications and out-of-band communications.
- Understand how generative AI creates new risks for data privacy, leakage, and effective data management.
- Develop a comprehensive security strategy tailored for collaborative environments and the GenAI landscape.
- Evaluate the benefits of third-party platforms optimized for collaboration and GenAI security to enhance your security posture.

Secure Collaboration in the Age of GenAI: A CISO's Guide to Risk Mitigation

Sustainable business relationships center on both long-term collaboration and minimizing environmental impact throughout the supply chain. Effective manufacturing and supply chain processes are increasingly reliant on transparency, adaptability, and digital tools that allow for predictive, rather than reactive, planning.

This session presented by CEO Justin Newell will demonstrate -- using a few examples -- how organizations such as Volkswagen have leveraged generative AI and intelligent decision-making systems to enhance sustainability and efficiency within logistics, supply chain, and manufacturing. 

AI is most powerful when it processes dozens or even hundreds of factors simultaneously -- far beyond the capacity of human decision-making or traditional systems. AI-driven optimization engines allow companies to simulate countless supply chain scenarios in real time, identifying the most sustainable and efficient outcomes.

When manufacturing and logistics processes are optimized through AI, delays are minimized, expectations are met more consistently, and customer satisfaction rises due to great transparency and on time delivery performance. The transparency and speed that come from real-time data and predictive analytics foster trust and reliability -- both cornerstones of sustainable business relationships.  Solutions such as this not only reduce operational complexity but also help reach environmental and service quality goals more effectively.
This can lead to more sustainable business relationships — both in longevity and from an environmental impact -- and increased customer satisfaction. 

Key Takeaways 
1. Trends in AI for 2025 and 2026.
2. Real-world examples of AI/ML in action.
3. How complex logistics can be better managed with AI and digital decision making.
4. Innovative solutions to improve manufacturing operations and product lead times with AI.

Reshaping the Role and Impact of AI in Manufacturing and Supply Chain Logistics

In the era of zettabyte scale information, organizations often find themselves “data rich but insight poor.” While data volume has exploded, the ability to translate that data into competitive advantage lags behind. The consequence? Missed opportunities, inefficient operations, and a failure to capitalize on the full potential of today's technology.

But technology alone is not enough. True scalability demands a people‑first culture that champions collaboration, shared data definitions, and continuous learning. By aligning technical choices with clear business goals and fostering an environment where data informs every decision, companies can bridge the gap between big data and big insights - moving from dashboards that describe the past to systems that actively shape the future.

In this session, we delve into the challenges preventing organizations from maximizing their data investments. We explore how to bridge the gap between raw data and strategic insights by building scalable, purpose-built systems that leverage cutting-edge technologies like AI and machine learning. Discover practical approaches to data integration, governance, and analytics that empower your teams to make data-driven decisions, optimize processes, and unlock new revenue streams.

Join Dmytro Basan to discover how to turn your data into a strategic weapon.

Key takeaways:

- Define Clear Business Objectives: Align your data strategy with business goals to ensure a measurable ROI.
- Build a Scalable Data Foundation: Invest in a modern data architecture that can handle growing data volumes and diverse data sources.
- Embrace Automation and AI: Leverage AI-powered analytics to automate insights discovery and accelerate decision-making.
- Promote Data Literacy: Empower your employees with the skills and tools they need to access, analyze, and interpret data effectively.
- Measure and Iterate: Continuously monitor the performance of your data initiatives and adjust your strategy based on results.

Unlocking Data's Potential: Scaling Systems for Real Insights

Innovation is no longer enough: To remain competitive, you also need to integrate and automate ever-increasing (and increasingly siloed) data stacks. But there are a lot of obstacles standing in the way of a successful modern data strategy—including fragmented systems, application proliferation, legacy infrastructure and more. 

Now that traditional rule-based automation isn’t enough to resolve data siloes, what’s next?

Join Jitterbit CTO Manoj Chaudhary as he explores how AI Agents can redefine intelligent automation, bridging the gap between legacy systems and modern applications through adaptive, autonomous decision-making. See firsthand how AI-infused platforms can orchestrate workflows across disparate environments, eliminating silos and delivering true end-to-end automation.

You’ll also discover:
-How major transformation drivers affect your data, including global economic dynamics, hybrid IT complexity, and enterprise-scale orchestration demands
-Why traditional automation fails in today’s complex, data-heavy environments — and how AI Agents offer a flexible, context-aware alternative
-Why AI Agents represent a breakthrough in automation, enabling systems to reason, adapt, and act autonomously
-How the architecture of intelligent automation empowers Agent Orchestrators to coordinate specialized agents (Sales, IT, HR, etc.) and allow execution at scale
-How to evolve beyond traditional workflows with the unified, AI-infused Jitterbit Harmony platform, which empowers even the most nontechnical users to harness powerful iPaaS, API Management, App Development, and EDI capabilities.

Best of all, we’ll show you a practical blueprint for how to get started, including ways that Jitterbit Harmony’s AI agents can help you close the gap between vision and execution. Come discover what’s possible with a unified, intelligent automation strategy — and get ready to turn AI into a strategic enabler for your enterprise.

AI Powered Agility: Driving Data Integration & Automation

The marketplace is buzzing with AI expectations, but where's the real business value? Despite massive investment and executive enthusiasm, most organizations remain stuck in the perpetual pilot phase, unable to translate AI potential into tangible outcomes that impact the bottom line.

Data volumes continue to expand at unprecedented rates. Meanwhile, regulatory requirements grow increasingly complex. These dual pressures demand that enterprises extract meaningful intelligence from their data assets while maintaining strict governance protocols. Practical AI implementation has become essential for survival, not just competitive advantage.

Moving from AI aspiration to implementation requires many critical decisions.
When is building in-house capabilities the right choice, and when is it best to go with third-party providers? How can you use the analytical power of AI while protecting sensitive data? And at what points does human expertise remain irreplaceable in your AI strategy?

Join TreeHive Strategy Principal, Donald Farmer as he delivers actionable strategies for enterprise leaders navigating real-world AI deployment challenges.

Key Takeaways:

- Practical decision frameworks for evaluating build-versus-buy AI strategies that align with your organization's data maturity and business objectives
- Governance approaches that protect proprietary data while maximizing AI's analytical potential across your enterprise
- Strategies for managing integration complexity when deploying AI within existing data management infrastructures
- Methods for identifying where human expertise remains critical in your AI-augmented data operations
- Actionable roadmap for scaling successful AI pilots into enterprise-wide data management solutions

AI That Works: Strategic Implementation for Measurable Business Outcomes

In today's fast-moving digital world, data has become one of the most valuable assets for any organization. However, simply collecting data is no longer enough. To fully unlock its potential, businesses must focus on making their data "AI-ready"—meaning clean, organized, accessible, and trustworthy for advanced analytics and artificial intelligence. This presentation explores the critical components of AI-ready data, emphasizing practical steps for effective data management, advanced reporting capabilities, and how these elements together drive real competitive advantage.

Through a mix of strategy, real-world examples, and simple explanations, this session highlights how organizations can move from traditional data practices to modern, intelligent systems that enable faster decisions, deeper insights, and more responsive customer experiences. Whether you're a business leader, data professional, or technologist, this talk offers actionable guidance on preparing your data ecosystem to meet the demands of AI-driven innovation.

Key Takeaways

- AI-Ready Data Defined: Understand what it means to have data that is structured, cleaned, and governed for use in AI systems.
- Data Management Strategy: Learn the essential practices for collecting, integrating, cleaning, and securing data across the enterprise.
- Smarter Reporting: Discover how AI-ready data enables predictive insights, real-time dashboards, and automated reporting.
- Competitive Edge: See how leading companies use AI-ready data to innovate faster, personalize services, and make smarter decisions.
- Actionable Steps: Walk away with a roadmap to begin transforming your data landscape for AI-readiness—starting today.

AI-Ready Data: Management, Reporting and Competitive Advantage

Data-Driven Strategies in the AI Age

Is your IT support team struggling to meet performance goals? Without benchmarking, it’s impossible to know how you stack up against industry peers or where to focus improvement efforts. 

In this webcast, Jeff Rumburg, Managing Partner of MetricNet, will demonstrate how to use benchmarking to identify performance gaps, set realistic goals, and implement actionable strategies for improvement. Attendees will learn how to leverage benchmarking data to achieve world-class IT support performance.

Benchmarking Your Way to World-Class IT Service and Support

IT Service Desk

IT Service Management

IT Services

IT as a Service

Management

IT Management

Are you an IT service management professional interested in developing your knowledge and improving your job performance? Join the IT service management community to access the latest updates from industry experts. Learn and share insights related to IT service management (ITSM) including topics such as the service desk, service catalog, problem and incident management, ITIL v4 and more. Engage with industry experts on current best practices and participate in active discussions that address the needs and challenges of the ITSM community.

Get powerful help desk and support insights from influential experts. Connect with thought leaders and colleagues to get the most up-to-date knowledge on the help desk and support strategies that effect business value and growth.

Help Desk and Support

As an IT professional, many of the problems you face are multifaceted, complex and don’t lend themselves to simple solutions. The information technology community features useful and free information technology resources. Join to browse thousands of videos and webinars on ITIL best practices, IT security strategy and more presented by leading CTOs, CIOs and other technology experts.

Benchmarking Your Way to World-Class IT Service and Support

Presented by

About this talk

IT Service Management