A business service is a general term for various tasks and activities that benefit a company without supplying a physical product. These services help with operations and other areas of the company like marketing, production and cost. Business services are an essential part of every business and there are many different types of business services to choose from. Some of the most important business services include information technology (IT) and human resources. A company can benefit from a business service by improving IT processes, creating an IT self-service portal and aligning IT assets with the needs of the business.
Unlike physical goods, services do not have a tangible form and cannot be stockpiled for future use. This is a major difference between products and services. Services are delivered in the moment they are needed and they require customer involvement to perform them. For example, a teacher delivers a service by teaching and a doctor provides a service by treating patients. In both of these examples, the quality of the service depends on the customer’s experience and interaction with the business.
Many businesses contract out certain types of business services to save time and money. This is also known as outsourcing. For example, a company may hire an outside firm to design their website or storefront while another company might contract out the warehousing and distribution of their products. A company might even contract out their payroll and benefits administration to another company that specializes in these functions.
In addition to these external services, companies often use internal business services to improve productivity and efficiency. For example, a company might hire a consultant to train their management or professional team. They might even have a service that offers onsite childcare for employees to ensure work-life balance and safety. A company might even contract with a cleaning or utility service to keep their workplace running smoothly.
The majority of business services are provided by other businesses, but there are some that provide services to consumers. These services are typically considered to be a part of the economy’s service sector and make up 11% of the European Union GDP. They contribute to the productivity of other sectors by enhancing their value and helping to improve innovation and competitiveness.
A company can use a business service model to map its business services to the underlying infrastructure and then analyze capacity at the application, service pool or deployment level using BMC Helix Capacity Optimization. This is a valuable tool for managing the performance of a business and understanding its dependencies on IT resources. The business service models that are created can be used to identify which applications and services are consuming the most IT resources so they can be adjusted accordingly. A company can then optimize its IT infrastructure to reduce costs and increase performance while delivering business services. This can result in a higher return on investment and improved business continuity. Ultimately, this can enable companies to meet the growing demands of their customers while staying competitive and profitable.