“Wolves hunt in packs because they know that scattered prey is easier to catch than organized herds.” Your IT problems work the same way. When requests come in randomly through emails, phone calls, and hallway conversations, they overwhelm your team, and nothing gets done properly.
An IT ticketing system turns your scattered IT requests into an organized process that actually works.
Why your current system probably stinks
Most IT teams start small. Someone has a problem, they send an email or walk over to ask for help. Works fine with five users—disaster when you have fifty.
Emails get lost. Verbal requests get forgotten. Important stuff gets buried under routine password resets. Nobody knows who’s working on what or how long things are taking. Users become frustrated because they are unsure if anyone has received their request.
Your IT ticketing system should fix all of this. Every request gets logged. Nothing disappears. People are aware of the status of their requests. Managers can see what’s actually happening instead of guessing.
How ITIL makes ticketing systems work better
ITIL doesn’t just tell you to buy software and hope for the best. The framework gives you a structure for handling requests that makes sense.
Every ticket needs certain information: who reported it, what the problem is, when it happened, and what services are affected. Your IT ticketing system should capture this automatically instead of making people fill out twenty-field forms that nobody completes properly.
ITIL also defines different types of requests. Incidents are things that broke. Service requests are things people want. Changes are modifications to existing services. Your ticketing system should handle these differently because they need different workflows.
Getting the workflow right
Here’s where most implementations go wrong. People build complicated workflows with 17 approval steps and wonder why nothing moves quickly.
Keep it simple. User submits request. The system assigns it based on category and priority. The right person gets notified. Work happens. User gets updated. Ticket closes. Done.
Your workflow should match how your team actually works, not some theoretical perfect process that looks good on paper.
Setting up priorities that make sense
Not everything is urgent, despite what users think. Your IT ticketing system requires clear priority levels that all users easily understand.
Critical means business stopped. High means important people can’t work. Medium means standard stuff that should get fixed today. Low means nice to have, but it’s not a priority when you get around to it.
Train your service desk to set priorities correctly. Users will always say their problem is critical. Your team needs to know the real impact.
Making people use the system
The fanciest IT ticketing system fails if people don’t use it. Users will still send emails and make phone calls unless you make the ticketing system easier.
Keep ticket submission simple. A web form with five fields beats email any day. Mobile access helps because people have problems when they’re not at their desks.
Close the loop. When tickets get resolved, users should know what was done and how to prevent similar problems. This builds trust and reduces the need for repeat requests.
Getting real value from your tickets
Your ticketing data provides a comprehensive view of your IT operations. What breaks most often? Which services cause the most complaints? Where does your team spend time?
ITIL emphasizes using this information for continuous improvement. Resolve recurring problems permanently, rather than repeatedly handling the same requests. Sound ticketing systems turn reactive IT departments into proactive service providers.
