Imagine you lose your employee ID card. Simple, right? Now imagine trying to replace it in a huge corporate apparatus with isolated departments, disjointed tools and unclear processes. Frustration increases, time is wasted and productivity decreases. Does this sound familiar? Unfortunately, this is the reality for many companies today.
Here comes Enterprise Service Management with Atlassian (ESM) comes into play. If you've only thought of IT Service Management (ITSM) as an enabler for IT teams, think again. ESM extends these principles to all teams in your organization, from HR and legal to facilities management and marketing. Atlassian, with its powerful platform Jira Service Management Market leader in the practical, scalable and efficient implementation of ESM.
In this article, I'll show you why ESM is not just a buzzword, but an important development to meet the rising expectations of modern employees. I'll introduce you to the real challenges organizations face and show you how Atlassian's approach is revolutionizing service delivery across the enterprise. Are you ready to take advantage of ESM to empower your teams and increase productivity? Then let's get started.
Table of contents
What is Enterprise Service Management (ESM)?
If you ITSM you are already on the right track. ESM takes the best practices of ITSM and applies them to all service teams in your organization. This means that HR, Legal, Facilities Management, Marketing, Product Development and other departments adopt workflows, automation and tools that were originally developed for IT.
Why is this important? Because most business functions still rely on outdated, inefficient methods - shared email inboxes, manual ticketing, siloed communications - that are not scalable. A study by Forrester shows how companies implementing ESM are eliminating these bottlenecks by using a single platform with a unified service catalog that enables seamless request handling and workflow automation.
Some examples
- The HR department uses ESM to automate the onboarding of new employees and manage policy requests.
- The legal department handles contract approvals and compliance inquiries.
- The facility management department optimizes repairs and asset management.
- Marketing keeps campaigns on track with transparent project tracking.
These are just a few examples of how ESM transforms your operations from chaotic firefighting to smooth, proactive service delivery.
The real challenges that ESM solves
Take a moment to think about how your teams are currently handling service requests. Are requests getting lost in email histories? Are employees frustrated by delays or unclear status updates? If so, you're not alone. Many large companies face these hurdles:
- Non-networked tools and a lack of transparency: Different teams use isolated systems, which makes cross-departmental collaboration difficult and data silos unavoidable.
- Rising expectations from employees and customers: Employees demand fast, transparent help that can keep up with consumer apps like Amazon or Uber.
- Complexity of remote work: Especially after COVID, remote teams need centralized, asynchronous ways to collaborate on requests and incidents.
- Expensive and inefficient support models: Multiple legacy tools increase license, procurement and maintenance costs without improving service quality.
None of these challenges are new. But ignoring them costs enormous productivity losses and leads to employee dissatisfaction.
That's crazy, isn't it? A simple request like replacing a badge shouldn't slow anyone down, but often that's exactly the case. Multiply that by thousands of daily service requests and you can see why Enterprise Service Management with Atlassian is no longer optional, but essential.
How Atlassian closes the gap in ESM and brings teams together with Jira Service Management
Atlassian recognized this gap early on. The company saw the IT department's sophisticated service management functions and asked itself: why should these powerful tools be reserved for IT only?
Jira Service Management (JSM) is a platform that is not only for IT, but also for all teams was developed. Here are some of the most important functions:
1. quick setup with flexible templates
JSM offers drag-and-drop editors and pre-built workflows tailored to different teams. The finance department can set up a portal for supplier management. The HR department can automate onboarding requests. The facility management department can log maintenance work with minimal effort.
2. access via multiple channels
Employees can create tickets by email, chat (Slack or Microsoft Teams) or via web portals. There is no need to search for the right contact person or tool.
3. centralized transparency
Managers and stakeholders gain real-time insight into service levels, queues and ticket status across departmental boundaries. This helps to break down silos and ensures that everyone remains accountable.
4 AI-supported automation and intelligent workflows
Routine requests are automatically forwarded to the right employee. Approval workflows speed up the decision-making process. Notifications and SLAs ensure that no request falls through the cracks.
5. integration into the Atlassian ecosystem
Through integration with Jira Software, Confluence and popular apps like Workato and Halp, JSM connects workflows end-to-end, from incident to resolution to knowledge sharing.
Atlassian Intelligence & Rovo: The next evolutionary stage of ESM
With the introduction of Atlassian Intelligence and Rovo, takes Atlassian Enterprise Service Management to the next level. Rovo is much more than a chatbot: it is an intelligent assistant that automatically understands and assigns service requests and even suggests solutions - based on company knowledge from Jira Service Management, Confluence and other integrated tools.
Through AI-supported automation, Rovo significantly speeds up the processing of inquiries, reduces the error rate and relieves service teams of routine tasks. Employees benefit from faster responses, self-service options and personalized support - regardless of whether they are working in the office or remotely.
In short: Atlassian Intelligence not only makes ESM more efficient, but also future-proof - and companies are better equipped to meet the increasing demands of a digital, AI-driven world.
Real customer reports: ESM success in practice
Theory is one thing, seeing ESM in practice is quite another. Internal use at Atlassian and customer examples provide impressive evidence.
HR onboarding at Atlassian
When COVID broke out, Atlassian's people team had to quickly onboard remote employees. By linking Workday to JSM via Workato, they automated onboarding steps like laptop provisioning and account setup. The result? Less manual effort, reduced risk of human error, and a smooth, measurable process - which increased team capacity and employee satisfaction.
COVID-19 crisis team
During the pandemic, Atlassian was able to manage employee requests for policies, travel and remote work through a centralized JSM portal. Instead of rumors circulating in Slack, employees received accurate and timely responses through a confidential, structured system, increasing trust and reducing anxiety.
Workplace
The Workplace Experience team takes care of everything from office equipment to employee celebrations. Using JSM's dynamic forms and automation features, they can now seamlessly track issues like coffee machine repairs and Kudos gift approvals, and even support personal details remotely.
Product marketing campaigns
Product Marketing at Atlassian coordinates dozens of stakeholders from different teams. By embedding change management principles in JSM, they avoid bottlenecks, ensure transparent campaigns and accelerate time-to-market.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Companies like Box, Twitter and AppDynamics are using Jira Service Management in more than 15 departments, transforming traditional service functions into agile, responsive engines.
Practical steps for getting started with Enterprise Service Management with Atlassian
You ask yourself: "How do I start? What does my roadmap look like?" Here are our top tips:
1. identify high-impact service teams
Start with the HR department, facility management or the legal department. These teams are overloaded with repetitive requests and need automation and transparency.
2. consolidate tools step by step
Avoid creating new silos by migrating fragmented or outdated systems to a central platform using JSM's flexible service catalog.
3. empower teams with templates and autonomy
Provide user-friendly templates and delegate administrator rights so that teams can customize workflows to their individual requirements without IT bottlenecks.
4. use automation and AI
Use built-in automation to route tickets, notify approvers and trigger SLA escalations. Discover AI-powered chatbot integrations to offer self-service and knowledge base suggestions.
5. invest in training and communication
Remember that tools alone won't solve your problems. Engage users through regular training, webinars and clear communication strategies, just like consumer apps do, to keep retention high.
Why it is risky to ignore the ESM
Imagine your competition scaling their service delivery while your teams juggle fragmented tools and manual workflows. You'll innovate faster, retain talent better and deliver a superior customer experience. And you? You risk being left behind.
Industry surveys confirm this. Over 75 % of companies report an increase in productivity following the introduction of ESM. Many see measurable cost savings as several legacy systems are merged into a single portal.
ESM is not just a technology trend. It is a strategic necessity for companies that want to be successful in a complex, fast-moving digital landscape.
Summary
Enterprise Service Management with Atlassian is much more than just a buzzword, it is a powerful development driven by rising service expectations and digital transformation. By expanding the ITSM Best Practices to your entire company, you can unravel complexity, reduce costs and at the same time increase the satisfaction of your employees and customers.
Jira Service Management from Atlassian is a pioneer in this field, making it easy for any team to create customized service workflows, automate routine tasks and collaborate effortlessly - even in a remote world.
Don't let isolated tools and manual bottlenecks slow you down. Rely on ESM and lead your teams to faster, better and more transparent service delivery.
Start your Enterprise Service Management project now
Are you ready to take your service delivery to the next level? With Jira Service Management and Atlassian Intelligence create a central platform that connects teams, automates processes and revolutionizes service experiences.
Whether it's an initial use case or a comprehensive ESM strategy - we support you from analysis to successful implementation.
👉 Arrange a non-binding consultation now and discover how ESM with Atlassian can sustainably transform your company.
