What is the main goal of the 'Plan' phase in ITSM?

The main goal of the 'Plan' phase in IT Service Management (ITSM) is to understand and define service needs. This phase is crucial as it lays the groundwork for effective service delivery. By comprehensively understanding what users require and what business objectives need to be met, organizations can align their IT services more closely with business needs. During this phase, IT teams gather information about the current services, analyze gaps, and define the desired outcomes. This understanding directly informs subsequent phases and helps ensure that services are designed and delivered in a way that meets those identified needs.

While creating training plans, assessing customer satisfaction, and executing changes are important aspects of ITSM, they are typically addressed in different phases. Training plans are developed in alignment with the services that have been defined, customer satisfaction is evaluated post-implementation to ensure services meet user needs, and changes are executed after sufficient planning has taken place.