Business Services

Business services are activities that assist a company with its operations but do not produce or deliver any tangible commodities. They range from support functions such as accounting and marketing to specialized services such as information technology or consulting. Companies that cannot provide these services internally may choose to outsource them.

The Professional and Business Services supersector includes a diverse collection of service-providing industries that offer a wide array of activities to businesses and consumers. This industry provides a variety of vital services that include office administration, payroll, information technology, human resources, customer service, and consulting. It also produces a number of non-tangible goods such as advertising, software, and insurance. This sector employs a large number of workers and generates significant revenue in the United States.

A service-oriented architecture (SOA) is a set of practices that govern how an IT organization delivers and supports services to customers. SOA uses a model-based approach to identify how one or more Device Services work together to create a Business Service. For example, a business service might consist of a DNS plus Collector Group plus a database.

Mapping technical services to business services helps responders understand what impact a disruption of those services will have on the company’s ability to serve its customers. It also gives non-technical stakeholders a way to view and interact with the business services they care about. Business services can be displayed on an external status page or within a service catalog/CMDB. Admin, Manager, Global Admin and Account Owner base roles can create and edit business services.