In the beginning, God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day. The only reason that God was able to create the world so quickly, so perfectly and ready for habitation was because God did not have to deal with legacy infrastructure!

“Should I stay or should I go” is the question we should all ask ourselves when considering the cost versus value of our ITSM platform. We have all been through this pondering process of deciding if we should remain with our current ITSM platform provider, conduct a Request for Proposal (RFP) to select a new vendor/tool or conduct a thorough value-based analysis in determining the cost versus value of our decision. It’s never easy and very time-consuming but the right decision is based on knowing where we are, what we have accomplished and what is required to do to continue to improve, mature, simplify and automate our ITSM processes, operational model and ITSM platform.

There is no easy way to determine the right decision. It requires a thoughtful and planned approach for partnering with the right people to create the business-driven justification in determining the value either staying with your current provider or restarting your ITSM journey with a new one. You have arrived at where you are mostly on your own by being brave, courageous and leading by example. What’s important is leveraging all the wisdom and experience you and your team have acquired over the years in knowing what to do differently, what not to do and how best to do it. Either way, we must be brave as we lead our team in determining whether we should stay or go!

This mature approach begins by determining the desired outcome (what will be measurably better), a deliberate data strategy and a phased rollout that guarantees operational continuity. The real work effort will be in inventorying all your reports, SLAs, workflow categories and closing codes, CI/CMDB structure and data, custom reports/dashboards, etc. You’ll start with incident/request and then move on to change/problem/configuration/CMDB. Lastly, you will build your role-based migration team, create a project plan, schedule regular status update meetings, user communications and training.

Switching ITSM providers can help counter rising licensing, maintenance, and consulting costs—especially when vendor strategy shifts away from customer needs. The current and changing landscape of ITSM platform vendors focused on increasing licensing, maintenance and consulting fees for their existing customers is disappointing. Simultaneously, they are changing out the customers’ long-time account management team and replacing them with a very young and inexperienced team. It is no longer important to spend quality time getting to know your customers, their challenges and opportunities and helping them successfully implement what’s important and meaningful to their continuous improvement journey in delivering valued services!

It’s critical that you and your new ITSM platform partner work together to create a transition plan that continues to have your existing platform fully accessible and operational as you prioritize these critical operational migration tasks to guarantee your success, minimize labor effort, time and costs and mitigate risks.

• Exporting your data in a way that reduces the risk of losing the relevancy and meaning of “the story told” from the connection of each ticket, change request, SLA, category, CI and report/dashboard.
• When switching ITSM providers, you either must rebuild the current operating model or redesign processes as part of the migration. The tailoring of customized forms, queues, routing, SLAs, approvals, notifications, and automation rules is valuable and requires analysis, review, prioritization and effort from you and your team.
• Ensuring that the new ITSM platform is a hub that connects identity (SSO), email, collaboration, monitoring, endpoint tools, CMDB discovery, HR onboarding and procurement.
• Migration plan for converting the entire structure knowledge base/articles (categories, permissions, templates, embedded media, feedback data along with their connection to the ticket history (e.g. common resolutions, troubleshooting steps, and the “tribal knowledge” captured in work notes to ensure search relevance tuning that makes knowledge easily findable.
• Work with Senior Leaders and Corporate Finance and Procurement to review the new cost structure and to get approval for the investment required to procure and implement as well as any reoccurring monthly charges that need to be budgeted for on a yearly basis.
• Work within your organization to prepare the development and support teams for the transition, schedule process design workshops, finalize integrations and engage other development teams, determine training schedule and corporate wide communication plan.

It used to be a priority for customers and vendors to partner with the intent and goal of everyone being successful. Account Management teams used to dedicate a considerable amount of time, resources and effort to better understand their customers, what they did, how they did it and what was important and critical to them in continuing their journey of continuous improvement in serving their customers and business needs. Since they haven’t taken the time to get know you, they will miss one big factor – your bravery and courage for doing the right thing for your team, your company and your customers. And that’s not the only thing they will lose overtime!

Want to explore your ITSM options in person? Meet top ITSM solution providers in the Expo Hall at HDI Service & Support World 2026, May 5–7 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Expo Hall Only passes are free. Just swing by the registration desk for your pass and start shopping!