Services and Categories in ITSM: Best Practices for Optimising Your Service Catalogue and Driving Better Reporting

Many organisations invest significant time and money in their ITSM platform, yet one of the most important foundations is often overlooked:

Services and categories.

When services and categories are poorly designed, users struggle to find what they need, support teams receive inaccurately logged tickets and reporting becomes unreliable.

On the other hand, a well-structured service catalogue makes it easier for users to request support, enables automation, improves reporting and provides greater visibility into service performance.

The service catalogue should act as the single source of truth for the services available to the business, helping users understand what IT provides and how those services can be accessed.

In this article, we'll explore how to structure services and categories effectively, optimise an existing service catalogue and use reporting to drive continual improvement.

Why Services and Categories Matter

Services and categories are more than simply dropdown fields on a ticket form.

They form the foundation of many critical ITSM processes, including:

• Incident Management
• Request Fulfilment
• Change Management
• Knowledge Management
• Service Level Management
• Reporting and Analytics

A well-structured catalogue helps users quickly identify the service they need and allows support teams to accurately route, prioritise and resolve requests.

Without a clear structure, organisations often experience:

• Incorrect ticket categorisation
• Poor reporting accuracy
• Increased ticket reassignment
• Confusion over service ownership
• Reduced self-service adoption
• Difficulty identifying service trends

Services Should Reflect What the Business Consumes

One of the most common mistakes organisations make is structuring services around internal IT teams rather than the services that users actually consume.

For example:

❌ Infrastructure Team

❌ Desktop Team

❌ Messaging Team

❌ Network Team

Whilst these structures may make sense internally, they often create confusion for users and make reporting less meaningful.

Instead, services should reflect business-facing capabilities such as:

✅ Collaboration Services

✅ End User Computing

✅ User Access Management

✅ Network Services

✅ Business Applications

✅ Security Services

This approach makes it easier for users to find the right service whilst providing more meaningful reporting and clearer service ownership.

Understanding Services vs Categories

One of the most common mistakes organisations make is confusing services with categories.

Services

A service represents something the organisation delivers to its users.

Examples include:

• End User Computing
• User Access Management
• Collaboration Services
• Network Services
• Business Applications
• Security Services

Services should be business-focused and easily understood by users.

Categories

Categories provide additional classification within a service.

For example:

Service: User Access Management

Categories:

• New Starter Access
• Access Modification
• Access Removal
• Shared Mailbox Access
• Privileged Access

Another example:

Service: End User Computing

Categories:

• Laptop
• Desktop
• Monitor
• Docking Station
• Mobile Device

Categories help refine requests and improve routing, reporting and trend analysis.

Signs Your Service Catalogue Needs Reviewing

Many organisations operate with service catalogues that have evolved over several years without proper governance.

Warning signs include:

Too Many Categories

It is not uncommon to find hundreds of categories accumulated over time.

Users become overwhelmed by options and often choose the wrong one.

Duplicate Categories

Examples:

• Laptop
• Laptops
• Laptop Support
• Laptop Issue

Multiple variations create inconsistent reporting.

Outdated Services

Retired applications or systems remain available for selection long after they have been decommissioned.

Technical Language

Users should not need detailed technical knowledge to raise a ticket.

For example:

❌ Exchange Online Mailflow Issue

✅ Email Problem

Excessive Use of "Other"

If "Other" is one of your most used categories, your service catalogue probably needs refinement.

Common Mistakes When Designing Services and Categories

Even with good intentions, many organisations create unnecessary complexity within their service catalogue.

Common mistakes include:

• Designing services around support teams
• Creating hundreds of categories that users struggle to navigate
• Using technical terminology instead of business language
• Leaving retired services available
• Overusing the "Other" category
• Creating categories that provide no reporting value
• Failing to assign service ownership

The goal should be simplicity, consistency and usability.

If users cannot easily find the right service, they will take shortcuts, and reporting quality will quickly suffer.

Best Practices for Structuring Services and Categories

1. Design from the User's Perspective

One of the biggest mistakes IT teams make is designing the catalogue around internal support structures rather than user needs.

Users care about:

• What service they need
• What they want to achieve
• How quickly it will be delivered

They do not care which support team owns it.

A good test is to ask:

Would a non-technical employee understand this service name?

If the answer is no, reconsider the naming convention.

2. Standardise Naming Conventions

Consistency improves:

• User experience
• Reporting quality
• Searchability
• Automation opportunities

For example:

Establishing clear standards helps prevent duplication and confusion.

3. Avoid Over-Categorisation

More categories do not necessarily mean better reporting.

Instead of creating multiple categories for every possible issue, focus on meaningful classification that supports reporting and operational decision-making.

Keep the structure simple and intuitive.

4. Assign Service Ownership

Every service should have a clearly identified owner responsible for:

• Service definition
• Service quality
• Service reporting
• Service reviews
• Catalogue maintenance

Without ownership, service catalogues quickly become outdated.

5. Conduct Regular Catalogue Reviews

Services evolve constantly.

Applications are introduced, upgraded and retired.

Review your catalogue regularly to:

• Remove obsolete services
• Merge duplicate categories
• Improve naming conventions
• Validate ownership
• Align with business changes

Treat the service catalogue as a living asset, not a one-time project.

How to Optimise Existing Services and Categories

Many organisations already have a service catalogue, but it may no longer accurately reflect how services are delivered.

Step 1: Analyse Ticket Data

Review:

• Top ticket-generating services
• Most-used categories
• Least-used categories
• Tickets logged against "Other"

This provides a clear picture of where improvements are needed.

Step 2: Identify Duplication

Look for:

• Similar service names
• Multiple categories representing the same issue
• Legacy application names

Consolidate where possible.

Step 3: Review Service Ownership

Ask:

• Does every service have an owner?
• Is ownership still correct?
• Are service descriptions accurate?

Step 4: Improve Service Descriptions

A service catalogue should clearly explain:

• What the service provides
• Who can request it
• Available request types
• Expected fulfilment times

Clear descriptions improve self-service adoption and reduce confusion.

Step 5: Align Categories with Reporting Needs

Avoid creating categories simply because they exist in the tool.

Categories should support meaningful reporting and operational decision-making.

A Well-Designed Service Catalogue Supports Self-Service

Self-service remains one of the most effective ways of supporting a shift-left strategy.

However, users cannot successfully self-serve if they cannot find what they need.

An effective service catalogue should help users:

• Locate services quickly
• Identify the correct request type
• Access relevant knowledge articles
• Understand fulfilment expectations
• Track the progress of requests

When supported by strong knowledge management practices, a well-structured service catalogue can significantly reduce ticket volumes and improve employee experience.

How to Report on Services Effectively

One of the biggest benefits of a well-designed service structure is improved reporting.

If services and categories are accurate, reporting becomes significantly more valuable.

Service Volume Reporting

Track:

• Incidents by service
• Requests by service
• Changes by service

Questions you can answer:

• Which services generate the most support demand?
• Which services are becoming less stable?
• Which services require additional investment?

Service Performance Reporting

Measure:

• SLA achievement by service
• Resolution times by service
• First-contact resolution rates
• Reassignment rates

This helps identify services causing operational challenges.

Service Quality Reporting

Review:

• Repeat incidents
• Problem trends
• Major incidents by service
• User satisfaction scores

This enables service owners to focus improvement efforts where they will have the greatest impact.

Executive Reporting

Whilst operational teams often focus on ticket volumes and SLA performance, senior stakeholders are typically more interested in service outcomes.

Consider reporting on:

• Cost per service
• Service satisfaction scores
• Self-service adoption rates
• Service availability
• Business impact
• Service consumption trends

This helps demonstrate the value that service management delivers to the wider organisation.

Self-Service Reporting

Track:

• Knowledge article usage
• Self-service success rates
• Request portal usage
• Ticket deflection
• Portal adoption

High-performing services often have strong knowledge management and self-service capabilities.

Turning Reporting into Continual Improvement

Collecting data is only part of the journey.

The real value comes from using reporting to drive decisions.

For example:

High Volume Service

A service generating large numbers of tickets may require:

• Better knowledge articles
• User training
• Root cause analysis
• Application improvements

Low SLA Performance

This may indicate:

• Resource shortages
• Poor routing
• Process inefficiencies
• Supplier issues

High Reassignment Rates

This often suggests:

• Poor categorisation
• Confusing service definitions
• Inadequate triage processes

Reporting should drive conversations around service improvement rather than simply measuring performance.

Establish a Service Catalogue Governance Process

A service catalogue should never become a "set and forget" exercise.

Create a regular governance process to review:

• New services
• Retired services
• Service ownership
• Category effectiveness
• Reporting requirements
• User feedback
• Self-service performance

Many organisations review their catalogue only when problems arise. Regular governance helps prevent catalogue sprawl and keeps services aligned with business needs.

Service Catalogue Health Check

Ask yourself:

✅ Are all services still active?

✅ Does every service have a clearly assigned owner?

✅ Can non-technical users easily understand service names?

✅ Are categories helping improve reporting?

✅ Are users successfully using self-service?

✅ Are retired services removed promptly?

✅ Is the catalogue reviewed regularly?

✅ Can leadership clearly report on service performance?

If you answered "No" to several of these questions, it may be time to review and optimise your service catalogue.

Conclusion

The most effective service catalogues are not necessarily the largest or most detailed. They are the ones that make it easy for users to find what they need, provide meaningful reporting and support continual service improvement.

If your organisation has not reviewed its services and categories in several years, there is a good chance your catalogue has become more complex than it needs to be.

By simplifying service structures, assigning ownership, improving governance and focusing on reporting that drives decision-making, organisations can create a service catalogue that delivers real business value.

A well-optimised service catalogue improves user experience, strengthens self-service adoption, supports automation and provides the visibility needed to make better service management decisions.

Ready to Optimise Your Service Catalogue?

Whether you're reviewing your service portfolio, improving reporting, increasing self-service adoption or preparing for AI-driven service management, strong service and category design is essential.

Taking the time to refine your catalogue today can help create better user experiences, improve operational efficiency and provide the insights needed to drive continual service improvement in the future.