From good to great: What to expect from a GREAT service management solution

On October 1, 2001, one of the most influential and — highest-selling — books of all time was published. In Jim Collins’ Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't, the author uses specific examples of companies that transitioned from “good to great” … and how (and why) most fail to make this transition.

Good to Great.

‍The service management industry has been stuck in “good” for decades. ‍

Fortunately, several organizations are realizing “good” is not enough and are starting the shift to “great.” 

In our most recent Service Management Unlocked (SMU) webinar, The fundamentals of a great service management solution, Xurrent’s Jim Hirschauer (Head of Product Marketing) and Phil Christianson (Chief Product Officer) break down the 10 focus areas of service management that have been good … and are now becoming great.

For each of the 10 below, we’ll introduce what each is and why it’s important, what the “good” (most service management platforms) look like, what the “great” (modern service management platforms) look like, and wrap with an example of how Xurrent has moved from good to great.

1. Intuitive User Experience

An intuitive user experience makes a product feel natural without requiring extensive training or online learning. When interfaces match expectations, users are empowered to focus on their tasks (getting stuff done) rather than figuring out how to navigate the platform.

The Good (most service management platforms)

• Self-service portals with limited customization.
• Multiple interfaces supporting ITSM and ESM modules.
• Some use of AI or contextual guidance.

The Great (modern service management platforms like Xurrent)

• A unified, customizable self-service experience tailored for each user persona.
• Consistent, modern UI/UX across ITSM and ESM, reducing training overhead.
• Embedded AI-driven recommendations and predictive search to guide users intuitively.

One example of how Xurrent has moved from good to great

We continue to iterate and evolve the user experience to leverage more real estate in the Xurrent platform. For more examples, read this post that highlights recent advancements in the Xurrent UX.

2. Efficiency

An efficient service management platform means teams can resolve issues faster, manage resources more effectively, and deliver consistently higher quality customer service without getting bogged down in administrative complexity.

A strong knowledge base is the backbone of a solid ITSM.

The Good (most service management platforms)

• Standardized processes with significant manual intervention.
• Basic automation with limited flexibility or scalability
• Manually updated knowledge base

The Great (modern service management platforms like Xurrent)

• End-to-end automation across ITSM and ESM using AI
• Auto-classification of tickets to appropriate teams
• Real-time synchronization between stakeholders to eliminate bottlenecks.
• Alerting/Paging of on-call resources

One example of how Xurrent has moved from good to great

In early 2025, Xurrent acquired Zenduty, a cutting-edge incident and alert management solutions leader.

Overnight, our platform became much more valuable (and complete) to our customers. See Zenduty in action:

3. Productivity

Efficiency is the name of the game in any organization — streamlining workflows by reducing manual tasks and providing immediate access to critical service information. This leads to faster issue resolution, consistent SLA attainment, and a dedicated focus on solving complex problems rather than navigating tricky processes.

The Good (most service management platforms)

• Ability to update and customize even if it requires high administrative overhead.
• Basic visibility into overall workload and priorities.
• Collaboration features rely heavily on email or external chats.

The Great (modern service management platforms like Xurrent)

• Automation of routine tasks frees up teams to focus on high-value work.
• Real-time dashboards give teams clear visibility into tasks, SLAs, and priorities.
• Built-in collaboration tools enable seamless communication within workflows.
• Embedded analysis of customer satisfaction.

One example of how Xurrent has moved from good to great

AI. 

AI is essential to what we do and the platform we provide our customers. Our AI is all “out of the box” for all customers.

‍See our complete guide to Xurrent’s AI-related features and functionality.‍

One of our newer AI-related features is our virtual agent, which can access the knowledge base, open tickets, serve up possible issues, and more.

Here is an example of some user questions/comments + the virtual agent’s reply:

Another example? Our AI Virtual Agent can create a ticket … in a matter of seconds:

4. Availability 

There's nothing worse than a slow — or "down" — service management platform. Consistent, responsive performance with minimal disruption to business operations is essential. 

The Good (most service management platforms)

• Periodic system downtime due to maintenance windows or manual updates.
• Basic redundancy and failover capabilities.

The Great (modern service management platforms like Xurrent)

• Always-on, cloud-native architecture ensuring high availability and zero planned downtime.
• Built-in redundancy and auto-failover for uninterrupted service.

One example of how Xurrent has moved from good to great

Xurrent has “scored” high on availability since Day 1.

A few metrics we are most proud of include: 

✅ Cloud native since inception

✅ 100% (yes, 100%) platform uptime in the trailing 12 months

✅ 100% customers on head version

✅ 217 code releases in the trailing 12 months

✅ 2.6M+ end users

✅ 60M+ requests logged

✅ 1.2M+ average requests logged per month

All with a customer base that has consistently grown year-over-year.

5. Performance

Quick response times, fast loads, and efficient process requests mean limited delays and system bottlenecks. This, in turn, equates to support teams handling higher volumes of tickets, accessing critical information instantly, and providing smoother service experiences. All positives.

The Good (most service management platforms)

• Average response times of 3-5 seconds per page.
• Performance degrades only during peak usage periods.

The Great (modern service management platforms like Xurrent)

• Consistently fast response times, even at enterprise scale. (350ms, 95th percentile)
• Elastic, cloud-native infrastructure that auto-scales to demand.

One example of how Xurrent has moved from good to great

Fun fact: The average human blinks approximately once every 3-4 seconds. Each blink typically lasts about 100-400 milliseconds (0.1-0.4 seconds), averaging around 100-150 milliseconds.

Interesting, but …

With Xurrent’s average global application response time being less than 350 ms, that means in (about) the time it takes you to blink, the app will have responded.

Even better? Anything over 350 ms creates a ticket for the Xurrent team to resolve.

6. Adaptability

Business requirements change. New technologies emerge. Organizations must adapt quickly to stay ahead ... or even just keep up. An adaptable service management platform is essential.

The Good (most service management platforms)

• IT-centric workflows that don't extend to other departments.
• One-size-fits-all configurations with some flexibility.
• Customizable, but high dependency on technical resources.

The Great (modern service management platforms like Xurrent)

• Configurable workflows easily tailored for IT, HR, Facilities, Finance, and beyond.
• No-code/low-code adaptability empowers business units to self-manage processes.
• Modular, scalable architecture that grows with the organization.

One example of how Xurrent has moved from good to great

With Xurrent’s AI Automation Builder, a user can type in a simple prompt describing how the automation should work, and Xurrent will automatically build it. This can save 5-30 minutes per automation (or even make it possible for a novice to create an advanced automation).

7. Security

Protecting sensitive data. Preventing unauthorized access. Maintaining compliance with industry regulations. Security should be a top priority for all organizations (it is at Xurrent).

The Good (most service management platforms)

• Basic role-based access controls.
• Siloed security policies managed separately across modules.
• Encryption and key management controlled by the vendor.

The Great (modern service management platforms like Xurrent)

• Fine-grained, dynamic access controls tailored to roles, departments, and data sensitivity.
• Unified, organization-wide security policies enforced consistently across ITSM & ESM.
• Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) and advanced encryption options giving customers full control over data security.

One example of how Xurrent has moved from good to great

Security is another core pillar at Xurrent. With our origins in Europe, where security is taken very seriously, we have always leaned into all the acronyms.

ISO 27001 and ISO 27018
SOC2‍
C5
BYOK
AWS Bedrock
GDPR

And so on …

8. Pace of Innovation

As management consultant and author Peter Drucker once famously said, "innovate or die." Service management platforms must continuously evolve with new features and improvements that address customers' challenges. 

The Good (most service management platforms)

• Software release cycles consist of infrequent major updates.
• Reliance on professional services for customization.
• Innovation focused primarily on ITSM.
• Basic integration of emerging technologies like AI/ML.

The Great (modern service management platforms like Xurrent)

• Agile, continuous delivery model with frequent, value-driven updates.
• Low-code/no-code platform enabling customers to innovate without external dependency.
• Equal emphasis on ITSM and ESM evolution, driving cross-functional improvements.
• Rapid adoption of emerging technologies (AI, automation, real-time sync) embedded natively into the platform.

One example of how Xurrent has moved from good to great

Our AI Assistant creates and/or improves knowledge articles. Here’s a quick example of what that “knowledge article cleanup” looks like:

9. Service Oriented

A service-oriented platform puts customer needs at the center of every process and feature. Through this lens, organizations can better understand customer journeys, anticipate user requirements, and build stronger customer relationships. 

The Good (most service management platforms)

• Primarily focused on ticketing and task management.
• Limited visibility into the end-to-end service lifecycle.
• Static service catalogs that are occasionally updated.
• Services defined and managed in isolation by IT.

The Great (modern service management platforms like Xurrent)

• Holistic, service-centric approach across ITSM and ESM, not just ticket management.
• End-to-end visibility into service health, availability, and performance.
• Dynamic, personalized service catalogs tailored to user roles and evolving needs.
• Cross-functional service ownership, enabling collaboration between IT, HR, Facilities, and beyond for seamless service delivery.

One example of how Xurrent has moved from good to great

About a year ago (April 2024), we acquired StatusCast™, a cloud-based provider of incident management products. 

• Real-time status communication ✅
• Unified incident communication ✅
• Customizable public & private status pages ✅

And more.

See it in action:

10. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Your service management platform must provide long-term value, meet your functionality needs ... and be cost-effective. No hidden costs! Clear pricing. No surprises.

The Good (most service management platforms)

• 4-12 month initial deployment timelines.
• Use of professional services for configurations and updates.
• Modular licensing model. Buy functionality in "chunks".
• Manual processes that accomplish business objectives at any cost.

The Great (modern service management platforms like Xurrent)

• Rapid deployment with low-code/no-code configurability—minimal professional services required.
• Predictable, transparent pricing model with no surprise fees.
• Unified platform reduces tool sprawl and license redundancy.
• Automation and streamlined workflows lower ongoing operational and support costs.

One example of how Xurrent has moved from good to great

Low/no-code, high impact. Xurrent offers customers a low/no-code solution with AI-built tools to automate and customize the platform to suit your needs. This translates to an average go-live time of 5 weeks — up to 90% faster than traditional service management platforms.

Which brings us to … the Xurrent Platform

Service Management transformed, without the headaches.

Xurrent is the unified service management platform that moves at your speed. Lightning-fast deployment, AI automation, and seamless collaboration with a platform that doesn't just check the boxes — it redefines them.

Our ITxM solution is the unified convergence of ITSM, ITOM, and IT Incident Management into a single platform that synchronizes incident data across all IT stakeholders in real time.

ITxM ensures accountability during and after incidents, driving timely resolution and enforcing root cause fixes to prevent recurrence.

Service Management designed for the modern enterprise.

Are you ready?

‍Chat with one of our experts today.