The Concept Of Service - Definition of a service

A service is often defined as an action or a method that helps create value for customers. This value can be assessed based on how successful the action was in achieving customer outcomes.

Services increase the probability of achieving successful customer outcomes by removing constraints that hamper performance or by enhancing performance.

In some cases, services can go beyond enhancing performance and removing constraints by directly achieving desired outcome.

 An important characteristic of delivering IT services is that the risks and costs associated with them are borne by the service provider alone. The customer has no responsibility for them.

This is because only service provider has the skills to manage the risks and costs. Additionally, the service provider is better placed to manage risks and costs of services by spreading them across multiple customers.