Business services are activities which support a business yet do not involve production of a tangible product. These activities include IT which assists numerous other business activities such as procurement, shipping and finance. These are specialised services which most companies today are inclined towards. These are intangible assets which can be experienced by the customer through interaction, expertise and knowledge. These services are a vital part of the business and help in the overall growth and development of the company.
The business service industry is one of the most diverse and dynamic industries in the world, providing many different types of non-financial services to almost every type of company in operation. The business services industry includes sectors such as advertising, marketing, consulting, staffing, logistics (including travel and facilities management), waste management, shipping and administration. The business service industry is a necessary component of any economy and provides many important functions, including supply chain integration, information technology, human resources, financial services, warehousing, insurance and communication.
According to Eurostat, 4.4 million enterprises in the EU-27 have as their main activity the provision of business services, and this represents around 17.1 % of total turnover in the non-financial business economy. This sector also employs over 22.2 million people. The most significant contributions to turnover come from legal, accounting and auditing services (21.0 %), computer and related services (15.3 %), architecture, engineering and consultancy services (8.2 %) and labour recruitment and provision of personnel (7.3 %).
While some of these are internal to the business, others are supplied by third parties. This is known as outsourcing and is an increasingly common way for businesses to access the resources and skills that they need. Outsourcing can be performed by a number of different entities, such as suppliers, consultants and contractors.
When creating a new business service, the following details are required: Name. This is the name that will appear in the business services list. Description. This is a descriptive text that will be displayed in the list. Availability. This indicates whether the service is available or not. Health. This is a numerical value that indicates the current state of the service. Risk. This is a numerical value that indicates how much risk the service poses. Policy. This is a string that specifies a description of the service, and determines how it will be managed.
In SL1, you can select one or more services to always display at the top of the business service list by clicking on the Actions button and selecting Favorite Service. You can also create a custom Service Model to provide greater flexibility in the way that you organize and monitor business services. For example, you can create a model that monitors a set of device services that work together to deliver a business service, such as DNS plus Collector Group. You can then use this to create a business service that monitors this device configuration. To edit a business service, click the Edit link next to the service in the list.