Services are built on products

• IT services leverage products to deliver functionality.
• A service may depend on multiple products or tools to fulfill its purpose.

For example, the Email Service relies on the Microsoft 365 product suite, including Exchange Online and Outlook.

Products are often supplied by vendors

• Products come from external vendors (e.g., Microsoft, Google, Instructure).
• Vendors handle product development, licensing, updates, and support at the platform level.

For example, Instructure is the vendor for the Canvas platform, which supports the university’s learning management system (ICON).

Services may be vendor-managed or internally integrated

• Some services are fully outsourced (e.g., cloud-hosted learning management system managed by the vendor).
• Others are hybrid, where the university IT team integrates vendor products with campus systems and policies.
• In some cases, IT develops custom solutions in-house (homegrown products), which are then delivered as services.

Service managers orchestrate the relationship

A service owner or manager is responsible for:

• Choosing or influencing product/vendor selection.
• Managing vendor relationships (SLAs, renewals, escalations).
• Ensuring the product delivers on service-level expectations.
• Integrating the product into campus workflows and support processes.

Examples of IT services, products and vendors