And here’s the consequence: speed is now the scarce resource, and ticket-based operating models are becoming the bottleneck.
Traditional “request–approval–wait” service management creates what one expert called “wait states” — hours of value burned while work sits in a queue. And when the process can’t keep up, teams route around it: side-door approvals, undocumented changes, and decisions with no evidence. That’s not speed — that’s unmanaged risk.
This pressure shows up in another place: the build-versus-buy decision is being decided by velocity. Exclaimer’s research says fewer than three-in-ten internal IT builds land on time and on budget, and 71% of IT and security leaders say their in-house builds are eventually abandoned — rising to 83% in heavily regulated industries. When organizations do choose to buy instead of build, the top driver is speed — ahead of expertise and reliability.
So the consequence for IT service providers is blunt: your clients are not buying “ticket closure.” They’re buying throughput with accountability. If your operating model is optimized for queues and approvals, you will be seen as the thing slowing the business down — and the business will work around you.
And that changes what “good service” means. The article makes the distinction clearly: SLAs are contract language, but teams are prioritizing impact reduction and repeat-issue prevention—hitting response targets can still produce a bad outcome.
In other words: speed pressure doesn’t eliminate governance. It moves governance upstream into standards, automation, and a “golden path” where the right way is the fastest way.