A service is the intangible equivalent of an economic good. Service provision is often an economic activity where the buyer does not generally, except by exclusive contract, obtain exclusive ownership of the thing purchased. The benefits of such a service, if priced, are held to be self-evident in the buyer's willingness to pay for it. Public services are those society as a whole pays for through taxes and other means.

By composing and orchestrating the appropriate level of resources, skill, ingenuity,and experience for effecting specific benefits for service consumers, service providers participate in an economy without the restrictions of carrying stock (inventory) or the need to concern themselves with bulky raw materials. On the other hand, their investment in expertise does require consistent service marketing and upgrading in the face of competition which has equally few physical restrictions. Many so-called services, however, require large physical structures and equipment, and consume large amounts of resources, such as transportation services and the military.

Business service management (BSM) is a methodology for monitoring and measuring information technology (IT) services from a business perspective; in other words, BSM is a set of management software tools, processes and methods to manage IT via a business-centered approach.[1] BSM technology tools are designed to help IT organizations view and manage technology environments to better support and maintain the main services they provide to the business.[2] BSM tools are critical enablers for the increasingly popular process that focuses on IT Service Management (ITSM) approach. BSM consists of both structured process and enabling software. The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), a set of IT management frameworks and concepts, has recently identified BSM as a best practice for IT infrastructure management and operations.