Universities face rising expectations for digital services as students and faculty treat campus systems as central to the academic experience. IT leaders argue that IT Service Management (ITSM)—structured processes for incident, change and service delivery—has moved from operational nicety to strategic necessity for digital transformation. Surveys cited in the piece show more than one‑third of students think their institutions lag on digital innovation, pressuring IT departments to modernize identity, learning platforms and service desks. Effective ITSM improves uptime, security and student satisfaction while reducing the hidden costs of ad hoc patchwork systems. For higher‑education CIOs, the article urges investment in service‑oriented practices, governance and metrics that align IT operations with teaching, research and student‑life priorities.