Comments for Northcraft Analytics LLC http://www.northcraftanalytics.com Northcraft Analytics LLC Thu, 30 Jun 2011 14:08:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 Comment on State of the IT Service Management Market, 2011 by northadmin http://www.northcraftanalytics.com/state-of-the-it-service-management-market-2011-2/comment-page-1/#comment-276 northadmin Thu, 30 Jun 2011 14:08:02 +0000 http://www.northcraftanalytics.com/state-of-the-it-service-management-market-2011-2/#comment-276 Here are my thoughts on that so far... HP (re-spun), CA (re-spun), BMC Remedy (re-spun, but it should be because it's a solid offering), BMC Remedyforce (not at all re-spun, but light on functionality with force.com architecture... a plus). Numara Footprints - Not a particularly good Service Management product. Old architecture, CMDB is seperate, mediocre interface, functionality is not particularly robust, ITIL sheen rather than native ITIL (like SDE). ICCM - Promising! ITRP - Promising! With so many products on the market, I think it makes sense to review in order of market share. But, you can't ignore the major changes taking place. Service-now keeps on getting it done and just surpassed CA in Market Share. Pretty impressive. I'll be making an update soon because this has been a highly active blog. Here are my thoughts on that so far… HP (re-spun), CA (re-spun), BMC Remedy (re-spun, but it should be because it’s a solid offering), BMC Remedyforce (not at all re-spun, but light on functionality with force.com architecture… a plus).

Numara Footprints – Not a particularly good Service Management product. Old architecture, CMDB is seperate, mediocre interface, functionality is not particularly robust, ITIL sheen rather than native ITIL (like SDE).
ICCM – Promising!
ITRP – Promising!

With so many products on the market, I think it makes sense to review in order of market share. But, you can’t ignore the major changes taking place. Service-now keeps on getting it done and just surpassed CA in Market Share. Pretty impressive.

I’ll be making an update soon because this has been a highly active blog.

]]> Comment on State of the IT Service Management Market, 2011 by What to pick? http://www.northcraftanalytics.com/state-of-the-it-service-management-market-2011-2/comment-page-1/#comment-273 What to pick? Wed, 29 Jun 2011 23:27:10 +0000 http://www.northcraftanalytics.com/state-of-the-it-service-management-market-2011-2/#comment-273 Interesting experience here with Service-Now. Normally they are such a 'darling'. Have any of you looked at the other pure SaaS offerings out there? (as opposed to the respun big 4 offerings) Interesting experience here with Service-Now. Normally they are such a ‘darling’. Have any of you looked at the other pure SaaS offerings out there? (as opposed to the respun big 4 offerings)

]]> Comment on State of the IT Service Management Market, 2011 by Mark http://www.northcraftanalytics.com/state-of-the-it-service-management-market-2011-2/comment-page-1/#comment-176 Mark Thu, 09 Jun 2011 02:55:27 +0000 http://www.northcraftanalytics.com/state-of-the-it-service-management-market-2011-2/#comment-176 Kirsten, I agree with you. Our company is also considering moving away from Service-Now. My last company selected Remedy (7.1) over the other major products including Service-Now. We were replacing Front Range HEAT. The company I am with now is considering replacing Service-Now with Remedy. Kirsten,
I agree with you. Our company is also considering moving away from Service-Now. My last company selected Remedy (7.1) over the other major products including Service-Now. We were replacing Front Range HEAT. The company I am with now is considering replacing Service-Now with Remedy.

]]> Comment on State of the IT Service Management Market, 2011 by Doreen http://www.northcraftanalytics.com/state-of-the-it-service-management-market-2011-2/comment-page-1/#comment-149 Doreen Thu, 26 May 2011 13:49:58 +0000 http://www.northcraftanalytics.com/state-of-the-it-service-management-market-2011-2/#comment-149 Kirsten, yours is the first negative feedback I’ve read about Service-Now.com. We are looking at them as a potential replacement for FrontRange’s HEAT. Can you provide more insight into the “performance problems” that you referenced? Kirsten, yours is the first negative feedback I’ve read about Service-Now.com. We are looking at them as a potential replacement for FrontRange’s HEAT. Can you provide more insight into the “performance problems” that you referenced?

]]> Comment on State of the IT Service Management Market, 2011 by Kirsten http://www.northcraftanalytics.com/state-of-the-it-service-management-market-2011-2/comment-page-1/#comment-123 Kirsten Tue, 10 May 2011 09:04:33 +0000 http://www.northcraftanalytics.com/state-of-the-it-service-management-market-2011-2/#comment-123 I meant Service Desk Express V10.1 which will be released this month (at least that is what our BMC reseller says..). Apparently the new interface is the only thing that has changed and they have taken things from RemedyForce. RemedyForce wasn't bad either but too limited in functionality for us. The CMDB is a bit beyond my knowledge honestly but I agree the interface of the Remedy I saw was pretty cool. I meant Service Desk Express V10.1 which will be released this month (at least that is what our BMC reseller says..). Apparently the new interface is the only thing that has changed and they have taken things from RemedyForce. RemedyForce wasn’t bad either but too limited in functionality for us. The CMDB is a bit beyond my knowledge honestly but I agree the interface of the Remedy I saw was pretty cool.

]]> Comment on State of the IT Service Management Market, 2011 by northadmin http://www.northcraftanalytics.com/state-of-the-it-service-management-market-2011-2/comment-page-1/#comment-116 northadmin Fri, 06 May 2011 13:46:20 +0000 http://www.northcraftanalytics.com/state-of-the-it-service-management-market-2011-2/#comment-116 Kirsten, Actually, I don't! :) But, we based the analysis on a survey from customers and prospects, so this is definitely opinion-based. When you say Service Desk Express, are you talking about Service Desk Express 10? Or Remedyforce (which used to be called Service Desk Express on Force)? Personally, I believe that Remedy's 7.6.4 interface is superior to them all, but I seem biased when I say that because I've used it for so long. As far as CMDB goes, I hate to say it, but I think HP uCMDB has the best interface. The flex components in Atrium CMDB are very pretty, but aren't the best for usability (in my opinion). In any case, I really think that what you combine the architecture, functionality and interface... the current version of Remedy is the best, albeit pricey. Kirsten,

Actually, I don’t! :) But, we based the analysis on a survey from customers and prospects, so this is definitely opinion-based. When you say Service Desk Express, are you talking about Service Desk Express 10? Or Remedyforce (which used to be called Service Desk Express on Force)? Personally, I believe that Remedy’s 7.6.4 interface is superior to them all, but I seem biased when I say that because I’ve used it for so long. As far as CMDB goes, I hate to say it, but I think HP uCMDB has the best interface. The flex components in Atrium CMDB are very pretty, but aren’t the best for usability (in my opinion). In any case, I really think that what you combine the architecture, functionality and interface… the current version of Remedy is the best, albeit pricey.

]]> Comment on State of the IT Service Management Market, 2011 by Kirsten http://www.northcraftanalytics.com/state-of-the-it-service-management-market-2011-2/comment-page-1/#comment-115 Kirsten Fri, 06 May 2011 13:37:55 +0000 http://www.northcraftanalytics.com/state-of-the-it-service-management-market-2011-2/#comment-115 Do you really think the interface of Service Now is that good? We use Service Now at the moment but due to very poor performance and due to our growth to more mature BSM we are moving to BMC this year. I personally find the user interface of ServiceNow not intuitive at all but it might be a personal opinion I guess. I really, really liked the new interface of BMC Service Desk Expres in the version they are releasing this month (May 2011). We are however going for Remedy with Atrium, not too bad either the interface but a bit similar to ServiceNow actually. Do you really think the interface of Service Now is that good? We use Service Now at the moment but due to very poor performance and due to our growth to more mature BSM we are moving to BMC this year.
I personally find the user interface of ServiceNow not intuitive at all but it might be a personal opinion I guess.
I really, really liked the new interface of BMC Service Desk Expres in the version they are releasing this month (May 2011). We are however going for Remedy with Atrium, not too bad either the interface but a bit similar to ServiceNow actually.

]]> Comment on Metric of the Month – February by northadmin http://www.northcraftanalytics.com/metric-of-the-month-february/comment-page-1/#comment-14 northadmin Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:35:02 +0000 http://www.northcraftanalytics.com/?p=591#comment-14 Mike, This is an excellent point. In fact, I think you can even broaden your statement that all metrics can be misleading for a number of different reasons surrounding people, process and technology). To your specific point about this metric with relation to the status field, I would like to add one of the discussion points from a past newsletter... Metrics, most definitely, are platform-specific. The way you manage the status field in Remedy is different in Service-Now, CA and HP. Also, some platforms might store assignment history in an audit log, but some might store it in a read-only assignment log. So, the same metric can (and probably will) mean different things on different platforms. Mike, This is an excellent point. In fact, I think you can even broaden your statement that all metrics can be misleading for a number of different reasons surrounding people, process and technology). To your specific point about this metric with relation to the status field, I would like to add one of the discussion points from a past newsletter… Metrics, most definitely, are platform-specific. The way you manage the status field in Remedy is different in Service-Now, CA and HP. Also, some platforms might store assignment history in an audit log, but some might store it in a read-only assignment log. So, the same metric can (and probably will) mean different things on different platforms.

]]> Comment on Metric of the Month – February by mike sisson http://www.northcraftanalytics.com/metric-of-the-month-february/comment-page-1/#comment-13 mike sisson Wed, 23 Mar 2011 04:17:15 +0000 http://www.northcraftanalytics.com/?p=591#comment-13 All. I think this is a good metric, however it can be misleading if process for updating the status is not in check or clearly defined. For example, changing the status to acknowledged, does not necessarily mean that there was responsiveness to the customer or issue. Definitions of the status are often left to interpretation. Does it mean taking ownership? Does it mean you have begun troubleshooting? Made contact with customer, or simply updated status to stop automated escalation (that's the issue I have). So again for the metric to have value, the status needs to be defined and managed. All.

I think this is a good metric, however it can be misleading if process for updating the status is not in check or clearly defined. For example, changing the status to acknowledged, does not necessarily mean that there was responsiveness to the customer or issue. Definitions of the status are often left to interpretation. Does it mean taking ownership? Does it mean you have begun troubleshooting? Made contact with customer, or simply updated status to stop automated escalation (that’s the issue I have).

So again for the metric to have value, the status needs to be defined and managed.

]]> Comment on Metric of the Month – February by Kelly http://www.northcraftanalytics.com/metric-of-the-month-february/comment-page-1/#comment-12 Kelly Wed, 23 Mar 2011 02:12:41 +0000 http://www.northcraftanalytics.com/?p=591#comment-12 It is very cool that you are using the Support Group Role field. It is not used anywhere else in Remedy ITSM that I know of. It is very cool that you are using the Support Group Role field. It is not used anywhere else in Remedy ITSM that I know of.

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