What are the best ITSM products on the market
Answers (7)
This is an open ended question and one sure to spark a load of responses for diehard fans of one tool or another. I'll try to kick us off:
I’ll assume you are talking about traditional service support (ex: service desk tool). In that case, I’d look to Microsoft System Center Service Manager (SCSM) as having the most potential. BMC’s Remedy has been a classic leader and probably the most versatile tool for medium to large customers. IBM (Tivoli) and HP (OpenView) have products for larger IT shops already aligned to those two vendors. For smaller outfits I’d look to FrontRange Solutions or ServiceNow. Steer clear of Unicenter, OTRS, and just about anything else I didn’t mention here.
The above tools should cover you for incident, change, problem, and probably even release. You still need some service monitoring. I’d go back to Microsoft System Center for their Operations Monitor (SCOM) unless you are a Tivoli or OpenView environment already. Of course, you’ll likely end up with multiple monitoring tools and that’s fine. SCOM, OpenView, and Tivoli can operate as a Manager or Manager (MOM) and collect alerts from your other tools before passing them onto your ticketing system.
I’ll mention a few “configuration management” tools that aren’t CMDBs, but instead help you manage your assets. Microsoft SCCM, Novell ZENWorks, BMC Marimba, Altiris, HP Client automation, and IBM Tivoli Configuration Manger are probably the best known. I’d put SCCM above the rest.
There are other suites as well as standalone tools that can fit in this discussion, but I think I covered all the biggest names. Asset management is an area where a unified suite has a lot of value. My one snide comment is this: We just have to wait for someone to come along and tell us how great their CMDB tool is and we’ll be able to mark the point that this topic officially jumped the shark.
Aaron G.
Vice President of Information Technology at Apex Digital Solutions, Inc.
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The answer isn't necessarily in the product, but in the process.
I'll agree with Andy--SCSM has a lot of great potential. Microsoft is trying to merge ITIL with it's own framework while trying to use SCCM as a CMDB.
Other good one to look at might be Epicor ITSM, as it's purpose-built for ITIL-based service management.
I'm aware of a number of organisations that are using (and are really happy with) ServiceNow - might be worth speaking to them.
Links:
Erika F.
Project / Program Management / PMP / PRINCE2 and ITSM / ITIL Consultant and Instructor (3,500+ connections)
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Cherwell Software is another great ITSM tool worth checking out.
Links:
ServiceNow to echo Greg's response.
DD
Miguel Angel H.
Software Development, IT Enterprise Architecture, and IT Service Management Consultant
Marie, the leading tools for large implementations are IBM's Tivoli ITSM, BMC's Remedy, and HP's OpenView. However, as Aaron pointed out, the best and most fit will surely depend on your process, your scope for the ITSM implementation, and your technology framework. I have no knowledge of Microsoft's Service Manager large implementations.
If you plan to do a comparison, first define an evaluation matrix based on your processes, your scope and your IT environment. I also strongly recommend you to review Gartner's MQ for ITSM for some insight.
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