BMC Software Inc.s Remedy unit released Tuesday a new version of its IT Service Management service automation suite that emphasizes service management and business agility.
ITSM Version 5.5 includes enhancements across its four applications, including Remedy Help Desk, Remedy Asset Management, Remedy Change Management and Remedy Service Level Agreements.
Enhancements to the suite span new common Windows and Web user interfaces, support for IT Infrastructure Library best practices, greater interoperability across applications through new workflows, and new user-defined roles.
“ITSM is about knowing what a business needs its IT organization to do and work against business priorities effectively,” said Jim Grant, vice president and general manager of the Remedy unit in Mountain View, Calif.
The expanded workflow between ITSM applications allows users to easily move from one application to another within the context of a specific task.
“You can switch over from asset management to change management, and itll carry all the context of what you were working on,” Grant said.
New features within Remedy Asset Management allow users to modify processes and information held about specific assets. And a new Configuration Catalog stores reference models of configurations to ease updates.
The new release also provides complete lifecycle management of assets from “purchasing to provisioning and receiving to out the door,” said Grant.
Both the new asset management release and the new release of Remedy Service Level Agreement include new user roles that allow customers to create a service management console for specific individuals within the company. The intent is to allow those users to be more proactive and focused on their individual business issues.
Version 5.5 of Remedy SLA includes built-in monitoring of SLAs, proactive milestones and actions, and a new user interface focused on business terminology and usage.
Remedy Help Desk 5.5 integrates problem management functions and adds new Web Service functions. Remedy Change Management now allows work orders to be published as a Web service to facilitate work done on IT resources by outside vendors.