Ken, Because of the amount of confusion on this topic, I thought I would "try" and clarify things.
First some background. The ITSM solution has previously had subsystems named Change Tasking and Asset Inventory. These have been described as mini-versions of the Change Management and Asset Management solutions that were present within the HelpDesk solution. They were not the full solution, but a subset. With the ITSM 7.0 release, there are no subsystems identified as Change Tasking or as Asset Inventory. HOWEVER, the functionality that was provided by them is present (with one omission that is being corrected). On the "Asset Inventory" side, the functionality was the ability to store asset data and tie Incidents/Problems/Known Errors to the asset records. The Incident/Problem (HelpDesk) portion of the ITSM 7.0 release includes the CMDB and all the ties between Incidents/ Problems/Known Errors and the CMDB. This not only provides all the functionality of the previous versions of ITSM, but since there is a full CMDB and not just an asset store holding the data, it is in fact a significant enhancement over previous versions (this was first introduced in the ITSM 6.0 environment as the model for moving forward). On the "Change Tasking" side, there was always some level of confusion between this and Change Management. The key functionality that was important was the "tasking" capability. The ability to have a set of tasks that could be associated with a ticket that would then be worked. With ITSM 7.0, tasking is a subsystem of the Incident/ Problem (HelpDesk) module. You can define a task flow that is associated with a ticket and work it. It is not a "change" but it is an Incident/Problem -- that is the system you are in. You can define a type of Incident/Problem as a "change" if you want to have them in a separate queue of with different rules and need to have a means to detect the difference. The key missing capability within the solution was around task templates. An oversight during development was that the ability to save a template and to select a template was not exposed through the Incident/Problem UI. The functionality is there within the task subsystem that is installed with ITSM 7.0, there was just no visible hook to it exposed. This is being updated in the ITSM 7.0.1 maintenance release that is targetted for a little later this year. This was just an oversight and not a plan to eliminate the capability of the previous "change tasking" system. So, at the end of the day, all of the same functionality is present that was previously present (OK, there is significant process change in the ITSM 7.0 solutions so there may be some edge or corner where the process change has made some minor functionality change in a major way or has some limit at the edges BUT the main functionality and capabilities are still all present). There is no longer a "Change Tasking" or a "Asset Inventory" concept. This is just inherent functionality of the Incident/Problem solution. This last item is what is causing all the confusion. The terms are removed so some assume the functionality is removed. There is a clear statement that no longer are there "mini versions" of the Asset and Change applications present in the HelpDesk application. This is TRUE, but at the same time, the functionality represented by those mini versions is simply inherent functionality within the HelpDesk functionality. We have spoken to quite a number of customers on this topic. They have taken a look at the details of the system and how they use the ITSM 6.0 (and earlier) versions in these areas and what is available in ITSM 7.0. Allowing for the process changes that have happened, once they look at what they were doing and what they have now, all of the customers we have had take a look agree that the functionality of the subsystems are still present and they can accomplish all that they have been in these areas -- with the exception of the exposed task template capability which is being corrected in the maintenance release. I hope this has helped clarify things and cleared up any confusion you got from UserWorld. Doug Mueller -----Original Message----- From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Ken Mogensen Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2006 2:32 PM To: [email protected] Subject: ITSM 7-IM/PM -- Change Task module no longer available. Hello Everyone. I'm wanting to get opinions on the following problem. I know there are a LOT of customers that will run into this problem. Problem: For those having Help Desk 6 or earlier and using the Change Tasking module, you will loose the Change Tasking functionality (the light version not the full-blown Change Management) in ITSM 7 with Incident/Problem Management. The functionality is gone. After talking with the BMC ITSM product manager at UserWorld, I was told the choices would be to buy ITSM 7 Change, purchase a different vendors product or migrate the old module into the new ITSM 7. At the moment I will never be able to migrate to ITSM 7 with the change task module missing. If I have to tell my company we must buy ITSM 7 CM, then they will ask what products are out there that can replace BMC Remedy. There are a handfull of directors that would love to replace Remedy and get a different vendor for their own benefits. Ken Mogensen 847-840-1061 _______________________________________________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at http://www.wwrug.org _______________________________________________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at http://www.wwrug.org
