The big gorillas may be confusing managing a service portfolio with managing customer needs. As thier catalog of products & services swell to the point of obesity, thier solution is more about re-branding, maximizing revenue and account control...to the point where some of them sell products to help customers navigate through their own catalogs or obtain a price.

The channels of course get screwed up too, which can make even more of a mess; I know of situations where the partner sells the 'old' (that's what they're staff is familiar with) laying the groundwork for an upgrade. Beautiful (but from whose perspective?)

Who ever said every tool had to last forever anyway? If you believe in the service Lifecyle, then surely a tool has a birth, life and (hopefully) an exit strategy.

While it's nice to have an integrated ITSM suite, some common sense is in order. What IS integration, how long must you wait to get it, and how it will really benefit you are all pretty logical questions...

I'm for the little guy, or maybe a swift kick in the SaaS is in order....