|
|
|
| |||
|
Remedy ties help desk to Oracle, SAP apps
By Jeff Caruso Mountain View, Calif. - For companies that want to link the help desk with the bottom line, Remedy this week will release new and freshly rewritten management applications that can hook to back-office software from Oracle and SAP. The management suite bundles Remedy's traditional help desk software with applications for tracking purchases, assets, changes and service levels. The suite, based on Remedy's Action Request System, can link to Oracle and SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. Therefore, when a user calls in with a problem, the help desk can retrieve current information about the user's system. ERP applications track business and financial data about a firm. Lockheed is looking into tapping its multiple implementations of SAP's application through Remedy's software, says Mike Mora, Lockheed's manager of enterprise support services. The firm hopes to shave its support costs by providing asset information to help desk consultants. Knowing more about users' end systems should cut the time it takes to solve their problems, thus making the consultants more efficient, Mora says. This level of integration isn't a slam-dunk, says Colin Mahoney, an analyst at The Yankee Group: "Mapping the data can be quite difficult." The integration is important for customer-care systems, as well, Mahoney points out. Remedy is moving in this direction, tailoring its software to handle customer requests as well as internal help. Mahoney cautions that not all companies will want to tie their help desk systems to their ERP packages. Some companies will be afraid that linking help desks to ERP systems could make the less reliable help desk bring down the ERP. Still, he says, most help desk software vendors are likely to follow suit with ERP links of their own. Remedy rewrote its asset- and change-management programs to better integrate them with the help desk. Previously, there was little integration. The asset-management system now tracks what assets are linked to others. For example, administrators can know how many systems are dependent on a certain router. If the router goes down, the help desk will know the impact that loss will have on users, says Matt Miller, vice president of marketing at Remedy. The change-management system now includes an approval-management system that seeks approval for any changes from all the appropriate people. The Yankee Group's Mahoney says Remedy is positioning the suite to compete more directly with Peregrine Systems, which has gone after the high end of the market with software that tracks assets through their life cycle in a company. Peregrine and Network Associates have been giving Remedy a run for its money, Mahoney adds. "Remedy had to one-up them somehow," he says. Remedy is shipping the help desk software, asset management and Oracle link this week. The purchasing, service-level and change-management software will ship in the fourth quarter. The SAP interfaces will ship in early 1999. Each of the modules are available separately, starting at $15,000. Remedy: (650) 903-5200. |
 |
 Contact Senior Editor Jeff Caruso
Action Request System overview
Developing A Help Desk for a New York State Agency
Philip Verghis' Help Desk FAQ
Oracle recharges its applications business
What is supply chain?
ERP Assist
| 
Copyright, 1995-2001 Network World, Inc. All rights reserved. |
