Technology EvaluationInformation Systems/ Datacom / Telecom

Overview

1- Asset Management Software

2- Remedy Asset Management

3- Express Software Suite

4- Comparison of software

5- Decision Support Tools

6- Template - Critique

Asset Management Software

• Asset Management Software (ASM) helps a company obtain maximum value from their IT assets for the highest possible Return on Investment.

• Maximizes day-to-day IT service support and delivery

Asset Management Software

How does ASM achieve this ?

ASM supplies detailed information about:

• Assets currently owned

• Where they are located

• How well they are working

• How much they cost

• How effectively they are supporting your business.

Should Pet Pro employ ASM ?

ABSOLUTELY !!!!!

• ASM can integrate asset costs and relationships which would allow Pet Pro to better align deployed assets with its organizational goals and objectives.

• This will help Pet Pro increase organizational productivity and optimize operation of its assets.

What about SAP ?

SAP deals mostly with management systems like:

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

• Supplier Relationship Management (SRM)

• Supply Chain Management (SCM)

Doesn’t deal with management of IT assets !

Remedy Asset Management

• Identify which infrastructure or networks assets are in use, how often they are used, and if they vulnerable to problems

• Determines incompatible systems and older configurations

• Enhanced security features such as authorization checks and software integrity maintenance

Benefits of Remedy AssetManagement

• Allows imports/exports to various other formats such as Excel,HTML,PDF

• Company provides online and customize courses for different levels of users like managers and administrators

• Can be integrated into PetPro’s existing databases

Disadvantages of Remedy AssetManagement

• Expensive to license software ($10K-35K)

• Appreciable learning curve to use software

• Need additional components

to fully realize potential

ExpressMetrix Asset Management

• Software Manager - provides integrated PC inventory and software usage data

• Inventory - automatically recognizes over 10,000 applications to quickly provide a complete picture of your IT assets.

• Meter - Use it to manage concurrent licenses, remove unused software, or enforce desktop standards.

Benefits of ExpressMetrix AssetManagement

• Much cheaper to license software ( ~$10K)

• More user friendly, interactive GUI

• Major player in industry with 20 years of experience

ExpressMetrix - Report

Report showing all applications in terms of licensing agreements

36% -Licensed

42% -Undetermined

2% -UnLicensed

Disadvantages of ExpressMetrix Asset Management

• Security features not extensive – no indication of controlled access

• No indication of integration with other software systems such as databases and SAP

Comparison of Remedy &ExpressMetrix

• Remedy has better security control embedded in software – Controlled access to users.

• ExpressMetrix is not as powerful and integrate-able as Remedy. – Remedy can be integrated into database/management SW

• Remedy focuses on both HW and SW, suits IS/D/T more– ExpressMetrix deals more with software only

Vs.

Our Recommendation:

• WE CHOOSE……….

NOT

Decision Process

• To arrive at our recommendation, we :

1- Researched both ASMs on company website

2- Evaluated each software using templates

3- Rated ability of each software to complement function of IS/D/T

- ExpressMetrix mainly focused only on SW

Decision Support Tools

• To arrive at our decision we used Pivot Tables and Filters to assess the software– Pivot Table shows Remedy meets evaluation criteria better

Count of Reqrmnts IDMeets ConditionSW no yes Grand Total

1 1 5 62 2 4 6

Grand Total 3 9 12Software 1seems to meets the mandatory requirements better

Sum of Value Reqrmnts Sub-TypeSW fur sr tr uir vr Grand Total

1 11 1 2 13 8 352 10 1 3 11 7 32

Grand Total 21 2 5 24 15 67Tally of rated requirements in detail, software 1 did better in technical and user interface rating than software 2

Decision Support Tools

Filters shows Remedy (Software 1) met the mandatory requirements better

SW Reqrmnts ID Reqrmnts Type Meets Condition Value Comments1 5 mr yes AR system version 5.12, relational database, 512MB server RAM, 320 MB server disk space1 2 mr yes ensures the integrity of the asset data repository by reconciling asset data entered from disparate sources1 3 mr yes Remedy offers a well-established product line with more than 3,000 organizations using its IT Service Management packaged applications and an additional 4,000 customers that have built other custom applications on the AR System development platform.1 4 mr yes Windows 2000 Server SP2 OR SP3, Windows Server 2003,Windows NT or Windows XP

Critique Of Template -GOOD Elements

• User-Friendly, easy to understand

• Ability to quantify, qualitative elements

• Allowing us to statistically compare software

Critique Of Template -BAD Elements

• Financial information was extremely difficult to find

• Template very generic – Questions don’t cover strengths of some aspects of software

• Few questions are a little unclear

Critique of Template -Changes

• Template needs to be customized to each FAG– Software should be evaluated using criteria applicable

to function of FAG

• Provide option for questions that don’t apply to software or can’t be answered, like : “(N/A)”

• Add extra section such as “Customer Satisfaction Requirements (CSR)” where we can evaluate how current users rate the software

Summary

• 2 Asset Management Software Evaluated:– Remedy and ExpressMetrix

• Used Decision support tools such as pivot tables and filters to compare the software– Decided to recommend Remedy’s ASM

• Remedy’s ASM would help Pet Pro increase organizational productivity and optimize operation of its assets

Any Questions ??