Delta

From infraEnterprise to EMC Ionix

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +1300

In March 2008 EMC Corporation acquired the Australian based Infra Corporation Pty Limited bringing Infra into their stable of information infrastructure solutions.

The InfraEnterprise ITIL solution has now been rebranded and will now be known as Ionix Service Manager.

“Infra has proved to be very successful in New Zealand.” says David Gandar, CEO of Delta Software Ltd, the New Zealand distributor of infra. “The acquisition of infra by EMC is testament to what a great IT Service Management solution infra has developed in infraEnterprise. We are looking forward to seeing infraEnterprise develop under EMC’s ownership.”

Infra has built it’s reputation on leading automating IT Service Management processes throughout an enterprise, on a local or global scale. The infraEnterprise solution includes Incident, Problem, Change, Configuration, Release, Service Level and Availability Management processes.

EMC is a world leader in information infrastructure solutions. This acquisition further solidifies EMC’s “Closed Loop Service Orchestration” strategy, designed to automate data center operations and return visibility and control to IT management.

Infra’s service desk, with its ability to manage the full lifecycle of IT services, complements EMC’s automated discovery, rich analytics, native dependency mapping and model-based approach – better enabling customers to manage service delivery end-to-end.

“With the introduction of virtualization and web-based technologies, our customers are looking for a dynamic IT service environment that can keep pace with this rapid rate of change and growing complexity,” said Chris Gahagan, EMC’s Senior Vice President, Resource Management Software. “The combination of Infra’s service management and EMC’s existing infrastructure management capabilities delivers practical and innovative solutions for today’s IT service delivery challenges.”

Source: From infraEnterprise to EMC Ionix

Announcing 3 New infraEnterprise Training Courses

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1300

The training team at infra Sydney have been extremely busy rewriting 3 of the courses in the training curriculum and we are pleased to offer these to our New Zealand clients.

Request & Task Manager

The 1 day Workflow Manager training class has been rewritten and retitled "Request & Task Manager". This course is now to the workflow side of infra what Service Desk Operator is to IPK. The course covers Understanding process workflow basics, How to navigate the interface, How to create a new Request from a Template, The main components of the Request Explorer, How to action and authorize a Request, How to manage outstanding Tasks and Requests, Using the Task and Approval windows, How to amend an existing Request workflow, Attaching information to a Request, Linking Change Windows to a Request, Creating Outages from a Request, Scheduling Requests to be created automatically, Linking Requests to Calls, How to record time and expenses against a Timesheet, Creating reports using the Reports tool, Using the Bulletin Board to send updates.

Workflow Template Designer

The Advanced Workflow course is now a 1 day course entitled "Workflow Template Designer" and is intended for those who will be responsible for the creation and maintenance of workflow templates. This is now the only course in the curriculum which covers this area. Topics include Understanding change managers and templates, How to create, modify, clone and delete a template, How to create a workflow process in a template, Adding tasks and approvals to templates, Documenting templates, Using the full workflow palette, Using conditional branching to direct workflow, Using shared task fields, How to create and apply component workflows.

Configuration Manager

Configuration Management is the updated CMDB Design and Implementation course and is 1 day. If you want to learn how to implement an ITIL aligned CMDB with infraEnterprise this is the course which will give you that expertise. Topics include An overall understanding of Configuration Management, How to activate availability for an entity, How to build the CMDB, An understanding of the different CMDB entities, How to create relationships between CMDB entities, How to track and control changes in the CMDB, How to configure global settings and keywords for your CMDB

Outlines for these and all of the courses offered by Delta Software can be found on our course outlines page

Source: Announcing 3 New infraEnterprise Training Courses

EMC's infraEnterprise Wins "Service Management Product of the Year" at Network Computing Awards 2008

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1300

EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC), the world leader in information infrastructure solutions, today announced its recently acquired Infra Corporation's infraEnterprise, has won 'Service Management Product of the year' in the Network Computing Magazine Awards 2008.

The Awards recognize the outstanding technologies and solutions at the forefront of today's rapidly evolving industry. Over 15,000 votes were cast as readers supported their favourite companies and products with infraEnterprise – a 100 percent Web-based solution for automating IT Service Management processes – scooping top spot in its category for the second year running.

Receiving the Award at a high-profile ceremony in London on 13th March 2008, EMEA Manager of Service and Delivery for EMC's infraEnterprise products, David Percy, commented, "The infraEnterprise team is delighted to be awarded the prestigious accolade of 'Service Management Product of the year' 2008 by users and readers of Network Computing Magazine. We are committed to delivering 'real world' ITSM solutions that take customers where they want to go faster and more effectively, and greatly appreciate the industry support and recognition that has seen us retain this coveted Award."

Independently verified to the highest level for ITIL compatibility across all processes (Incident, Problem, Change, Configuration, Release, Service Level and Availability Management), EMC Corporation's infraEnterprise provides a fully integrated Service Management solution in one scalable application. The infraEnterprise service desk, with its ability to manage the full lifecycle of IT services, complements EMC's automated discovery, rich analytics, native dependency mapping and model-based approach – better enabling customers to manage service delivery end-to-end

About InfraEnterprise

infraEnterprise is a 100 percent Web solution that automates IT Service Management processes. infraEnterprise supports industry best practice methodology such as ITIL and KCS (Knowledge-Centered Support) and delivers the best upfront and ongoing value for comparative depth of functionality. Infra has recently been acquired by world leader in information infrastructure solutions, EMC Corporation.

About EMC

EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) is the world's leading developer and provider of information infrastructure technology and solutions that enable organizations of all sizes to transform the way they compete and create value from their information. Information about EMC's products and services can be found at www.EMC.com.

LONDON, UK. – March 24, 2008

Source: EMC's infraEnterprise Wins "Service Management Product of the Year" at Network Computing Awards 2008

Infra Corporation to become part of EMC Corporation

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1300

Infra Corporation is pleased to announce that the company is to become part of EMC Corporation, the market leader in information infrastructure solutions.

This is an extremely positive event for Infra’s global network of Partners. Infra has achieved an outstanding market position through internally-resourced growth and partners. Operating as an entity within EMC’s Resource Management Software Group (RMSG) will enable Infra to achieve its full global potential.

For Delta Software’s clients it is very much business as usual. The announcement is about Infra’s next step in becoming a global provider, and Delta’s operations are unaffected. We will continue to partner with NZ clients to deliver operational efficiency.

We are confident that during this transition Infra and ourselves will maintain our high standard of service. The partnership provides a strengthened opportunity to leverage Delta’s successful Service Advantage programme. This includes widening the infrastructure integrations and delivering on the promise of enhanced IT operations for improved performance.

Delta Software will continue to focus on meeting customer needs as we move into this exciting new phase of transforming service management.

Further information regarding this announcement can be found on these web sites at

www.infra.com.au
www.delta.co.nz

David Gandar
Managing Director
Delta Software Ltd

Source: Infra Corporation to become part of EMC Corporation

Infra announces new EMC Smarts connector for infraEnterprise

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1300

New EMC Smarts connector plugs into growing customer demand for easy CMDB integration with best-of-breed technologies.

Sydney, Australia November 2007 - Australian owned IT Service Management software developer, Infra Corporation has announced the latest plug-in network connector for its web–based ITIL application – infraEnterprise. Infra connectors, implemented globally, deliver out-of-the-box integration with best-of-breed network tools providing control and visibility of Configuration Item data right across the IT infrastructure. The new EMC Smarts connector has been designed to cost-effectively simplify the process of delivering end-to-end Service Management for users.

The infraEnterprise EMC Smarts Federated CMDB Connector (EMCSC) enables infraEnterprise customers to leverage their EMC Smarts product investment by integrating EMC Smarts' discovery and topology mapping, monitoring and root-cause analysis functionality into the infraEnterprise ITIL-certified Configuration, Change, Incident and Problem Management modules. EMC Smarts is designed to automatically discover links between configuration items on the network. These links are imported into infraEnterprise by the EMCSC to maintain an accurate CMDB, and facilitate problem management and root cause analysis.

The InfraEnterprise Federated CMDB intelligently maps and stores data required for Configuration Management, and is able to continuously reference the balance of EMC Smarts data as required. The development of the new connector extends the powerful functionality of the infraEnterprise Federated CMDB to users of EMC Smarts.

According to Infra Managing Director, Andy Wade "Infra is committed to the development of 100 percent web-based software. Our open architecture provides organisations with the flexibility they require to manage today's increasingly complex IT infrastructures. Infra's approach means that customers can continue to store data in multiple repositories and use best-of-breed asset discovery tools while having the end-to-end visibility they require to manage business critical services."

Mr. Wade continued "Our customers are telling us that this is what they need and want, and Infra will continue to enhance its comprehensive range of connectors to anticipate and satisfy the growing demand for fast, easy integration."

"The new EMC Smarts connector plugs into growing customer demand for easy CMDB integration with best-of-breed technologies and EMC is delighted to be working with Infra to ensure we meet the needs of our customers," said Gary Staley, Global Vice President of EMC's Resource Management Software Group.

The EMC Smarts connector joins the growing list of connectors already available for many popular technologies, such as Microsoft SMS, HP Node Manager, LANDesk Manager, ZenWorks, Cendura Cohesion and Altiris.

Infra also provides directory integration connectors that enable the Infra CMDB to plug into multiple LDAP Directory services on different platforms simultaneously, for example: Microsoft Active Directory; Novell eDirectory; and Sun Java System Directory. This enables the IT department to auto-populate the CMDB with officer and customer information, and simplifies, for example, the process of providing detailed audit trails for financial data protection and compliance.

Source: Infra announces new EMC Smarts connector for infraEnterprise

Infra Corporation Positioned in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for IT Service Desk, 2007

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1300

Evaluation Based upon Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute

Sydney 25 September 2007 – IT Service Management software developer Infra Corporation has announced its inclusion in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for IT Service Desk, 2007.¹

The Magic Quadrant for IT Service Desk evaluates service desk vendors that support large scale enterprise environments of more than 5,000 employees.

The Magic Quadrant report states that the IT service desk market has grown by 14% per year for the past two years.

Infra Managing Director, Andy Wade comments, “Infra is delighted to be positioned in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for IT Service Desk, 2007.”

Mr Wade continued to comment, “Infra has established its credentials as an enterprise-class vendor with more than 350 customer and reported revenue growth of 58% for the year ending July 2007. This growth reflects our on-going commitment to providing a best of breed integration platform and innovating in the areas that matter to our customers such as rapid deployment, ITIL process automation, ease of configuration and customisation - and of course, having customer-oriented licensing policies.”

Independently verified to the highest level of ITIL service support, infraEnterprise Version 8 is a sophisticated web-based application that provides ITIL processes within one application. Underpinned by a Federated CMDB, the product is fully scalable with rich out-of-the-box IT service management functionality that includes advanced online workflow management, web self-service and knowledge management.

^{1. Gartner, Inc., "Magic Quadrant for IT Service Desk,
2007" by David M. Coyle, Aug. 23, 2007}

About the Magic Quadrant

The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted August 2007 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant.

The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose

Source: Infra Corporation Positioned in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for IT Service Desk, 2007

Leading law firm Herbert Smith rules in favor of Infra's global service desk

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1300

Top-ten UK law firm Herbert Smith LLP is an international legal practice, comprising more than 1,100 lawyers and a network of offices throughout Europe and Asia. The full-service commercial firm has a formal alliance with leading European firms Gleiss Lutz and Stibbe, and provides advice across all major practice areas including capital markets, dispute resolution, employment and European Union law, intellectual property, finance, tax and real estate.

Herbert Smith attaches great importance to providing outstanding levels of customer service to its many clients and requires excellent IT systems to effectively support the success of its business. The ability to swiftly resolve support issues affecting the firm's IT and telecommunications infrastructure is therefore a top priority for the IT department.

It was becoming evident that Herbert Smith's existing call management system was insufficient for the firm's increasing IT Service Management needs. The call logging process was unwieldy, calls were taking too long to complete and the system did not support proactive Problem Management. As a result, Herbert Smith decided to commission consultancy firm Plan-Net to develop a service improvement process based on ITIL best practice.

Implementing ITIL processes with Infra

A "key criteria" checklist was developed for the selection of a new service desk solution with tenders invited from a number of leading providers, including Infra Corporation whose proposal was successful.

Catherine Cheetham, Service Management Team Leader within the Information Services Department (ISD) at Herbert Smith comments, "The decision to choose infraEnterprise software was based on our immediate business requirement for an easy-to configure, web-based service desk that would allow proactive Incident/ Problem/Known Error lifecycle management.

"Significantly, infraEnterprise also offered advanced features such as time-zoning, which actively supported our goal to implement a global service desk for business critical issues."

infraEnterprise global service desk

Within Herbert Smith, ISD, based in London, provides a 24-hour weekday service desk for users as well as weekend cover. A team of fourteen frontline and seven second level analysts is responsible for managing mission-critical service calls received daily from lawyers and other employees. Analysts are also located in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris and Moscow. Over 6,000 Incidents/Problems are logged each month using infraEnterprise with typical problems ranging from requests to reset passwords or difficulties with Word documents through to issues with printers or email.

Since implementing the Infra system, calls initially logged in Europe or Asia can be seamlessly escalated to the second line in London, with each Incident/Problem being tracked through to closure. All calls logged are in the local time and time-zoning within Infra makes it possible to provide 24x7 support for issues categorized as business critical.

Efficient Problem Management

Using Infra, ISD can also accurately monitor information such as the exact nature of each call and the point at which calls tend to be escalated to the second level. Analysts have the ability to link calls to a Known Problem, enabling management to track the volume of calls relating to specific issues.

According to Catherine Cheetham, "With Infra, we can use tools such as Trend Analysis to enable us to identify issues sooner and when a Problem hits, processes are in place to allow us to manage it more effectively.

"As a result, there has been a marked improvement in efficiency with 75 per cent of all calls now resolved by the initial contact."

Sharing skills and knowledge is also much easier now that all international support teams are using the same system. Herbert Smith has implemented the infraEnterprise Knowledge Bank, building up a repository of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to assist with troubleshooting for common problems. ISD in London also publishes information about Known Errors to the business via the Bulletin Board.

Business support with Infra

The successful implementation of the global service desk has led to a number of other support groups within the firm adopting infraEnterprise. ISD now manages frontline calls for the contact management system and the accounts system, ensuring that consistent processes are followed and routing calls to the relevant department for application-specific support. Acting as a single point of contact for frontline calls ensures that best practice processes are adhered to and enables the consistent management of all calls through to closure.

Several departments have also begun to use Infra software as a business system, replacing existing databases with limited functionality. For example, around 50 users in the Document Centre now log over 800 jobs per month within infraEnterprise. Similarly the Reprographics department, responsible for providing a fast turnaround photocopying service, is using infraEnterprise to manage 1,200 job requests monthly. infraEnterprise offers an easy-to-use yet comprehensive tracking system for job requests with partitioning within the system ensuring that users view only data relevant to each particular operation.

Integrated Change Management and Customer Portal

Looking to the future, Herbert Smith is planning to implement Change Management using infraEnterprise to replace a number of other systems. The firm anticipates that integrating Change and Problem Management processes will increase efficiency and speed up the authorization and implementation of Changes.

The introduction of Infra has certainly had a positive impact on customer satisfaction - 85 per cent of calls are now answered within just 30 seconds and the service desk is seen within the wider business as an efficient and effective way to resolve problems and action requests. Herbert Smith is also planning to provide user self-service in the future via the Infra Customer Portal, allowing calls to be logged to both ISD and to the busy Reprographics Centre.

Catherine Cheetham believes that the IT Department has found the ideal service management solution for Herbert Smith's international set-up.

"From the initial tendering process we got the strong sense that Infra was a company we could do business with. Infra software is smart and sophisticated, but not difficult to use or overly costly. In fact, Infra software does exactly what it says on the box, and where customization has been required, it has been simple. Infra's consulting and technical staff were - and continue to be - brilliant throughout."

"Infra has enabled us build the flexible global service desk solution that is right for our international support operation today and can be continually enhanced to meet our future needs."

Source: Leading law firm Herbert Smith rules in favor of Infra's global service desk

Infra Wins Major Network Computing Award

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1300

Infra Corporation’s IT Service Management (ITSM) application, infraEnterprise Version 8, has won the ‘Helpdesk of the Year’ Award 2007 - voted for by the readers of Network Computing Magazine.

The Network Computing Awards recognize individuals and organizations at the forefront of the industry and give industry wide recognition to the technology, tools, solutions and products in this rapidly evolving market.

Infra Corporation’s John Murnane commented, “Receiving the Network Computing Award for ‘Helpdesk of the Year’ means a great deal to everyone at Infra. Winning this accolade is a direct result of votes cast by readers and customers – people with hands-on experience of the IT Service Management marketplace - and we would like to thank everyone for the fantastic support and recognition they have given us”.

New Zealand vendor for infraEnterprise Version 8, Delta Software is also excited about the award. "We have known for some time that this application was equipping customers with the optimal tool for Service Management." says David Gander Managing Director, Delta Software. "This award confirms that with infraEnterprise Version 8 we are offering the best solution available globally to our New Zealand customers."

infraEnterprise Version 8 provides a complete ITSM solution within a single 100% web-based application. Independently verified to the highest level for ITIL compatibility across all processes (Incident, Problem, Change, Configuration, Release, Service Level and Availability Management), infraEnterprise offers advanced ITIL capabilities and ease-of-integration with popular third party repositories and LDAP Directory Services.

Voting for this year’s Awards was hosted on the Network Computer Magazine website. The Award for ‘Helpdesk of the Year’ was presented to Infra at a high-profile awards ceremony at The Russell Hotel on 21 March 2007 in London.

Source: Infra Wins Major Network Computing Award

Elders Implements ManageSoft-Driven ITAM Solution

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1300

Elders Survives Three Software Audits Unscathed

Elders is an icon in rural Australia, with a rich history of providing services to the nation's primary producers since 1839. Today, the company operates in three major areas: branch network, supply management, and production.

Branch networks are the core of Elders' business, with more than 420 branches and agencies spread across every state in Australia. The domestic network provides Australia's rural producers with inputs, services, products, and support in Elders' core areas of wool, livestock, rural finance, insurance, merchandise, and real estate. Its supply management division, Elders International, connects 100,000 Australian rural producers with the world's agricultural markets.

The Challenge

The vast majority of Elders' 420 branch offices are located in rural and remote areas — many of them hundreds of kilometres from the nearest capital city and thousands of kilometres from Elders' Adelaide head office. The geographical spread of the business adds complexity to managing Elders' wide area network (WAN) of 3750 computers. The majority of branches operate without a server. The network provides 4000 users with online access to internal business systems and applications hosted out of Adelaide, as well as email and Internet access. Asset tracking, software updates, and security were identified as problem areas that required attention.

Elders’ branch offices had manual processes in place to check hardware assets visually and post reports to the head office. Software asset reporting was another matter. Manual tracking of authorised and unauthorised software installations across their enterprise wasn't feasible. Rolling out software updates required IT staff to travel vast distances or send costly CDs through the mail. Addressing security threats, such as viruses, was also an additional growing time sink. Elders needed a closed-loop solution to manage and monitor branch IT assets and software licensing, deploy software applications, and protect its systems from security threats.

The ManageSoft Solution

Elders has implemented a ManageSoft IT asset management (ITAM) solution, including asset recognition, configuration management, and reporting. This enables Elders to easily deploy and update business-critical applications for its fleet of computers and provide compliance reports for internal and third party audits. "Introducing an automated ITAM solution has enabled Elders to automatically track the systems and software it has deployed and manage its licenses and compliance requirements effectively for the first time," explained André Laubscher, IT Facilities Manager at Elders. " had an inventory management system, but it was based on a manual effort. For staff to do a visual check of equipment takes long enough without then checking what software is on it. It was impossible to do software license management properly. Moving from manual checks to using ManageSoft meant we were able to discover what software we had deployed where, and ensure our licensing requirements were met. Since we deployed ManageSoft, we have been audited three times — twice by Adobe® and once by IBM®. Each time we were able to extract the information we needed from ManageSoft. Both organisations, when they learned we use ManageSoft for licensing, were a lot more engaged because they knew we were taking licensing seriously. If we didn't have ManageSoft, I don't know how we would have done it."

Elders now uses ManageSoft for large-scale application deployment, including a recent mass rollout of Adobe Acrobat Reader® to the entire network. Mr. Laubscher added, "Without ManageSoft it would have taken years. We wouldn't have even attempted it. Now we can roll out a new application that is potentially a critical business application to the whole organisation in a short time frame and realise benefits to the business pretty quickly." The ManageSoft software deployment solution has delivered Elders tangible time and cost saving benefits, according to Mr. Laubscher, "In the past, we had to send out CDs or have people travel. Now it's done in a more timely fashion. There's more consistency and quality over the whole process. We don't incur the cost of burning CDs or running the risk of software getting lost in transit or taking a year to roll out.

"The ManageSoft configuration management solution has also given Elders an effective insurance policy against security threats," Mr. Laubscher added. "It's a simple fact of life when running Microsoft applications you need to patch. ManageSoft provided us with an enterprise-wide patch deployment solution for all our applications. Prior to ManageSoft, we didn't run organised patch management. You don't realise how difficult it is to cover the Australian continent, until support people are required to travel from Brisbane to north-west Queensland. Typically we got there once every one or two years. Now we can service our remote offices far more effectively and provide a level of service and software that was only available in our head office previously.
ManageSoft is virtually making the impossible, possible."

For more information on ManageSoft Compliance Manager please contact us.

Source: Elders Implements ManageSoft-Driven ITAM Solution

G2G3 simulation helps Delta Software go from strength to strength

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1300

Global provider of communication tools and business games, G2G3 (www.g2g3.com), announces its successful ongoing partnership with Delta Software, the leading New Zealand IT Service Management software company.

Delta Software licence the Polestar ITSM simulation from G2G3 as part of their successful Service Advantage programme. Service Advantage is designed to ensure that IT service improvement implementations achieve business outcomes quickly and cost-effectively and is based on many years' experience of implementing service desk projects.

Polestar ITSM is a highly-interactive simulation that brings to life the behavioral and process issues faced by IT organizations. This unique experiential learning approach causes accelerated understanding of ITSM and IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) best practice to large audiences and transforms learning into an engaging, fun and highly memorable shared experience.

Mark Ross Sutherland, CEO at G2G3 commented; "Driving widespread acceptance of ITSM and ITIL can be a tough challenge - Polestar ITSM offers a high-impact way to create breakthrough understanding of the benefits of ITSM best practice across organisations."

Polestar ITSM adds significant value to the Delta Service Advantage programme through a programme component called Process Enablement. This focuses on how IT process improvement will most benefit the business, with the Polestar simulation as a key enabling event.

David Gandar, CEO of Delta said "Many organizations find an ITIL service improvement project can be time-consuming and initially unproductive. We focus on achieving benefits right from the start, often within weeks. Getting a clear sense of priorities is a key to that. We've found the Polestar ITSM simulation a brilliant way to really engage the IT service team and get commitment to results."

G2G3's communication and gaming solutions are used by some of the world's leading organizations including Reuters, DHL and Hitachi.

Delta's solutions are used by many corporate sector clients such as Victoria University Wellington, Ministry of Education, Christchurch City, Mighty River Power, Waitakere City, Auckland DHB, Ports of Auckland, and smart technology solutions providers such as ARC Innovations and Integral Technology.

Find out more about the Polestar Simulation

Source: G2G3 simulation helps Delta Software go from strength to strength

Service Advantage - Achieve Your IT Service Vision

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1300

We have been very busy working with clients on various aspects of our Service Advantage Programme. The recent conferences we have sponsored have enabled opportunities to show case the collaborative work we have been doing. We have also been working very hard on building infraEnterprise v8 into the programme which has required changes to our internal processes to ensure we have the capability to deliver this exciting new release to our clients. In each "Service Leader" newsletter we will include highlights from each of the work quadrants so you can see what we have been doing and our future plans.

Process Enablement

Polestar - our Service Leadership in Action simulation has been the focus of Process Enablement recently. We have run events at conferences (itSMF - Australia, CIO - Auckland and Tertiary IT - Christchurch) and with several clients. IT Service Management simulations are becoming extremely popular, for example the itSMF UK conference are running 6 events during the 3 day conference. We have strong demand for Polestar so if you need to kick off an improvement programme or need to help your people through a cultural shift then please contact us now to secure dates.

Note there are other simulations available but Polestar is the only Business Service Management simulation available in New Zealand and Australia.

Implementation

infraEnterprise v8 documentation and training updates have consumed everyone in implementation. We are now engaged with client projects carrying out upgrade.

Operations Extensions

Once again infraEnterprise v8 features highly as we review application extensions built for v7.0.3. We also have a comprehensive list of extensions in the pipeline for infrastructure and operations managers
to extend the considerable return on investment that infraEnterprise v8 delivers.

Outcomes/KPIs

This key quadrant has been reviewed and has some challenging objectives set. We are also reviewing reporting with the recent release of infraEnterprise v8.0.0.

To find out more visit the Service Advantage website

Source: Service Advantage - Achieve Your IT Service Vision

Infra Wins European Top Tool Award 2006/07

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1300

Infra Benelux, European distributor of 100% web-based IT Service Management software infraEnterprise, has been awarded the Top Tool Award for 2006/07. The annual awards, now in their fourth consecutive year, are run by Marqit and IT Beheer Magazine.

This year’s award was judged on Transparency within ICT Organizations. The nominated tools were judged by their customers for their ability to manage IT assets, costs, transparency of service level agreements and ongoing support.

Infra Benelux Director, John Lesage, commented “This award is recognition that our technology is delivering value to our customers’ business. We are delighted that our customers appreciate the work we have been doing. It is an honor to receive the Top Tool Award.”

Source: Infra Wins European Top Tool Award 2006/07

Infra Vendor of Choice for Helpdesk Managers

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1300

A recent survey by the Help Desk Association Australasia (HDAA) of more than 300 helpdesk managers found that Infra Corporation's 100 per cent web-based service management software, infraEnterprise, is used by more of their members than any other Help Desk tool.

Infra's popularity with HDAA members has surged over the past 12 months, with an increase of 25 per cent on the results of last years’ survey.

Andy Wade, Managing Director of Infra Corporation says "The Help Desk and IT Service Management markets are now in a state of maturity and the majority of our new business is replacing existing systems. Our latest offering, infraEnterprise Version 8, provides advanced service support and integration capabilities based on ITIL and KCS industry best practice. Infra continues to experience strong, sustained growth both here in Australia and in the USA and UK markets."

About HDAA

HDAA is the Australasian partner to the world's largest membership community for Help Desk and support center professionals, HDI-USA.

HDI is the world's largest membership association for the service and support industry. Founded in 1989, HDI's mission is to lead and promote the customer service and technical support industry by empowering its members through access to timely and valuable industry information, including reports and publications, encouraging member collaboration through events and online forums, and establishing internationally recognized, standards-based industry certification and training programs. www.hdaa.com.au

Source: Infra Vendor of Choice for Helpdesk Managers

Wolverhampton City Council chooses infra

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1300

Wolverhampton City Council has selected Infra's ITIL Service Management software, infraEnterprise, to improve customer service and align IT support to the needs of the wider organisation. The Authority's Information and Communication Technology Services (ICTS) department uses infraEnterprise to support over 12,000 Council employees and local service providers, providing Incident and Problem Management and managing service requests using integrated Change Management and automated workflow.

Infra's 100 per cent web-based solution was selected for its flexible out-of-the box functionality, comprehensive reporting and easy integration with third party applications.

According to Nigel Bacon, Technical Operations Manager at Wolverhampton City Council, "Quite simply Infra ticked all the right boxes for Wolverhampton City Council, meeting our requirements and providing best value for money for the depth of functionality required by the Council. With Infra software the move from reactive call logging to proactive service management has been entirely straightforward.
Our mission is to provide high quality yet cost-effective support for the Authority's diverse operations and we see our relationship with Infra as key to achieving this goal."

infraEnterprise provides out-of-the-box connectors to enable easy integration with popular third party applications, allowing ICTS to rapidly populate the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) with user and asset data from existing Active Directory and SMS repositories. The Service Desk now logs an average of 700 calls a week with analysts able to view the individual records of over 4,500 desktop and laptop systems using SMS asset tag data.

Using the Infra system, ICTS can escalate Incidents to second or third line support and track them through to closure, including issues relating to third party suppliers. Around 50 per cent of all calls to the Service Desk are now resolved within one hour and the number of outstanding calls at the end of each week has been reduced by 70 per cent. Proactive reporting of information relating to call type and length has enabled management to measure performance and identify training issues.

The integrated Change Management facility within infraEnterprise allows the Authority to record, prioritise and track Service Requests easily. Infra software provides easy-to-implement templates for standard tasks such as installing users, while automated workflow has streamlined Change and Authorisation processes within the Authority. ICTS is also using Infra's performance management tools to prepare formal Service level Agreements. Plans are in progress for a branded Customer Portal and Knowledge Base.

About Wolverhampton City Council

Wolverhampton City Council provides a wide range of public services including education and learning, health and social care, housing, transport and environmental services to an estimated population of 239,100 people. The Authority employs 12,000 staff engaged in over 600 trades and professions, playing an active part in helping to improve the local community.

Source: Wolverhampton City Council chooses infra

Federated CMDB with InfraEnterprise V8

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1300

The Federated CMDB allows organizations to use their existing network discovery tools and asset management databases in conjunction with infraEnterprise. Users of Federated CMDB are able to:

link external CMDB items (resources) to infraEnterprise CMDB items
import newly discovered resources as CMDB items
search for CMDB items from an external resource repository from within infraEnterprise

Infra Corporation has developed a generic interface that enables a range of third party technologies to be integrated with the infraEnterprise system by using an intermediary connector. Each third party application requires a specific connector. This is because of the way in which data is stored and exposed is different for each application. The connectors therefore also vary for each application and each connector uses a different technology.

Initially the third-party connectors that were developed to use this interface were:

Microsoft SMS
HP OpenView Network Node Manager
HP Systems Insight Manager
Managesoft
InControl

Since the release of Version 8 at the end of last year more connectors have been developed.
These are:

ADLDAP
Altiris
Cendura Cohesion
Centennial Discovery
CSV File
Empirum
LANDesk Manager
ManageSoft
ZENworks

Not all versions of these tools are supported; talk to us to confirm that your version of the tool is. A generic database connector allows any other SQL or Oracle database to be connected. If you have a tool not listed here that you would like to see a connector for then Infra Corp are keen to hear from you and will develop a connector when enough interest has been received.

Tools currently being considered are Alcatel 5620 SAM, CiscoWorks, Relicore and Tivoli.

Source: Federated CMDB with InfraEnterprise V8