AST introduces new product that remedies all is management problems

AST Data and Management Solutions, leaders in SA in end-to-end enterprise-level application management, has introduced a new software suite from Remedy Corporation, called the Remedy Strategic Service Suite. Remedy systemises IT within the business process and allows it to focus on the strategies and initiatives that are essential to keeping up with the rapidly changing business climate.

Remedy is a comprehensive, out-of-the-box enterprise service solution with applications for help desk, asset management, change management and service-level management. It is fully Y2K compliant and links to back office automation products from SAP and Oracle. Strategic partnerships with IBM, Global Services, Unisys and NCR have created a worldwide service base, which further enhances this suite.

By allowing tracking of all the hardware, software and service costs associated with deployment of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) modules, IT management can accurately predict the resources required to do similar modules in the future, resulting in significant savings of both time and money.

"According to a recent Gartner Group survey, 80% of the average corporate IT budget is allocated to managing an enterprise`s existing systems," says Frank Gaylard, GM of AST Data and Application Management Solutions, SA distributors of Remedy Corporation Software. "Only 20% of the budget remains for strategic initiatives such as deploying a new SAP R/3 module or delivering e-commerce capabilities."

Gaylard adds, "Remedy Strategic Service Suite empowers IT management to go ahead with these initiatives by capturing and using knowledge acquired during one SAP R/3 module deployment to reduce the time required to deliver a subsequent module. This enables IT personnel to work more efficiently, achieve objectives more reliably and free up more of the operating budget for investment."

All the Suite`s applications are tightly integrated and share common architecture on Remedy`s Action Request Server. The key features of this suite are Remedy`s new Asset and Change Management applications. For example, Asset Management 3.0 provides detailed asset information and expanded support for warranty and business contracts, allowing IT staff to optimise vendor negotiations and ensures 100% asset utilisation.

Change Management 3.0`s impact and risk analysis capabilities help to determine the impact of network changes and updates to a given asset, and to schedule change during low-usage hours when productivity is least likely to be compromised. Therefore it reduces the chaos frequently involved in large software deployments and provides a roadmap for similar future deployment.