Heat scores top in authoritative META Group`s latest Service Management Vendor survey

Ixchange subsidiary, FrontRange Solutions` (formerly GoldMine Software Corporation) front office application HEAT has been named as the leading service management strategy tool by US-based industry analysts META Group, taking first place in seven of the eight functionality and strategy categories used to compare six different product offerings.

In addition, the META Group has ranked HEAT as the leader in four of eight categories used to measure vendor capability, and placed it second in two of the remaining categories.

The META Group, based in Connecticut, is regarded as one of the most authoritative IT analysis companies in the USA, having recently been included in the Forbes Magazine list of 200 best publicly traded companies. The latest service management survey results appear in the June 2000 report titled "Service Management Vendors: Part 2 - Workgroup Market" by K. Michele Hudnall, META Group.

Vendor capability ratings

In the vendor capability rating, the following categories were used to measure the different products: functional integration; time to value; SLA capability; problem management; web access; management toolkit; self service automation and administration ease.

Functional integration describes overall product integration with other applications. In this category, HEAT ranked second.

The time to value category is based on the amount of time it takes to implement the product. HEAT took the leading position here, vindicating the product`s long established leadership for out-of-the-box functionality.

SLA capability was judged on the product`s service level agreements. Here, HEAT scored virtually identically with all the products reviewed by the META Group. Currently, most SLAs are organization-based. This is an area of expansion for most companies - to put the SLA more in end user terms and not organizational terms. SLA capability was identified by all companies surveyed as an area requiring attention.

HEAT rated Number 1 in the problem management category, which was based on a vendor`s ability to implement problem resolution tactics such as call management and escalation notification.

The web access category was based on the product`s web enablement capability. HEAT rated Number 2 in this function.

The management toolkit category concerns itself with measuring the intricacy of the high-end reporting capability of the product. As HEAT is not aimed at the high-end market sector, it did not score as highly here, along with three of the other products similarly evaluated. Currently all the reporting demands made by SMEs (small to medium sized enterprises) can be addressed, graphically or otherwise, through some Answer Wizard reports.

As current versions of HEAT do not yet incorporate the planned self service function, HEAT does not feature prominently in this category. When this function becomes available in the next year, it is anticipated that this rating should improve dramatically.

Capping off the vendor capability review is the administration ease category, which measures the product`s appropriateness to the market. HEAT is rated a clear Number 1 by the META Group in this area.

Vendor positioning rating

The eight categories used to measure the service management strategy vendor positioning were: functionality; architecture; manageability/maintainability; vision; international support; agility; service/support; and vendor viability.

Functionality refers to the overall strength of the product, and in this category HEAT was placed first. Architecture is the basic software design and in this category, HEAT was placed second.

Manageability/Maintainability is based on the ease of use of the product, including ease of set up and implementation. HEAT was placed Number 1 in this category.

Vision refers to the product`s horizon as determined by the manufacturing company, and HEAT took the Number 1 position in this category.

HEAT featured less strongly in the international support category, based as it is upon the number of foreign language versions of the product. As HEAT has until now been specifically aimed at English speaking countries, the lower META Group rating is therefore logical and to be expected. In a development purely independent of the appearance of the META Group report, a foreign language expansion had already been earmarked by HEAT as a priority for the coming year.

Agility refers to a company`s capability to quickly turn around a product, provide new functionalities and the absence of sluggishness. In this category HEAT was placed Number 1.

In the service and support category, HEAT was rated second.

The vendor viability category is based on an overview of the long-term financial stability of the company, and here HEAT once again took top position.

Summarising the findings in vector graph format, the META Group put HEAT in the upper right hand quadrant, or most desirable segment, ahead of all of the other six products and vendors which were included in the analysis. Ends

About FrontRange Solutions (formerly GoldMine Software Corp.) Founded in 1989, FrontRange Solutions is a leading provider of front office solutions to enable small to medium-sized organisations to buy, sell and support customers with Web-based applications designed for the New Economy. The company sells its products and services through a direct sales force, value-added resellers and other distribution partners.

FrontRange Solutions has its headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo. For more information, visit www.frontrange.com.