Peregrine Systems Inc, locally represented by CCH Enterprise Solutions, has announced the availability of the first consolidated service desk (CSD) solution offered under an application service provider (ASP) model.
E-ServiceCenter, the hosted version of Peregrine Systems ServiceCenter, will include all of the application modules including: problem management, configuration management, systems management, change management, service level agreement management and work management.
Some of the largest enterprises in the world use Peregrine`s products to manage their infrastructure, but many of them are finding it increasingly difficult to hire, train and retain the quality staff they need to proactively manage their infrastructure. In addition, many organisations want to significantly reduce the time and resources required to implement a CSD that integrates business processes such as change management and the management of service level agreements.
By offering an ASP version of ServiceCenter, Peregrine assumes the application management responsibility for the customer and ultimately accelerates the deployment across the enterprise. The company can deploy E-ServiceCenter in less than a month, allowing customers to focus on meeting their ongoing business objectives.
"Hiring, training and retaining qualified support staff who understand how to integrate business processes with the support operation is very difficult in today`s work environment," says Sue Sealtiel, product manager at CCH Enterprise Solutions.
In the E-ServiceCenter configuration, Peregrine acts as the ASP for its customers. The customer connects its workstations via the Internet or a dedicated connection to the application and database servers. Using E-ServiceCenter not only eases staffing and training challenges but also eliminates the up-front capital expenditure to provide hardware, operating system software and the network infrastructure necessary for running an enterprise application.
All that is needed to run E-ServiceCenter is a desktop with a Pentium-class PC and an Internet connection. Peregrine assumes all responsibility for nightly backups, off-site data storage, installation of new versions of the operating system, database and application software and monitoring of bandwidth and traffic patterns to optimise system performance.
Leading market analysts see the ASP market growing dramatically over the next five years. The Aberdeen Group states that by the end of the year 2000 30% of all business software applications will be available as a hosted version on the Web. Other analysts, such as META Group, see the bulk of this growth within the midrange market.
"ASP help desk solutions will be attractive to mid-size, rapidly changing companies that need to implement a top quality help desk product quickly," says Dean Davison, senior analyst, META Group.
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