In the old days when ITSM tools are still not mature, programmers are hired to build soft wares from scratch, with each and every process defined, down to the look and feel of every button in the interface.
In the old days when ITSM tools are still not mature, programmers are hired to build soft wares from scratch, with each and every process defined, down to the look and feel of every button in the interface. As the industry matures, off-the-shelf ITSM soft wares are born where you can just install it and run, using it as it is. After using them, many organizations found that they have their own process they need to align to and require some changes on the tool’s workflow. The new generation has come where we meet in the middle, a configurable ITSM tool.
This is just like when you walk into a tailor shop, asking for a suit to be made, based on the exact measurements, down to choosing the material and the buttons. Versus if you are to walk into a departmental store, you get to pick only those on the shelves, at the most, choosing 1 of the different sizes. In my personal view, BMC software products is similar to a branded retail. Suits are still on the shelves, but after trying them on, a personal attendant will approach to help you do some measurements, recommend the necessary alterations and set an appointment for you to collect at a later date. The design of the suit should be of the latest fashion, built based on the years of experience in tailoring and should only be slightly “configured” to suit your measurements.
Every customer I met has their specific requirements and somehow they think they have walked into a tailor shop. I received requests to change the pocket of the suit to be hidden behind the collar, cutting away the sleeves to make a suit to look like a singlet. These are drastic changes and might make the whole end product harder to use, fulfil a certain small request, but spoiling the bigger picture and affect other functions. Of course, such changes comes with a price and we will still have to do it if the customer pays. In fact its good business if every customer pays the “customization” fees to our company, but it pains me to see the original intend of the product being twisted.
Our technical skill sets have reached the stage where we can do ALOT of “customisation” to our program since we have the access to the source codes. Be it perl, java, htmls. But with every customisation, it comes with the risk of void in maintenance or new version release conflicts.
Customer expectation setting, ITIL best practices or changing the user’s behaviour is really a delicate thread to balance on.