In this manner, ITPM also facilitates the shift back to IT as a service organization: Internal business customers make the requests, and IT does its best to fulfill them. Use of the software fosters better relationships between IT and its customers because clients can stay up to date on relevant projects' status throughout the planning and implementation. Alerts and notifications let both IT management and interested business counterparts keep abreast of projects' status and take action when, for example, a project begins to fall behind schedule.
Our customer-service scenario was only part of a bigger picture for our fictitious company. NWC Inc.'s IT department needed to manage the planning process more effectively as the number of projects the business wanted IT to undertake grew exponentially. For this review, these projects also included automating shipping, as well as more automation of identity management.
We challenged ITPM vendors Artemis International Solutions, Business Engine, Changepoint, Niku and Pacific Edge Software to provide us with ITPM solutions that would help NWC Inc. meet its challenges. We judged these products on their architecture, implementation, customization and core functionality.
Artemis sent Artemis 7, Changepoint submitted Changepoint 8.01, and Pacific Edge offered up Portfolio Edge 2.0. Business Engine agreed to participate but backed out after learning that we wanted to touch its product in the lab. Niku declined to be tested as well.
Our examination of the participating vendors' three solutions left us fascinated with the systems' capabilities and promise, yet cringing at the intense scrutiny under which IT staff inevitably will be placed. From IT management's perspective, ITPM is the solution to the requirement that IT not only provide, but also prove, value to the business--by initiating requests, defining the business justification and offering insight into the strategic nature of top-priority projects. Clients can track progress and better understand the project life cycle without haranguing IT counterparts.
This level of visibility, for both the business and the CIO, promises a tighter-run IT ship. With a complete view of IT projects and life cycles, the CIO can analyze current and planned projects, as well as consider risk and benefits, strategic alignment, and budgets.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
