I see "customizable" as a false selling point for the current ITSM product. A lot of folks tend to argue that Remedy's ITSM offering is better than the competitions' because it is "fully customizable," when, in fact, you customize at your own risk, and, as BMC's own staff says, "Any customization is a bad one."
It's a catch-22. People like Remedy's ITSM offering because it's "customizable" but if you dare customize it, you put yourself into a precarious, unsupported position. Plus, the thing is a spaghetti code monster, making customization nearly impossible. I try to communicate that "Remedy" and "Remedy's ITSM" products are two separate products. "Remedy" (i.e., ARS) is a software development platform--ITSM is a canned application that should remain as is. -----Original Message----- From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Seth Wrye Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 9:23 AM To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: Company Dropping Remedy Understood. The only problem though is that being able to customize ASR (Apps or Platform) has been one of ARS's strongest selling point. Should I tell my customers that if they want to customize the HelpDesk form by adding a graphic or to change the flow of a ticket, they will either have to build the entire module from scratch or loose support? I think, with the apps at least, BMC is narrowing the gap that made ARS so much better than the rest of the competition. Seth Wrye ________________________________ From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) on behalf of Grooms, Frederick W Sent: Wed 2/6/2008 10:10 AM To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: Company Dropping Remedy I think there is a difference here. The ARS platform is one thing, the canned OOB applications are another. I believe BMC's customization statement is about the OOB applications. Here we don't use any of the OOB apps, it is all pure ARS custom code. Fred -----Original Message----- From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Seth Wrye Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 7:49 AM To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: Company Dropping Remedy I know, I know, I was also there for that. I have since taken more training (as we all do) and every time I bring this subject up, I get the same answer. Its usually something like "BMC says that any customization is a bad customization". If they plan on keeping the platform open for customizations, great!! But... there's nothing wrong with being prepared for the worse case scenario. Most of us witnessed that when that one company purchased Remedy. If I recall, I think the name started with a P and ended with bankruptcy. Seth Wrye ________________________________ From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) on behalf of Susan Palmer Sent: Wed 2/6/2008 8:25 AM To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: Company Dropping Remedy ** Seth, At UserWorld 2007 Doug Mueller was emphatic that BMC has no intention of locking down the platform prohibiting development. I've never felt Doug has been anything but honest with us. There was a full session devoted to Doug basically talking about the future of ARS and providing reassurance to our community. Of course business is business but Doug was very convincing. Susan On Feb 6, 2008 6:47 AM, Seth Wrye <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: A company I was contracted to tried that last year and was informed by BMC that if we did not renew support, we must delete all of the licenses that we did not pay support for and un-install each of the modules. It is also stated in the license agreement. This was a small company and they did not have the cash needed to continue with the ITSM suite. They were seriously considering getting rid of Remedy all together. I was able to convince them that since the company is small, they could build a custom system off of the ARS platform and when the due date comes, drop the support, delete the licenses for the modules and keep the server and ARSystem User licenses and pay support for only what they keep. Depending on the size of the company and system this is a good alternative. If the company grows later on and can justify spending the $$ then at least they still have Remedy and can bring back the modules and a company has been saved the heartache of moving to a lesser platform. Ahhhh, It brings us back to the days of real development where if you wanted an asset management module, you had to build it... Not sure how long this will even be a possibility depending on if and when BMC completely locks everything down so no development can be done whatsoever. Seth Wrye ________________________________ From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) on behalf of William H. Will Du Chene Sent: Tue 2/5/2008 5:01 PM To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: Company Dropping Remedy What about this scenario: BMC may have control over whom they want to "transfer" support to while the contract is in effect for the amount of the term. It's sort of like if you and I sat down at the table and hammered out an agreement that you would purchase my services for a month. I'd expect that you would be honor your side of the agreement for the duration. I'd venture a guess that most would agree, yes? After the month is up, who cares? I am not a lawyer (and I don't even play one on television!), but it would seem to me that there is a very simple solution: wait until your support contract is up, and DO NOT renew it with BMC. Once your term is up, then you should be able to renew it with the VAR of your choice. If your term is up, then the contract language might not apply. It would be prudent to contact your legal department for confirmation first, however, just to be on the safe side. Just an idle thought - offered humbly. -- Will Du Chene [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.myspace.com/wduchene ________________________________________________________________________ _______ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org <http://www.arslist.org/> Platinum Sponsor: www.rmsportal.com <http://www.rmsportal.com/> ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are" ________________________________________________________________________ _______ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org <http://www.arslist.org/> Platinum Sponsor: www.rmsportal.com <http://www.rmsportal.com/> ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are" __Platinum Sponsor: www.rmsportal.com ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are" html___ ________________________________________________________________________ _______ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org Platinum Sponsor: www.rmsportal.com ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are" ________________________________________________________________________ _______ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org Platinum Sponsor: www.rmsportal.com ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are" ________________________________________________________________________ _______ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org Platinum Sponsor: www.rmsportal.com ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are" _______________________________________________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org Platinum Sponsor: www.rmsportal.com ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are"