We invested in this great tool as well (< 10K) I think they still have a 20% off deal going. Doug
From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:arslist@ARSLIST.ORG] On Behalf Of Brittain, Mark Sent: Friday, March 04, 2011 9:20 AM To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: Abydos Analyser Recommendation ** Interesting. What do you call a small investment? Thanks Mark From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:arslist@ARSLIST.ORG] On Behalf Of Clifton Edward Teate Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2011 2:29 PM To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Abydos Analyser Recommendation ** When we started to receive multiple enhancement requests for our Remedy 6.3 ARSystem environment, we found ourselves spending a great deal of time in the documentation of the forms, fields, and workflow that were related to each enhancement. We originally purchased the Abydos Analyser tool for the instant development documentation feature, of which saved 4 to 16 hours of development documentation tasks per enhancement request. We started to utilize some of the other features (wild card searches for workflow and interactive workflow diagrams) and quickly discovered that Abydos Analyser was more than just a development documentation tool. Our 6.3 ARSystem environment did not have the "Sync Search Database" updated in quite some time and every attempt at updating was met with failure and/or too risky (only one environment - production). You can imagine the nightmare that we experienced when troubleshooting workflow problems for an environment that did not include best practice (or logical) naming conventions for workflow objects, coupled with years of multiple administrators/developers that produced new processes without documentation. A typical troubleshooting task would take us between 5 and 16 hours of research using the Remedy Developer tool (6.3). Abydos Analyser provided us with a solution to perform wild-card searches against workflow objects, state change diagrams, and event diagrams...of which improved our troubleshooting task time to less than 1 hour in most cases. In addition, it provided us with the mechanism to assess impact for enhancement requests (e.g. add a field, menu item, new active link, etc.) and improved our development time for enhancements. We are currently working on a migration project to 7.6.04 and based on past experience, the BMC classes do not provide you with training on "how" they developed their out-of-the-box applications (e.g. Service Desk, Change Management, etc.). In all cases, BMC will recommend that you "do not" attempt to customize their applications due to problems with future hot fixes, patches and/or upgrades. However, we continued to receive enhancement requests that required some level of customization to the out-of-the-box applications. Abydos Analyser provided us with the mechanism to "learn" their workflow, which improved our ability to "safely" create a customization that would not impact functionality or future releases from BMC. To this day, I have not found similar features in the developer studio versions that were released from BMC and I consider the Abydos Analyser tool a "must have" for all Remedy Administrators and Developers. The small investment for this tool will create an immediate return on investment within the first couple of enhancement requests, troubleshooting tasks, or upgrade/migration that you will work on. - Clifton Teate, Business Inelligence Sytems Integrator, MedQuist _attend WWRUG11 www.wwrug.com ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are"_ ________________________________ This e-mail is the property of NaviSite, Inc. It is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential, or otherwise protected from disclosure. Distribution or copying of this e-mail, or the information contained herein, to anyone other than the intended recipient is prohibited. _attend WWRUG11 www.wwrug.com ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are"_ DISCLAIMER Important! This message is intended for the above named person(s) only and is CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail and have received it in error, please immediately notify the sender by return email and then delete it from your mailbox. This message may be protected by the attorney-client privilege and/or work product doctrine. Accessing, copying, disseminating or re-using any of the information contained in this e-mail by anyone other than the intended recipient is strictly prohibited. Finally, you should check this email and any attachments for the presence of viruses, as the sender accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email. Thank you. _______________________________________________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org attend wwrug11 www.wwrug.com ARSList: "Where the Answers Are"