Re: xMatters / AlarmPoint
Very good help, Dave... excellent points from Don McLure and Phil Bautista (off-line), as well. Many thanks, and Happy Holidays! R _ From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:arslist@ARSLIST.ORG] On Behalf Of Shellman, David Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 12:32 PM To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: xMatters / AlarmPoint ** Ray, I think the answer depends on what your looking for. I have found that xMatters (not owned by BMC although they resell the product) can do a lot. Sales folks will even have you think you can't live without it. In my opinion many of the items that are controlled through xMatters should be done else where. We have tech folks make themselves available and control their notifications within the AR System. Yes one can also respond to a ticket through xMatters yet one can do that through MidTier as well (except from an iDevice but some day soon maybe). We use TelAlert for our text messaging from the AR System and other apps. Dave _ From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:arslist@ARSLIST.ORG] On Behalf Of Ray Palla Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 12:47 PM To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: xMatters / AlarmPoint ** Is anyone using BMCs xMatters or the old AlarmPoint in conjunction with Remedy? Can you offer-up any perceptions, pros/cons, cautions? How would you rate the product for value-added? Thanks; R Ray Palla Sr. IT/Remedy Consultant http://www.linkedin.com/img/signature/bg_bluefade_195x42.jpg Mobile: 512-917-1739 Time Zone: Central Email: ray.pa...@insona.com http://www.linkedin.com/img/signature/icon_in_blue_14x14.gif Professional http://www.linkedin.com/pub/1/544/598 Profile http://www.insona.com/ INSONA Corporation 1201 Berry Lane http://maps.google.com/maps?q=10650+SW+Plaza+CT%2CBox%3A+J68%2CHouston%2CTX +77074%2CUSAhl=en Georgetown, TX 78626-3832 USA Infrastructure Solutions - Network Applications _attend WWRUG12 www.wwrug.com ARSlist: Where the Answers Are_ _attend WWRUG12 www.wwrug.com ARSlist: Where the Answers Are_ ___ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org attend wwrug12 www.wwrug12.com ARSList: Where the Answers Are bg_bluefade_195x42.jpgINSONA-Logo.jpgicon_in_blue_14x14.gif
Re: xMatters / AlarmPoint
We purchased/installed xMatters/Alarmpoint 4.1 and ITSM Helpdesk Integration 2.2, with mixed results. Current status: Alarmpoint *notification node* [their term] is functioning as their marketing data claims, providing manually-triggered two-way traffic (notification by server, response by user). Full details of this step alone are extensive, and I can continue this point off-line (will be lengthy!). The commissioning process was non-trivial, and required steps beyond those claimed in their documentation. This notification node is very hardware-specific, while other components which can initiate notification actions are more general (Windows, Linux, and others). Notification-node response to integration agents has been more involved and less successful. ITSM Integration has been partially successful, with significant data fields which *should* be handled by the notification node remaining un-populated even after their consultant visited us on-site. Again, I can supply more details in a lengthy discourse, probably taken off-line. xMatters' Change Management integration was also acquired by us, and not yet implemented. We wanted to see full functionality from Help Desk before committing further effort. Bottom line: their consultant was here on-site in September, and accepted two action items which have not been completed as of today [12 Dec 2011]. One of those action items was a specific 'how-to' for tracing the data fields mentioned above. Three followup contacts have not produced resolution on these items; the latest contact was a conference call with their account rep, tech rep, and a customer-service ombudsman. One xMatters rep also told us that the integration mechanism is being completely redesigned. The latest information I had from their account rep is that most customers should expect to purchase xMatters professional services for initial installation and commissioning--at additional cost beyond quoted purchase price to customer, of course. Such initial effort is expected to take two to three weeks for notification node function and *one* application integration (such as BMC Help Desk). My administration would probably not have approved expenditure for this system, in light of the 'consultancy' expectation. Initial presentation of this system to us was as a customer-installable, commissionable environment--which has not been completely realized. Any list reader is welcome to contact me directly for further details. Don W. McClure, P.E. CITC Call Tracking Administration University of North Texas dwmac @ unt . edu From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:arslist@ARSLIST.ORG] On Behalf Of Ray Palla Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 11:47 AM To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: xMatters / AlarmPoint ** Is anyone using BMCs xMatters or the old AlarmPoint in conjunction with Remedy? Can you offer-up any perceptions, pros/cons, cautions? How would you rate the product for value-added? Thanks; R Ray Palla Sr. IT/Remedy Consultant [cid:image001.jpg@01CCB8C5.465167F0] [cid:image002.jpg@01CCB8C5.465167F0] Mobile: 512-917-1739 Time Zone: Central Email: ray.pa...@insona.commailto:ray.pa...@insona.com [cid:image003.gif@01CCB8C5.465167F0] Professional Profilehttp://www.linkedin.com/pub/1/544/598 INSONA Corporation http://www.insona.com/1201 Berry Lane http://maps.google.com/maps?q=10650+SW+Plaza+CT%2CBox%3A+J68%2CHouston%2CTX+77074%2CUSAhl=enGeorgetown, TX 78626-3832 USA Infrastructure Solutions - Network Applications _attend WWRUG12 www.wwrug.comhttp://www.wwrug.com ARSlist: Where the Answers Are_ ___ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org attend wwrug12 www.wwrug12.com ARSList: Where the Answers Are inline: image001.jpginline: image002.jpginline: image003.gif
Re: xMatters / AlarmPoint
Ray, I think the answer depends on what your looking for. I have found that xMatters (not owned by BMC although they resell the product) can do a lot. Sales folks will even have you think you can't live without it. In my opinion many of the items that are controlled through xMatters should be done else where. We have tech folks make themselves available and control their notifications within the AR System. Yes one can also respond to a ticket through xMatters yet one can do that through MidTier as well (except from an iDevice but some day soon maybe). We use TelAlert for our text messaging from the AR System and other apps. Dave From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:arslist@ARSLIST.ORG] On Behalf Of Ray Palla Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 12:47 PM To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: xMatters / AlarmPoint ** Is anyone using BMCs xMatters or the old AlarmPoint in conjunction with Remedy? Can you offer-up any perceptions, pros/cons, cautions? How would you rate the product for value-added? Thanks; R Ray Palla Sr. IT/Remedy Consultant [http://www.linkedin.com/img/signature/bg_bluefade_195x42.jpg] [cid:460402018@12122011-08FF] Mobile: 512-917-1739 Time Zone: Central Email: ray.pa...@insona.commailto:ray.pa...@insona.com [http://www.linkedin.com/img/signature/icon_in_blue_14x14.gif] Professional Profilehttp://www.linkedin.com/pub/1/544/598 INSONA Corporation http://www.insona.com/1201 Berry Lane http://maps.google.com/maps?q=10650+SW+Plaza+CT%2CBox%3A+J68%2CHouston%2CTX+77074%2CUSAhl=enGeorgetown, TX 78626-3832 USA Infrastructure Solutions - Network Applications _attend WWRUG12 www.wwrug.com ARSlist: Where the Answers Are_ ___ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org attend wwrug12 www.wwrug12.com ARSList: Where the Answers Are inline: bg_bluefade_195x42.jpginline: INSONA-Logo.jpginline: icon_in_blue_14x14.gif
