Beyond ITSM Reviews – What to Look for When Shopping for an IT Service Management Software Solution

If you’re shopping for IT Service Management (ITSM) software, you’ve likely checked out most, if not all, of the review platforms – from G2 to Gartner to SoftwareReviews, there’s no shortage of ITSM tool reviews and insights. And each review site has its own quadrant or ranking system – further adding to the confusion around which tool is best in the market. So how do you find the ITSM tool that is right for you?

In addition to review sites, you can look at reports from places like Gartner or InfoTech – including InfoTech’s ITSM Software Quadrant report to get insight on ITSM vendors and help narrow down your list.

Once your list is in place and demos with vendors are scheduled there are a few things you’ll want to remember to ask when talking to each IT Service Management software vendor to make sure the tool you end up with is the best fit for your business needs. These questions are:

1. Does it combine ITSM and Project Management together?

This is an important point. Many times technicians are assigned to both tickets and project work – having these managed in two different systems can be problematic as there is never just a single view of all work. Managers also can’t appropriately manage resources which means that technicians are often over or under-allocated. This is why it is so important that you have one place for both. When you use an ITSM tool with PPM baked in, a ticket can be converted to a project, a project can have tickets that are attached and everyone can see all of this in one place.

2. Is the service portal WCAG compliant?

Ensuring your portal is accessible makes a lot of sense and in many cases, it is legally required. Not only does increased web accessibility help you better service your end-users, but it also is increasingly legally enforced. Depending upon your organization and end-users, failure to comply could lead to lawsuits and other legal implications for entities that don’t take the necessary steps to meet current accessibility requirements. The big thing to look for here is out-of-the-box compliance – a hidden cost can exist when the portal requires updates each time the system is updated. It is important to ask questions about accessibility – how is it deployed? How is it managed during updates?

3. Does it manage the full life cycle

IT Service Management encompasses a spectrum of functions – from ticketing and incident/problem management to asset discovery and management, to change management and configuration management – it is important that all of these functions operate together. Being able to take the ITIL framework and embed it into the platform with workflow and automation is also important – whether you are just dipping your toe in that pool or you are ready to plunge into the deep end, you need to be sure that you can grow into the framework over time – without being pushed.

4. Look at Total Cost of Ownership: What does it really take to run an ITSM platform?

Take a close look at how it is configured – will it require coding or scripting? What does it take to administer? What if another department outside of IT wants to use it – like Human Resources? How easy is it to spin up another service request application for HR? Can they create their own workflows and configuration, or will that take more IT resources?

5. Can it be leveraged outside of IT, across the enterprise?

Service management is not just for IT anymore – it is now leveraged in Human Resources, Procurement, Facilities, Marketing and many other groups. It is important that you have flexibility – so that you can deploy one platform across the enterprise – you can deploy this with one portal as a one-stop or for different sites or agencies, you can maintain one platform and then you can give a unique landing page for each group – yet funnel all requests to one platform.

When looking at reviews – look for how you will be supported. Are implementation services delivered by the vendor or is this outsourced? How are releases applied? Are there extra costs for this? Is there a strong customer community and do you have the ability to give iterative feedback and participate in advisory meetings?

How Does TeamDynamix ITSM Rank?

TeamDynamix has received its fair share of accolades – most recently, the company was included in Gartner’s Market Guide for IT Service Management and has been recognized as an ‘Honorable Mention’ in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for IT Service Management.

“We are honored to receive recognition as an ‘Honorable Mention’ by Gartner in the most recent Magic Quadrant for ITSM,” Andrew Graf, chief product officer for TeamDynamix, said. “Our no-code ITSM tool and white glove service are a great option for businesses looking to improve their service management at a lower total cost of ownership than most in the market. We’re focused on continuing to deliver highly sophisticated functionality that’s easy to use and manage with our suite of service and project management tools, as well as our enterprise integration and automation layer.” 

The solution has been recognized with high customer rankings across peer-reviewed platforms including the Capterra Shortlist for ITSM as an Emerging Favorite.

Capterra Shortlist is an independent assessment that evaluates user reviews and online search activity to generate a list of market leaders in the ITSM Software space that offer the most popular solutions. The ITSM Shortlist report can be viewed on the Capterra site.

Want more advice on how to shop for the right ITSM tool for your organization? Check out: Gartner’s ITSM Buyer’s Guide