ITSM Best Practices & Latest Solutions
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The goal of the a19 Mobile Applications is to share Best Practices, Latest Solutions, and Tips & Tricks, for HEAT IT Service Management (Ivanti ITSM), Ivanti Service Manager and Ivanti Asset Manager
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Over the last 2+ decades implementing HEAT IT Service Management and Ivanti Service & Asset Manager, the following implementation milestones, aka rollout milestones, or roadmap have been deeply ingrained and proven to be the ultimate success factor and project structure.
From Scope of Work to Go-Live (Rollout) there are many steps that need to be carefully planned, communicated, and enforced.
Regression testing refers to testing of existing functionality to ensure that recent changes do not adversely affect existing features.
For example, when implementing Asset Management, the existing Incident functionality is tested to test use cases such as creating an incident, creating a task, updating incidents, closing tasks, incidents, etc
In addition to UAT Test Scripts, you will want to do a comparison of existing workspaces, existing functionality, and existing features, to ensure existing functionality has not been impacted.
Ivanti Best Practice: If you want to run Ivanti Service Manager UAT and PROD tenants side by side, you need to use a different browsers (not just different tab), as otherwise the browser cache may become corrupted or cause issues. So for example you can use Google Chrome for UAT and Internet Explorer for PROD.
For more information about the a19 Ivanti Best Practice System be sure to contact us!
When it comes to Ivanti Best Practices there is no better source than that of a seasoned Consultant with the voice of experience of years of Ivanti Professional Services, Ivanti Implementations, Upgrades, with Ivanti Service Manager (powered by HEAT IT Service Management) and Ivanti Asset Manager.
One of the most crucial steps in System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is User Acceptance Testing (UAT), a type of system and business objective validation, performed by the end users, and business objective sign off by the project owner; not to be confused with System Testing which is performed by the Ivanti Developer and/or ISM Administrator
Many Ivanti Service Manager implementations fall short when it comes to proper UAT Testing, be it due to a lack of resources, time, or budget, but more often than not due to a shortcoming of proper UAT Action Plan, UAT Test Cases and Scripts and a lack of Best Practices, Strategy, Coordination, and Planning.
Today we shall focus on Ivanti Best Practices for UAT.
For more information and to reserve your a19 Consulting – Ivanti Best Practice System Implementation be sure to contact us!
Gregor, a former Kifinti Solutions Consultant, is without doubt a unique and distinctive authority in the Ivanti ITSM space with his consulting and development experience and extensive insight to best practices going back over 24 years with the HEAT and now Ivanti Service Manager (ISM) and Ivanti Asset Manager (IAM) products.
Providing HEAT Best Practices and now Ivanti Best Practices, since 1996, with his tried, tested, and true implementations and upgrades, Gregor now focuses on his company a19 Consulting which provides Ivanti Professional Services and Ivanti Best Practices.
Developing, streamlining, best practices and latest solutions for fortune 500 companies and Frontrange Business Partners (Change Control, Avante Solutions, Kifinti Solutions) and Ivanti Business Partners (Kifinti Solutions, DDS IT), worldwide.
The a19 UAT Test Scripts module significantly improves your Ivanti Service Manager Implementation, Upgrades, and collaboration internally and with your Ivanti Consultant.
Gone are the days of using Excel for UAT Test Scripts, or worse, heading into darkness without UAT Test Scripts!
Long time Ivanti Consultants, Ivanti Business Partners, and Ivanti Customers alike only dream of having a simple UAT Test tool that cuts their implementation time and cost.
Lets face it, when you’re implementing Ivanti Service Manager, you want to focus on strategy and quick execution. Validation Testing is the #1 problem with most ISM Implementations, upgrades, customizations, and integrations due to a lack of UAT Test Scripts.
The #2 problem is a lack of process. With an average of over 100 test cases, you need a tool that redefines your Ivanti Service Manager Validation Process.
The #3 problem is collaboration. How do you keep your team’s morale up and focused on the key areas for testing when you don’t have a proper UAT Testing System that’s real-time, easy-to-use, and clearly defines key roles, responsibilities, and lets the Subject Matter Experts focus on their area of expertise when you don’t have a proper system?!
On top of that, you need precise, concise, timely, and relevant Test Cases and Results to make informed decisions and identify actions needed, all while keeping a bird’s eye view with relevant dashboards, analytics, FAQs, announcements, simplified ISM Change Control, and an executive summary.
“Gregor and a19 Consulting were able to work with us to align our working processes with the workflows within the Ivanti Service Manager tool, leveraging a19 Ivanti Best Practices and latest solutions. The implementation team from Kifinti Solutions were helpful in getting it up and running, but we needed someone that could take EXP to the next level and configure the tool so we could utilize all of its potential.” says Steven Morin, Helpdesk Manager, at EXP.
and take your UAT Testing to the next level!
An often overlooked best practice is that for file naming conventions, albeit not an Ivanti Service Manager Best Practice, it certainly is a best practice you should consider for your Ivanti Service Manager and Ivanti Asset Manager Projects.
Files should always be renamed with a prefix of the last modified date in YYYY-MM-DD format, for sorting purposes, and contain a meaningful name and version number.
The file name itself should be meaningful to the subject matter and topic at hand, for example if you’re working on UAT Test Scripts for Ivanti Service Manager then you could use 2020-05-19 HEAT ISM – UAT Test Scripts as the complete file name. Leading Date, Subject Mater, and Topic.
Descriptions such as “final” and “complete” should also be discouraged as 99% of the time there will be revisions.
This best practice ensures files are easily found, sorted, and clearly indicate the last modified date, version, and file contents.
Note that the file saved date/time often changes as files are sent via email, download again, copied, or saved by mistake.
For example, Task #8043 has two attachments and without proper file naming conventions it is unclear which file is the latest for the Ivanti Service Manager UAT Test scripts:
In Summary, for file naming conventions use the format YYYY-MM-DD Subject Matter – Topic – v#.
If you’re looking for sample UAT Test Scripts, be sure to contact us!
There is more to Ivanti Service Manager Consulting Projects than software & systems. You need to take a holistic approach and carefully plan your implementation, upgrades, and enhancements. It starts without the software, and requires strategy over tactics. It all starts with goals. S.M.A.R.T. Goals.
For example, if you’re creating UAT Test Case Scripts, your Smart Goals would be:
Remember T.ogether E.veryone A.chives M.ore!
Software asset management (SAM) is a business practice that involves managing and optimizing the purchase, deployment, maintenance, utilization, and disposal of software applications within an organization.
Ivanti Asset Manager (IAM) is a much talked about “new” product that was released with ITxM 2018.3 and actively promoted with ITxM 2019.1.
ITxM 2019 in fact consists of Ivanti Service Manager (ISM) and Ivanti Asset Manager (IAM).
Ivanti Asset Manager has been around for a while and Ivanti Service Manager, formerly known as HEAT, has done Asset Management since its early HEAT for Windows days in the 1990’s.
Software Asset Management followed a little later with the HEAT ITSM using Software Inventory and Software Product Configuration Items (CI).
To someone new to ISM/IAM the SAM implementation looks like something of a “Frankenstein hodge podge”. There is a combination of Legacy, DSM, and IAM business objects, and relationships. That is by design. Upgrades from HEAT SM, DSM, and ISM to IAM vary, as do discovery tools and sources, plural, (more on that on a future post) and so do requirements as per business processes and standard operating procedures (SOP).
Strategy. Architecture. Processes. There really is not quick and easy way to just “install”SAM. Careful consideration, planning, and data analysis is required to determine where you are today, where you want to go, and the steps to take you there. While there are some common practices and implementation methods, every organization has variances that must be considered, carefully. What are your sources? What data are you capturing, where and how? What processes are manual versus automated. How are you tracking your licenses and entitlements today, what details, and at what level. Vendors, Manufacturers, Versions, Features, License Keys, etc. What does you procurement process look like? Alerts, renewal reminders? It’s best you start simple with data analysis, process analysis, document workflows, processes, entity relationships (ERD), and build a proof of concept, followed by a prototype to validate each step of the process.
If your Software Asset Management really is a simple slam-dunk, then all of the above steps will be very quick, but I can almost certainly guarantee you from experience that there are always variances. The devil is in the details as you say. And usually with the most complex and expensive software titles and products.
Before you tackle the gargantuan task of software asset management be sure to contact a19 Consulting Professional Services and put yourself in the hot seat with the a19 Software Asset Management audit.
With Ivanti Implementation experience going back to 1996, the Ivanti Best Practice System is a result of years of experience, knowledge, and proven methods.
a19 Consulting has been providing Ivanti Professional Services for Ivanti Service Manager (formerly HEAT IT Service Management by Frontrange), since 1996, and it shows!
Developed by a veteran Ivanti Consultant and Systems Developer, who has consulted for and mentored Frontrange Business Partners (Change Control, Avante Solutions) and Ivanti Business Partners (Kifinti Solutions, DDS IT) alike.
The ITxM Space (ITSM, IT Service Management, ITAM, IT Asset Management) has never been more exciting, as is the transformation to ESM (Enterprise Service Management).
Lets take your Ivanti Implementation to the next level, with the latest solutions, best practices, workflow automation, integrations, and so much more!
Best Practices for almost every sector, including, but not limited to Government, Financial, Insurance, Communications, Information Technology, Energy, Utilities, Education, Retail, Manufacturing, Pharmaceutical, Medical, Aerospace, Entertainment, Food, Health Care, Transportation, Engineering.
from Austria and Australia to Brussels, Calgary, Denver, Edmonton, Frankfurt, Georgia, Halifax, Italy, Kelowna, London, Montreal, New York, Ottawa, Penticton, Quebec, Rochester, Singapore, Toronto, Utah, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Yellowknife, Zurich
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