Tivoli Systems Releases Comprehensive Service Desk Management Solution

Business Wire, Sept 15, 1998

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 15, 1998--

Web-Based Tivoli Service Desk Bridges Gap Between IT and End Users

Editor's Summary

--Tivoli Systems announced today the availability of Tivoli Service Desk 5.0.2, the first step in altering how IT organizations deliver service level management to their customers.

--Tivoli Service Desk introduces a new web-client platform that enables IT managers to distribute and manage their service desk applications more easily.

--Tivoli Service Desk provides closer integration to Tivoli Enterprise software.

Tivoli Systems Inc., the world's leading supplier of IT management solutions, today announced the release of Tivoli Service Desk, a fundamentally new approach to how an IT organization provides and measures service delivery to its internal customers. With a new web-client platform that allows IT managers to dramatically reduce deployment and maintenance time, and designed to integrate tightly with Tivoli Enterprise as well as to work independently within other systems, Tivoli Service Desk moves IT organizations closer to realizing Automated Service Level Management.

Service level management is the process by which an IT organization provides customer-focused, business-oriented information to the company it serves about the technology and services it provides. This process encompasses four distinct activities: planning, delivering, managing and calibrating. Providing a company with service level management solutions, Tivoli Service Desk helps IT organizations serve its customers more efficiently and with greater effectiveness. With tight integration between Tivoli Service Desk and the Tivoli Enterprise suite of products - including Tivoli Decision Support, Tivoli Inventory, Tivoli Enterprise Console, Tivoli Distributed Monitoring and Tivoli Software Distribution - IT managers have, for the first time, a comprehensive solution that allows them to simultaneously manage both their IT environment and the relationships they maintain with their customers.

"The consolidated service desk is where the health of the relationship between IT and the users it serves can be monitored, measured and improved," said Tivoli executive vice president Martin Neath. "The internal help desk is the most visible face of IT to its users and is often the first place any employee actually sees an IT organization at work. Those first impressions are critical. Faced with shrinking budgets and renewed pressure to perform, IT departments can look to Tivoli Service Desk to provide the tools they need to successfully meet these demands."

Management of Service Levels

Part of a company's ability to execute its service level management strategy is the ability to deliver on service level agreements. Service level agreements are contractual obligations IT makes to the different lines of business it supports and are a critical component of a company's support strategy. For example, the needs of a company's finance department during its year-end close are more acute than they are during the first month of a quarter. How successfully IT can determine and fulfill varying obligations to its customers determines how well an IT organization is funded.

"In addition to competitive pressures from outsourcers, IT organizations are finding their internal customers are demanding world-class service at competitive rates," said Kurt Johnson, senior program director, Services and Systems Management Strategies, Meta Group. "To avoid being squeezed from inside and out, IT managers should look toward solutions that help them provide service level management. True automated service level management - in which all aspects of the IT infrastructure are understood and the actions necessary to quickly and decisively resolve situations are automated - enables them to do just that."

Availability

Tivoli Service Desk is now available worldwide. For additional information on Tivoli Service Desk, call 1-800-2Tivoli (1-800-284-8654) or visit the Tivoli World Wide Web site at www.tivoli.com.

About Tivoli Systems

Tivoli Systems Inc. provides the industry's leading open, highly scaleable and cross- platform management solutions that span networks, systems, applications and business-to-business e-commerce. Leading companies around the world use Tivoli software and compatible third-party products to reduce the cost and complexity of managing networks, systems, databases and applications. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Tivoli is an IBM Company. Tivoli distributes its products worldwide through a network of global sales offices, systems integrators, resellers and IBM sales channels. For more information, visit Tivoli's World Wide Web site at http://www.tivoli.com.

Tivoli, Tivoli Service Desk, Tivoli Decision Support, Tivoli Inventory, Tivoli Enterprise Console, Tivoli Distributed Monitoring and Tivoli Software Distribution are registered trademarks or trademarks of Tivoli Systems Inc., an IBM company. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.