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IT & DATA MANAGEMENT RESEARCH,INDUSTRY ANALYSIS & CONSULTING

SmartCloud Control Desk: IBM Consolidates and Advances Its IT Service Management OfferingsAn ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES® (EMA™) White Paper Prepared for IBM, Inc.

May 2012

Table of Contents

©2012 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. | www.enterprisemanagement.com

SmartCloud Control Desk: IBM Consolidates and Advances Its IT Service Management Offerings

Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................................1

Background ...........................................................................................................................................................1

IBM’s New Offering ............................................................................................................................................2

Marketing and Delivery .................................................................................................................................5

EMA Perspective ..................................................................................................................................................6

Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................................7

About IBM ............................................................................................................................................................8

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©2012 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. | www.enterprisemanagement.com1


Executive SummaryIn the spring of 2012, IBM launched a comprehensive re-thinking and refresh of its IT Service Management (ITSM) offerings. The IT management products formerly known as Tivoli Service Request Manager, IT Asset Management and Change Configuration Management Database have now been combined into a single product, IBM SmartCloud Control Desk 7.5. The products span advanced support for IT and intelligent asset management, change and configuration management, service request management and service catalog, along with Cloud delivery options and built-in support for automation beyond traditional service desk workflow.

BackgroundEMA is seeing the following set of current influences in the IT management tools market:

• Cloudcomputing,in its internal and external manifestations, driving IT towards more of a broker role in optimizing service choice and increasing expected velocity for provisioning, deploying, monitoring and retiring IT services.

• Pervasivecomputing.This encompasses:

◦ SmarterPhysicalInfrastructure™, the IBM term for computing embedded throughout society: smart buildings, smart utilities, smart transportation, intelligent assets and so forth.

◦ The IT/OTconvergence: Information Technology meeting Operations Technology.

◦ The consumerization of IT, driving IT towards a greater focus on consumer awareness and responsiveness.

• Increasing change velocity resulting from increasing business requirements for faster time to value, being met by more agile and dynamic IT capabilities such as Cloud and DevOps.

As the CIO moves from being a supplier of technical resources to becoming more of a Cloud service broker, IT management must bring together disparate resources into business oriented service views. An environment supported by a mix of Amazon, Salesforce.com, RackSpace, and other such services needs an integrated service view as much as any traditional in-house IT organization.

Lines are blurring as more businesses acquire converged assets, which require bridging the divide between traditional “business” and “IT” issues. Asset management applies beyond the data center, into production operations (e.g., the shop floor, or the refinery). A locomotive with a PC in the cab is just another mobile endpoint – one weighing many tons! Today’s pervasively intelligent assets call for management in a way that brings together the best of Operations Technology (OT) and Information Technology (IT) approaches.

Furthermore, no longer is an end user of IT management software necessarily in IT; they can be a doctor or a plant worker, or anyone within an organization that needs a service. Service catalogs have expanded from providing access to IT services, to front-ending processes for facilities, HR, and many other functional areas in the business. And, as this self-service increases, consumerization is driving higher user experience expectations.

A locomotive with a PC in the cab is just another

mobile endpoint – one weighing many tons!




The demand for fast time to value across business operations and IT systems has led to the DevOps and Agile movements and Cloud sourcing models. These responses in turn drive an increasing need to plan and schedule work across complex business and IT environments, and to further automate capabilities such as change, configuration, incident, and problem management.

Cloud is both a delivery option for ITSM tooling, and a challenge and catalyst for ITSM processes historically based on heavyweight, in-house platforms and greater tolerance for implementation lead times. Traditional approaches to ITSM are no longer given the luxury of multi-year deployments just to achieve first-phase value. Self-service facilities back-ended by robust change impact analysis are increasingly required in a world with no time for lengthy manual approval cycles. And while there are now many flexible workflow-based SaaS-delivered ITSM offerings in the IT management market, few have assimilated the policy-based run-book or IT process automation capabilities essential to Cloud delivery, including the asset management (especially software license management) required to necessary to avoid costly audit failures.

IBM has long had an offering in the ITSM marketplace. In 2006 IBM acquired MRO Software and its Maximo product. This was distinguished by a general purpose workflow engine (an essential component of any ITSM offering) and strong capabilities in non-IT asset management for industry. For example, railroads use Maximo to track locomotives and other rolling stock; utilities use it for detailed planning and maintenance of power distribution infrastructure; and hospitals use it for tracking the wide variety of medical devices, from CAT scanners to MRI machines.

IBM’s New OfferingIntroduced in March of 2012, the new SmartCloud Control Desk solution (version 7.5) brings customers a single, unified platform to drive control across the organization, balancing quick time to value and a variety of deployment options with a uniquely broad ability to manage service and asset processes across the entire scope of an enterprise (Figure 1).

The release includes:

• Unifying the functional modules into one common look and feel

• Extensive usability improvements

• Support for common mobile scenarios – allowing for use on Blackberry, iOS, or Android devices

• Supporting full, bi-directional, automated integration of Assets and Configuration Items (CIs), including the ability to create one from the other and keep data in synch across them

Cloud is both a delivery option for ITSM tooling, and

a challenge and catalyst for ITSM processes.




Figure 1. The evolution of Smartcloud Control Desk

IBM has combined the following modules as part of one product and price point:

• IT Asset Management

• License Management

• Procurement Management

• Incident Management

• Problem Management

• Service Catalog and Request Management

• Change Management

• Configuration Management

• Release Management

This represents a unified and simplified suite offering enterprise-class functionality in IT management – “ITIL at the speed of cloud.” IBM also emphasizes the comprehensive nature of the unified suite’s ability to control and coordinate a wide variety of IT and non-IT assets, whether internally or externally hosted (Figure 2).




Figure 2. SmartCloud Control Desk breadth of scope

As IT and business processes become more and more intertwined and computing becomes more pervasive and heterogeneous, IBM believes that the integrated SmartCloud Control Desk provides great benefits in bringing together previously distinct management capabilities. Companies are managing assets, service request and changes across virtualized and non-virtualized environments, and the product thus features integrated asset processes where IT assets are managed along with other complex assets – a historic strength of this product line. (Note that full functionality in Enterprise Asset Management, e.g., supporting non-IT capital assets, requires additional licensing.) Similarly, software license management data can be accessed from a service request or from a change request (do I have licenses/hardware in stock to satisfy that request?). No longer does a customer have to involve multiple people or departments to provision licensing.

Consumerization has been driving a higher standards for User eXperience (UX) of software platforms. Tivoli’s end users are changing. IBM has taken this challenge seriously and re-assigned senior Lotus usability engineers to the SmartCloud Control Desk effort, resulting in improved, more intuitive, user-centric designs. Specific improvements include:

• Left-side navigation bar resulting in click reduction

• Portlets

• Decluttering of crowded interfaces

• Better user configurability (e.g., frequent tasks and My Assets)

Increased support for mobile access is also included in the 7.5 release, including service request, incident, and change management.




Marketing and DeliveryIBM is emphasizing four key aspects of the 7.5 release intended to “put a pause” in the market:

• The ability to manage IT and smart assets across the enterprise

• Pricing

• Usability

• Time to value

There are three variations on the SmartCloud Control Desk product:

• SmartCloud Control Desk Entry Edition

• SmartCloud Control Desk

• SmartCloud Control Desk Service Provider Edition (providing support for multi-tenancy)

The Entry Edition is restricted to simplified Incident, Problem, and Change modules, and is therefore clearly aimed at smaller firms and emerging markets. The main SmartCloud Control Desk product provides access to all modules at a single price per user.

As one would expect from a company of IBM’s resources, a complete set of delivery options is available, from hosted to on-premise. Customers have the ability to move between delivery models without losing functionality. IBM is also making use of virtual appliances as a distinct delivery option. Channel partners may run their own multi-tenant instances to support multiple clients on one integrated platform.

Tivoli Direct Sales (on-premise or “private” SaaS)

Business Partner Sales (on-premise or SaaS)

Hosted on IBM Cloud (SaaS)

Traditional Install Typical SW sale Typical BP sale

VM image installEasy installation option / “Behind the firewall SaaS”

Easy installation option / Business Partner hosted SaaS

IBM SmartCloud Control Desk - SaaS

The pricing model has also changed to per-user, “all you can eat” in terms of access to all functional modules (except for the Entry Edition). This will reduce the effort a customer must spend in managing customer licenses. Prices are aggressive to capture customers that want a better ROI in terms of pricing and having a single, highly-integrated product and maintenance stream.

IBM’s current product roadmap (subject as always to change) includes

• Interfaces into SAP Solutions Manager

• Further improvements for deployability and ease-of-use

• Higher levels of automation

• Enhanced reporting and analytics capabilities




EMA PerspectiveAs computing becomes pervasive throughout business operations and assets, computing practices are also becoming pervasive. While some would like computing to gracefully disappear into a background utility service, EMA believes that IT is fundamentally different from electricity. IT asset and service management practices such as incident, change, and configuration management will not fade away; instead, they will become much more of a daily concern for many participants in an enterprise. Gains made through automating core IT into Cloud architectures may well be offset by new concerns in managing the fabric of pervasively embedded computing.

IBM has long had a comprehensive product set for end-to-end IT management. Tivoli especially has had historic strengths in monitoring and real-time service management (via the Netcool product). More broadly, IBM also has an industry-leading portfolio of Application Lifecycle Management tools in the Rational line, as well as some of the most widely used middleware products in the Websphere line.

These platforms have been accompanied by deep and proven vertical extensions, an advantage unique to IBM. Verticals like financial services, transportation, and healthcare all have IBM solutions specific to their problem domain.

Maximo’s depth in non-IT markets is a substantial advantage for SmartCloud Control Desk. As can be seen at the annual IBM Pulse conference, there is a rich ecosystem of solutions providers and vendors skilled in implementing solutions on the core Maximo framework. This translates to a deep pool of expertise that can be leveraged across domains; EMA interviewed vendors previously focused on the non-IT Enterprise Asset Management side of Maximo that have started to develop extensions for IT management. And strategically, this ecosystem gives IBM the reach and execution ability to realize its ambitious goals.

Many of IBM’s products were acquired, not organically grown, and integrating IT management products is complex. Much progress has been made, e.g., through employing the Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration (OSLC) standard to tie the Rational and Tivoli product lines together across the DevOps value stream of developing and deploying software. EMA believes that DevOps is a genuinely important trend in current IT management and commends IBM’s clear investments and thought leadership in this area.

These kinds of silo-crossing initiatives are now being called on to support more strategic priorities. As computing becomes pervasive throughout industry, traditional functional boundaries are dissolving. IBM has therefore been well advised to invest in usability, especially given the influence of consumerization and competition from a variety of SaaS ITSM providers such as ServiceNow, CA Nimsoft, and BMC RemedyForce. These next-generation providers have clearly raised the user experience bar. IBM has been making substantial strides in terms of usability and integration, and with SmartCloud Control Desk 7.5 IBM should now be able to claim a leading position in time to value.

IBM has continued to invest in the Tivoli Process Automation (TPAE) platform as a basis for its IT management portfolio. Where some competitors have acquired multiple workflow engines for provisioning, runbook automation, and ITSM process support, SmartCloud Control Desk’s TPAE-based integration of IT Process Automation (a.k.a. runbook automation) with workflow is a differentiator.

IT asset and service management practices such

as incident, change, and configuration management will not fade away; instead,

they will become much more of a daily concern

for many participants in an enterprise.




It is rare for IBM to compete on price, but between the commoditization of the ITSM market and the challenges they have encountered there, it seems a reasonable strategy. If IBM is aggressive enough, this may present a great opportunity for customers, as the actual functional capabilities of the platform are broad and suitable for the largest enterprises.

EMA predicts that IBM will leverage its vertical strategies to boost SmartCloud Control Desk in non-traditional ways, as business managers have increasing operational responsibilities for information technology. Rather than selling SmartCloud Control Desk to the CIO, IBM is well positioned to sell it to line managers directly in business units, on the basis of its strengths in non-IT asset management and IBM’s robust sales channels in those verticals. Furthermore, IBM Global Technical Services uses Maximo as the common platform for large outsourced engagements, a built-in stream of use and revenue for the product.

In looking to the future, IBM has some work ahead of it in maturing its “Business Management of IT” strategy. IT finance and portfolio management, project management, demand management, enterprise architecture, and related areas all have coverage in IBM products, but there remains much fragmentation and some emerging overlaps. A full, end-to-end DevOps approach challenges traditional boundaries. For example, Maximo has an increasingly robust capability in change scheduling, even including a Gantt view one might also see in a project management tool. Similarly, IBM has made progress with Kanban on the Rational side, but this fast-growing, disruptive approach to managing the flow of IT work is equally applicable to operations teams. Kanban for Maximo? EMA applauds IBM’s innovations in these areas, as demand and execution management are large challenges for IT management, yet further decisions as to the relative scope of the Rational versus Tivoli lines in these areas seem needful.

However, it’s clear that IBM is aware of these challenges and is continuing to develop innovative approaches for bridging these worlds. As a more integrated IT management future comes closer, IBM is well positioned in terms of platforms, technical thought leadership, and vertical expertise to play a commanding role.

ConclusionIBM has some of the industry’s deepest roots in IT service management. The IBM “yellow books” (A Management System for the Information Business) were an important precursor to ITIL in the 1980s. It is therefore encouraging to see IBM’s ongoing commitment to improving the maturity and automation of IT management, in the context of industry-transforming trends such as Cloud, consumerization, pervasive computing, and DevOps. And as IT transforms and embeds throughout business strategies and operations, the essential core of IT management practices will similarly need to transform, while retaining the value propositions of ensuring agile and reliable computing.

The Maximo acquisition was clearly strategic and IBM has demonstrated substantial commitment to expanding upon the Maximo-based capabilities in supporting management practices across both IT and business vertical domains. While it has been a “long game” for IBM, the company is well positioned to execute over such time frames. At the proposed price points, the newly revamped product may indeed become a very disruptive offering to the market, both competitively and in terms of driving the industry as a whole towards higher levels of maturity.

IBM has demonstrated substantial commitment

to expanding upon the Maximo-based capabilities.




About IBMPlease visit: ibm.com/software/tivoli/products/smartcloud-controldesk/ for more information

This report was developed by Enterprise Management Associates – with IBM assistance and funding. This report may utilize information, including publicly available data, provided by various companies and sources, including IBM. The opinions are those of the report’s author, and do not necessarily represent IBM’s position.

About Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.Founded in 1996, Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) is a leading industry analyst firm that provides deep insight across the full spectrum of IT and data management technologies. EMA analysts leverage a unique combination of practical experience, insight into industry best practices, and in-depth knowledge of current and planned vendor solutions to help its clients achieve their goals. Learn more about EMA research, analysis, and consulting services for enterprise line of business users, IT professionals and IT vendors at www.enterprisemanagement.com or blogs.enterprisemanagement.com. You can also follow EMA on Twitter or Facebook.

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