New features of IT services in the release of the program Alloy Navigator 7
The quality of work of IT departments of companies plays a significant role in the modern conditions of running a successful business - and this is impossible to disagree with.
At the same time, you should always take into account that users always have the opportunity to choose the best service and put forward such requirements as:
And this means that IT service specialists will be in demand for their services only if they are able to fully satisfy customer needs.
And here the task of the service company is to competently organize the work and management of its IT service. How to achieve this?
To ensure a professional approach, we need the appropriate professional tools, in particular, such as, Alloy Navigator, a software package from Alloy Software. I will share my impressions about him today.
')
And there is a reason. It is being prepared for release and a new release of the version of Alloy Navigator Enterprise 7 will take place very soon .
Let me remind you that Alloy Navigator is a modern software package for managing IT assets and IT services, developed in accordance with the ITIL standard and taking into account the needs of real consumers of IT services.
It is designed to automate business processes and provides a sufficient list of tools to solve the full range of tasks for the provision of IT services.
The high level of flexibility and wide customization options provide this software package with an excellent ability to adapt the entire workflow to the specific needs and priorities of the clients' professional activities of a fairly wide range - from the hotel business, the tourism and entertainment industry to design, production, government and financial enterprises.
I really want to get to the point, and here I suggest a closer look at the functionality of Alloy Navigator 7.
Of course, it is simply impossible to list in full all the possibilities of a large software package in one post. I bring here only the most important and useful, in my opinion, from the point of view of a specialist in the field of IT services.
Alloy Navigator 7 provides the means for organizing a rational process of providing IT services, for convenient and accurate management of them, as well as for managing all changes in accordance with the constantly emerging new requirements.
Here, customizable tools for automating workflows and business processes come to the rescue, allowing you to avoid excess manual water and speed up the execution of routine operations.
Due to this, management overhead is reduced, reliable knowledge-sharing processes are established, and the interaction between technical specialists within the company and with external customers is improved.
This is an integral part of the operational quality control of the service and a means of improving it. About each service provided to external and internal customers, the system allows you to register and store sufficiently detailed information.
Also, to control and improve the quality of the services provided, there is the possibility of flexible adjustment of service levels, including setting up services, functions and processes associated with a particular service.
Alloy Navigator 7 provides a convenient, customizable mechanism for managing and controlling changes occurring in the IT infrastructure. It helps to significantly increase the transparency and ease of tracking every change. Thus, the risks of adverse effects on the quality of the provision of IT services arising from such changes are minimized.
An important role in managing the work of an IT department is played by managing the full life cycle of the equipment, hardware and software licenses used.
Accounting also applies to procurement contracts, warranty and service contracts, as well as all related tasks and incidents, starting from the moment of acquiring assets until the day they are written off.
This gives a complete picture of the current financial situation of the company, taking into account such significant aspects as, for example, the depreciation of existing assets.
Alloy Navigator Enterprise 7 comes bundled with Alloy Discovery 7, an integrated network inventory tool .
With Alloy Discovery 7, a thorough inventory of all devices on the network is easily made. However, there is no need to install software audit agents or to change the configuration of remote computers.
Alloy Discovery 7 provides a wide range of different audit methods, using which you can get the most complete data on corporate computers, network equipment and installed software, as well as all changes in hardware or software configuration of machines.
Remote auditing is provided: workstations running Windows (starting from Windows 2000 and above), Linux (most common versions, including Debian / Ubuntu, Red Hat / Fedora and Slackware / SUSE) and Mac OS (from 10.3 and above), virtual machines and hypervisors (on Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware ESX, VMware ESXi, Xen, Citrix XenServer platforms), servers and network devices (SNMPv1, SNMPv2c, SNMPv3).
All auditing takes place in real time, and all collected information is regularly synchronized with Alloy Navigator 7 data.
Timely accounting of all kinds of warranty, service and other types of contracts helps to track not only the costs associated with them, but also to have an idea of what specific contracts are covered for, their period of validity and in whose area of responsibility they are.
For confidence in the timely extension of important contracts and to avoid unwanted automatic renewal of unnecessary contracts in the system Alloy Navigator 7 provides a mechanism for warnings of the impending expiration date and renewal.
For convenient tracking of the sources of requests to the technical support service, the progress of the services provided and the owners of the assets, the system provides access to such important customer data as contact information and a description of their organizations. Contact lists can be imported from external sources or synchronized with Active Directory. All these data are the basis for the effective interaction of specialists, assigning tasks to them and requesting the necessary permissions for execution.
With it, all customers, using any web browser, have convenient round-the-clock access to technical support and knowledge base. Clients can leave here their applications in self-service mode, track their progress, interact with technical support specialists if necessary, and even evaluate the quality of order execution.
And in the knowledge base they can find answers to frequently asked questions and, thus, solve some of their problems on their own. So, the money and time of the support service will be saved.
In addition, portal users have access to browse the catalog of available services and place requests for services; to view and order the use of available equipment; to view the acquired hardware and software assets and related incidents and service requests.
In addition, as part of the internal use of the portal, managers and leaders of the working groups get an idea of the scope and success of their departments.
To improve the quality of internal work and customer service, technical support staff has the opportunity to constantly stay in touch using access through the mobile portal.
The appearance of the application automatically adapts to the type of device, whether it be a mobile phone or a tablet computer.
Compatible with most modern devices, including Apple iPad and iPhone, BlackBerry PlayBook, Samsung Galaxy, HTC Desire, etc. It is worth noting that the new version 7 also added support for Windows Phone 8 with Internet Explorer 10 or 11.
Thus, in the Alloy Navigator version 7 system, the self-service portal is equally convenient to use both from stationary computers with wide-resolution monitors and from small portable devices.
And, finally, it should be noted that, for the convenience of Russian users of self-service portals, it is possible to customize the Russian-language interface.
Based on the existing budget of the company, the principles and mode of its work, in the new version 7 it is possible to significantly reduce the cost of licensing users.
For example, if the technical support service works in several shifts, then you can license only the number of users working simultaneously with the application, and not the total number of user places. In addition to these, you can also purchase named licenses for specific employees.
Each technician can customize dashboards that are comfortable for him. Visual diagrams of workload and performance, links to key work areas within the Alloy Navigator 7 package and other elements help you quickly assess your work situation and respond quickly to problems that arise.
Alloy Navigator 7 provides a rich selection of pre-installed charts and reports for wide use. In accordance with the specific needs of customers, you can either adjust the settings of existing reports, and using the open architecture of the Alloy Navigator 7 database, it is easy to create new ones. Supported work with reports in the most common specialized systems Microsoft Reporting Services and Crystal Reports.
The functionality of the Alloy Navigator 7 package can be expanded through easy integration with third-party software products, tools and scripts.
In particular, Alloy Navigator 7 comes with pre-installed profiles for integrating with Remote Desktop and other applications that are often used to administer and manage computers, diagnose, and troubleshoot computer networks.
Also in the new version 7 there is support for integration with Microsoft Outlook. This means that now all tasks and events scheduled in Alloy Navigator can be coordinated depending on meetings, visits and other events from Microsoft Outlook, and more accurately estimate and distribute working time.
In addition to all the above, the application provides many auxiliary functions. Among them:
On behalf of Alloy Software, I would like to wish you good luck and high professional achievements, regardless of whether you choose Alloy Navigator as a reliable assistant in organizing and managing your IT service.
And let daily work always brings success, satisfaction of ambitions, material well-being and just positive impressions.
See you soon!
At the same time, you should always take into account that users always have the opportunity to choose the best service and put forward such requirements as:
- uninterrupted operation of technical support services;
- simple registration and the ability to independently leave requests for the provision of maintenance;
- fast loading of web applications;
- safe and error-free processing of transmitted data;
- the ability to track the progress of processing the left applications and assess the quality of work performed.
And this means that IT service specialists will be in demand for their services only if they are able to fully satisfy customer needs.
And here the task of the service company is to competently organize the work and management of its IT service. How to achieve this?
To ensure a professional approach, we need the appropriate professional tools, in particular, such as, Alloy Navigator, a software package from Alloy Software. I will share my impressions about him today.
')
And there is a reason. It is being prepared for release and a new release of the version of Alloy Navigator Enterprise 7 will take place very soon .
Let me remind you that Alloy Navigator is a modern software package for managing IT assets and IT services, developed in accordance with the ITIL standard and taking into account the needs of real consumers of IT services.
It is designed to automate business processes and provides a sufficient list of tools to solve the full range of tasks for the provision of IT services.
The high level of flexibility and wide customization options provide this software package with an excellent ability to adapt the entire workflow to the specific needs and priorities of the clients' professional activities of a fairly wide range - from the hotel business, the tourism and entertainment industry to design, production, government and financial enterprises.
I really want to get to the point, and here I suggest a closer look at the functionality of Alloy Navigator 7.
Of course, it is simply impossible to list in full all the possibilities of a large software package in one post. I bring here only the most important and useful, in my opinion, from the point of view of a specialist in the field of IT services.
IT service support
Alloy Navigator 7 provides the means for organizing a rational process of providing IT services, for convenient and accurate management of them, as well as for managing all changes in accordance with the constantly emerging new requirements.
Here, customizable tools for automating workflows and business processes come to the rescue, allowing you to avoid excess manual water and speed up the execution of routine operations.
Due to this, management overhead is reduced, reliable knowledge-sharing processes are established, and the interaction between technical specialists within the company and with external customers is improved.
Service Level Management
This is an integral part of the operational quality control of the service and a means of improving it. About each service provided to external and internal customers, the system allows you to register and store sufficiently detailed information.
Also, to control and improve the quality of the services provided, there is the possibility of flexible adjustment of service levels, including setting up services, functions and processes associated with a particular service.
Change management
Alloy Navigator 7 provides a convenient, customizable mechanism for managing and controlling changes occurring in the IT infrastructure. It helps to significantly increase the transparency and ease of tracking every change. Thus, the risks of adverse effects on the quality of the provision of IT services arising from such changes are minimized.
Asset Management
An important role in managing the work of an IT department is played by managing the full life cycle of the equipment, hardware and software licenses used.
Accounting also applies to procurement contracts, warranty and service contracts, as well as all related tasks and incidents, starting from the moment of acquiring assets until the day they are written off.
This gives a complete picture of the current financial situation of the company, taking into account such significant aspects as, for example, the depreciation of existing assets.
Network inventory
Alloy Navigator Enterprise 7 comes bundled with Alloy Discovery 7, an integrated network inventory tool .
With Alloy Discovery 7, a thorough inventory of all devices on the network is easily made. However, there is no need to install software audit agents or to change the configuration of remote computers.
Alloy Discovery 7 provides a wide range of different audit methods, using which you can get the most complete data on corporate computers, network equipment and installed software, as well as all changes in hardware or software configuration of machines.
Remote auditing is provided: workstations running Windows (starting from Windows 2000 and above), Linux (most common versions, including Debian / Ubuntu, Red Hat / Fedora and Slackware / SUSE) and Mac OS (from 10.3 and above), virtual machines and hypervisors (on Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware ESX, VMware ESXi, Xen, Citrix XenServer platforms), servers and network devices (SNMPv1, SNMPv2c, SNMPv3).
All auditing takes place in real time, and all collected information is regularly synchronized with Alloy Navigator 7 data.
Contract accounting
Timely accounting of all kinds of warranty, service and other types of contracts helps to track not only the costs associated with them, but also to have an idea of what specific contracts are covered for, their period of validity and in whose area of responsibility they are.
For confidence in the timely extension of important contracts and to avoid unwanted automatic renewal of unnecessary contracts in the system Alloy Navigator 7 provides a mechanism for warnings of the impending expiration date and renewal.
Contact management
For convenient tracking of the sources of requests to the technical support service, the progress of the services provided and the owners of the assets, the system provides access to such important customer data as contact information and a description of their organizations. Contact lists can be imported from external sources or synchronized with Active Directory. All these data are the basis for the effective interaction of specialists, assigning tasks to them and requesting the necessary permissions for execution.
Self-service portal
With it, all customers, using any web browser, have convenient round-the-clock access to technical support and knowledge base. Clients can leave here their applications in self-service mode, track their progress, interact with technical support specialists if necessary, and even evaluate the quality of order execution.
And in the knowledge base they can find answers to frequently asked questions and, thus, solve some of their problems on their own. So, the money and time of the support service will be saved.
In addition, portal users have access to browse the catalog of available services and place requests for services; to view and order the use of available equipment; to view the acquired hardware and software assets and related incidents and service requests.
In addition, as part of the internal use of the portal, managers and leaders of the working groups get an idea of the scope and success of their departments.
Mobile portal
To improve the quality of internal work and customer service, technical support staff has the opportunity to constantly stay in touch using access through the mobile portal.
The appearance of the application automatically adapts to the type of device, whether it be a mobile phone or a tablet computer.
Compatible with most modern devices, including Apple iPad and iPhone, BlackBerry PlayBook, Samsung Galaxy, HTC Desire, etc. It is worth noting that the new version 7 also added support for Windows Phone 8 with Internet Explorer 10 or 11.
Thus, in the Alloy Navigator version 7 system, the self-service portal is equally convenient to use both from stationary computers with wide-resolution monitors and from small portable devices.
Russification of self-service portal
And, finally, it should be noted that, for the convenience of Russian users of self-service portals, it is possible to customize the Russian-language interface.
New user licensing model
Based on the existing budget of the company, the principles and mode of its work, in the new version 7 it is possible to significantly reduce the cost of licensing users.
For example, if the technical support service works in several shifts, then you can license only the number of users working simultaneously with the application, and not the total number of user places. In addition to these, you can also purchase named licenses for specific employees.
Customizable dashboards
Each technician can customize dashboards that are comfortable for him. Visual diagrams of workload and performance, links to key work areas within the Alloy Navigator 7 package and other elements help you quickly assess your work situation and respond quickly to problems that arise.
Integrated reporting system
Alloy Navigator 7 provides a rich selection of pre-installed charts and reports for wide use. In accordance with the specific needs of customers, you can either adjust the settings of existing reports, and using the open architecture of the Alloy Navigator 7 database, it is easy to create new ones. Supported work with reports in the most common specialized systems Microsoft Reporting Services and Crystal Reports.
Integration with third-party applications
The functionality of the Alloy Navigator 7 package can be expanded through easy integration with third-party software products, tools and scripts.
In particular, Alloy Navigator 7 comes with pre-installed profiles for integrating with Remote Desktop and other applications that are often used to administer and manage computers, diagnose, and troubleshoot computer networks.
Also in the new version 7 there is support for integration with Microsoft Outlook. This means that now all tasks and events scheduled in Alloy Navigator can be coordinated depending on meetings, visits and other events from Microsoft Outlook, and more accurately estimate and distribute working time.
Additional features
In addition to all the above, the application provides many auxiliary functions. Among them:
- Customizable tables displaying important data with convenient filtering and grouping by key parameters (you can view only the data from a variety of available and only in the form in which it is required);
- announcements for customers and technicians about planned software updates, interruptions and outages (you can avoid a squall of identical requests for already known problems);
- e-mail notifications and reminders (configuring and administering the sent messages allows you to control all outgoing e-mail notifications);
- and many more additional features for the convenience of IT staff, their managers and, of course, for their favorite customers.
On behalf of Alloy Software, I would like to wish you good luck and high professional achievements, regardless of whether you choose Alloy Navigator as a reliable assistant in organizing and managing your IT service.
And let daily work always brings success, satisfaction of ambitions, material well-being and just positive impressions.
See you soon!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/239675/
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