Comparison of ITSM-systems

As they develop, companies will need to develop and adapt their IT structure. And a logical question arises: “What do you need for this?” Or “Where to start?” And then ITIL and ITSM come to the rescue.

ITSM is an approach to managing and organizing IT services aimed at meeting business needs. The implementation of the ITSM-system is an important task, the solution of which will significantly optimize the activities of the IT structure of the company, as well as contribute to a more efficient distribution of labor, information and economic resources.
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There are many ITSM systems on the market that can be divided into 2 groups:

• Open-source solutions (free open source solution);
• Commercial solutions.

Consider the features and functionality of some ITSM-systems. For analysis, I chose popular solutions on the Russian market, with which I worked closely:

• Bpm`online;
• OTRS;
• Naumen SD;
• Omnitracker.

I will analyze these systems according to the following criteria:

• complexity of implementation;
• ITIL compliance;
• Convenience and design.

All solutions are considered in terms of “boxed” solutions. So, let's begin.

About systems, implementation complexity and ITIL compliance

1. Bpm`online Service



At the beginning I will tell a little about the systems. And the first in line bpm`online. The system for our company is new and only starts on one of the projects. But now you can share your impressions.

This is a system from a Ukrainian-Russian developer. In total, the vendor offers three solutions: Marketing, Sales and Service Enterprise. Just the last and is responsible for the automation of ITIL processes, but is not limited to it. The system also includes the add-ons of the Contact Center and part of the CRM functionality, which expands the capabilities of the ITSM system, there is no “fat” client and all interaction takes place via the web interface, which in turn allows access to the personal account from any device. The interface is very friendly for both users and specialists. The system allows you to submit applications not only through the self-service portal, but also through chat bots. Thanks to a simple and flexible solution setup, a new, not complicated business process can be built in just 2 hours. Out of the box, 8 ITIL processes are already supported:

a) Incident and service request management;
b) Change Management;
c) Service Level Management;
d) Problem Management;
e) Knowledge Management;
f) Release Management;
g) Configuration Management;
h) Portfolio management.

2. Omnitracker



The second solution is the brainchild of the German developer Omninet. The system appeared on the Russian market in 2009. ITSM has both “thick” and “thin”. The system can be fully customized for yourself, both independently and through a vendor, but if you do it yourself, you will need highly qualified specialists and, accordingly, additional implementation costs. For our internal needs, we just use Omnitracker, but customized by our experts, under our process and completely by ourselves. We will consider a ready-made solution ITSM Center, which is important for ITIL v3 certified. This assembly implements 15 basic ITIL processes:

a) Incident Management;
a) Problem Management;
b) Change Management;
c) Service Request Management;
d) Event management;
e) Asset and configuration management;
f) Identification and access control;
g) Release and Deployment Management;
h) Service Level Management;
i) Service Catalog Management;
j) Capacity Management;
k) Availability Management;
l) Knowledge Management;
m) Managing reference data and addresses;
n) The ability to integrate the service payment process.

The reporting system here is an external Crystal report, which again entails additional costs for the purchase of this product. There is no mobile version, there is an adapted web interface, which on the one hand can be considered a plus, since installation is not required, but also a minus due to the inability to work in offline mode or with unstable Internet.

3. Naumen Service Desk



The third system is again Russian. Naumen - quite an interesting domestic development, in the market since 2001.

It also has only a web interface, like bpm`online service. At the moment, is considered the leader in the Russian market of ITSM-systems according to customer reviews. The flexible system interface allows you to configure out of 12 ITIL processes:

a) Incident Management;
b) Service Request Management;
c) problem management;
d) Service asset and configuration management;
e) Change Management;
f) Service Catalog Management;
g) Service Level Management;
h) Event management;
i) Knowledge Management;
j) Management of consents and access;
k) Task / Order Management;
l) Financial management.

4. OTRS



And the last representative is the free open-source OTRS system. And again, the system has only a thin client. The boxed solution presents the main ITIL processes, in this version there are 6 of them:

a) Incident Management;
a) Problem Management;
b) Asset and configuration management;
c) Change Management;
d) Service Request Management;
e) Knowledge management.

This “boxed” solution is not free, unlike the system itself, and is supplied so far by the only integrator in Russia. The list of processes can be expanded independently through refinement, since the shell allows customizing the system to fit your needs as you please. Our experts can deploy the solution in 2 hours. But there is one big disadvantage - we need highly qualified programmers for support and development.

Convenience and design

1. In terms of design and convenience, based on experience in various ITSM systems, bpm`online outperforms its competitors by half a block.
   The ergonomics of the interface allows you to quickly get access to all the necessary tools for handling a call, even without having experience in the system. The specialist can get information about the user, see the entire list of his calls: open or closed, and can form a new call. When processing it, you can visually see the entire life cycle of the request and quickly move to the next stage. For the head there is a large set of dashboards for controlling metrics, both ready-made and personalized.
2. The second place was shared by Naumen SD and Omnitracker. Both systems are easy to use and have an intuitive interface that allows you to quickly get to work, having passed the minimum instruction. When making a referral, following the links, you can view information about the user or related references.
3. And fourth place is occupied by OTRS. The web interface of the system is convenient, but overloaded with information that can provide a “disservice” service to the employee receiving the request. It takes time to navigate the interface and create a message or find an existing application. But there are also pluses: when you open an already generated call, you can see all the information on the call in one window.

Summary

And what do we have in the end? All four systems have in the arsenal of the main processes of ITIL, as they say, "gentleman's" set and a unique and unique interface. But as shown by my research, ITSM bpm'online turned out to be friendlier and more flexible in customization.