Item: CA Service Management, with CA Service Desk Manager
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

The entire IT organization (720 associates) use the Service Desk Manager tool. It is used for incident, request, problem, change, configuration, and knowledge tracking. Our teams have developed scalable processes that scan 15+ hospitals, supporting 30,000 end users, leveraging this tool as the enterprise-wide solution. We have upwards of 250,000 records created annually, have defined slo's and quality metrics, and have very specific kpi's we measure consistently for quality measurement as well as effectiveness of our support. Currently we have an integrated solution that includes Ivanti Xtraction (for dash boarding) and CA Catalog as the user interface. We are working towards integrating SCCM to the CMDB for population of Assets (not CI's) and have mapped upwards of 250 full services in our CMDB. CA Service Desk Manager is our true enterprise solution for service management and it has served us rather well.

Pros and Cons

Integrated solution for incident, request and problem and change management tickets
Simple but resourceful knowledge component
Effective survey feature for interface with end users
Integration to Service Catalog as well as a native self-service interface

Reporting is a challenge for all ticketing systems and we've had to use an external dashboard tool (and previously Crystal/Boxi) for this purpose.
Gui for end users is clunky, forcing to have to use a catalog tool for this purpose.
Notification engine is not very customizable, causing an over or under notification to customers and specifically IT users.

Return on Investment

We have consolidated all tool usage into 1 place, reducing resolution times and lost cycles for IT
Training is easy for specialists and Service Desk specifically can navigate and open tickets easily through quick ticket
Integration options are many, including CTI ad dash-boarding and asset management, etc.

Alternatives Considered

none

CA is easier and faster to implement than Service Now, BMC Remedy/ITSM etc. It is more costly than off the shelf solutions, however much more worth it for large enterprises.

Other Software Used

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager, Bomgar Remote Support Software, Xtraction for CA Service Management, Symantec Endpoint Protection, Symantec Advanced Threat Protection

Likelihood to Recommend

It is a suitable tool for a large organization with extensive user needs. It is not for a small shop as it may be over-engineered for smaller organizations that don't have teams that can manage a solution of this size. It does have some significant hardware and configuration needs, but that should not deter customers from deploying it in-house. I've seen it deployed in the cloud as well as in-house; the downside to deploying it as a hosted solution is you're forever at the mercy of the vendor for customizations, and they cost an arm and a leg. The simplest things take a long time and cost much more money than necessary, so you can't truly get a custom solution and end up with mostly vanilla services (unless you have very deep pockets.)

CA Service Desk Manager- solid and scaleable solution, less all the unnecessary expense to maintain!

Overall Satisfaction with CA Service Desk Manager