Catapult Public Relations

ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES OFFERS

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:56:30 +0000

Latest study shows CMDB deployments maturing from planning phase to second stage, new EMA services help drive value and success

BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 13, 2008 - Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) (www.enterprisemanagement.com), a leading IT management research and consulting firm, today announced new research and a series of service offerings focused on Configuration Management Database (CMDB) implementations. The new research report, CMDB Systems Deployments in 2008 - the Search for Value, is complemented by a set of offerings that includes CMDB consulting services and a one-day CMDB Requirements Workshop.

"Our new research reveals that CMDB deployments are at a fundamentally different stage than just two years ago, as they move from the planning stage to value-driven initiatives," explained Dennis Drogseth, vice president at EMA. "Based on industry input, our new offerings are designed to help IT professionals accelerate their CMDB projects through thorough assessments and practical advice on how to effectively define and build the CMDB from the ground level."

The goal of the new EMA research study was to capture the state of CMDB deployments in 2008 in terms of objectives, budgets, success metrics, functional and packaging priorities (what's working, what's not), and best-practices advice from adopters. Drogseth and his team gathered 174 quantitative survey responses and conducted more than 15 in-depth focal interviews with IT professionals actively involved in the planning or deployment of their organization's CMDB. The respondents were 90 percent from North America, but focal interviews reached out to deployments ranging from Australia to the U.K.

Key study findings include:

Most CMDB deployments are less than two years underway, with 43 percent less than a year underway and 68 percent not yet in full production.
Fewer than 50 percent of CMDB initiatives currently have metrics in place for governance. The relative immaturity of metrics definition was underscored by the fact that only three-four percent of respondents had "other" metrics to offer than those proposed in the questionnaire.
The top three technical concerns for CMDB deployments are "maintaining effective CMDB performance;" "lack of in-house available architectural expertise;" and "identification of systems of record" or trusted sources.
The number one answer to "what would you have done differently?" was "We would not have used in-house development for software as much as we did." This was followed by better detailed requirements, better process planning and education, building a bigger team for CMDB deployment, and more attention to communication across IT.

When asked about changes made that were driven from "lessons learned," the top four were: better requirements documentation; increasing the commitment to the CMDB program; having higher-level management support; and obtaining executive buy-in. Expanding the number of stakeholders came in fifth.

Drogseth will conduct a free EMA Webinar highlighting additional key findings from this study on August 19. To register, please visit: http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=cmdbreswebpr0808&bs=cmdbresweb0808

New CMDB Service Offerings
In conjunction with the release of this new research report, EMA has introduced several new service offerings to help IT organizations succeed with CMDB:

CMDB Assessment Service
The eight-week CMDB Assessment Service leverages Enterprise Management Associates' unique combination of industry knowledge, product knowledge and proven consulting methodology to deliver a practical approach to planning and implementing a CMDB. During the engagement, EMA CMDB experts work with IT teams to assess their readiness to tackle a CMDB; develop specific process, organization and technology architecture recommendations; and create an implementation roadmap that lays out short-term wins in the context of a long-term vision.

CMDB Solution Design Service
The EMA CMDB Solution Design Service helps IT teams establish and validate the detailed requirements for tools, processes and people. During this six-month engagement, EMA experts work with clients to document detailed business and technical requirements, deliver comprehensive process definitions and develop pilot project use cases.

CMDB Requirements Workshop
The new one-day EMA workshop - How to Define Detailed Requirements for your Enterprise CMDB Project - arms attendees with the knowledge needed to articulate the context of the CMDB at both an executive and a technical level. Workshop attendees obtain the skills and tools to gather and create detailed requirements needed for long-term CMDB success.

EMA also offers a free, online CMDB Solutions Center where users can compare in-depth profiles of more than 15 leading CMDB solutions to find the right one for their organization. Register for free access at: http://itsolutions.emausa.com/register.php

For more information on Enterprise Management Associates' new CMDB offerings or to purchase a copy of the report, CMDB Systems Deployments in 2008 - the Search for Value, contact sales@enterprisemanagement.com or +1.303.543.9500.

NOTE TO EDITORS

For more information, contact Guy Murrel at gmurrel@catapultpr-ir.com at 303-581-7760 x17

About Enterprise Management Associates
Founded in 1996, Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) is a leading industry analyst and consulting firm dedicated to the IT management market. The firm provides IT vendors and enterprise IT professionals with objective insight into the real-world business value of long-established and emerging technologies, ranging from security, storage and IT Service Management (ITSM) to the Configuration Management Database (CMDB), virtualization and service-oriented architecture (SOA). Even with its rapid growth, EMA has never lost sight of the client, and continues to offer personalized support and convenient access to its analysts. For more information on the firm's extensive library of IT management research, free online IT Management Solutions Center and IT consulting offerings, visit www.enterprisemanagement.com.

ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES INTRODUCES ITIL TRAINING AND HANDS-ON IT MANAGEMENT WORKSHOPS

New training-focused offerings help organizations get ITIL V3 certified,
quickly up-to-speed on new IT disciplines

BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 19, 2008 - Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) (www.enterprisemanagement.com), a leading IT management research and consulting firm, today announced two new service offerings designed to educate enterprise IT professionals about ITIL V3, IT Service Management (ITSM) best practices, and emerging IT management disciplines like Data Center Automation, Virtualization, Service Catalog and the Configuration Management Database (CMDB). The new offerings include a full range of ITIL Training Courses and a variety of hands-on EMA^TM Workshops.

"Managing IT by service and not technology is the message of ITIL V3. Unfortunately, most IT professionals struggle with getting started. In fact, some 30 percent of ITSM projects are delayed by the inability to define a comprehensive plan," said Dan Twing, COO at EMA. "These new services provide both introductory knowledge and advanced training to help companies get their IT teams ITIL V3 certified, transition to ITSM and advance the maturity of their IT organizations."

The new EMA service offerings include:

EMA ITIL Training Courses
The new training courses are offered together with itSM Solutions - an accredited courseware and training provider (ACP/ATP). Courses are offered onsite or online with a live certified mentor to help participants internalize the concepts of ITSM and ITIL while preparing for the certification exam. Offerings include accredited ITIL V2 to ITIL V3 Bridge and ITIL V3 Foundation training courses to help organizations get certified on ITIL V3, as well as introductory ITSM orientation courses designed to help companies get on the road to a successful ITSM or ITIL initiative.

EMA Hands-On Workshops
These onsite workshops are designed to help enterprise IT teams tackle common challenges or quickly get up-to-speed on a new IT discipline. Led by a seasoned EMA analyst or consultant, each workshop uses a combination of interactive lectures, real-world case studies, and hands-on exercises to engage attendees in addressing the issues specific to their organization.

Available topics include:

How to Define Detailed Requirements for Your Enterprise CMDB Project
How to Effectively Jumpstart Your Service Catalog Project
Developing an Effective Change Management Strategy
Designing a World-Class Release Management Organization
Jumpstarting Your Data Center Automation (DCA) Strategy

Making the Most of Virtualization Technologies in the Enterprise

Contact sales@enterprisemanagement.com or +1.303.543.9500 to learn more about the full range of EMA ITIL training courses and hands-on workshops.

NOTE TO EDITORS

For more information, contact Guy Murrel at gmurrel@catapultpr-ir.com at 303-581-7760 x17

EMA ANNOUNCES IT MANAGEMENT WEBINARS FOR JUNE

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:01:00 +0000

Topics include Data Center Automation, Asset Management, End-to-End Application Management, Software Licensing and CMDB

BOULDER, Colo., June 2, 2008 - Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) (www.enterprisemanagement.com), a leading IT management research and consulting firm, today announced it will host a number of free Webinars focused on IT management during the month of June 2008.

The EMA™ Webinars set for June include:

Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - 2 p.m. Eastern

Solving Key Human Issues in Large Enterprise Data Centers with Data Center Automation

http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=strataviawebpr0608&bs=strataviaweb0608

Andi Mann, EMA research director and Mike Puterbaugh, vice president of Stratavia will discuss important outcomes from in-depth research on top human issues in the operation and management of large enterprise data centers. The results are based on a study conducted by EMA in March 2008.

Thursday, June 5, 2008 - 2 p.m. Eastern

The Changing Face of Asset Management: Merging Asset, Service and Financial Management

http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=ngamwebpr0608&bs=ngamweb0608

EMA research director, Lisa Erickson-Harris will discuss how asset, service and financial management are coming together to serve a greater business purpose. She also will explore how asset management has evolved to take a holistic view of the central role assets play in the modern IT organizations.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 2 p.m. Eastern

Three Steps for Effective End-to-End Application Delivery over the Network

http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=anwebpr0608&bs=anweb0608

Many IT organizations struggle to effectively manage the performance of business applications over complex networks. Dennis Drogseth, EMA vice president and Steve Mank, Apparent Networks chief marketing officer will explore emerging best practices and new technology alternatives to address this challenge.

Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 11 a.m. Eastern

Cut the Cost of Data Center Software Licensing

http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=twwebpr0608&bs=twweb0608

Without a thorough understanding of how software licenses are bought, allocated, and used, it is almost impossible to reduce or even manage these costs. Andi Mann, research director from EMA and Kosten Metreweli, vice president of product marketing for Tideway will discuss how to manage the key issues regarding license cost management and compliance risk reduction.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008 - 1 p.m. Eastern

End-to-End Application Management 2008: What Does It Really Mean and How Do We Do It?http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=otwebpr0608&bs=otweb0608

EMA senior analyst Julie Craig and OpTier executive vice president of business development and marketing Motti Tal will discuss how to effectively manage the multi-dimensional application landscape that many IT organizations struggle with.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008 - 2 p.m. Eastern

End-to-End Application Management: A Real-World Road Map Beyond the Cliché http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=endtoendwebpr0608&bs=endtoendweb0608

Over the past six months, EMA has conducted research to detail the multi-dimensional approach necessary to understand and manage complex business applications in today's marketplace. EMA vice president Dennis Drogseth, EMA senior analyst Julie Craig and EMA consulting director of IT services Chris Matney will share highlights from this study during this one-hour event.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 2 p.m. Eastern

A Hands-on Guide to Defining Detailed Requirements for Your Enterprise CMDB Projecthttp://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=cmdbreqwebpr0608&bs=cmdbreqweb0608

Fifty percent of all CMDB projects fail due to inadequate planning. During this hands-on workshop, EMA CMDB expert Chris Matney will explain how to avoid failure by defining and documenting detailed CMDB requirements that are both appropriate for your organization and achievable given available resources.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

For more information, contact Guy Murrel at gmurrel@catapultpr-ir.com or 303-581-7760 x 17.

About Enterprise Management Associates

Founded in 1996, Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) is a leading industry analyst and consulting firm dedicated to the IT management market. The firm provides IT vendors and enterprise IT professionals with objective insight into the real-world business value of long-established and emerging technologies, ranging from security, storage and IT Service Management (ITSM) to the Configuration Management Database (CMDB), virtualization and service-oriented architecture (SOA). Even with its rapid growth, EMA has never lost sight of the client, and continues to offer personalized support and convenient access to its analysts. For more information on the firm's extensive library of IT management research, free online IT Management Solutions Center and IT consulting offerings, visit www.enterprisemanagement.com.

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EMA RESEARCH SHOWS IT ASSET, SERVICE AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT MERGING INTO NEW PRACTICE

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:57:01 +0000

Study finds Next-Generation Asset Management (NGAM) growing
as enterprises combine managing assets and services

BOULDER, Colo., June 5, 2008 - New research from Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) shows that IT asset management (ITAM) continues to mature with steady adoption and growth rates, and that early adopters are increasingly turning to Next-Generation-Asset Management (NGAM) processes to better integrate IT asset and financial management into a single practice. For its new study titled "The Changing Face of Asset Management: Merging Asset, Service and Financial Management," EMA surveyed nearly 300 respondents and conducted a number of in-depth focal interviews to explore NGAM in the enterprise. Lisa Erickson-Harris, research director at EMA, led the research project and also will host a free webinar on the findings on Thurs., June 5, at 2 p.m. Eastern.

The new study found that the dynamics around managing IT assets are changing dramatically. Asset management has been a long-standing discipline with specific functions focused on tracking IT assets, their characteristics and location/use within the enterprise. While these traditional functions still remain critical, there is a new face for IT asset management which EMA calls 'NGAM.' NGAM takes an overall view of the central role that assets play in evolving IT organizations. It also looks at the lifecycle of an asset and how it interfaces and links to service management and financial planning requirements within enterprise environments.

"Asset management is being swept up in the cultural and maturity changes that are moving IT to a service-focused management paradigm surrounded by best practices that enable IT to meet service quality objectives," said Erickson-Harris. "With 63 percent of respondents either managing or planning to manage assets and services together, evidence is clear that real-world IT shops recognize the need for an integrated approach that promises to make IT a true business partner."

Key findings from this report include:

• While few enterprises are managing assets for service planning across all domains - from desktops to telecommunications circuits to the data center - more and more are looking to do so.
• Operations as a whole and organizations responsible for IT governance are most likely to drive a more cohesive approach to asset management across domains.
• IT financial governance leads the pack as the single most critical organization to consolidate and unify asset management (17 percent).
• NGAM success factors include organizational support and executive commitment, good communication across IT and a strong architectural team to integrate effectively.
• Only 51 percent of respondents indicated that their organization has a Configuration Management Database (CMDB) system currently deployed. Yet, almost all organizations suffer from redundant, poorly automated and uncoordinated sources of asset data.
• Inventory and configuration management were recognized as two of the most dominant technologies associated with NGAM.

Please join Erickson-Harris during a free webinar on the study and NGAM on Thurs., June 5, 2008 at 2 p.m. Eastern. Register for the event at http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=ngamwebpr0608&bs=ngamweb0608

For more information on the new EMA™ Research Report "The Changing Face of Asset Management: Merging Asset, Service and Financial Management" or to purchase the full report, contact EMA at 303.543.9500 or sales@enterprisemanagement.com.

NOTE TO EDITORS
For more information or to speak with Erickson-Harris please contact Guy Murrel at gmurrel@catapultpr-ir.com or at 303-581-7760, ext.17.

About Enterprise Management Associates

EMA RESEARCH IDENTIFIES LATEST TRENDS

Fri, 23 May 2008 00:38:08 +0000

'Tire-kicking' phase is over, yet CMDB remains a challenge

BOULDER, Colo., May 22, 2008 - Recent research from Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) shows that the promise of the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) has led to a 24 percent increase in adoption rates during the past two years. As part of its continued focus on this IT market sector, EMA surveyed 91 IT professionals primarily at companies with at least $1 billion in revenue to explore adoption rate trends, challenges that hamper success and emerging best practices for CMDB implementations.

"EMA has been closely monitoring the CMDB market for years and our latest research shows that CMDB has clearly crossed into the mainstream of IT practices," said Chris Matney, the lead research analyst on the project and consulting director of IT services for EMA. "All of our research on CMDB over the years shows steady growth among large organizations looking to unify IT and remove siloed barriers that have hampered organizations for many years."

This latest research study also uncovered real-world best practices that are crucial for the success of any enterprise CMDB implementation. Based on first-hand input from survey respondents and the firm's direct involvement in CMDB projects at some of the world's leading organizations, EMA has identified a number of keys to CMDB success, including:

1. Securing Upper Management Support - obtaining executive support/sponsorship, such as a formal mandate, dedicated communications and budget for the long-term project, was tops and vital for CMDB success
2. Pre-Implementation Planning - solid strategic and tactical planning, including extensively evaluating CMDB tools, identifying ITIL process integration points and defining maturity roadmaps both for both processes and technology, is also a critical step
3. Taking an Incremental Approach - identifying short-term, achievable goals with clear metrics for success and a defined scope for the project is crucial to gaining acceptance and building momentum
4. ITIL and Process - implementing ITIL and related processes for change, configuration and release management is necessary as a means of moving away from the "CMDB is just a tool" mindset
5. Limiting CI Scope and Data Issues - this was the number one piece of technical advice, with a common refrain to limit the number of Configuration Items (CIs) in the CMDB and taking care to produce a standardized data structure

Some additional key CMDB findings in this survey include:
• The biggest driver for the initiation of a CMDB project is support for change management
• The most significant challenge facing successful CMDB deployment is how to maintain and support the CMDB
• Eighty four percent of those surveyed expect a break-even ROI for their CMDB project in six months to three years
• The deployment of a CMDB has many benefits - the most significant of which are improved service levels, reduced downtime and fewer outages
• Integration is the most important functionality to an organization's core CMDB, according to those polled

For more information on the EMA Advisory Note CMDB Best Practices Survey Highlights, visit http://www.emausa.com/research/ema_product.php?product=4500_1619 or contact sales@enterprisemanagement.com to purchase this report. EMA also offers comprehensive CMDB Consulting Services, including an 8-week CMDB Assessment Service designed to help enterprise organizations lay out an actionable roadmap for CMDB success. To learn more, visit http://www.emausa.com/web/ema_services.php?type=8208 or contact sales@enterprisemanagement.com.

NOTE TO EDITORS
For more information or to speak with Matney please contact Guy Murrel at gmurrel@catapultpr-ir.com or at 303-581-7760, ext.17.

About Enterprise Management Associates

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