Catapult Public Relations

EMA OUTLINES 12 HOT IT MANAGEMENT TRENDS TO WATCH FOR 2009

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:01:15 +0000

Hot topics for 2009 include emerging developments in CMDB, IT governance, virtualization, cloud computing and green IT, among others

BOULDER, Colo., January 13, 2009 - Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), a leading IT management research and consulting firm, today announced its take on the IT management trends and technologies that will have the greatest impact on enterprise computing during the coming year. Overall, EMA expects a strong focus on IT management initiatives that deliver measurable cost savings in a tight economy, the continued deployment of technologies that enable IT to be managed as a business and new management challenges introduced by the growth of emerging technologies.

"While there are obvious concerns surrounding the global economy, we expect that IT management initiatives will continue to gain corporate support and have a positive impact on the business performance of the enterprise," said Dan Twing, COO at EMA. "Emerging technologies like virtualization and cloud computing will certainly mature during the coming year, but don't count out the importance and business value of tried-and-true IT stalwarts like the service desk, IT security and IT governance."

The following are 12 hot IT management trends that the EMA roster of analysts has identified for 2009:

CMDBs will mature into integrated systems with a heightened focus on federation, resulting in faster time-to-value - look for maturing "CMDB System" deployments that encompass application discovery, provide better metrics and closely link to related architectures like process automation. These federated CMDB Systems will consist of components targeted at unique constituencies (e.g. network managers, asset managers), increasing IT flexibility and speeding the realization of benefits from a core CMDB investment.
Widespread proliferation of virtualization will continue to present formidable management challenges - following exuberant and largely under-managed virtualization deployments, EMA predicts that comprehensive management of virtual systems will be the most important success factor for virtual environments in 2009.
Increased adoption of technologies that facilitate management of IT as a business - IT organizations are moving beyond technology management and expanding into the business of IT, including strategy, marketing, staffing, suppliers, service portfolio and investment. EMA expects an increase in application of service catalog, service portfolio, business service management (BSM) and other technologies that help companies manage the business of IT to deliver greater value at lower cost.
Role of the service desk to transform and gain importance - the pressure to run IT as a business will further move the help desk front-and-center as a key customer-facing discipline. EMA expects traditional help desks to evolve into modern service desks that will shoulder broader responsibilities and become part of companies' larger IT Service Management (ITSM) strategies.
Forecast for cloud computing calls for rough weather - perhaps the most hyped technology of 2008, cloud computing will undoubtedly continue its reach into the enterprise during the coming year. However, EMA predicts that savvy IT professionals will demand credible answers to growing concerns around reliability, security and compliance before adopting cloud computing as a viable approach for mission-critical applications.
Green IT investments will be fueled by cost savings vs. environmental altruism - although some won't admit it publicly, "Green IT" is not purely about environmental sustainability and corporate altruism. More so, employing Green practices and technologies will be driven by ROI and reductions in IT power consumption in both the data center and on the desktop. With spiking energy costs and a tight economy, EMA predicts that Green IT will be all about dollars in 2009.
IT governance initiatives will help enterprises weather the economic storm -IT is rightly seen by many as a potential savior for organizations trying to weather the economic storm. Along those lines, EMA predicts that organizations will increasingly turn to IT governance initiatives, such as project and portfolio management (PPM), resource management and financial control to create an edge in these tough economic times.
Significantly increased threats, new approaches to IT management and economic pressures will keep IT security in the forefront - an explosion in threats, organized cybercrime, unresolved questions about the security of virtualization and cloud computing and the global economic crisis will keep IT security front and center in 2009. EMA predicts that these factors will put new pressure on business executives to recognize IT risk management as a central aspect of IT governance, with new emphasis placed on improving the effectiveness of complementary IT management and security operations.
Solid state disk to emerge as new first tier of storage in the data center - with breakthroughs in nano-technology, Solid State Disk (SSD) solutions promise to deliver greater capacity at much less cost. In 2009, EMA predicts that SSD will emerge as the new first tier of storage in the data center.
Economic pressures to drive strategic (but quantifiable) investments in automation - with the economy facing challenges of historic proportion, IT organizations are under intense pressure to reduce expenses while continuing to improve the strategic value of IT by providing flexible, dynamic and efficient IT services that drive business success. EMA believes that organizations will increasingly turn to automation as a means of doing more with less - especially in the data center and storage arena .
Video growth will push unified communications management to the forefront - with several major industry players pushing video for operational cost savings with green upside, accelerating growth in video traffic will expose service delivery infrastructure issues that had only started to appear with prior deployments of VoIP, ICT and mobility. EMA expects that IT operations and planning professionals - especially those focused on the network - will need to re-tune and optimize their environments to handle this demand in 2009.
Changing organizational roles will escalate demand for new management technologies - as IT silos become more integrated along a service management model, the need for new technologies to support cross-domain collaboration and more cohesive views of infrastructure-to-service interdependencies will become paramount. The politics of collaboration will reach well beyond finger pointing to higher levels of automated diagnostics, process automation and shared access to information that will in turn reduce IT operational costs.

"The role of IT management continues to rise in value and importance within the enterprise as organizations turn to technology as a means of driving business success and competitive advantage," said Twing. "In 2009, EMA will continue to deliver in-depth research and actionable advice that IT professionals can rely on to keep abreast of all issues related to IT management."

NOTE TO EDITORS

For more information, or to arrange an interview on any of these topics, 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.

EMA RESEARCH SHOWS CONTINUED GROWTH AND ADOPTION FOR END-TO-END APPLICATION MANAGEMENT DURING 2009

Latest research report includes in-depth analysis of 18 leading application management technology providers

BOULDER, Colo., January 8, 2009 - Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), a leading IT management research and consulting firm, today announced the release of its latest research paper titled, "A New Paradigm for End-to-End Application Management: Products, Processes, and Where to Start." This new paper, the third in a series on end-to-end application management, focuses on products, trends and best practices, and includes profiles of key vendors in the end-to-end application management space.

"EMA conducted extensive research on end-to-end application management in 2008," said Julie Craig, EMA senior analyst and study leader. "I've followed the trends in this IT management space closely and taken a hard look at all of the leading vendor solutions. The bottom-line is that all of our research indicates that integrated application management is vital to the overall success of IT and that the market for enabling solutions will continue to grow in 2009."

In the first paper in the series "Managing Applications in 2008: What Does End-to-End Really Mean" (http://www.enterprisemanagement.com/research/asset.php?id=720), EMA defined end-to-end application management with a groundbreaking semantic model. In the second paper "IT Speaks: Practices and Trends in Enterprise Application Management" (http://www.enterprisemanagement.com/research/asset.php?id=573), EMA addressed challenges and most wanted product capabilites with a survey of IT professionals. Focused on the processes and product capabilities necessary to ensure successful end-to-end application management deployments, this third paper in the series is designed to help IT executives and managers uncover application management gaps and create strategies to fill them.

To support this process, the latest report includes detailed profiles of 18 leading vendors and their application management offerings. For each vendor, product capabilities are mapped to Enterprise Management Associates' Application Management Semantic Model, providing IT executives with the in-depth information required to select the appropriate product for their organization. Profiled vendors include:

A10 networks
Aternity
BMC
CA
Citrix
Compuware
Coradiant
HP
IBM (Tivoli and Rational)
Integrien
iRise
Nastel
NetScout
OpNet
OpTier
Quest
Symphoniq
Tideway

All vendor profiles will also be incorporated into a new EMA Application Management Solutions Center, scheduled to go live during the first quarter of 2009.

To purchase a copy of the report, "A New Paradigm for End-to-End Application Management: Products, Processes, and Where to Start" visit: http://www.enterprisemanagement.com/research/asset.php?id=1090

NOTE TO EDITORS

For more information, or to arrange an interview with Julie Craig please contact Guy Murrel at gmurrel@catapultpr-ir.com at 303-581-7760 x17

NEW EMA RESEARCH POINTS TO CONTINUED GROWTH FOR IT SERVICE MANAGEMENT (ITSM) INITIATIVES IN 2009

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:12:27 +0000

CIOs will advance ITSM programs to better align IT with business drivers

BOULDER, Colo., Jan. 7, 2009 - Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), a leading IT management research and consulting firm, today announced the release of its latest research paper titled, "2009 Trends and Best Practices Advice for ITSM Technologies and Processes." For this report, the firm surveyed 143 IT professionals to uncover success factors and pitfalls of ITSM initiatives and recommended best practices based on real-world deployments. Despite the unsteady economy, the report reveals that 87 percent of IT professionals are planning strategic, enterprise-level ITSM programs with the support of senior management. EMA will host a free Webinar on January 8, 2009 at 1 p.m. EST to share highlights from this study (see link below).

"The coming year will certainly be a critical, pivotal year for IT executives," said Chris Matney, EMA consulting director and study leader. "Fiscal pragmatism will be weighed against the increasing challenges of IT, and IT leaders must carefully balance both. Successful CIOs will continue to advance ITSM maturity while closely watching business drivers and the corporate balance sheet."

According to the survey, mid-size companies showed the highest levels of ITSM adoption. Smaller companies typically rely on traditional service/help desk implementations, while the largest enterprises continue to work through the challenges of complexity and scalability. Most companies are in a transition phase with their ITSM maturity, between an "active" and a "proactive" approach. EMA believes that the most successful companies will push through the economic recession with IT advancements and investment, while unsuccessful organizations will adopt a more passive "business as usual" approach. Additional key findings from the survey include:

IT budgets are not in a total free-fall, but a growing number of IT organizations are cutting budgets by 10 to 25 percent.

Change management was the most important ITSM initiative for companies of all sizes, followed by the other ITIL service support disciplines.
Only three percent of respondents reported that all ITSM initiatives have been completed, and 80 percent said some have been finished
74 percent of respondents place primary responsibility for strategic ITSM planning on C-level executives, IT vice presidents and IT directors.
67 percent of respondents are not planning to replace their ITSM tools. For those that are, functionality limitations are the primary drivers for mid-sized companies and lack of scalability is the motivation for enterprise organizations.
ITIL is the biggest area of investment for advancing the adoption of ITSM best practices, with 62 percent of companies expecting to undertake training in 2009.

As far as a timeline, EMA believes short-term projects will gain favor in 2009 due to long-term budget uncertainties. Most ROI break-even expectations for ITSM projects are between six and 18 months. Suggested best practices recommended from survey respondents included creating an incremental ITSM plan and securing executive and business support early in the process.

Follow the link to sign up for the free Webinar on January 8 titled, "Make the Most of ITSM in 2009: Best-Practice Advice from Your Peers." http://www.enterprisemanagement.com/research/asset.php?id=1017

To purchase a copy of this research report, please go to: http://www.enterprisemanagement.com/research/asset.php?id=1092

NOTE TO EDITORS

For more information, or to arrange an interview with Chris Matney please contact Guy Murrel at gmurrel@catapultpr-ir.com at 303-581-7760 x17

EMA ANNOUNCES IT MANAGEMENT WEBINARS FOR JANUARY

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:10:24 +0000

Topics include ITSM best practices, reducing network management expenses and using service catalog to align IT and the business

BOULDER, Colo., Jan. 6, 2009 - 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 January 2009.

The EMA^TM Webinars set for January include:

Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. EST
Make the Most of ITSM in 2009: Best-Practice Advice from Your Peers
http://www.enterprisemanagement.com/research/asset.php?id=1017
In late 2008, EMA investigated the big picture shaping current IT landscapes and 2009 IT Service Management (ITSM) strategic plans. During this one-hour Webinar, ITSM expert Chris Matney will share survey highlights; discuss best practices advice and real-world data on the ITSM landscape (including incident and problem management; the service desk; change, configuration and release management; the CMDB; service catalogs; and asset management); and explore the latest advancements in ITSM technology, process and cultural issues.
Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. EST
How to Reduce Network Management Expenses in 2009
http://www.enterprisemanagement.com/research/asset.php?id=1015
According to a recent EMA survey, operational savings is the most critical business investment in network management. At the same time efficiencies are needed, new initiatives such as virtualization, data center consolidation, security and VOIP are pushing networks to the limit. In this one-hour Webinar, EMA vice president Dennis Drogseth and HP software and solutions product marketing manager Joe Fox will explore key questions such as:

How do the megatrends in network management impact you?
What are the best organizational and technical strategies for responding to these trends?
How can an integrated lifecycle approach to network management help?
What is the role of automation in reducing costs?

Tuesday Jan. 27, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. EST
Service Catalog: Dramatically Improving the IT / Business Relationship
http://www.enterprisemanagement.com/research/asset.php?id=1055
During 2009, EMA expects more IT organizations than ever to implement a service catalog. The major benefit of this tool is that it provides answers to many of the issues and challenges befuddling the business/IT relationship. During this one-hour Webinar, EMA senior analyst Paul Burns and Numara Software director of product management Michele McFadden will review the top service catalog benefits as indicated by real-world adopters; highlight the most important elements of a successful service catalog; and discuss the IT management processes and tools most often integrated with the service catalog.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

For more information, contact Christin Jeffers at cjeffers@catapultpr-ir.com
or 303-581-7760 x 14.

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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ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES ADDS CURTIS BREVILLE

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:51:47 +0000

New addition to analyst team offers EMA clients meaningful insights and guidance in the area of data storage.

BOULDER, Colo., Dec. 17, 2008 - Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), a leading IT management research and consulting firm, today announced that Curtis Breville has joined the firm as a senior analyst focused on tracking and interpreting market trends for storage and storage management technologies. Breville has been a part of implementing solutions in some of the largest data centers in the world and has extensive knowledge of database architecture, backup/recovery strategies, tiered storage and archiving solutions.

"Curtis' many years of hands-on experience, mixed with his strong analytical and dynamic presentation skills will be an asset to the company," said Dan Twing, COO at EMA. "We look forward to the great value he will provide to EMA and our clients as he shares his expertise in storage management."

Curtis brings 20 years of high-tech experience in the data storage arena to EMA. During the course of his career, he has worked on both the client and vendor side of the storage technology industry. Previously, he was the North American sales manager for Hi-Stor Technologies, where he successfully improved sales, developed marketing strategies, built the firm's brand image and managed customer and partner relations for Hi-Stor's tape drive and cartridge monitoring tool, StorSentry. Previously, Breville worked as a UNIX and Oracle administrator for New York Life Insurance; a senior Oracle consultant and trainer at Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group; a systems engineer for both EMC and StorageTek; a product manager at Imation; an engineering manager for Vangard Technologies; and a solutions architect at Forsysthe Solutions Group.
"I've spent the majority of my career in the storage technology industry and I look forward to sharing the knowledge I've gained over the years with IT vendors and enterprise IT leaders," said Breville. "I've always appreciated the data and insight that EMA provides its clients and I'm honored to have the opportunity to use my expertise on behalf of EMA."

PR Contact:
Guy Murrel
Catapult PR-IR
303.581.7760, ext. 17
gmurrel@catapultpr-ir.com

EMA RESEARCH REVEALS CONTINUED GROWTH AND ADOPTION OF QUALITY OF EXPERIENCE (QOE) INITIATIVES

New EMA study examines importance of the user experience
as measure of successful IT service delivery

BOULDER, Colo. Dec. 11, 2008 - Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), (www.enterprisemanagement.com), a leading IT management research and consulting firm, announced the release of its latest research report titled, "Quality of Experience - the Ultimate Collaboration: How Real Deployments are Succeeding and Why." This survey-based report reveals that 79 percent of respondents feel that QoE - defined by EMA as the human experience of the user consuming IT services - is becoming more important to their organizations. The study also provides insight into real-world QoE initiatives, best-practices guidance on how and where QoE projects are succeeding and data on the future outlook for QoE deployments. To complement the new research report, EMA has created a QoE Solutions Center that compares 15 leading QoE products and the firm will share high-level findings from the research during a free Webinar on Dec.16.

"Nothing is more important for aligning IT with business goals than effective Quality of Experience initiatives. QoE is a collaboration of disciplines as it requires effective dialog between a variety of IT professionals and the business community," said Dennis Drogseth, study leader and vice president at EMA. "QoE continues to mature as an IT business practice that drives improvements in productivity, employee morale and, increasingly, bottom-line benefits."

For this study, EMA surveyed 207 business and IT professionals and conducted nine focal interviews to provide a narrative context as a supplement to the survey data. An overwhelming majority - 71 percent - view QoE as an important business and technology concern. Additional findings from the survey include:

47 percent of respondents already claim to have integrated teams between business constituencies and IT.
45 percent of business respondents with clearly non-IT roles were involved in dialog with IT to be "aware of instrumentation and unique technical environments."
77 percent of those surveyed said that "triage," or the ability for a QoE solution to help solve user experience issues by identifying where to focus for different diagnostic efforts, was either "very" or "extremely" important.

43 percent of organizations with QoE deployments said they wished they'd started their QoE initiative sooner, further emphasizing the importance of QoE.

In Enterprise Management Associates' opinion, QoE is arguably one of the most efficient investments that IT and business planners can make. The results of this study indicate a growth spurt for QoE initiatives - one that will likely hold up despite tough economic times. In addition, EMA believes that QoE is a highly scalable means to enhanced productivity and, in many cases, revenue generation and brand loyalty.

To purchase a copy of the 33-page report, "Quality of Experience - the Ultimate Collaboration: How Real Deployments Are Succeeding and Why," visit: http://www.enterprisemanagement.com/research/asset.php?id=1012

To sign up for free access to the new EMA QoE Solutions Center, which profiles 15 top QoE products, go to: http://www.enterprisemanagement.com/research/asset.php?id=1008

To register for the free one-hour Webinar, Why Quality of Experience is on the Rise: Business and IT Priorities, which will share highlights from the study on December 16, go to: http://www.enterprisemanagement.com/research/asset.php?id=974

NOTE TO EDITORS:

For more information on this topic or to arrange an interview with Dennis Drogseth, please contact Guy Murrel at gmurrel@catapultpr-ir.com or 303-581-7760 x17

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EMA WEBINAR LOOKS AT HOW SERVICE CATALOG AND REQUEST MANAGEMENT CAN IMPROVE IT BACK OFFICE EXECUTION

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:53:02 +0000

EMA, Biomni and Symantec to share insights on the latest trends and best practices for IT service catalog deployments

BOULDER, Colo., Nov. 6, 2008 - Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) (www.enterprisemanagement.com), a leading IT management research and consulting firm, today announced it will host a free Webinar focused on improving the effectiveness IT service catalog programs.

What: How Service Catalog and Request Management Improve IT Back Office Execution
http://www.enterprisemanagement.com/research/asset.php?id=939

When: Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008 - 11 a.m. EST

What: Recent EMA research shows that while a majority of IT organizations have begun the journey to IT service management, most are still relying on back office technologies - such as asset and inventory management systems, configuration management databases (CMDBs) and software provisioning tools - to meet the demands of their businesses. The results often include low service quality, high service delivery costs and lack of support from the business. EMA senior analyst Paul Burns, Biomni chief operating officer Adrian Sakashita and Symantec VP of product management and strategy Steve Morton, will discuss how to overcome the challenges that arise from adopting IT service management. They will outline how establishing a dedicated front office platform, built around a service catalog and automated request management, can help eliminate core IT management problems and improve overall back office processes.

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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ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES ANNOUNCES IT MANAGEMENT WEBINARS FOR OCTOBER

EMA analysts will share insight on Green IT, service catalog trends, ITIL in security and risk management, network management and ITIL v3

BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 30, 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 October 2008.

The EMAWebinars set for October include:

Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008 - 2 p.m. EDT
The True Value of Green IT: Quantifying the ROI of Energy Efficiency
http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=greenitwebpr1008&bs=greenitweb1008

Steve Brasen, EMA analyst, will share highlights from EMA primary research on power management practices in the data center and on the desktop. Topics will include: determining actual energy costs associated with traditional computing models, evaluating cost savings that can be achieved by reducing power consumption, identifying the most popular green IT implementations and exploring the primary business concerns inhibiting green IT deployments.

Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008 - 2 p.m. EDT
Service Catalog 2008: Trends and Tips
http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=scconstwebpr1008&bs=scconstws1008

This Webinar, led by EMA senior consultant Stewart Cole, will explore findings from a recent EMA study on service catalog best practices in the enterprise. Key issues he will discuss include reasons to implement a service catalog, real-world benefits from service catalog implementations and how to measure the success of your service catalog.

Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008 - 2 p.m. EDT
How to Apply ITIL to Security and Risk Management
http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=bomgaroctwebpr1008&bs=bomgaroctweb1008

EMA research director Scott Crawford, Bomgar co-founder and vice president of product strategy Nathan McNeill, and BMC solutions architect Doug Bagley will explain how to apply ITIL to security and risk management initiatives. They will cover the gaps in IT management disciplines that plague security, what ITIL is and why so many are adopting it and how ITIL best practices improve security.

Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008 - 2 p.m. EDT
Network Management 2008: Megatrends in Technology, Process and Organization
http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=nmwebpr1008&bs=nmweb1008

EMA vice president Dennis Drogseth and EMA senior analyst Jim Frey will share key results from the latest EMA research study on network management. Drogseth and Frey will explore how networking organizations are changing to support systems management and the management of remote locations. They also will provide answers to popular questions, including what are the top issues with network management today, where should companies look for help, what are top priorities in network management, and what types of organizational, cultural and process changes are occurring in parallel with changes in technology.

Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008 - 11 a.m. EDT
ITIL V3: Making Business Services Serve the Business
http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=asgitilwebpr1008&bs=asgitilweb1008

ITIL version 3, the latest version of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), represents a significant advancement for the practice of business service management (BSM). During this Webinar, EMA senior analyst Paul Burns and ASG senior vice president of marketing and product management Brent Brightwell, will highlight ITIL v3 changes relevant to BSM, explore how BSM and CMDB technology can be used to help transition from ITIL v2 to ITIL v3, and review how ASG BSM products, including its metaCMDB, support the move to ITIL v3.

For more information, contact Guy Murrel at gmurrel@catapultpr-ir.com or 303-581-7760 x 18.

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 OUTLINES NEXT-GENERATION IT NETWORK MANAGEMENT TRENDS

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:20:49 +0000

New EMA study examines the evolving role of network management technologies
and best practices, identifies six emerging megatrends

BOULDER, Colo. Oct. 20, 2008 - Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), (www.enterprisemanagement.com), a leading IT management research and consulting firm, today released its latest research report on IT network management entitled, "Network Management 2008: Megatrends in Technology, Process, and Organization."

For this study, EMA surveyed 180 professionals representing a broad range of organization sizes, industries and roles to explore current trends, technologies and practices in network management. Findings reveal how enterprises are increasingly relying upon next-generation network management technologies and practices to drive operational savings as IT looks to deliver business value that helps improve the bottom-line. They also indicate a strong, renewed interest in network virtualization and identify six emerging megatrends within the discipline of network management.

"Our results indicate that change continues to occur in the managed environment as well as the business climate," said Jim Frey, EMA senior analyst and co-leader of the study. "Despite growing economic concerns, the current outlook on IT spending around the network remains fairly robust. So far, many technology investments are still moving forward and are considered a good way to reduce cost and streamline operations."

EMA identified six megatrends on how companies are responding to changes in the network management discipline. They include:

1) Collaboration for managing web-based applications: the emergent triage model - The challenge of managing the performance of today's predominantly web-accessible application base has resulted in the convergence of diverse roles. Gaining popularity are cross-domain and multi-party "triage" teams, typically led by network management staff.
2) Expanding scope: from data center to remote sites - The network operation team's scope of responsibilities is growing to include monitoring and managing devices within data centers and remote sites. This often includes the need for active configuration of remote site devices and elements.
3) QoE tools and technologies grow in importance for managing networked applications - Organizations are increasingly turning to Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement and monitoring to assess the quality of application and service delivery and as an integral part of support and diagnostic activities.
4) Role of WAN optimization: tactical or strategic? - The importance of WAN optimization technologies continues to be scrutinized as organizations look to determine whether or not these solutions play a strategic or tactical role in network and application management architectures.
5) Move toward application lifecycle management -Application lifecycle management is emerging as a rallying point for organizations that are building cross-functional teams to achieve truly proactive service quality goals.
6) CMDB impact on architecture - The ties between the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) and network management architectures are strengthening. Organizations with CMDB deployments underway are recognizing better change management in the networked infrastructure, reducing downtime and improving service performance.

In its analysis, EMA suggests that the network management discipline is playing a vital role within the broader IT operations function, and will likely continue doing so for the foreseeable future. Organizational developments, mixed with process improvements and new technologies, are pushing network management toward a more mature, manageable and business-relevant role in today's highly connected organizations.

Frey and study co-leader Dennis Drogseth will share some of the high-level findings from the study in a free Webinar on Oct. 22, 2008. To register, visit http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=nmwebpr1008&bs=nmweb1008

To purchase a copy of the report, contact sales@enterprisemanagement.com or +1.303.543.9500.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

For more information on this topic or to arrange an interview with Jim Frey, please contact Guy Murrel at gmurrel@catapultpr-ir.com or 303-581-7760 x17

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ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES STUDY HIGHLIGHTS SERVICE CATALOG TRENDS AND BEST PRACTICES

Survey results show companies realizing cost savings, business/IT alignment from Service Catalog deployments

BOULDER, Colo. Oct. 13, 2008 -Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), (www.enterprisemanagement.com), a leading IT management research and consulting firm, announced the release of a new research report titled, "10 Best Practices: How Real-World IT Organizations are Succeeding with Service Catalog." Based on a survey of more than 100 corporations, the report examines recent trends in Service Catalog deployments and provides guidance based on real-world implementations to organizations embarking on a Service Catalog project. In conjunction with this study, EMA is providing a variety of services to help companies reap the benefits of the Service Catalog, including a new, 4-hour online workshop to be held Oct. 30, 2008.

"The Service Catalog has become an essential part of many IT departments," said EMA study leader Stewart Cole, "Results from multiple EMA surveys indicate that IT budgets are flat. When properly implemented, the Service Catalog can help organizations make the most of their limited budget by allowing them to better manage resources, cut costs and eliminate redundancies."

According to EMA research, the top three IT goals are: aligning IT with the business; improving IT service quality; and reducing IT costs. The desire to meet these goals increases the motivation for enterprises to implement ITIL best practices, especially the Service Catalog. According to Cole, Enterprise Management Associates' new Service Catalog study indicated a few distinct trends. They include:

• Service Catalog Management has come into its own. While 50 percent of the respondents came from financial, banking, insurance, healthcare, medical or pharmaceutical areas, the benefits of the Service Catalog are being realized regardless of industry and company size.
• Success rates of Service Catalog implementation efforts have been a mixed bag. Of companies that had initiated the Service Catalog, 57 percent said their implementations were successful. However, 12 percent found their projects to be either somewhat unsuccessful or completely unsuccessful.
• The Service Catalog offers a variety of benefits to the enterprise. The most significant benefits from Service Catalog implementations include reducing the number of access points to IT and achieving transparency of costs.

While the Service Catalog offers much promise, companies embarking on a project must understand the Service Catalog itself, as well as learn from the experiences of those who have successfully deployed it. During this study, EMA explored best-practice suggestions from companies that had successfully implemented a Service Catalog. Key findings include:

• Sponsorship is widely recognized as crucial to project success. Ninety six percent of survey respondents identified solid executive sponsorship as either very important or somewhat important to a successful Service Catalog implementation.
• Effective communication also is critical to Service Catalog success, with 100 percent of respondents identifying good communication across IT as very important or somewhat important when implementing a Service Catalog.
• The effective definition of IT services is causing problems for nearly every Service Catalog implementation. EMA found that more than 30 percent of ITSM projects are unable to move forward because of this roadblock. "Overall Service Definition" came in second only to "Business Resistance to Change" when respondents were queried on the biggest challenges to Service Catalog success.

Companies with Service Catalog deployments can testify to its tangible benefits as the Service Catalog is one of the few Service Management projects to deliver immediate value to the business. With the emphasis for alignment of IT to the business and pressure to provide more transparency of costs, EMA predicts that companies with no plans to implement a Service Catalog will be left behind.

Based on the study findings, EMA is providing a series of services to assist companies embarking on a Service Catalog project. These services include:

Service Catalog Online Workshop on Oct. 30, 2008:
This 4-hour online workshop uses a combination of interactive lectures, real-world case studies and exercises to help enterprise IT organizations effectively kick-off, revitalize, and accelerate their organization's Service Catalog initiatives. Attendees will learn how to secure and maintain sponsorship; develop a comprehensive communications plan; and define their IT services. Cost - $295 per person. http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=scworkshopws1008&bs=scworkshop1008

Free Webinar sharing survey highlights on Oct. 14, 2008: http://www.emausa.com/ema_lead.php?ls=scconstwebws1008&bs=scconstws1008

Service Catalog Consulting Services: http://www.emausa.com/web/ema_services.php?type=8209

Free Service Catalog Solutions Center with profiles of 8 top products:
http://itsolutions.emausa.com/register.php

To purchase a copy of the report, "10 Best Practices: How Real-World IT Organizations are Succeeding with Service Catalog," contact sales@enterprisemanagement.com or +1.303.543.9500.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

For more information on this topic or to arrange an interview with Stewart Cole, please contact Guy Murrel at gmurrel@catapultpr-ir.com or 303-581-7760 x17

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