Almost three decades ago, I started this journey with the Bendata HEAT, later Frontrange HEAT ITSM, and now Ivanti Neurons for ITSM/ITAM (powered by HEAT) product lines. I remember the early days quite well, the training provided by my friend Rick B. and Faron R. I was just a young “whippersnapper”, a “greenhorn”, “grasshopper”, in the big world of call centres, that included big banks, finance companies, insurance companies, retail giants, software companies, governments, hospitals, manufacturers, and more industries I can think of at this moment.
From call centres, the HEAT for DOS and Windows systems took on a larger role. Helpdesk, Customer Service, automation, workflows. Back then we were the MacGyvers, the problem solvers, stretching the system beyond its initial design and capabilities. Implementations were onsite, that meant travel within Canada, and the US, once to South Korea, time away from home, at first two weeks or longer, and follow-up visits, and later as I created a “base system” for the HEAT business partner, it meant five days onsite and junior consultants could work with a base set of tools that I had developed with knowledge gathered and input from sales and fellow “systems engineers”.
ITIL emerged, and snazzy terms like CRM, ERP and we now were able to integrate with other systems and expand the Call Centre software to be more CRM like. Meanwhile HEAT Software and Frontrange took over ownership of HEAT. Then the world of SaaS (Software as a Service) transformed the world of HEAT and the traditional server/client method, as well as delivery, implementation, maintenance, etc. HEAT ITSM slowly took on some momentum, Cherwell was born in a spin-off from Frontrange, and new players entered the ITSM and soon ITAM, ESM world.
Long before those terms were coin-phrased we already designed, developed, and implemented various aspects of ITSM/ITAM/ESM.
Along the way I got distracted by CRM, ERP, Systems Integrations, including private Swiss banks in Zurich, a Change Manager role for Oil & Gas, International consulting in the Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, and the UK. Always coming back to the field and technology I enjoyed the most. HEAT, later purchased by Ivanti, renamed to Ivanti Service Manager, and now rebranded as Ivanti Neurons for ITSM/ITAM.
In my journey, I have worked with several Ivanti business partners and mentored and coached their consultants, in Canada, the US, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as mentored in-house Ivanti Administrators.
Whether you need a consultant, developer, project manager, (occasional) administrator, or you’d like me to mentor your staff, I’m here to help!
For more info or to book me be sure to visit www.a19consulting.com
ITSM/ITAM/ESM Blog 