The document discusses 3 key steps for selecting a new IT service management tool: 1) Validate products and vendors through industry analysts and professional groups to get familiar with top options, 2) Create a shortlist of up to 7 vendors to further evaluate and attend events to get quick overviews, 3) Get a feel for long-term vendor relationships by visiting new and long-term customers to understand experience and costs over time such as upgrades and support. The goal is to find a tool that meets the organization's needs both currently and in the future.

1. Top reasons organisations change their ITSM solution:
Growth issues Trouble issues
Easier to justify if the current
solution is poorly supporting
staff and customers.
Upgrade issues
Does this involve starting over
again? Do you have the required
skill set or resources in-house?
Process improvement
Many organisations have
older products in place that lack
the latest, best practice processes.
3-Steps to Selecting a New
Service Desk/Helpdesk Tool
By Peter Andrew, Sales Manager, Cherwell Software
If you were asked to select a new IT service management (ITSM) tool,
how would you react?
“Where do I
start?!”
“Hmm...who can
help me with this?”
Remember: What truly matters is that you find the tool that’s right
for YOUR organisation both today AND in the future.
Ask as many questions about the
company as about the product.
Only start if you need to make
a selection within 12 months.
Why? Solutions you see now
will probably upgrade, new vendors
may enter the marketplace, some
vendors may be acquired or move out.
Validate products and vendors:
Analysts firms, professional
membership groups, industry
specific websites, etc.
◊ Get a feel for the ‘top’ vendors/
products.
◊ You may find yourself carrying out
company and financial checks,
which will save time later.
Create your vendor list:
Don't exceed 7. Short list = aim for 3.
Attend events:
See the product and the vendor team.
Get a quick overview of the product,
and I mean quick. You won't get
a full demo.
300+ questions will tell you less
about a vendor than 75 questions.
Most ITSM tools are PinkVERIFY™
certified, and their vendors can
answer “yes” to questions about
following the ITIL® framework.
Include the following:
◊ The reasons you’re looking for a
new solution.
◊ The good things about your
existing tool.
◊ The pain points you quickly need
to overcome.
◊ “Quick wins” that will immediately
improve the quality of the IT
department and your customers’
satisfaction.
◊ What areas of functionality do you
really need to deliver? What are
the timescales?
Get a feel for the long term
vendor relationship:
Visit both new customers
(see what your experience
will be like) and longer term
customers (hear what the journey
has been like).
Find out:
Do upgrades require
customisation consultancy costs?
How often are new versions released?
Create a view:
Does the vendor have a
financial culture or a customer
centric culture?
Bonus questions
References
Create your
document
Vendor
selection
How easy is the product for
YOU to administer, add to
and change?
What are the first year
and ongoing costs for
support, subscription,
training and consultancy?
What resources does the
vendor have, and from
where and how is the
support delivered?
Easy to justify.
“No problem. I have
done this multiple times.”

2. Empowering your business is now within reach.
Cherwell Service Management® (CSM) delivers IT service management (ITSM), business, and workforce
enablement. The CSM platform empowers IT teams to provide amazing service and to go beyond ITSM.
The CSM 5.0 platform is completely configurable and truly codeless, with 11 industry-certified ITIL® processes.
Business intelligence, dashboards, user-configurable metrics, and reporting deliver the right information
at the right time. Choose your device with the CSM browser client, desktop client and native mobile
applications for Android and iOS®. CSM’s interactive self-service portal offers your customers the
convenience they expect. Rely on one of the highest availability cloud infrastructures in the industry, or
deploy on premise – and switch anytime. Cherwell’s flexible, straightforward licensing and pricing model
puts you in control.
Cherwell mergeable applications (mApp™ solutions) are an easy way to extend the CSM platform and
integrate new functionality—including Lync®, SolarWinds®, and many more. You can easily add advanced
capabilities (such as IT Project Tracking or Release Management) or proven domain functionality (such as
facilities, risk management, or human resources) into existing CSM installations without writing a single line
of code. Future upgrades are seamless, maintaining all your configurations. And, with the Cherwell mApp
Exchange, you can collaboratively create and exchange solutions with the Cherwell community.
Find out why organisations around the World choose Cherwell Service Management:
http://www.cherwell.com/resources/success-stories
Visit http://csm.cherwell.com/demo to schedule a personal demo of Cherwell Service Management.
Find out how Cherwell Software’s flagship ITSM product can help your team achieve its goals.
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