In July 2009, David Williams and Debra Curtis co-authored Magic Quadrant for IT Event Correlation and Analysis for Gartner.  As its name suggests, this report explains to IT organizations how to select the best ECA (Event Correlation and Analysis) product for their respective organizations.  Not only does first page showcase the Magic Quadrant, as a quick and nifty visual representation of where each of the twenty (20) vendors evaluated belongs: Challengers, Leaders, Niche Players, or Visionaries; but the report also specifies the strengths and weaknesses of each vendor company and its respective product(s). 
 
Gartner evaluated vendors—ranging from industry giants like Microsoft, IBM, and HP to lesser known companies like Augur Systems, GroundWork Open Source, and ScienceLogic—based on a long lists of criteria that were further grouped under one of the two sections: the Ability to Execute or the Completeness of Vision.  According to Williams and Curtis, “IT organizations invest in ECA tools to improve the productivity of the IT operations staff and to reduce the time it takes to troubleshoot problems by consolidating events from various devices, applications and other management tools.” 
 
ECA tools and this Gartner report are geared towards the needs and wants of large enterprises.  Even if you are not currently in the market for an ECA product, and your IT organization facilitates the needs of a small or medium sized business, or even a smaller enterprise; understanding and then applying some of the criteria that Gartner used in determining the Magic Quadrant can improve the overall viability of your IT organization.
 
Examine the soundness and logic of your business model: 
 
In today’s competitive economic climate, it does not matter whether you are an IT organization trying to sell to the public at large or you are the IT department within a company, both types of IT organizations need to focus on accountability.  For instance, before the economic down turn, an in-house IT department’s primary focus was to ensure that everything IT within the company ran smoothly—to prevent IT disasters as much as possible and fix IT issues as fast as possible—with very little consideration given to costs and prices.  Nowadays, many companies factor in their IT departments in the company’s overall profitability model—they mandate the IT departments to be more costs and budget conscious because they realized that IT departments as well as sales departments should be held accountable for a company’s underlying profitability. 
 
 Understand your business audience:
 
Once again, it does not matter whether you are an independent or in-house IT organization, you need to understand your market and/or your audience.  This sounds like such a simple mantra that could be easily mastered, but perhaps due to its innate simplicity, organizations often overlook its importance.  For instance, if you are an in-house IT organization, and your company is trying to cut IT costs by integrating software programs that are ready-to-go straight out-of-the-box, then spend time researching on the best out-of-the-box solutions, and NOT how your IT department can build a better custom product that will satisfy 100% rather than 90% of the company’s needs.  Part of the equation that you might be overlooking could be that the company needs an IT product in a week—not 8 or 12 weeks.
 
 
Prioritize Customer Service:
 
The same rule still applies here—it does not matter whether you are an independent or in-house IT organization, train your entire team to emphasize the value and importance of great customer service.  If you are an independent IT organization that sells to the public, and you have poor customer service, you should already know intuitively that you will not have repeat business or referrals.  If you are an in-house IT organization, and you consistently provide poor customer service, then either the company will terminate the individuals that provided poor customer service; or in the more drastic scenario, get rid of the in-house IT department entirely and seek to fulfill the company’s IT needs with an independent company.  Even if you provide top-notch technical support and the best IT services in your market, do not underestimate the power of great customer service.  Simple acts such as being on time, being courteous, and taking the time and effort to satisfy your customers’ questions and concerns can have huge impacts on the viability of your IT organization.
 
In order to thrive in today’s competitive climate, IT organizations, both in-house and independent, can no longer just primarily focus on delivering the best technical services; but they must also incorporate a logical business model that fits well into their existing and emerging markets, while providing consistent great customer service.

If you want your business to be successful it’s imperative to install the best IT service management software, or help desk ticketing software, for your needs so you can keep your website running smoothly, manage your inventory and manage/track customer problems from start to finish.
Sounds easy enough, right? But with all the products on the market, how can you be sure you’re getting your money’s worth?

First, because IT service management software can be used for logging in tickets as well as high-end CRM systems, you have to clearly define your company’s needs. Typically, small businesses don’t need the most complicated and expensive products. On the other hand, the most basic software might not have all the features you need to operate your help desk effectively. After you determine your needs, you should set your company’s goals and then establish a list of requirements that the IT service management software must meet.

To help you determine which vendors offer the software to meet your company’s needs, you should ask people in companies similar to yours what works for them and what doesn’t work. You should ask what level of support the vendors offer and how good the vendors’ training programs are. Find out if the training is provided in your location or the vendor’s location.

And you should make sure there’s sufficient product documentation, or other self-service capabilities, so you can save money by not constantly relying on assistance from the vendor. However, you should also ensure that your software provider has a 24-hour toll-free hotline so you can get the assistance you need when you need it.

In addition, select a system that is quick and easy to install and deploy. It should also include an installation wizard to guide you through each step of the set-up process. And the software should be user-friendly.

It’s important to select software that you can customize for your specific business needs and that also gives your employees access to customize it and/or make changes. You don’t want to have to pay the vendor to customize the software for you. When you’re doing your research, also check to see if the vendor will charge extra for licensing, maintenance, implementation and training.

Finally, ask the vendors if their products have reporting systems built-in to them so you can analyze the information in order to develop more effective and efficient processes.