Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, 2014

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1 For: Infrastructure & Operations Professionals Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, 2014 by Eveline Oehrlich and Amy DeMartine, June Key Takeaways To Judge Vendor Viability, Look At SaaS Revenue And Customer Retention When vendors with traditionally licensed products go SaaS, their revenues for that segment will stay flat or decline for up to four years. Thus, if SaaS revenues are rising steadily, and customer retention rates are 98% or better, you can be confident in your vendor s prospects. Don t Neglect End-Of-Contract Conditions Too many SaaS customers forget to clearly specify what happens to their data at contract termination, and find themselves stuck with unexpected delays, data loss, and costs. Established ITSM SaaS Vendors Continue The SaaS Momentum Success in software comes from momentum and innovation. Established ITSM SaaS vendors that started early have gained customers who guided the solution innovation Growing ITSM SaaS Vendors Offer Innovative Alternatives The growing ITSM SaaS vendors have a small but strong customer base which is looking for alternatives to the established vendors. The stronger this customer base is growing the more likely it will be that these vendors and their solutions are around in the future. Forrester Research, Inc., 60 Acorn Park Drive, Cambridge, MA USA Tel: Fax:

2 June Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, 2014 Growing Vendors Offer Alternatives, Established Vendors Ride The SaaS Momentum by Eveline Oehrlich and Amy DeMartine with Laura Koetzle and Michelle Mai Why Read This Report IT service management (ITSM) software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions have been widely adopted by IT infrastructure and operations (I&O) organizations around the globe to help deliver technology services more efficiently and effectively. This updated market overview offers: 1) details on the ITSM SaaS market players; 2) guidance on both the key ITSM functional and SaaS-specific criteria; and 3) provides a detailed overview of 19 ITSM SaaS vendors and their ITSM SaaS tools. Table Of Contents Deploy ITSM Software-As-A-Service To Speed Up Deployment Key Evaluation Criteria When Selecting An ITSM SaaS Solution Segmenting The ITSM SaaS Tool Landscape what it means Focus On Your Key Goal Business And Service Enablement Supplemental Material Notes & Resources Forrester analyzed ITSM SaaS offerings from 19 vendors: Absolute Software, Axios Systems, BMC Software, CA Technologies, Cherwell Software, Citrix Systems, EasyVista, FrontRange Solutions, helpline, Hornbill, IBM, LANDesk Software, Serena Software, ServiceNow, SysAid Technologies, TOPdesk, USU, Vivantio, and Zendesk. Related Research Documents Cloud Contracts Checklist July 13, 2012 Sustain Service Management And Automation Funding June 7, 2012 Assess Your Service Management And Automation Maturity June 5, , Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited. Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. Forrester, Technographics, Forrester Wave, RoleView, TechRadar, and Total Economic Impact are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. To purchase reprints of this document, please clientsupport@forrester.com. For additional information, go to

3 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, Deploy ITSM Software-As-A-Service To Speed Up Deployment More than 70% of North American and European software decision-makers indicated that speed of implementation and deployment was one of the key benefits that drove their SaaS choice (see Figure 1). SaaS solutions leave the deployment, maintenance, and ongoing management to the supplier. In the IT service management (ITSM) world, this frees I&O teams to focus on the service automation and service delivery methods that deliver value for their customers. In its initial stages, early entrants like ServiceNow dominated the ITSM SaaS tools market. Today, the landscape for ITSM SaaS tools has matured, and incumbent on-premises vendors like BMC, CA Technologies, and Serena have caught up. Most vendors are competing with each other on price and only a few vendors are realizing that customer support and customer experience are vital differentiators, particularly in the SaaS market. Key Factors For SaaS Vendor Selection Stay Constant For 2014 The key criteria clients use to select a SaaS solution are still security, comprehensive service-level agreements of the vendors, and compliance with local privacy laws (see Figure 2). SaaS adoption across the spectrum of software purchasing is now reported by close to 66% of firms, with adopters using more than 38 SaaS applications on average and this number is growing (see Figure 3). 1 Today, nearly all ITSM tool vendors offer SaaS solutions through service portals which allow I&O pros to purchase and get started quickly. A recent joint Forrester Research and itsmf USA user group survey identified two additional important key trends: SaaS overtakes perpetual licenses. For the first time in 2013, SaaS unseated the classic perpetual licensing model to become the single most popular option (31%) for buying management and automation software (see Figure 4). Service desk loyalty is slipping. The same survey showed that 23% of the respondents indicated that they are planning to switch their service desk solution to another vendor within the next two years which is slightly higher than in the previous year (see Figure 5). Forrester s research shows that I&O teams lack time and resources to upgrade on-premises ITSM solutions and thus remain trapped on old versions which lack critical functionality.

4 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, Figure 1 Quicker Implementation And Deployment Makes SaaS The Right Choice How important were the following benefits in your firm s decision to use SaaS? ( Not a factor = 1 or 2 and Important factor = 4 or 5 on a scale from 1 [not at all a factor] to 5 [very important factor]) Not a factor Important factor Improved business agility 6% 75% Speed of implementation and deployment 6% 71% Faster delivery of new features and functions from SaaS/as-a-service providers Support business innovation with new capabilities 7% 7% 70% 68% Improve collaboration with business partners 12% 63% Gaining a feature or functionality that is not available in a traditional software package Iterative deployment model supports a higher level of innovation within the business Having access to a wide ecosystem of solutions around the core SaaS application Ability to substitute upfront costs with regular monthly payments 12% 11% 13% 18% 60% 58% 57% 54% Lack of in-house IT staff to maintain a traditional software solution 25% 49% Source: Forrsights Software Survey, Q Base: 1,417 North American and European software decision-makers who are planning or using SaaS applications ( Don t know responses omitted) Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

5 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, Figure 2 Key Criteria When Selecting SaaS Solutions When selecting a cloud service provider for public or hosted software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions, what are your top five criteria? Secure, dedicated cloud environment for my company Comprehensive service-level agreement (SLA) that fits your needs Compliance with local data privacy laws 38% 43% 55% Deep cloud technology expertise 38% Offers both cloud and on-premises solutions with possible migration between the two Offers the solution at lowest cost 35% Strong vendor brand and solid financial vendor position Global service capabilities and best practice knowledge 29% Dynamic business model 29% Already existing business partnership 21% Thought leadership; recognized as a leader in the cloud software market Local presence and nearby data center 15% 34% Consulting support 32% 21% 37% A native cloud software vendor 15% Source: Forrsights Software Survey, Q Other (please specify) 1% Base: 1,417 North American and European software decision-makers who are planning or using SaaS applications ( Don t know responses omitted) Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

6 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, Figure 3 Overall SaaS Adoption Continues To Grow What are your firm s plans to use software-as-a-service (SaaS) to complement or replace the following applications? Planning or have complemented/replaced No plans to use SaaS/ don t know Sales force automation (SFA) Marketing automation Commerce software Collaboration software Enterprise content management (ECM) Customer service and support (CSS) Supply chain management (SCM) software Web content/experience management Enterprise asset management (EAM) software Product life-cycle management (PLM) software Software that supports an industryspecific process Business intelligence software Procurement software Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software Human resource management software Business process management (BPM) software Finance and accounting software 77% 23% 74% 26% 73% 27% 71% 29% 71% 29% 70% 30% 69% 31% 69% 31% 67% 33% 67% 33% 67% 33% 65% 35% 65% 35% 64% 36% 64% 36% 61% 39% 58% 42% Base: North American and European enterprise software decision-makers who are planning or using the specified SaaS applications from companies with 20+ employees Source: Forrsights Software Survey, Q Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

7 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, Figure Was The Breakout Year For SaaS How do you plan to purchase management and automation software within two years? * % 25% 25% 25% 22% 19% 9% 11% 7% 6% 5% 5% 10% 11% 11% 10% 5% 9% 8% 8% 8% 8% 7% 4% Classic perpetual license Software rental/leasing (install/ maintain like perpetual model) Packaged in a physical appliance Packaged in a virtual appliance Classic outsourcing model (service provider is doing it for us) Prebuilt into managed infrastructure and application components Base: 491 SMA professionals *Base: 174 SMA professionals Base: 155 SMA professionals (multiple responses accepted) Source: Forrester/itSMF Q US ITSM Online Survey *Source: Forrester/itSMF Q US ITSM Online Survey Source: Forrester/itSMF Q US ITSM Online Survey Delivered via SaaS (automated and presented via Web) Other Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

8 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, Figure 5 Service Desk Loyalty Is Slipping Do you plan to switch your service desk solution to another vendor s in the next two years? Yes No 21% 21% 23% 57% 53% 57% * 2013 Don t know or haven t decided 22% 26% 20% Base: 491 SMA professionals *Base: 174 SMA professionals Base: 181 SMA professionals Source: Forrester/itSMF Q US ITSM Online Survey *Source: Forrester/itSMF Q US ITSM Online Survey Source: Forrester/itSMF Q US ITSM Online Survey Source: Forrester Research, Inc. The Key Benefits Of SaaS For ITSM The software-as-a-service delivery model can offer fast deployment speeds, low upfront costs, and ongoing flexibility to scale up or down as needs change. Many of these benefits are universal, whether applied to customer service applications, ecommerce platforms, or ITSM. 2 Key benefits of the SaaS delivery model include: Subscription-based pricing that lowers the cost to get in the game. For many firms, the key benefit of SaaS is its simple, subscription-based pricing model: Firms pay a subscription fee per month (or year) per user that covers everything needed to operate, including support and maintenance. This model eliminates the capital investment required for on-premises hardware and software licenses. Simple implementation and upgrades that minimize staff effort. A SaaS-delivered tool only requires a web browser and an Internet connection to function there s no client to install, no hardware to support, and nothing to upgrade locally. SaaS also offers seamless, automatic upgrades, typically two to four times per year (but note that customizing your SaaS tool can cause problems with future upgrades). In contrast, on-premises upgrade cycles average between 18 and 24 months. Reduced support needs. I&O pros can expect a far lower support burden for the ITSM SaaS platform itself than for a comparable on-premises deployment, because the SaaS provider typically includes support and maintenance in the subscription (the provider does patching and bug fixing).

9 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, Greater opportunity of use. A per-seat SaaS subscription will usually cover access to capabilities across multiple service management processes. Thus, I&O pros won t need to waste time arguing with the supplier about whether you need to pay more for multiple licenses across multiple ITSM products or modules (a common and costly annoyance in the on-premises mode). This gives I&O teams the freedom to continue their adoption of service management over time without additional costs other than those for additional users and seats. Avoid Vendors That Have Merely Smeared SaaS Lipstick On A Traditional-Licensing Pig Transitioning from an on-premises ITSM solution to a SaaS solution comes with the familiar SaaS challenges with security, integration, cost, and general migration headaches. I&O pros must also: Focus on just your vendor s subscription revenues to evaluate viability. If you re dealing with an incumbent on-premises software vendor that has introduced a SaaS offering within the last four years, flat or slightly declining revenues in the category overall are normal. This is primarily because vendors can t recognize as much revenue from a SaaS deal up front as they can from a traditional licensing deal. Focus instead on SaaS subscription revenue if that s trending steadily upward, your supplier has a viable offering. 3 Check out your vendor s customer attrition rate. Switching costs in a SaaS model are much lower and therefore it is critical that you understand your vendor s year-over-year customer retention rate. If the customer retention rate is below 90%, avoid that vendor; if it is in a range from 90% to 95%, be cautious. I&O pros should short-list suppliers with excellent and proactive customer service and which will have retention rates of 98% or better. 4 Understand the code base. Where licensed software has long release cycles, SaaS solutions usually add features and functions in much faster cycles. Understand how your vendor s SaaS solutions and on-premises solutions are connected if they offer both. If your vendor states same code base, the SaaS tool will likely lag behind competitors in functionality because your vendor will prioritize keeping the SaaS and on-premises versions in synch. Thus, I&O teams that need new functionality quickly should avoid the same code base crowd. Key Evaluation Criteria When Selecting An ITSM SaaS Solution Always keep in mind the functional requirements for an ITSM solution, regardless of delivery model (SaaS versus on-premises). Your decision should focus first on the requirements that will help your business win, serve, and retain its end customers, and second on the maturity of your ITSM processes and people. Here are the core components I&O pros should evaluate:

10 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, Enablement of the most commonly adopted ITSM capabilities. Commonly adopted ITSM capabilities include incident, service request, problem, change, knowledge, service level, and configuration management. These capabilities allow I&O pros to automate a variety of tasks and processes with the goal to enable the business user with technology and services instead of hindering them and truly deliver services while focusing on the customer experience. Configuration management database (CMDB) or better service information system (SIS). The configuration management database is a knowledge that holds information about services and technology and service components, commonly called configuration items (CI), throughout their life cycle. 5 This information is typically discovered and stored and, additionally, in many cases, federated and augment with data from other data sources. Your vendor can implement a CMDB in one of three ways: 1) standalone; 2) as part of a configuration management system (CMS); or 3) as part of a service information system. A service portal (or exchange) with self-service capabilities. The service catalog is a vehicle that supports and underlays the service portal and is typically a collection of business and IT services made available to the service/business user. These services are published so that service consumers have a single place to shop for (or demand) and receive the delivery of the services. 6 The use of service catalog management and a fit-for-purpose service catalog offers a raft of financial and process benefits, such as the ability to track and account for the usage of a particular service and the improved speed for the business to receive support and services through the implementation of self-service capabilities. 7 Enabling social, mobility, and automation capabilities. Today s modern service management organizations must address customer expectations such as the ability to connect and collaborate within these solutions across support teams and extended support channels such as dynamically created chats and knowledge articles and additional modern collaboration methods. Additionally, mobile support staff must be able to access service support processes and data. Lastly, I&O teams need the ability to orchestrate and automate manual processes that are used in the service support team and which are essential in servicing the business. Key Considerations For I&O Professionals Selecting An ITSM SaaS Solution Forrester further recommends that I&O professionals use the following criteria to avoid implementation exposures, challenges, and risks: Pricing, payment, and subscription terms. The SaaS vendors offer both term commitments and pay-as-you-go models. Most ITSM SaaS customers choose the term-commitment option, with terms ranging from one to three years. Understanding the pricing, payment, and subscription terms of the different vendors allows you to compare the offerings from the cost perspective.

11 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, Data usage and access. In a multitenant environment, cloud providers host your applications and sensitive data on shared physical infrastructure such as servers, or storage. Understanding who has what access to the data requires controls at various layers of the environment supporting the solutions. Not all cloud providers offer enough detailed assurance of ensuring that only you and your team can access your data. Integration needs with other systems. Integration remains a complicated category for SaaS solutions. Many of the existing solutions with which the ITSM SaaS platform must integrate are not SaaS-based themselves for example, application performance management is often a traditional on-premises app, and application discovery solutions are often deployed on appliances. And that will mean you need to invest in systems integration. Configuration and extensibility requirements. Many of our I&O clients want to extend or configure their ITSM SaaS solutions to meet other requirements outside of typical business technology or IT workflows. Such automation (task, process, and/or decision-making) should be possible without worrying of the consequences related to future upgrades. As these ITSM SaaS solutions release faster than on-premises versions, you want to ensure that your vendor supports configuration and extensions you have created so that you can move to the next version once it has arrived. Security requirements. Many firms refuse to consider SaaS for security reasons. For example, North American and European software decision-makers claim nearly 62% of similar firms are very concerned about security! 8 During conversations with these firms, Forrester found it makes clients nervous when software is moved off-site. Find out where the provider physically hosts the data, and check for compliance with standards like FedRAMP. 9 Business continuity, backup, and archiving. Many of the ITSM providers that have entered the SaaS market have invested heavily in multiple data center locations that provide high levels of resiliency, but you must investigate and verify. Thus, ask your SaaS provider if it has data physically backed up at a second location, about the frequency of backups, and about how long it would take to recover your data and your service in various situations. 10 Performance and uptime. Many of the ITSM SaaS providers are offering availability and uptime insurance. Ensure that your cloud service provides a well-documented SLA around the availability of its service. The provide guarantees range from 99.5% to 99.98% of uptime with various degrees of performance guarantees in between. Forrester recommends avoiding vendors that don t commit to concrete penalties for SLA failures. Benchmarking. ITSM SaaS vendors often offer anonymized data benchmark access, which I&O pros can use to compare themselves to others. If you allow your vendor to use your data for benchmarks you should ask for something in return e.g., better contract terms, better prices, or improved penalty benefits.

12 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, End-of-contract processes and costs. It s unpleasant to think about breaking up when you re on your first date, but it ll save a lot of heartache later. Meaning? Ensure that your agreement with your supplier specifies clearly whether, how, and within what time frame you will get your data back at the termination of your contract, and at what associated cost. I&O pros must also collaborate with their legal teams to ensure that the cloud provider s post-contract termination data retention and destruction policies protect your firm adequately from any resulting legal liability. 11 Upgrades. Upgrades can cause planned and unplanned downtime for the business team working with the solutions. If you customize your application, make sure to specify that you control when you upgrade because otherwise you ll find yourselves working to the vendor s upgrade and planned downtime schedule. We have captured all of the above details for each vendor in a separate spreadsheet to support your decision making. 12 Segmenting The ITSM SaaS Tool Landscape Forrester s market overview of ITSM SaaS tools identifies 19 of the leading vendors and their ITSM SaaS offerings. Forrester segments the ITSM SaaS tool landscape by (see Figure 6): Number of SaaS customers. Forrester collected SaaS and non-saas customer numbers from the vendors (and we excluded customers acquired through MSPs from these totals). Forrester then divided the vendors into two groups: 1) established vendors, which have 200 or more SaaS customers, and 2) growing vendors, which have fewer than 200 SaaS customers. Target market. To determine target market, Forrester reconciled the vendor s stated target market with Forrester s knowledge of customers who have acquired these solutions to date. Figure 6 ITSM SaaS Target Market Categories Segment name Lower midmarket Upper midmarket Enterprise Size Subscriptions with <25 seats Subscriptions with between 25 and 99 seats Subscriptions with 100 or more seats Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

13 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, Established Vendors Solutions Have Solid Global SaaS Capabilities I&O professionals ITSM SaaS tool options among established vendors with more than 200 SaaS customers include (alphabetically listed) (see Figure 7, see Figure 8, see Figure 9, and see Figure 10): BMC Software: BMC Remedyforce. BMC Remedyforce, built on salesforce.com s Force. com platform, was launched in April It is suited for all markets but in particular for customers that don t need the depth and breadth of capability offered by Remedy OnDemand. Key differentiators include: the ability to build out in Force.com; BMC s rapid Remedyforce development schedule; and competitive pricing. Remedyforce leverages Force.com s Chatter capabilities for social, and it offers both self-service and agent capabilities via mobile devices. The Force.com platform segments the application and configuration layers so that customers can customize without affecting upgrades. It also allows customers to build new applications that can extend Remedyforce. CA Technologies: CA Cloud Service Management. CA Cloud Service Management is the company s multitenant, service management solution that is sold across all markets through the CA Technologies global sales force. The solution provides an easy to use interface and a single solution combining service management and IT monitoring in CA Nimsoft Unified Manager. It also features collaborative capabilities to drive faster resolution times and codeless configuration to modify workflow and integrations. In 2013, the solution added support for automation capabilities and a native, mobile application for end users and in 2014 added Asset Management and Discovery. CA Cloud Service Management is delivered to market via a SaaS-only model by CA and several strategic partners. CA Technologies: CA Service Management. CA Service Management 12.9, available since December 2013, is a hosted/saas offering offered globally for enterprise customers. CA Technologies bills this SaaS offering as having all the same capabilities of the CA Service Management on-premises offering with the benefits of a hosted/saas delivery model. Key differentiators include: 1) unified collaborative self-service across requests; 2) extensive mobility capabilities; and 3) enterprise-grade multitenancy for large MSPs. Cherwell Software. Cherwell Service Management (CSM) is targeted at all markets. Approximately 40% of customers are currently SaaS. Unusually, Cherwell allows I&O pros to choose either product licenses or subscription financing in both on-premises and SaaS deployment modes. Cherwell s user-configurable One-Step functionality enables business process automation and also supports social and mobile. Strong points include: 1) high customer retention rates (98%); 2) the affordability of concurrent licensing (there is no fixed license option); and 3) an application development platform (ADP). CSM delivers the same software on-premises or hosted, and offers hosting in Australia, the UK, and the US. 13

14 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, Citrix. Launched in Q3 2012, the GoToAssist Service Desk solution targets both the lower and upper midmarket segments across all geographies. Aligned to the ITIL framework, it covers incident, problem, change, release, configuration and knowledge management, and it also integrates with optional remote support and IT monitoring modules (with each module sold separately). Key differentiators include its ease of use and ease of setup and that it is part of an integrated support solution. For example, technicians can launch remote support sessions directly from Service Desk or create incidents during live support sessions. They can enable their users to create incidents from custom-branded, self-service portals or initiate chat sessions from social channels. GoToAssist delivers live support to PC, Mac, and mobile devices users. Technicians can also monitor their network, discover and monitor devices on the network, and use the integrated capabilities to remotely support or track any endpoint. EasyVista. EasyVista ServiceManager is aimed at the enterprise and upper midmarket segments globally. The solution includes both service and asset management functionality, is available on-premise and via SaaS, with named and concurrent licensing options. EasyVista leverages the ITIL best practice framework and the solution interoperates with applications across asset lifecycle management, organizational customer service management, IT financial management, IT project management, and other external applications and services to support the entire service delivery life cycle. Key differentiators include: 1) EasyVista appeals to global organizations because it is multilingual, supporting up to 12 languages in a single instance and local support is offered in all regions around the world; 2) the solution is simple to configure in a codeless, drag and drop environment, making upgrades simple; 3) each SaaS implementation is managed by a local EasyVista Cloud Management Center (CMC) that proactively monitors performance quality to maintain the highest availability. In addition, MyEasyVista is an online service provided to each EasyVista SaaS customer that includes their personalized cloud analytics, activity monitoring, contract details, and system maintenance activities for backup, restore, and migration; and 4) the creation of an unlimited number of apps that integrate data from multiple data sources into interfaces for dashboarding, IT stores, service catalogs, and any other customer-facing interaction. EasyVista is accessible on all major mobile devices. FrontRange. HEAT Service Management is FrontRange s version of its service management platform for cloud computing environments. From a single, multitenant platform, HEAT Service Management provides both Service Management and Client Management software onpremises and in the cloud. HEAT Service Management includes telephony tools enabling the combination of Voice and Web Self Service into a single service platform. HEAT s integrated discovery, client management, and mobile device management (MDM) tools enable a centralized approach to the management of IT assets throughout their life cycle. ServiceNow. ServiceNow IT Service Automation suite was launched in 2004 and is aimed at all markets globally. ServiceNow Orchestration Core allows I&O pros to orchestrate activities outside of their ServiceNow instance, such as cloud provisioning. ServiceNow

15 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, Discovery collects IT infrastructure configuration details and automatically maps application dependencies without agents. Social capabilities include peer-to-peer support, chat, and Facebook-like news feeds. ServiceNow s mobility component supports location-based services. Key differentiators include: 1) the market s largest number of ITSM SaaS enterprise customers (2,000+); 2) The ServiceNow Service Automation Platform and App Creator application to create new custom applications; 3) ServiceNow Performance Analytics; and 4) a content management system. ServiceNow provides two major yearly releases. The November 2013 release added a few notable features, including ERP for IT capabilities, configuration automation using Puppet, an optimized HTML5 smartphone interface, and the HR Service Automation application. SysAid Technologies. SysAid Cloud edition is aimed at companies in all industries, ranging from small- and medium-size businesses to Fortune 500 companies. Available in over 42 languages, SysAid integrates all the essential IT tools into one service desk. In addition to having an IT community integrated into the product, SysAid offers a community IT benchmark module that takes anonymous data (with customer permission) to provide crowd sourced key performance indicators for comparison to other customers worldwide. Additional key differentiators include: IT asset management capabilities, an integrated patch management solution, global customer one-on-one meetings ( SysAid on the Road no additional charge), and a SaaS customer base of more than 1,500. The solution is priced based on use case rather than by user, and pricing ranges from a few hundred dollars per year for a basic package to a few thousand dollars per year for a full enterprise package. TOPdesk. TOPdesk as a Service targets all segments worldwide. TOPdesk as a Service delivers ITIL-aligned service management software for IT, facilities management, and HR help desks. TOPdesk as a Service has extensive reporting options and monitoring of KPIs; linking and integration capabilities with third-party databases and systems; is SOX and ISO compliant; and includes authorizations and settings per user and independent databases, time zones and filters. All TOPdesk as a Service software comes with the Plan Board and Dashboard features for a simple drag-and-drop overview. Vivantio: Vivantio ITSM. Vivantio ITSM targets the upper midmarket. Vivantio ITSM is a platform rather than an application, because the customer can add system areas from within their administration menu. The base platform provides all the usual service management capabilities, and customers can build whatever service applications they want on top of the platform (common examples include HR or facility solutions) without making code changes. For large and complex implementations, the vendor s own consultants and project managers provide all the necessary support. Vivantio ITSM is an evolution of the Vivantio Service Desk product, which was first released in 2005.

16 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, Zendesk. Zendesk provides cloud-based customer support and internal help desk software and targets all market segments in all geographies. Zendesk s customer service platform is easy to use and provides good self-service options For companies using Zendesk for internal IT service management, Zendesk provides common capabilities including incident management, change management, problem management, knowledge management, analytics and more. Growing Vendor Solutions Are Challenging The Established Vendors With Innovations Forrester categorizes vendors with fewer than 200 ITSM SaaS customers as of March 2014 as growing vendors. These include (alphabetically listed): Absolute Software. The Absolute Service offering caters to the upper midmarket globally. In addition to the core ITSM capabilities, Absolute Service also offers Run Book Automation to coordinate and orchestrate the activities of other point solutions like Microsoft SCCM. Absolute Service offers native ios and Android applications plus an HTML5 interface. Key differentiators include field service management capabilities, a low cost to activate the service, and a range of deployment options including virtual appliances. Absolute Service provides out-of-the-box integration with Absolute Software s own endpoint security and management solutions, along with a variety of third-party asset management products such as Microsoft SCCM. Axios Systems. Axios Systems assystsaas targets the enterprise segment globally. Highlights of the Axios offering include: 1) automation capabilities, such as the ability to launch remote control applications; 2) automatic provisioning of cloud services and storage, standard run book operations; and 3) the ability to automatically reset passwords. Axios also provides social capabilities for IT-to-IT collaboration and customer-to-it chat. AssystSaaS allows for concurrent user subscriptions and also enables customers to switch between SaaS and onpremises deployment modes as needed. BMC Software: BMC Remedy OnDemand. Remedy OnDemand has been available since April 2010 and focuses purely on the enterprise market. Remedy OnDemand supports a wide variety of service management processes, is available via both web and mobile platforms, and incorporates social capabilities into the core offering. 14 Remedy OnDemand provides other capabilities like automation, event management, and discovery through existing integrations with additional-cost BMC products that are deployed on premises. Strong points include: the largest market share in the on-premises ITSM space; flexible licensing and data models (allowing for both concurrent and named licensing options); IT asset life-cycle management capabilities; and support for business service management (BSM). In addition, BMC s overlay capability allows customers to define and manage customized objects separately from the original base object, which simplifies upgrades.

17 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, helpline. In September 2013, helpline 5.4 was launched, targeted at all market segments in Europe. HelpLine provides a platform for service management and beyond, offering out-of the box templates for IT and non-it service processes and an integrated field service management solution. The helpline SaaS offering is hosted in helpline s data centers in Leipzig, Germany and Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Core capabilities include graphical process design, a web shop hosting the service catalog and additional offerings, a chat functionality between service agents, and extensive BI functionalities. It supports both ios and Android apps for mobility. Key differentiators include graphical cockpits for intuitive ticket handling and business intelligence analysis, built-in workforce and task-management, the integration of field service management capabilities, and a concurrent licensing option. Hornbill. Hornbill s SaaS offering, myservicedesk.com, was released in January 2012 and aimed at all market segments in EMEA, the US, and Oceania. Hornbill Supportworks mobile provides a simple interface for both business users and IT employees on the move. Strong suits include: IT asset management capabilities (third-party discovery tool required); Hornbill s Supportworks Execview ITSM Scorecards for performance management, governance, and executive decisionmaking support; and a minimum contract commitment of just three months. IBM. IBM launched SmartCloud Control Desk (SaaS) in March It s IBM s ITSM solution, unifying the delivery of service catalog, service request, problem, incident, change, configuration, and IT asset management. IBM targets all segments globally save the lower midmarket. Strong suits include automated impact assessment, service catalog, remote control, and password reset capabilities, along with automation, social, and mobile. Runbook automation capabilities include a large number of prebuilt scripts for common tasks. SmartCloud Control Desk also offers integrations for many of IBM s adjacent products and offers social capabilities. IBM also offers both concurrent and authorized user licensing and the ability to move between different delivery models as customer needs change (the SaaS and on-premises versions share the same code base), operational integration (network management, alert management, etc.), and development products (Rational Asset Manager), in addition to their primary endpoint management and discovery (IBM Endpoint Manager) interactions. For social capabilities, instant messaging enables agents to chat with customers or with each other, saving transcripts for future searches, and users can engage the service desk through Twitter, , or forum posts. Users can access IBM SmartCloud Control Desk via BlackBerry, Android, or ios devices. LANDesk Software. LANDesk Service Desk As A Service targets organizations with more than 20 support staff globally. A core process engine enables process automation of ITSM processes and systems-automation between Service Desk and external tools, data, and systems. LANDesk offers a number of ITSM good social capabilities to collaborate across teams. The solution requires extremely limited coding and has deep integration with other LANDesk offerings such as Asset Lifecycle Manager for IT asset management.

18 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, Serena Software. Serena Service Manager on demand targets the North American and European enterprise segments. Noteworthy features include: 1) Serena s application life-cycle management software portfolio; 2) a process management platform for process-based apps that can be offered as services through the request center; and 3) the vendor s focus on change and release integration to help bridge the DevOps divide with Serena Service Manager. In addition, Serena offers an uncommonly flexible model where it upgrades the core platform and customers may optionally upgrade the applications themselves. The rack rate is $69 per user per month; test and development instances are an additional $10,000 per year but waived for contracts over $100,000. USU. USU Service Manager was launched in June 2013 as a new, end-to-end solution for managing the IT service portfolio as well as for creating and operating a service catalog for direct use by end users. It targets all market segments globally. USU Service Manager helps clients in controlling internal and/or external service providers in IT production and service fulfillment. It also supports third-party ITSM tools and offers interfaces on request. Users can access USU Service Manager via any kind of Internet-capable user device without installing any apps, and USU offers both on-premises and SaaS deployment modes. Hosting and data storage occur solely in TÜV SÜD-certified data centers with highest security standards. 15 Vivantio: VivaDesk Pro Edition. VivaDesk Pro Edition s key differentiators include its graphical workflow designer as well as drag-and-drop screen designers for the self-service module. VivaDesk Pro Edition aims to make it affordable and practical for lower and upper midmarket firms worldwide to take advantage of some advanced service management features that would normally require vendor-provided services to configure. The VivaDesk SaaS offering is based on the same ISO accredited data center platforms that Vivantio uses for its Vivantio ITSM solution.

19 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, Figure 7 ITSM SaaS Vendor Target Markets Vendor name ITSM SaaS growing vendors Solution name Target market Absolute Software Absolute Service Upper midmarket Axios Systems AssystSaaS Enterprise BMC Software BMC Remedy OnDemand Enterprise helpline helpline SaaS Enterprise, upper midmarket Hornbill myservicedesk.com All markets IBM* LANDesk Serena Software IBM SmartCloud Control Desk (SaaS) LANDesk Service Desk As A Service Enterprise Serena Service Manager On Demand Enterprise, upper midmarket Enterprise, upper midmarket Upper midmarket USU USU Service Manager All markets Vivantio VivaDesk Pro Edition Lower midmarket Vendor name ITSM SaaS established vendors Solution name Target market BMC Software BMC Remedyforce All markets CA Technologies CA Service Management Enterprise CA Technologies Cherwell Software CA Cloud Service Management Cherwell Service Management All markets All markets Citrix GoToAssist Service Desk All markets EasyVista EasyVista Enterprise, upper midmarket FrontRange ServiceNow SysAid Technologies HEAT Service Management ServiceNow IT Service Automation Suite SysAid All markets All markets All markets TOPdesk TOPdesk as a Service All markets Vivantio Vivantio ITSM Upper midmarket Zendesk Zendesk All markets *Forrester estimates that IBM SmartCloud Control Desk has less than 200 customers; IBM does not publish customer numbers. Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

20 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, Figure 8 Core Solution Capability Vendor Solution name Incident management Problem management Change management Service-level management Configuration management/cmdb Service catalog/selfservice capability Service request management Absolute Software Absolute Service Axios Systems AssystSaaS BMC Software BMC Remedyforce BMC Software BMC Remedy OnDemand CA Technologies CA Cloud Service Management CA Technologies CA Service Management Cherwell Software Cherwell Service Management Citrix GoToAssist Service Desk EasyVista FrontRange EasyVista HEAT Service Management helpline helpline SaaS Hornbill IBM LANDesk Serena Software ServiceNow SysAid Technologies myservicedesk.com IBM SmartCloud Control Desk (SaaS) LANDesk Service Desk As A Service Enterprise Serena Service Manager On Demand ServiceNow IT Service Automation Suite SysAid TOPdesk TOPdesk as a Service USU USU Service Manager Vivantio VivaDesk Pro Edition Vivantio Vivantio ITSM Zendesk Zendesk Capability provided by another tool Partial capability Capability as part of the tool Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

21 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, Figure 9 Additional ITSM Capability Vendor Solution name Knowledge management Release management Event management Availability management Capacity management IT financial management Supplier management IT asset management Absolute Software Absolute Service Axios Systems AssystSaaS BMC Software BMC Remedyforce BMC Software BMC Remedy OnDemand CA Technologies CA Technologies CA Cloud Service Management CA Service Management Cherwell Software Cherwell Service Management Citrix GoToAssist Service Desk EasyVista FrontRange EasyVista HEAT Service Management helpline helpline SaaS Hornbill IBM LANDesk Serena Software ServiceNow SysAid Technologies myservicedesk.com IBM SmartCloud Control Desk (SaaS) LANDesk Service Desk As A Service Enterprise Serena Service Manager On Demand ServiceNow IT Service Automation Suite SysAid TOPdesk TOPdesk as a Service USU USU Service Manager Vivantio VivaDesk Pro Edition Vivantio Vivantio ITSM Zendesk Zendesk Capability provided by another tool Partial capability Capability as part of the tool Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

22 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, Figure 10 Enabling Capabilities Vendor Solution name Absolute Software Absolute Service Axios Systems BMC Software BMC Software CA Technologies CA Technologies Citrix EasyVista helpline Hornbill TOPdesk USU AssystSaaS BMC Remedyforce BMC Remedy OnDemand CA Nimsoft Service Desk CA Service Management Cherwell Software Cherwell Service Management FrontRange IBM LANDesk Serena Software ServiceNow SysAid Technologies Vivantio Vivantio Zendesk GoToAssist Service Desk EasyVista HEAT Service Management helpline SaaS myservicedesk.com IBM SmartCloud Control Desk (SaaS) LANDesk Service Desk As A Service Enterprise Serena Service Manager On Demand ServiceNow IT Service Automation Suite SysAid TOPdesk as a Service USU Service Manager VivaDesk Pro Edition Vivantio ITSM Zendesk Automation Social Mobility Capability provided by another tool Partial capability Capability as part of the tool Source: Forrester Research, Inc. WHAT IT MEANS Focus On Your Key Goal Business And Service Enablement There are likely benefits and drawbacks to each vendor and to implementing ITSM in the cloud. Unfortunately, there is no wrong or right for each organization. The important decisions you must make are which strengths and weaknesses can your organization manage and which matter most for your unique situation.

23 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, For instance, if you ll need data centers located across the world in many of the geographic areas some of the vendors are already off your shortlist. However, if your organization only has limited geographic needs the growing vendors are likely to be an alternative. Start by building a list of your needs, researching, and weighing options on more factors than just cost. Conduct thorough due diligence, compare features and, whenever possible, sandbox the solution. Speak to customer references about their experience and satisfaction with the vendor as they can share with you their experience once the solution has been implemented and used. When it comes down to the wire, you should bargain for a good discount but don t just look at the price. It s critical to look at the features, attributes and costs for each and then weigh the unique benefits each vendor can bring by looking at their different SaaS capabilities. By choosing to use a SaaS solution you have already taken control of your software destiny and you are focusing on the delivery of service management and automation rather than focusing too much time on the implementation and customization of your solution. ITSM SaaS solutions allow you to be in the service business right away but you are also choosing a course of action that will require a different mindset and pace relative to the upgrades and the innovations you receive from your vendors. After all there is no easy answer and the business model of ITSM in the cloud (SaaS) is not going to change your service support and delivery reputation. ITSM SaaS isn t likely to be a change in your customer satisfaction and a fix to all your woes, but it s certainly the best and most viable option worth considering so that you can focus on what should and is essential to you business and service enablement to your customers. Compare the options side by side and don t let the choice overwhelm you. Supplemental Material Methodology Forrester partnered with the USA chapter of the IT Service Management Forum (itsmf) to field the Forrester/itSMF Q US ITSM Online Survey to 261 service management professionals a critical subset of the broader IT I&O role most commonly tasked with planning and implementing SMA initiatives. Respondents were primarily itsmf members or ITSM professionals, and as a result, the study results are biased toward those already heavily involved with IT service management. The findings do not reflect the general IT community, as representation outside the target ITSM community was statistically insignificant. The targeting was intentional to form a perspective of how ITSM has proven itself in the real world. We wanted to portray actual results, not simply desires. In doing so, this study effectively illustrates best practices. The results convey what is proven to be attainable.

24 Market Overview: IT Service Management SaaS Tools Update, Forrsights Software Survey, Q4 2013, was fielded to 2,074 IT executives and technology decisionmakers located in Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and the US from SMB and enterprise companies with two or more employees. This survey is part of Forrester s Forrsights for Business Technology and was fielded during October 2013 and November Research Now fielded this survey online on behalf of Forrester. Survey respondent incentives include points redeemable for gift certificates. We have provided exact sample sizes in this report on a question-by-question basis. Each calendar year, Forrester s Forrsights for Business Technology fields business-to-business technology studies in more than 17 countries spanning North America, Latin America, Europe, and developed and emerging Asia. For quality control, we carefully screen respondents according to job title and function. Forrester s Forrsights for Business Technology ensures that the final survey population contains only those with significant involvement in the planning, funding, and purchasing of IT products and services. Additionally, we set quotas for company size (number of employees) and industry as a means of controlling the data distribution and establishing alignment with IT spend calculated by Forrester analysts. Forrsights uses only superior data sources and advanced data-cleaning techniques to ensure the highest data quality. Companies Interviewed For This Document Absolute Software ASG Software Axios Systems BMC Software CA Technologies Cherwell Software Citrix Software EasyVista helpline IBM LANDesk Software Serena Software ServiceNow SysAid Technologies TOPdesk USU Vivantio Zendesk Hornbill Endnotes 1 This is a proxy for SaaS adoption based on respondents who are planning or using a SaaS solution for at least one of the following applications: (ERP, finance and accounting software, HRM, BI software, procurement software, EAM, BPM software, PLM software, SCM software, collaboration software, SFA, CSS, marketing automation, commerce software, web content/experience management, ECM, or industryspecific process software.