IBM today announced a new service aimed at helping businesses automate the flow of information across IT service desk operations, resulting in faster incident management and issue resolution, higher employee productivity and lower operational costs.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO )

Many large enterprises have several IT service desks to support both internal and external organizations, sometimes spanning multiple divisions and geographies. One service desk might handle reports of IT incidents related to the broader IT infrastructure of a company, while another may manage specific business applications. This IT environment often requires manual processes to route incidents to the right organizations.

IBM is addressing this issue for users of IBM Tivoli Service Request Manager and the IT service desk of the SAP® Solution Manager application management solution. The new offering from IBM Software Services for Tivoli helps customers design and implement a complete incident management strategy. As part of the service, customers can use IBM Tivoli Service Request Manager version 7.1 software, now SAP-certified for integration with SAP Solution Manager 7.0 via the service desk interface scenario (SMG-SDI 4.0), to automatically route incidents to the appropriate groups across the enterprise, regardless of the environment in which the incident originated.

As a result, the new services can provide a quicker resolution to incidents related to the SAP environment, improving its availability and the quality of related business services. The services can also help companies reduce operating costs through centralized support coordination and data consolidation.

"Businesses are looking for new ways to improve the effectiveness of their IT service delivery organizations and lower costs," said Al Zollar, general manager, IBM Tivoli Software. "The use of IBM Tivoli Service Request Manager integrated and used in combination with the service desk software from SAP can help our joint clients respond to their customers' needs faster, eliminate manual processes, and drive more value out of service desk data."

Customers who currently use Tivoli Service Request Manager and the IT service desk of SAP Solution Manager can take advantage of this new service. For example, if an incident opened in Tivoli Service Request Manager pertains to an application in the SAP environment, all the information about the incident will be automatically sent to the IT service desk that handles those issues in SAP Solution Manager. The issue can be tracked and managed centrally; there is no re-entry of data, and no manual hand-off between the groups.

"The certified integration of IBM Tivoli Service Request Manager with the IT service desk of SAP Solution Manager is a significant step forward for our joint customers," said Dr. Matthias Melich, vice president, Application Lifecycle Management, SAP Active Global Support. "The integration allows Tivoli users to also benefit from the integration of SAP Solution Manager with SAP's support infrastructure, which in turn provides fast access to SAP's world-class global network of support consultants. The results are tangible: Joint SAP and IBM Tivoli customers receive higher support quality and faster responses through the integration if problems occur."

IBM Tivoli Service Request Manager provides an integrated service desk and catalog for a "one touch" IT experience. This integrated service desk software unifies and automates key service support and asset management processes. This level of integration is made possible by IBM and SAP taking a leadership role in the development of open architectures.

The SAP Solution Manager application management solution facilitates lifecycle support for heterogeneous SAP solutions, with functionality that covers all key aspects of solution deployment, operation, and continuous improvement. SAP Solution Manager combines tools, content, and direct access to SAP support services to increase the reliability of solutions and lower total cost of ownership.

For more than 35 years, IBM and SAP have collaborated to bring joint customers offerings to improve business efficiency at more than 13,000 client sites for their millions of users.

For more information, visit www.ibm.com/software/tivoli/services/consulting.

SAP and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries.

All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

SAP Forward-looking Statement

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

  Leigh Ann Schmidt
  IBM Media Relations
  914-766-1362
  leighanns@us.ibm.com

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: stetpon@us.ibm.com

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO

SOURCE: IBM