BMC Bmc Software, Inc.

BMC Software (NYSE:BMC) today announced that it is helping the iconic New Zealand not-for-profit Well Child healthcare services provider Plunket undergo a technology makeover and reshape its IT processes according to ITIL best practices. The national provider, which offers support services for the development, health and well-being of children in New Zealand from birth to five years, has commenced the rollout of BMC�s Service Desk Express to formalise change management and to create the framework for measuring the performance of Plunket�s IT services. BMC�s Service Desk Express is a service desk application for mid-sized businesses. Plunket is funded through a combination of government contracts, sponsorships and donations, and comprises around 600 nurses, thousands of volunteers, a National Office and 18 area offices. Plunket information systems manager Alistair Vickers said Plunket is looking to connect area offices to Plunket�s corporate network and later this year expects to engage an outsourcing partner to deliver virtual desktops to better support the organisation�s nurses. Plunket�s Wellington head office runs a mixture of applications, including Microsoft desktop applications, financial systems, CRM and clinical applications. �Introducing more technology and services puts new demands on the maturity of our systems management. We had extremely rudimentary processes. Our IT couldn�t really continue living as it was,� Vickers said. Plunket�s IT services desk, essentially one helpdesk person supporting area and head office users, had been stretched, relying on email, phone calls and office visits to register and manage user requests. Vickers said not-for-profit organisations face stern funding issues, but without systems to capture and monitor problems and incidents, users tended to help each other. �In the process, IT loses sight of service issues and has no reliable base information for ongoing systems improvement. We couldn�t be anything other than reactive. If we were to raise the profile of IT in this organisation we had to formalise our services workflow,� Vickers said. He said more than simply introducing a change and incident management system, BMC Service Desk Express will institutionalise ITIL best practices throughout the organisation, by establishing processes for logging and tracking user issues and IT assets. �It�s about maturity and bringing our incident management inline with the ITIL framework,� Vickers said. �It will raise our capability to manage incidents, fixes, and report our ability to do so.� Down the track Plunket expects to extend the BMC Service Desk Express system to track non-IT functions, including purchasing, which are characterised by similar request and authorisation workflow and demands for auditability. Simon Price, BMC�s sales director for Australia and New Zealand, said: �Plunket�s pragmatic adoption has delivered early wins for incident management, service level management, and knowledge management. It will eventually form the critical IT service backbone for the entire organisation.� Vickers said an important aspect of the deployment was establishing a knowledge base � a reference library of problems and fixes � spotlighting trends and identifying special needs, such as staff training or faulty machines. �Being able to systematically capture information about problems and fixes will help to build the skill base of existing employees and put future personnel in the picture.� Vickers also wants to measure his IT department�s effectiveness and establish performance indications and service level agreements for future IT services delivery. �Until now it�s been very hard to say, �This month we�ve had so many incidents compared to last month,�� he said. �In this way BMC technology will help Plunket become proactive instead of remaining reactive. Ultimately, we want to revolutionise Plunket�s IT.� About BMC Software BMC Software is a leading global provider of enterprise management solutions that empower companies to automate their IT and prove its business value. Delivering Business Service Management and Service Automation, BMC solutions span enterprise systems, applications, databases and service management. For the four fiscal quarters ended June 30, 2008, BMC revenue was approximately $1.78 billion. For more information, visit www.bmc.com. BMC, BMC Software, and the BMC Software logo are the exclusive properties of BMC Software, Inc., are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and may be registered or pending registration in other countries. All other BMC trademarks, service marks, and logos may be registered or pending registration in the U.S. or in other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. � Copyright 2008 BMC Software, Inc.