GE Brings Help Desk to Life

by Alex Woodie

The interface uses the Simple Network Management Protocol to allow Robot/CONSOLE, Help/Systems' message management and escalation module, and Robot/NETWORK, the company's network event monitor, to alert the Remedy Help Desk server of hardware malfunctions or other problems occurring on an AS/400 or iSeries system. Robot/CONSOLE works with other Help/Systems modules, such as Robot/SCHEDULER and Robot/SPACE, to monitor the status of automated AS/400 or iSeries operations.

As a result of the interface, practically any operational aberration detected by Help/Systems' Robot Automated Operations Solution--such as AS/400 disk crashes, full backup tapes, power outages, or failed batch jobs--can be handled by Remedy Help Desk; there's no need for an AS/400 operator to manually fill out a problem ticket and take it to the right person at the help desk. Each event forwarded to Remedy Help Desk contains all the information--including system name, user, job, job number, date, time, severity, Robot Product ID, message text, and reply values--that help desk personnel will need to handle the problem.

GE Capital IT Solutions started building the interface with assistance from Help/Systems in the fall of 2001 because several of the two companies' mutual customers had a need to bring their OS/400-based systems into the wider fault management fold.

"We have had key accounts over the years that wanted us to further integrate our product into Remedy to create problem tickets," said Tom Huntington, vice president of technical services at Minnetonka, Minnesota, based Help/Systems. "The Help Desk management process wasn't being used to its full capabilities."

GE Capital IT Solutions has a long history of working with Remedy Help Desk and installing the application, said Molly Bott, an enterprise consultant with the Newport, Kentucky, consulting and IT services organization, which specializes in the design, creation, and management of IT infrastructure, including ERP systems, storage area networks, and security.

"The synergy of our relationship [with customers] is founded on how quickly we are able to react," she said. "Anytime we're able to see a need or an opportunity…, we're pretty rapid to get out to the customer."

Remedy Help Desk runs on any platform except for OS/400 and MVS systems and is considered by some to be the de facto standard help-desk application. The software was acquired by Peregrine Systems in its purchase of Remedy, last year.

GE Capital IT Solutions is marketing the interface as a software-and-services solution. The cost of the interface is dependent on several factors and is therefore quoted on a custom basis. For more information about the Remedy Help Desk interface, visit GE Capital IT Solutions Web site, at www.gecitsolutions.com; read Help/Systems' white paper on the topic, at www.helpsystems.com/uploads/netremedyhelp.pdf; or contact Molly Bott at molly.bott@gects.ge.com.