Request for Post


Do you want a post about something in particular? Do you want a deeper development of one post, or a second part of it? Do you want me to analyze a product? If the answer to the above questions is yes, please add a comment ... Read the complete post

Estimating the required number of licenses


Sometimes when starting a new BMC Remedy implementation project, the customer, or your boss, demands an estimation cost of licenses and maintenance. If you have a reduced number of users, you can figure the number of required licenses. But if your case is more ... Read the complete post

What is new in BMC Remedy ITSM 8.0


WWRUG12 is just about closing the paper submission, and today has arrived a very big one: What's new in BMC Remedy ITSM 8.0. So Now it's completely official, the new version will be presented to public during the WWRUG12. In this post I will review the submitted ... Read the complete post

Adding custom permission groups to ITSM foundation


When starting to customize ITSM applications is easy to arrive at one point where it is important to differentiate between users, for privileges or different workflow behavior. Two main approaches appear: to use support groups or ARS permission groups. The first solution is easy ... Read the complete post

Understanding the Request Id field in BMC Remedy


ARS identifies fields by a number id. Some id's are retated to special functions. Maybe the most important of all is the field id '1', often called the Request Id or Entry Id. Understanding how this special field works is very important for any ... Read the complete post

Functions in BMC Remedy ARS


We all know that Remedy's developing paradigm is very different from traditional programming. We have no code, no loops, no functions nor any other classical element. But, classical programming has a long way and a lot of minds thinking about it. So there are ... Read the complete post

Operational Categorization for BMC Remedy


In a recent post I covered how the different categorizations for BMC Remedy Service Desk should be interpreted. The operational category is maybe the most important of all. In this post I will review the most important facts that an operational categorization must accomplish and ... Read the complete post

Naming convention for BMC Remedy Action Request System


Let's talk seriously, Remedy has one of the worsts code organization systems in the world. Also, BMC has not published any best practice guide for developing (apart of the best practice customization mode). So, any developing company must establish a set of best practices ... Read the complete post

BMC Remedy Incident Management Categories


One of the main best practices to focus when implementing the BMC Remedy Service Desk is the correct use of categorization tools. Each element can be categorized in order to obtain the next main advantages:In this line, the difference between a correct and wrong ... Read the complete post

Case Insensitive mid-tier login


In a previous post, I explained how to switch your complete ARS instance to case insensitive. But, is it really complete? No. Definitely not. There are some hidden functionalities that remain case sensitive, like the login system. To turn the Remedy login system to case insensitive is something impossible ... Read the complete post

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Project Management

The Agile Manifesto

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Jose Huerta in Project Management | 5 Comments

Project Management (from VSF Digital Design)

In February 2001, 17 software developers published the Manifesto for Agile Software Development. There, they defined a new approach to software development project management. The adaptation of this methodology is gaining followers each day, and each year the number of development companies using agile strategies is increasing.

In this post I will review the Agile Manifesto and make some comments about it’s relationship to Remedy’s project Management. … Read the complete post

Project Portfolio Management

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Jose Huerta in Project Management | 9 Comments

If you are a Remedy Project Manager or you belong to Project Management Office, then it is normal to face a situation when several projects are running in parallel. To overview and follow all of them can be a very difficult task. In this direction, some tools have been developed to complement traditional project management tools (like Microsoft Project) to allow multi-project or project portfolio management.

In this post I will review the two heavyweights of project portfolio management and a new promising opensource tool. … Read the complete post

Rapid Application Development and Action Request System

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Jose Huerta in Project Management | 1 Comment

Let’s talk clear, Remedy developing is dirty but quick. I mean, it is easy to get dirty when developing an application or customizing if you just start programming. But what I want to focus is the speed of Remedy development. I can get in hours what costs days in Java (or weeks). This speed is very valuable in Rapid Application Development strategies when managing Remedy projects.

In this post I will compare the traditional software project management versus Rapid Application Development strategies, and what is the impact in Remedy development projects. … Read the complete post

Starting a Remedy project

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Jose Huerta in Project Management | 1 Comment

Project Management (from VSF Digital Design)

Normally a new implementation project is preceded by a set of pre-sale meetings. At these meetings the client gets an abstracted vision of the scope of the implementation. He gets an image of what the system will be like to, and conforms an expectation.

At many cases the decision of choosing Remedy is not preceded by a detailed study of the software, but by the fact that Remedy is the top level application in its field. If a lot of people have chosen Remedy, it means that it is the correct election.

So, What do we have at the starting point of a Remedy implementation? It is most likely that we have a client that has practically no idea about the product he has just bought.

… Read the complete post