This blog post is the third of three posts that capture many of the questions and answers from the Momentum series “Tech Brief” webinar that you can view on demand.

If you’re a customer of Ivanti Service Desk, you may want to consider migrating to Ivanti Service Manager. However, Service Desk will continue to receive full support. There is no intention of making an end-of-life announcement for this product.

When migrating from Service Desk to Service Manager you receive:

  • ‘Like for Like’ license swap of your current Service Desk licenses for licenses of the similar Service Manager solution
  • Services methodologies, tools, and approaches to reduce the time, costs, and risks that normally result in a migration

We’ve captured below the remainder of the webinar questions from attendees and answers provided by Lara Hellman, product owner of Ivanti Service Manager, but we encourage you to view the webinar when you can.

Q: Is there any particular aspect of Service Desk we might be using that would suggest we hang fire on a migration, other than Process Manager capability?

A: Probably not. It really does depend on how deeply invested in Service Desk you are. There are some obscure or very specific Service Desk capabilities that are not in Service Manager. Speak to your Ivanti representative to find out more.

Q: If Service Desk is still to be developed, what new features are planned to be added?

A: Ask your Ivanti representative for a roadmap presentation.

Q: Will there be an app for iOS, Android, etc. for analysts in Service Manager?

A: We have an app for Self Service for Android and iOS Service Manager already. We haven’t extended it to Analysts yet, but the intention is that there will be one in the future.  

Q: Is the long-term goal to replace Asset Central with the Heat Asset Management product?

A: Yes, so we launched Asset Manager on the Service Manager platform just last month—Asset Manager Essentials. Look out for announcements for Asset Manager - Cloud and Asset Manager - Premise throughout the rest of this year and early next year. They will be replacements for Asset Central in the Asset Manager platform. For more information, you can view this Asset Manager webinar:  https://forums.ivanti.com/s/article/Tech-Brief-On-Demand-Webinar-2018-Asset-Manager-Essentials-Effective-and-Efficient-ITAM-from-Day-One?language=en_US

Q: Service Desk is configurable by us at the moment. Is Service Manager the same?

A: Yes. Very similar configuration capabilities across the two products. It’s one of the things we like about having both of them is that they have very similar sets of capabilities and are just as easy to customize as each other. 

Q: Is there a mobile version (not Workspaces) for analysts in Service Manager?

A: There are plans on the roadmap for Analysts. There is no mobile app for Analysts at this time; we intend to offer this mobile app in the future.

Q: Service Desk has Configuration Items in it. Does Service Manager as well?

A: Yes it does. Service Manager has a CMDB that is very similar to the Service Desk version.

Q: Is there a government cloud available for law enforcement agencies?

A: No, not at present. We do have law enforcement agencies on our AWS cloud. Our Service Manager cloud platform is currently in process for FedRAMP certification by the US Federal Government.

Q: Is “Asset Essentials” included with Service Manager with the standard license or is it a separate offering?

A: Asset Manager Essentials is a separate offering on the Service Manager platform; it’s a separately purchasable product.

Q: Does Service Manager support scheduled actions?

A: Yes.  Service Manager has the capability to schedule actions in a couple of different ways:

  1. During a workflow, you can “pause” to wait for specific actions or period of time.  Once that has taken place or elapsed, workflow continues with defined actions.
  2. Service Manager can set schedules based on hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or yearly basis and execute defined actions.

Q: Will there be a SQL server import connector for Service Manager?

A: This is planned for the future.

Q: Does Ivanti Service Manager offer an app for mobile devices?

A: Yes, there are Ivanti Service Manager Self Service apps for both iOS and Android.

Q: You talked about migration process and tooling; are there any preview or information about such features?

A: Talk to your Ivanti representative about what would be suitable in your situation.

Q: Are these migration points done manually or are there any Ivanti-created migration tools available or planned to be developed?

A: We have a commitment from the business to produce migration tools but have so far found no use case for them. None have been developed as yet.

Q: Will Service Manager continue to be available as an on-prem or SaaS offering or only one or the other in the near future?

A: We have no plans to remove on-premise as an option for Service Manager. We have many customers who require a premise solution and we are keen to continue to meet that requirement.

Q: Are there any cost constraints moving from Service Desk to Service Manager?

A: There is no cost in terms of licenses and maintenance. Depending on your requirements and resources, you may need to purchase some professional services from Ivanti or one of our Partners to assist with the implementation.

Q: Does Service Manager offer an archiving capability such that you can clear out old Incidents/Requests?

A: Yes.  Service Manager does have ability for authorized users to define search criteria and archive records that meet that criteria.  Further detail is available within the Service Manager Help file.

Q: Will there be a discussion on licensing differences/entitlements—the ability to run both side by side to profile?

A: During the webinar Lara does discuss the option of running both ITSM solutions side-by-side during a transition. Please contact your Ivanti representative for more information.

Q: It would be great if you could show/share how the Analyst and End User UI would be?

A: There is no demo as part of our session today, but we would be happy to schedule a follow up discussion.

Q: What will the migration process and tooling offer? Will existing records be moved or will it be a fresh start?

A: As discussed in the webinar, we would discourage you from migrating transactional data such as historical Incidents, preferring to keep an instance of Service Desk running to look up that data. Your static data, like Users and lists, can all be migrated.

Q: Will Skype for Business adapter, KBOT, and SnapIT be available in Service Manager?

A: The Skype adapter will be available very shortly. The capabilities of KBOT can be built in Service Manager. SnapIT capabilities are not currently available although they could be added should customer demand require it.