Q1 2007 - Contents   * From the Desk of... * Company Announcements * Product Update * Latest Downloads * Customer Spotlight * Events Calendar

From the Desk of... Michael Scheib, President and CEO Welcome to the first edition of iET Solutions’ 2007 newsletter series. 2006 was an exciting year for iET Solutions. We signed 24 new ITSM customers, and iET ITSM sales were up more than 60% over 2005 results. We released ITSM 4.0 with strengthened change, release and configuration management capabilities, and were recognized in 5 leading analyst reports covering the ITIL and ITSM space. For full details on 2006 results, see the “Company Announcements” section of this newsletter. I look forward to continued success in 2007, as we continue to accelerate our penetration of the ITSM market. See the "Product Updates" section for a preview of the next version of the iET Enterprise Technology Platform, which will feature a new client based on Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0. Stay tuned for upcoming announcements about recent customer wins and new partnerships!

Company Announcements

iET Solutions Exceeds 2006 Sales Targets; Signs 24 New ITSM Customers

iET Solutions announced that 2006 was the best financial year in iET Solutions' history, with the Company exceeding its quarter-over-quarter and year-to-date sales goals. One customer that selected and implemented iET ITSM solutions in 2006 was Bradco Supply Corporation, a national distributor of building materials.

Bradco was looking for a clear process to speed response times to IT change and status requests. “We reviewed and selected iET Solutions based on cost to value, domain expertise, and flexibility as an organization to work within the constraints of our environment. We are evolving through a reactive to proactive IT approach to service management, and wanted to utilize ITSM to embrace ITIL standards to assist in that transformation of our organization,” said Joe Hradil, CIO, Bradco Supply Corporation. “iET brought a level of expertise and an ability to meet our needs. Within eight weeks we were able to roll out iET Incident Management, iET Change Management, and a service catalog for the iET Configuration Management Database (CMDB). Bradco has been able to use the ‘power’ of ITSM to launch us into a successful migration to a service-oriented IT organization.”

Product Update

An Update from Tim Jarrett, Director of Product Management

You may have heard by now that change is afoot. The next version of the iET Enterprise Technology Platform—consisting of the application server, clients, and other pieces of technology that run your iET Solutions or custom application—will feature a new client based on Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 to replace the Workcenter. To say that this will be a big change is an understatement—but the engineering and product team at iET Solutions have gone to great lengths to manage the transition so that disruptions to your existing applications are minimal. And with the new features and capabilities of the new client, you’ll definitely want to check out the upcoming beta release.

Why a New Client?

There are a lot of reasons, but one big part of the answer is that the technology landscape around our product has changed. In the last few years, Microsoft’s .NET Framework, a next generation application development and deployment framework, has matured, and building on top of this framework brings a substantial benefit in terms of user features and development capabilities. And there is a long backlog of features that we want to introduce in both clients.

What New Features?

There are quite a few improvements already in the new client at this early stage, including a true tabbed interface like Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox, a browser-driven navigation style that includes the ability to use a forward and back button to move through open forms—oh, and an integrated spell checker. Other improvements planned for the release include a feature code named Super Search, a unified text search interface across the application; better discoverability for existing functionality like file attachments and saved queries; and more. An important feature for any organization with integration requirements is the new release’s XML Web Services layer, which will make it easy to integrate data from your iET ITSM or other iET Enterprise application with other applications as part of a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA).

What Should I do to Get Ready?

We have tried to keep this release easy to migrate to by focusing our changes on the client layer and not affecting workflow or the Developer’s Studio. Most applications should continue to work in the new client. However, if you are currently on an older version of the iET Enterprise Technology Platform, you should at least do a test migration to the currently shipping version (iET Enterprise 10.0) to verify that your application works as expected with the newer technology. (There are other benefits to migrating to 10.0, such as improved stability and user-facing features.)

The most important thing that you can do to get ready for the client is to stay informed about what is happening in the client. There are two ways to do this:

1. Sign up for our web seminar on April 18th that goes into the features and functionality of the new client in detail. Click here to register now!

2. Participate in the beta program for the new version, which will give you advance notice of new features and the opportunity to ensure that your feature requests are heard in a timely fashion. Details about the beta program will be provided in the upcoming web seminar.

I look forward to talking to all of you about the new release of the software and getting your feedback!

Latest Downloads

New White Paper: Best Practices in Change Management

Discover how change management can help you manage and control the process of change in order to enable continuous improvements in IT services while minimizing problems and disruptions related to changes. Click here to download your copy.

Catch up on Some of Our Recent Tech Bulletins:

iET Enterprise Support for the New Start of Daylight Saving Time. Click here to download this bulletin.

iET Enterprise 10.0 Support for Internet Explorer 7.0. Click here to download this bulletin.

Customer Spotlight

Home Group: England's Largest Housing Provider Tackled IT Challenges with iET Solutions

With 45,000 homes under its management, Home Group is heavily reliant on its IT infrastructure. Home Group selected iET Solutions ITIL-based applications to help reduce firefighting, improve planning and eliminate duplication across the business. Click here to read the entire case study.

Events Calendar

Visit iET Solutions at the following events:

HDI Expo
April 30 - May 3, 2007
Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada
Click here for more information.

Third Sky Web Seminar Series
Service Owner: Are you missing this vital role?
April 4
12 noon EDT / 9am PDT
Click here for more information or to register.

ITSMF Fusion 2007
September 16-19, 2007
Charlotte Convention Center, Charlotte, NC
Click here for more information.