Pros and Cons of having a Dedicated Consultant for Ivanti Neurons for ITSM

You’ve purchased and implemented Ivanti Neurons for ITSM aka Ivanti Service Manager (formerly known as HEAT) and the consulting invoices stack up and you might ask yourself, can we maintain the system ourselves?

Over the last 27+ years and 100+ ITSM Implementations with products such as Ivanti Neurons for ITSM, Ivanti Service Manager, HEAT, I have given many different answers.

The fact is that it all depends on your technical analyst’s skill set, availability, and experience.

_ Disclaimer:   Not endorsed by, affiliated with, or sponsored by Ivanti. Any use of the software product names describes the fact that the author has experience with the ITSM products mentioned above.  Any reference to “Ivanti Consultant”, “Ivanti Developer”, “Ivanti Architect”, or “HEAT Consultant’ describes experience and skillset.  The author has never been employed by Ivanti, however, he has sub-contracted for Ivanti Business Partners, in Canada, the US, Australia, and New Zealand._

1. Those that take care of basic data administration (validation tables, picklists, employee team associations, role changes), create/modify saved searches and quick actions, research the occasional error, maybe dabble in more advanced configuration with the help of some knowledge articles or Ivanti support.

2. Intermediate Administrators that make basic form changes, create business rules, perhaps even relationships and basic data imports and request offering changes.

3. Advanced Administrators that make major configuration changes, introduce new features & functionality, advanced data import connections & integrations, workflows, automation, request offerings, etc. These admins are mostly self taught and have an ability to pick up configuration without much if any training.

Sounds easy enough right? Not so fast… You see, a little bit of knowledge is dangerous and quite frankly don’t know what they don’t know. This is where we separate the Ivanti Administrators from the Ivanti Consultants , and I mean freelance consultants , not Ivanti employees.

There is one type of role that trumps all of the Ivanti HEAT Admin levels and makes the Advanced Admin’s head explode with configurations & developments that everyone else, including Ivanti, said it couldn’t be done.

Lets face it there are Ivanti Administrators and then there are long-time seasoned developers & consultants that can carry out advanced administration in their sleep where others struggle. And remember, your Ivanti Admin doesn’t know what he doesn’t know.

Simply put, there are mechanics that perform oil changes, then there are those working from their home, or a small shop, or a big company, versus mechanics that traveled the globe with not one but several word class racing teams. Every level is important. What sets the levels apart are the results thanks to skill set, experience, and competence.

You don’t become great at something because you take a training course. You problem solve and put in the time & effort to learn on your own. After all, practice is the mother of skill.

Ivanti ITSM isn’t rocket science HOWEVER you need to have the experience. And by experience, I don’t mean a couple years and a couple implementations. Arguably you need at least 15 years and 20 implementations to be considered senior, but even that’s not a given.

With 27+ years and 100+ ITSM Implementations, worldwide, I’m not just confident, but I have the experience and skill set. So much so that I have mentored and trained Ivanti Business Partners. But enough about me, lets get down to the pros and cons.

• Consultants solve problems more quickly

• Better Results

• Less expensive in the long run

• Free up your staff to work on their areas of expertise to work IN the business while you and your consultant work ON the business

• Consultants provide a useful distance from business challenges

• Consultants are not emotionally invested in operations in the same way that business owners are and they can more easily identify and address challenges

• Customization. No cookie-cutter one-size-fits-all solution

• Advisory role vs re-active firefighting

• Can be expensive. There are some really crazy dedicated packages out there. It pays to find an experienced freelancer

• Can be time-consuming. Ivanti and Ivanti Business Partners tend to have too many meetings, too many status calls , and too many (junior) consultants and project managers involved. After all that makes money, but it also costs you time. You need to be diligent and find an experienced freelance consultant that advises you and doesn’t need babysitting. After all, you’re paying for results, not social meetings.