If all I had was a hammer
Sometimes vendors need to pitch their tools as something less than the solution to all ills. Especially when it is a gadget.
The latest article on the usually excellent ITSM Review is by Teon Rosandic, [presumably the sales] VP EMEA at xMatters, a vendor of "mass notification services". As well as introducing the exciting new concept of "Service Licence Agreements", Teon also said
Immediate, targeted notification and communication is the key to speedy resolution of IT service issues.
No it isn't. In fact I'd go so far as to say it has nothing to do with it. We've spent decades evolving the roles and processes which give us a separation of duties so that one team deals with communications and user support while another team deals with resolution.
Communication mechanisms are useful of course, but as a vendor of such tools you don't help your cause by over-hyping them.
[Updated: Gawd I just read the previous post on ITSM Review from SolarWinds. It is - if anything - worse. It ACTUALLY SAYS "your helpdesk can be a panacea for all your IT ills." And then the only thing it talks about is opening tickets from your network monitor. Talk about a one-hammer worldview]
I was reminded of a little song written by one of the characters on this website, Rambling Kid Realitsm, reproduced here:
If all I had was a hammer
I'd hammer in the forums
I'd hammer in the meetings
All over this land
I'd hammer at a conference
I'd hammer without warning
I'd hammer out deals between my prospects and my company
All over this landIf you had a doorbell
I'd ring it in the morning
I'd ring it in the evening
All over this land
I'd ring in danger
I'd ring without warning
I'd run out of love between my company and my prospects
All over this landI've learnt only one song
I sing it on our website
I sing it when I'm tweeting
All over this land
I sing it to my neighbours
I sing in white papers
I sing out loud between my greeting and my leaving
All over this landAll I've got is a hammer
And you've got a bell
And I've only one song to sing
All over this land
It's the hammer of product
It's the bell of wheedling
It's the song I shove between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land
Original If I Had a Hammer ©1986 TRO-Ludlow Music, Inc. (BMI)
Made in New Zealand 
