IssueNet is a fully customizable issue management and tracking framework. Your organization can choose to implement just one of our pre-built solutions to fill a specific need or extend IssueNet to incorporate all of your issue tracking needs.

Custom Solutions

IssueNet provides organizations both the tools and framework that are structured enough to comply with the most rigorous security, compliance, and data management needs. IssueNet is also flexible enough to allow control over the data schemes and form design, resulting in the type of software that helps your organization stand out from the crowd.

Maybe your organization needs something special, unique, and not something you can find in an out of the box solution. This is where IssueNet stands apart from the competition; our object oriented structure, coupled with our web services and .NET API, allows us to provide customized functionality that other products couldn’t even consider.

Pre-Built Solutions

A number of our most commonly used features and functions have been pre-packaged to assist our customers in their implementation. We call these packages, solutions, and they are available free of charge as an out-of-the box option or starting point for your custom needs. Our solutions contain everything you need to get started such as workflows, issue types, escalation and automation rules, and notification templates.

Assist for Help Desk

Helpdesks are the engine for maintaining end user satisfaction and productivity. Assist encapsulates many best practices: automation and escalation rules to account for SLA’s, required response time, issue priority, and other related process requirements.

• Help Desk
• Product Support
• Trouble Tickets

• Ticketing
• Issue Management
• IT Service Desk

• Customer Support
• Service Requests
• Service Level Agreements

Oversight for IT Service Desk Management

These ITIL approved processes include the most common escalation and automation rules to ensure changes are properly committed, approved, and communicated throughout the organization.

• IT Change Management
• Regulatory Compliance
• IT Problem Management

• IT Governance
• HIPAA Compliance
• Auditing

• Incident Management
• SOX Compliance
• Release Management

Intercept for Bug & Defect Tracking

Our software bug and defect tracking configuration has templates for issue submission, tracking, feedback loops, engineering requests, and much more. Intercept addresses many of the common needs of software developers including:

• Bug & Defect Tracking
• Change Requests
• QA

• Issue Tracking
• New Initiatives
• Requirements Management

• Process Management
• Enhancement Requests

Why choose IssueNet to manage your Help Desk?

IssueNet’s Help Desk Solution (Assist) provides organizations a holistic solution to easily coordinate, track, and report on help desk tickets and related activities. Organizations of all sizes and disciplines have used IssueNet to improve their help desk productivity and implement customer service initiatives.

IssueNet is ideal for organizations who need to streamline internal and external help desks, centralize multiple applications, or customize a unique solution to meet their demanding needs.

Technical Highlights

Email Integration

Email integration allows your technicians to work inside Microsoft Outlook to manage, update, and close issues.

Web Portal

End users can submit, research, or follow-up on issues of any kind through our intuitive web-based portal.

Knowledge Base

Quickly create and share Knowledge Base articles with other users via the IssueNet client and web-based portal.

Customize It!

Easily define and customize forms for all your issue types to minimize confusion and improve productivity.

Service Level Agreements

SLA arrangements can be used to kick off specific workflows, escalations, assignments, or approvals.

Trouble Tickets

Whether you call them tickets, problems, or incidents, your team can create, assign, work, close, and audit issues.

Assist Benefits

IssueNet can wear a lot of hats, providing all the necessary pieces to implement a complete issue tracking solution. This means providing the tools to improve business quality across your organization, including customer support, product development, marketing directives, and sales growth.

Improve Sales - Sales teams need information to effectively manage their customer relationships. IssueNet provides access to real-time and historical data, including product development updates, customer issue status, asset data, and complete maintenance and service level agreements (SLAs).

IssueNet CRM - Provides users' information, such as contact information, related assets, volume of communication, and service level agreements. All access levels are easily defined and implemented at the administrator level.

Align Organization Strategy – Our workflow design tool allows different department stake holders to visually review their businesses processes for managing issues; aligning each department towards a common business goal.

Improve Product Quality - The product teams can use IssueNet data and tracking tools to determine the success of product launches, prepare marketing collateral, plan product launches, and address key issues in future releases.

Key Integrations

LDAP - allows IssueNet users to have up-to-date contact information.

Microsoft Outlook – users never have to leave Outlook to completely manage issues from submission to closure.

Open API – allows integration with third party or internally developed applications to improve the rich data available to your users.

Solutions that Augment Help Desk

IT Service Management (Oversight) - IT change management, problem management, incident management, and release management are all pre-built business processes that can be used out of the box or modified/extended to fit your specific needs.

Software Bug & Defect Tracking (Intercept) - Software bug & defect tracking and help desk solutions are often used in tandem to improve product quality. Intercept is a cooperative interaction of end user feedback and internal processes designed to review each software defect or enhancement request.

IT Service Desk

IssueNet Oversight provides a total solution for your IT service management requirements. IT change, problem, incident, and release management are all pre-built business processes that can be implemented out of the box; Oversight can also be modified or extended to fit your organization’s specific needs.

Learn how IssueNet Oversight can offer a solid, extensible ITSM solution for your organization.

Oversight Benefits

IssueNet is an extensible, flexible and cost-effective IT service management solution that helps you drive your organization’s success through excellent customer service. It also helps reduce resource drain by streamlining and automating operations via user defined rules.

Eliminate complexity - Automate and consolidate comprehensive, integrated service management processes, such as internal and external customer service, facilities management, and HR with a single tool.

Remain Flexible - IssueNet is extensible and customizable, yielding a solution tailored to meet your unique requirements.

Reduce costs - Consolidate your ticketing software and your ITSM application by using IssueNet.

Regulatory compliance - Customize IssueNet to comply with organizational and governmental policies (HIPPA, SOX, Sarbanes-Oxley).

Support growth - Scale your business with integrated IT asset lifecycle management.

Simplicity - No programming, deep technical knowledge, or extensive professional service engagements are required for implementation, administration, customization, and upgrades.

Technical Highlights

Email Integration

Email integration allows your technicians to work inside Microsoft Outlook to manage, update, and close issues.

Web Portal

End users can submit, research, or follow-up on issues of any kind through our intuitive web-based portal.

Knowledge Base

Quickly create and share Knowledge Base articles with other users via the IssueNet client and web-based portal.

Customize It!

Easily define and customize forms for all your issue types to minimize confusion and improve productivity.

ITIL Ready

IssueNet provides the framework to implement ITIL v2 & v3 business processes specifically to fit your needs.

IT Trouble Tickets

Whether you call them tickets, problems, or incidents, your team can create, assign, work, close, and audit issues.

Key Integrations

LDAP - allows IssueNet users to have up-to-date contact information.

Microsoft Outlook – users never have to leave Outlook to completely manage issues from submission to closure.

Open API – allows integration with third party or internally developed applications to improve the rich data available to your users.

ITIL Supported Functionality

IssueNet provides the framework to streamline your IT services, with full consideration of the ITIL best practices. IssueNet includes the workflows, notifications, and other necessary tools to implement and maintain the following business processes: Incident Management, Problem Management, Change Management, Release Management and Asset Management.

• Incident Management - Restore normal services as soon as possible with workarounds or solutions to ensure your business is not affected.
• Problem Management - Find the root cause of incidents and reduce the impact on business. Problem Management is a proactive approach that prevents recurrence of incidents.
• Change Management – Implement a comprehensive change management system that allows you to handle pre-approved changes and changes with complete approval cycle.
• Release Management - Once changes have been approved and implemented, release management business processes allow users to track any incidents or problems related to the change and implement corrective actions.
• Asset Management - Allow issues to be tracked relative to assets in your database, link to relevant files, and associate assets with specific users.

Solutions that Augment Help Desk

Help Desk Software (Assist) - Internal and external helpdesks are the engine for maintaining end user satisfaction and productivity. Assist encapsulates many best practices: automation and escalation rules to account for SLA’s, required response time, issue priority, and other related process requirements.

Software Bug & Defect Tracking (Intercept) - Intercept is a cooperative interaction of end user feedback and internal processes designed to review each software defect or enhancement request.

What is a software bug and defect tracking system?

Addressing bugs, defects, and other issues is a crucial element of the software development and quality assurance process. A software bug & defect tracking system allows software developers to monitor and address these issues quickly and effectively.

IssueNet’s Intercept solution is ready to integrate with your existing software, providing a feature-rich toolset for managing and tracking issues. Learn how IssueNet can solve your issue management needs, and lead to shorter software development times.

Intercept Benefits

The sooner issues are resolved, the lower your development cost and the higher your software quality will be. IssueNet’s feature set offers extensive flexibility for companies of all sizes. Create higher quality software in less time with IssueNet.

If you are already using an issue management system but have reached the limit of its capabilities, IssueNet can help. IssueNet is completely customizable to suit your organization’s needs.

Improve Communication - by providing a central location for storing and updating issues, accessible via user groups created by the administrator.

Guarantee Accountability - by implementing user-defined rules for routing, assignments, and escalations. These rules can be configured by the administrator or implemented right out-of-the-box.

Release Software - through our web portal to a list of users you specify. This could be based upon SLA or maintenance contracts, user attributes, product version, etc.

Improve End User Experience - The open path of communication created within IssueNet cultivates richer communication and a sense of team, critical for maintaining an effective working relationship with the end users.

Simplicity - No programming, deep technical knowledge, or extensive professional service engagements are required for implementation, administration, customization, and upgrades.

Technical Highlights

Email Integration

Email integration allows your technicians to work inside Microsoft Outlook to manage, update, and close issues.

Web Portal

End users can submit, research, or follow-up on issues of any kind through our intuitive web-based portal.

Software Distribution

Use our web portal to easily distribute and control access to specific software builds via defined user privileges.

Customize It!

Easily define and customize forms for all your issue types to minimize confusion and improve productivity.

Custom Workflows

Our workflow designer coupled with automation rules provides unlimited customization to fit any business process.

Trouble Tickets

Whether you call them tickets, problems, or incidents, your team can create, assign, work, close, and audit issues.

Key Integrations

Top SCM Tools - Associate tickets, enhancements, or other issues directly with your source control management system.

Microsoft Outlook – Users never have to leave Outlook to completely manage issues from submission to closure.

Microsoft Project – IssueNet can be integrated directly into Microsoft Project to allow for more strategic planning and closed loop development.

Solutions that Augment Help Desk

IT Service Management (Oversight) - IT change management, problem management, incident management, and release management are all pre-built business processes that can be used out of the box or modified/extended to fit your specific needs.

Help Desk Software (Assist) - Internal and external helpdesks are the engine for maintaining end user satisfaction and productivity. Assist encapsulates many best practices: automation and escalation rules to account for SLA’s, required response time, issue priority, and other related process requirements.

Microsoft Outlook

Providing immediate access to the IssueNet issue management system from within Microsoft® Outlook®, IssueNet enables the ability to create or link issues directly from email items.

Integration Benefits

Ease of Use - Create, review, and update issues without leaving MS Outlook.

Create Issues from Email - The number one way issues come to light is via email. With tight integration within MS Outlook, issues can be captured and updated quickly and effectively.

User Acceptance - Rolling out a new software system always faces a user acceptance hurdle. IssueNet's integration within the familiar MS Outlook environment improves user acceptance and increases uptake.

Compatibility - Integration supported for both Microsoft Outlook 2003 and Microsoft Outlook 2007.

No Additional License Required - All Workspace integrations (Visual Studio, MS Outlook, MS Build, and MS Project) are included with named and concurrent user licenses.

MS Project

IssueNet provides a two way data link between Microsoft® Project® and the IssueNet issue management system. This integration links strategic project planning and tactical issue and work item management.

Integration Benefits

Put Planning into Action - Quickly transition a complicated project plan into actionable IssueNet tasks for team members.

Synchronization - Update the MS Project plan with real-time work estimates, task completion, and scheduling data from IssueNet without having to follow-up directly with team members.

Visibility - Integration between the issue management system and MS Project allows project managers to dynamically adjust schedules based on real-time issue and task management data.

Compatibility - Integration supported for both Microsoft Project 2003 and Microsoft Project 2007.

No Additional License Required - All Workspace integrations (Visual Studio, MS Outlook, MS Build, and MS Project) are included with named and concurrent user licenses.

Microsoft Visual Studio

Provides seamless access to the IssueNet issue management system from within the Visual Studio® development environment. With this integration, a developer never has to leave the Visual Studio interface to access, update, and resolve tasks. IssueNet views can be launched from the Tools menu and docked into the Visual Studio interface.

Integration Benefits

Increased Productivity - Issue tracking and resolution are firmly integrated into the development toolset with no losses in efficiency due to switching programs.

Increased Developer Acceptance - The seamless experience promotes acceptance from developers and reduces ramp up time.

Source Control Synergy - Attach source control artifacts directly to work items without leaving the development environment.

No Additional License Required - All Workspace integrations (Visual Studio, MS Outlook, and MS Project) are included with named and concurrent user licenses.

Source Control Applications

IssueNet provides a data link between the source control system and itself. This link allows data sharing, and it provides a streamlined method for source control commits to generate and transition work items.

Supported Source Control Applications

• AccuRev
• Perforce
• Subversion
• Team Foundation Server
• Vault
• Visual SourceSafe

Integration Benefits

Synchronization - Tight linkage between the source control system and the issue tracker ensures that status is always up to date.

Efficiency - Workflows are advanced automatically on commits, keeping your development process moving.

Compatibility - Integrations are available for all the most popular source control systems.

No Additional License Required - All source control integrations are included with named and concurrent user licenses.

MS Build

Elsinore MSBuild is a set of MSBuild tasks integrated with the IssueNet platform. The Elsinore MSBuild tasks can be used to automate the creation and transition of issues and tasks in the IssueNet database; the database can be manipulated using the MSBuild command line utility embedded with the Microsoft .NET Framework.

Integration Benefits

Streamline Automated Testing - Issues and defects can be created as a result of automated testing.

Automatically Transition Tasks - Tasks can be transitioned from development to quality assurance as a result of an automated build process.

Visibility - Update issue or task information based on automated analysis.

No Additional License Required - All Workspace integrations (Visual Studio, MS Outlook, MS Build, and MS Project) are included with named and concurrent user licenses

What is MSBuild

MSBuild is a utility embedded with the .NET Framework that is used to compile and build applications from the command line. MSBuild supports performing command line builds using Visual Studio project files. If desired, you can also create custom MSBuild control files such as those included in the Elsinore MSBuild assembly.

For general information on MSBuild see the MSDN documentation.

Is IssueNet a perfect fit for your needs?

IssueNet is an enterprise solution that provides users the capability to customize their issue management framework. We often get questions from customers or consulting companies asking how to determine if IssueNet is the right product for them. Here are a few key points to help you make that decision.

• Have you been looking at other solutions, but just can’t find one that fits your needs?
• Are your current support contracts and licensing fees way too high?
• Are you running into walls with your current solution?
• Do you need something that is more flexible to support your different team needs?
• Does your organization have some unique process requirements you need to integrate?
• Do you need to combine multiple issue management tools into one application?
• Are you having trouble supporting or extending an in-house solution?

Definitions

Here are a few terms we use when talking about IssueNet.

Issue Management - An ideology developed to foster the creation, assignment, communication, and closure of issues.

Issues - A generic term used to represent something that needs to be addressed or resolved (Ticket, Defect, Problem, Incident, Finding, Requirement, Request).

Issue Management Framework - This is a software application that assists organizations with their issue management plan, e.g. IssueNet.

Object Oriented Structure - Based upon the principals of object oriented programming, we organize the data and your business processes into modular pieces that easily support scalable growth and frequent changes.

Class - Is a blueprint of the different pieces of your business process. Each class defines the features and behavior of the object. Examples of a class would be a contact, an issue, workflows, groups, folders, projects, or products. The key differences between IssueNet and other vendors are we have no limitation on the number of classes you can have and our software allows you to define separate rules, forms, workflows, and much more for each class.

IssueNet Architecture

All organizations are unique each having their own priorities, processes, needs, and goals. IssueNet accommodates your uniqueness with extensible object oriented architecture. This means we break each part of your process into easy to manage modules that can be reused, modified, or extended with controlled risk of breaking other processes or skipping critical business steps. Most issue management framework systems restrict the amount of customization you are allowed, but with IssueNet you truly can be as specific and flexible as your business processes dictates.

Benefits of our extensible framework

• Combine multiple applications into one container
• Easily scales to support organizational changes
• A tool that can be used by all departments
• Create as many classes as required

Object Oriented Structure

Being object oriented allows IssueNet to establish the functions and processes for each process module or class. Each class can be thought of as blueprint or cohesive package that maintains the local properties, fields, behaviors, security settings, features, and other necessary administration methods to keep the organizational engine running.

You can define as many different classes and subclasses as necessary to optimize your business processes. We have seen organizations create classes for tracking all sorts of data that is impossible with other tools.

• Issues
• Locations
• Projects

• Documents
• Employees
• Conditions

• Forms
• Customers
• Actions

• Groups
• Reports
• Workflows

Extending Classes

Most people already think of their processes and information in an object oriented manner. Take the way organizations manage contact information. We know that all of our contacts have similar information we need to track; such as name, phone number, and location. But for employees maybe we need to track social security numbers and for customers we need to track their company name.

Administrators in IssueNet would define the parent class, Contacts, with the base format required for any contact type. Once defined, the parent class can be extended to unlimited variations called sub-classes such as Customer and Employee, each with the necessary local changes. Now each of these classes can have their own unique form, workflow, security options, group associations, or other related properties or attributes that we require.

Utilizing the same template we were assured of minimal risk to inaccurate data collection. The guiding rules were already in place, and it took only a matter of seconds to create the sub-classes Employee and Customer. The same process could be followed to create additional extensions for contractors, vendors, competitors, or any other group that associates well to the attributes and behavior of the parent class Contact.

Benefits of Extending Classes

• Child class inherits properties from parent
• Full control over all properties and design
• No wizard that constrains your freedom
• Each class can have its own specific form for entering data
• Quickly validate the administration as your business grows or the product scales to other business units
• Implement changes to all extended classes by making a change at the parent class

Software Deployment

Your issue management system is often the central location of your interfaces with customers. It can be a repository of product enhancement requests and defects, a monitoring tool for manufacturing, a coordination application for different departments, an internal auditing tool, or a central part to your corporate compliance with government mandated Sarbanes Oxley (SOX), HIPAA, and others.

It is important to make sure that that information is protected and secure from online attacks, viruses, and internal misuse. Very few events can be as difficult to recover from as the loss of data, especially data that your team utilizes on a day to day basis to do their jobs and keep customers satisfied.

IssueNet is an on premise application that can be deployed and customized by an IT department in conjunction with business teams to maximize security, control access to information, and ensure that business processes are optimized and compliances are enforced.

Thanks to Microsoft ClickOnce, IssueNet can run as a standard desktop application, managed on a client by client basis. It can also be managed as a network application that users access via a website. Either way, the data is securely protected behind your company firewall and security protocols, not that of a third party supplier and their hosting company (wherever that might be).

IssueNet Applications

• Video game manufacturer who created classes for each game, version, and station.
• Drilling companies who wanted to monitor site performance, blowouts, geology, equipment failures, and injuries.
• Online Ecommerce who wanted to track problems with their hosting provider and ISP as well as monitor their internal software development, and internal/external helpdesk with one product.
• Franchise management companies who need to track construction, personnel, inventory, or logistics problems at their new locations.
• Financial institutions that had compliance and regulatory requirements to track issues with investments and loans and needed a way to combine this information with their external help desk for customers.
• Multi-national organization who needed to monitor datacenter issues across more than a dozen facilities in six different countries.
• Electronics manufacturer who created classes for each of their sites, assembly lines, and equipment vendors.