The leading large enterprise software company, BMC Software Inc. (BMC) recently announced that it would include Salesforce.com Inc.’s (CRM) Chatter 2 application to its cloud-based platform “ServiceDesk on Force.com” to address increasing customer demand for Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) solutions. The Chatter 2 application is the second iteration of the original Chatter application, which includes social networking features such as Twitter and Facebook.
 
Salesforce’s Chatter is a collaboration application for the enterprise to connect and share information securely with users in real time. BMC Software’s ServiceDesk on Force.com, a simplified cloud-based information technology (IT) help-desk software, is the joint effort of BMC Software and Salesforce. The solution automates ITSM processing as well as enables the support staff to respond quickly and efficiently to conditions that disrupt business services.
 
BMC Software’s ServiceDesk offerings are already popular amongst its customers. We believe that the collaboration of Chatter 2 with the ServiceDesk will help companies streamline communication and collaboration within the work place through enhanced customer services.
 
BMC Software is also offering mobility options with the latest cloud application. These options will be beneficial for end-users as they will be able to send queries through an iPhone or a Blackberry. The joint effort of these two companies is expected to encourage more IT-based firms to deploy ServiceDesk on Force.com to better align their complex IT operations to increase productivity.
 
As per the findings of the research firm Gartner, BMC Software is the worldwide market leader in the IT Service Desk and Help Desk space. Based on this, we believe the company is well positioned to tap growth opportunities in its Software as a Service (SaaS) segment with the help of its ITSM product suites.
 
However, we remain apprehensive about the challenges posed by industry leaders such as International Business Machines Inc. (IBM), Hewlett Packard Company (HPQ), EMC Corporation (EMC) and CA Technologies Inc. (CA) owing to their strong positions in areas of cloud computing and IT solutions. BMC Software’s exposure to Europe is also a cause for concern.
 
We maintain our long-term Neutral rating on BMC Software.
 
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