Frame.io

Frame.io is a cloud video collaboration platform engineered to streamline real-time sharing, evaluation, and approval of video content. Equipped with features such as time-coded comments, version management, and compatibility with widely-used video editing software like Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro, Frame.io enhances communication between team members and clients. By centralizing all video project resources in one location, this platform fosters organization, preserves brand coherence, and conserves time.

Wipster

Wipster is a video collaboration and review platform designed to expedite the feedback process for video projects. Enabling users to place comments directly on the video, it eases communication among team members and clients. Integrated with widely-used video editing software like Adobe Premiere Pro and supporting diverse video formats, Wipster is especially beneficial for agencies and media companies handling multiple video projects concurrently and aiming to enhance their review and approval procedures.

Monday.com

Monday.com is a flexible project management solution that can be tailored to efficiently oversee video projects. Equipped with features such as visual timelines, task delegation, progress monitoring, and adaptable workflows, Monday.com promotes organization and punctuality for teams. The platform’s adaptability empowers you to modify your project management strategies to suit your distinctive video production process, rendering it a valuable resource for teams of varying sizes and skill levels.

Trello

Trello is a versatile project management solution that can be configured for video production workflows. Employing a card-based system for task and resource management, it facilitates seamless collaboration and progress tracking for video projects. Trello’s user-friendly interface enables the creation of tailored boards, lists, and cards to oversee all facets of video production, ranging from pre-production to post-production. Boasting an extensive array of integrations and power-ups, Trello can be effortlessly customized to accommodate the requirements of any video production team.

Notion 

Notion is also a versatile project management tool well-suited for orchestrating video production projects. Boasting features such as task allocation, deadline management, progress tracking, and team collaboration, Notion empowers teams to maintain organization and adhere to project timelines. Its customizable project views, encompassing tables, boards, and calendars, offer a holistic perspective of your video production’s advancement, facilitating efficient task prioritization. Moreover, Notion’s wide range of integrations with other tools amplifies its adaptability, making it an invaluable asset for managing video projects.

Asana

Asana is a widely-used project management platform ideal for overseeing video production projects. With features like task delegation, deadline setting, progress monitoring, and team collaboration, Asana enables teams to stay organized and meet project milestones. Customizable project views, including lists, boards, and timelines, present a comprehensive overview of your video production’s progression, assisting in effective task prioritization. Furthermore, Asana’s compatibility with numerous integrations enhances its versatility for managing video projects.

Basecamp

Basecamp is a prominent project management solution suitable for video production workflows. Equipped with features such as to-do lists, file sharing, team collaboration, and real-time messaging, it is an ideal choice for managing video projects of any scale. Basecamp’s unified approach guarantees that all team members remain well-informed and involved, minimizing the likelihood of miscommunication and project setbacks. With its user-friendly interface and comprehensive functionality, Basecamp is a top choice for video production teams aiming to optimize their project management processes.

Celtx

Celtx is a pre-production solution purpose-built for film and video projects. It encompasses features such as scriptwriting, storyboarding, shot planning, and team collaboration, assisting teams in planning and organizing their video projects from inception to completion. Celtx’s all-inclusive toolkit ensures seamless integration of pre-production elements, enabling you to concentrate on realizing your creative vision. This platform is especially advantageous for filmmakers and video producers seeking a dedicated tool to manage all aspects of pre-production.

Final Words

Selecting the appropriate project management tool for your video production needs can greatly influence your team’s productivity, cooperation, and overall achievement. Each of the aforementioned tools provides distinct features and benefits, addressing various facets of the video production process. When choosing a project management tool, evaluate your team’s unique needs, workflow, and desired degree of customization. By investing in the right solution, you can simplify your video production process, improve communication, and guarantee a more seamless, well-structured workflow from beginning to end.

You can also read a list of the most useful tools used by Bride&Groom.video editors to save time and help at every stage of their projects.

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ITSM 365 updates: Comment management, integrations with remote access programs and more

New features will simplify the work of the specialist in ITSM 365. Write off labor costs with one button in a familiar format. No more need to translate minutes into hours. Manage comments with hot keys and don’t waste time on mouse clicks. Connect to users remotely. 3 new integrations with remote access systems are available. Navigate through the application even faster. New term names will help you find the information you need faster in lists and on the card. Add employees as observers. They’ll be up to date on the application, and you’ll save time on communications.

InfraManager 6.2 completely redesigned service catalog in the web-interface

The new version of InfraManager 6.2 completely redesigned directory of services in the web-interface. The developers have tried to orient the Directory of services primarily for the average IT-service client – to make the search for the right information as simple and intuitive as possible. Their goal was 3 clicks – the ideal for the user to proceed to sending a formulated and classified request to the IT service without unnecessary writing. In the service catalog the following features have been implemented: tree-like structure of the service catalog, making a request directly from the catalog article, Favorites section, intelligent context search, SOS button.

Bpm’online ITIL service 7.5 provides a single window for user support

Terrasoft presented a new version of the system for managing IT services – bpm’online ITIL service. Updated product includes a single window, which allows employees of Service Desk to increase the speed of handling requests. A single window accumulates all the necessary tools for an employee of the first line of support: a request processing queue, communication dashboard and current performance indicators. The manager receives tools for configuring queuing rules and can easily plan and monitor the work of the whole team. The new version also adds the mobile application wizard to the System Designer, as well as other tools for changing the structure of sections and system appearance. Updated synchronization capabilities with LDAP. Implemented a new concept of administration, allowing you to distribute access not only given the organizational structure of the company, but also taking into account the functional roles of employees.

Naumen Service Desk 4.4 adds Gantt chart, online chat and Android application

Naumen has released a new version of its system for automating IT and service management processes – Naumen Service Desk 4.4. New version includes: improved universal planning tool and Gantt diagram – now it is much easier to distribute human resources involved in operations, projects and other activities and plan load of employees taking into account their employment and any assets; context menu, allowing to edit tasks and perform other operations directly on the diagram; drag’n’drop function to perform various operations with planning objects; mobile application for Android OS, designed to facilitate work with

ITSM Tool Universe 2014 ITSM Solutions Rating

British industry portal The ITSM Review has published a ranking of the world’s best ITSM solutions in 2014. 14 systems took part in the study, including the domestic system Naumen Service Desk. And it is nice that as a result Naumen was in the top five, scoring a total of 90 points with a 100-point scoring system. And according to customer ranking NAUMEN took the first place.

Hardtree – SaaS service for IT business management

Hardtree is another SaaS startup, created by our compatriots primarily for the Western audience. This service was designed as an IT resource management system (in the best traditions of ITIL), but the appetite came during development and creators decided to include project management, collaboration tools, basic CRM functionality and even financial accounting into the service. The result is an all-in-one business management system. But considering the large competition on the market of similar (universal) SaaS solutions, it is logical to consider Hardtree as a virtual office for IT companies that a) have their own IT infrastructure to manage, and b) need to support their own IT product users.

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Nowadays, businesses are regularly exposed to external influences, and projects and systems are becoming more and more complex, with shorter implementation times. To optimize a number of processes, there are different IT solutions for IT resource management, but many of them increase the demands on IT professionals. That’s why the process approach deserves special attention – it improves the quality of services while reducing company costs.

IT service and IT resource management is called ITSM (Information Technology Service Management). It is a management method that implies a service approach to the work of IT services: IT specialists provide services to other enterprise departments according to a service level agreement. The steps to be taken to organize an ITSM approach are described in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library – ITIL.

What are the ingredients for success in enterprise IT infrastructure management?

The ITIL library contains a set of documents that enable the implementation of ITSM principles. The very idea of creating ITIL originated back in 1980 at the suggestion of the British government. The first edition was released in 1992. On the basis of this library the international standard for management and maintenance of IT services ISO 20000 was developed.

Let’s list the processes that ITIL describes:

• Problem and incident management. Speaking of incidents, we mean any situation that requires a response (system failures, user requests, etc.). To make this process successful, a special service, Service Desk, is organized. Its task is to identify and eliminate problems within the enterprise, to minimize the risks of their occurrence;
• configuration management. This process provides up-to-date and accurate information about the IT infrastructure;
• change management. The task of this process is to allow only the necessary changes;
• release management. It is about implementing changes and controlling the preservation of the IT infrastructure when changes are implemented;
• service level management. The process is needed to identify the optimal level of service and prevent quality degradation of services, to eliminate poor quality services;
• financial management. It is a question of supporting financial business processes;
• capacity management. The task is to find the optimal capacity in order to implement the main tasks. When there is not enough capacity, the speed of implementation will be lacking, which, in turn, will slow down operations. But too much capacity is also bad, because if it is not used to 100%, we can talk about excessive costs of the company;
• continuity management. In the event of an emergency, your IT infrastructure must continue to operate uninterrupted. Neither fire, floods, nor power outages should disrupt your services;
• availability management. Availability must be high and stable – this has a direct impact on your service level.

The international standard ISO/IEC 20000 “Information Technology. Service Management”, organizes all processes into 5 key groups of IT resource management:

1. Service provisioning (availability and continuity management, service level management, capacity management, information security management, cost accounting and budgeting).
2. Interaction management (includes interaction with vendors, business, etc.).
3. Resolution processes (this includes problem and incident management issues)
4. Release management.
5. Control (configuration management, change management).

Basic steps of building an ITSM system

There are several stages and directions of ITSM implementation for IT resource management:

1. planning and management system audit (survey of company structure, IT processes, IT infrastructure). Successful solution of problems implies their identification, for which reason an ITSM project always begins with an audit. That is why at this stage an analysis of all processes is performed to identify their status at the time of the audit. The IT infrastructure is examined, the performance of all subsystems is analyzed, “bottlenecks” in business processes are identified, the software inventory is made, etc. In the course of the audit, all IT processes are evaluated from the viewpoint of their compliance with the organization’s needs. As a result, current and target maturity levels are determined for each process. Relevant conclusions are drawn, on the basis of which possible improvements in IT resource management are elaborated.
2. Determination of the target model. This step is used to elaborate an individual concept of IT resources management development, describing the requirements each process should correspond to in the future. The procedure is labor-intensive, but it will form an integral IT management system, which allows to account for both business strategy and new opportunities. In addition, predicting the results will allow you to optimize your management processes.
   As for the concept of development, it must take into account the processes and technology (we are talking about all their details, schemes, features), as well as the personnel who will participate in the overall work. The result will be a plan for improvement of services, which will allow to estimate costs and make the necessary decisions on the strategy of development of the IT-service of the company.
3. Fast elimination of incidents, solving user requests (both internal and external). At realization of this step the work of service of support of internal users and clients of the company (Service Desk) is organized. This service allows to regulate the processes of support, automatically process incoming requests, and evaluate the satisfaction of end users.

4. Monitoring of the IT-infrastructure. Monitoring allows to ensure control over changes in the infrastructure, which is also important. It is realized by carrying out inventory of hardware and software and providing automated support of the actual information about the IT infrastructure. In addition, monitoring allows for rapid identification of failures, and the process of making changes to the IT infrastructure will be regulated. Another plus is the automatic preparation of reports on the operation of the process. As a result of this step, the enterprise management will constantly receive the information needed to improve services and company operations.
5. Management of the processes of deployment, planning and delivery of IT services. The goal – the creation of a reliable foundation, the development of mutually beneficial relationships with customers, maintaining a high level of service.

Regardless of the IT resource management methodology you choose, its implementation within the company will have a positive impact on the company as a whole, and on the IT infrastructure in particular. Your specialists will do systematic work and concentrate on achieving the declared objectives, instead of systematically solving unexpected problems.

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At the same time, systems that used to be loaded as they should, in many ways work in a more relaxed mode. But you can not just use them, firstly, because no one knows that they are free, and secondly, because, for example, they have been purchased for the needs of another department.

Capacity management practices

So how can a business solve such a complex problem – improve the efficiency of existing resources, optimize future purchases and, most importantly, do it all with reference to actual current and future business needs, rather than just pointing fingers in the sky?

One of the answers is a well-known ITSM practice – capacity management and demand management processes. What’s it about, in a nutshell? It’s about the need for a complete picture of the resources involved, those responsible for each sector, and most importantly, predictability of utilization for the future.
Under normal circumstances, predictability of load is realized through two mechanisms: the tracking of historical demand (if at the end of the quarter the accounting department frantically summarizes reports and balances, the load on the reporting systems at the end of each quarter will obviously increase) and the process of requesting and negotiating new capacity (if two groups of testers need the same environment to test new releases, there must be a process of requesting and negotiating capacity, which allows everyone to do what they need, while not “drop” the system).

How are things now and what are the problems?

Now, of course, the conditions are unusual, so it may be useless to rely on historical demand, but a general picture of resource utilization and an established process of requesting and providing capacity, as well as releasing and reutilizing capacity that is no longer used, would be extremely useful.

Many companies have this process in one form or another, in the manual mode the request / allocation of capacities is carried out, and certainly there are monitoring systems in almost all organizations, large and small.
However, a classic problem can look like this: IT gets a request for a new virtual machine. The virtual infrastructure administrator requests resources from the storage administrator, according to the request – for example, 2TB. The storage administrator gives 2TB, the virtual machine is created, and uses… 100GB. Or 200GB. At the same time, the storage administrator does not see real usage, he sees 2TB of allocated disk space. As a result, almost all of it (and IDC statistics say that up to 40% on average in storage infrastructure) is not used. So what is missing and how can the process be improved?

Why don’t classic monitoring systems work?

If you have 10 servers or 1 storage system, it is not a problem to manage their load forecasting, keep a spreadsheet in Excel and coordinate new loads with your colleague at the kitchen table over tea, but if you have 10 000 servers and dozens or hundreds of storage systems, and the colleagues responsible for the infrastructure areas you need are located in different cities, the picture is much more complicated. Desk systems service and work schedules, of course, help to comb out the process, but again, everything is manual. Monitoring systems, of course, solve the problem of load control, but when the infrastructure is large, there are often several systems, not all have a single console, and most importantly – they often only provide data about the load, but the questions that really concern the business and operation, do not help.

What monitoring systems give us:

• Percentage of CPU, memory, disk space usage.
• Network bandwidth and network load.
• The utilization and state of virtual and container infrastructure (usually in individual systems, by the way).
• The presence of hardware and software bugs.
• In the case of advanced systems, they will also provide analytics on the causes of failures.
• In the case of APM systems, they will give a picture of the application and user experience.

It seems great, so much stuff… But what do we really want to know? Well, I mean, of course we want to know that the servers work, the memory is there, the virtual machines work, the containers are created and migrated normally, but why do we need all this?

• First and foremost, we care about whether the end service works, which means, does the user get it?
• If the service doesn’t work, why not?
• Can we deploy the new service on the current infrastructure?
• How will changing business requirements affect the infrastructure? What will need to be changed?
• How much does it cost us to run the IT infrastructure and how much should we budget for next year, given the business plans?

The answers to these questions, unfortunately, are often either left unanswered, or the answers are simply based on an expert opinion of the responsible employees of operating departments.

This approach precisely leads to an uneven allocation of resources, poorly reconciled with the real needs of various services and applications, losses due to downtime, and the simultaneous need to buy extra equipment for those infrastructure segments for which it is not really needed.

What does a large organization really need from a resource management system?

So, it would be nice to have some kind of a single console in which, in addition to the resource utilization data itself (preferably, of course, aggregated from all sources, so as not to look separately in this console, and separately in, say, vCenter), which would also have functions:

• tying IT system metrics to business metrics (say, number of orders to database hits and memory load, or site visitors to processor and memory load on web and application servers)
• building forecasts for various scenarios in these business terms;
• ordering and negotiating capacity provisioning with risk assessment and mutual influence;
• recommending placement of new workloads or reallocation of resources;
• reporting on resource utilization in relation to business functions (say, departments, branches, or customers in the case of a service provider).

Such a solution would potentially be of great value to large companies

• In the current environment, it would be quickly understood which services would be under the most strain, which would not cope, which resources are already busy and where resources can be quickly taken without affecting the performance of other systems.
• Globally, it’s a serious optimization of IT procurement, moving away from the “let’s buy for keeps, or next year they won’t give us the budget” approach.
• Transparency of spending on infrastructure, licenses and cloud services for IT management and the company.
• An organized process of demand and capacity management, which means reducing the risk of business service downtime due to resource shortages.

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What is IT infrastructure

IT infrastructure is everything related to technology within a company. It is all the components that a company uses when managing data.

IT infrastructure components include everything from hardware and software to data storage methods and cybersecurity protocols. It also includes all IT-related hiring, training, policies, processes, upgrades and repairs. In other words, it’s everything related to the technology that production uses.

You could say that IT infrastructure is similar to building infrastructure in the sense that it consists of physical components. There are the applications that support key functions, the servers that host the applications, and the data centers that house the servers. There is also the network infrastructure that facilitates access to applications and services for the business.

The focus is on the following IT infrastructure components:

• Hardware;
• Software;
• Network;
• Wireless/wireless access;
• Virtual and remote assets;
• Data centers.

Categories of IT management

IT infrastructure management is sometimes divided into three subcategories of management: systems management, network management and storage management.

Systems management

Systems management covers a wide range of key activities in IT management and includes the administration of all IT components. The CTO typically oversees the day-to-day operations of the data center and manages the integration of new applications and third-party services into the organization’s hybrid cloud environment.

Systems management actions include certain actions that detect and prevent information security threats in time. Moreover, log management, workload automation, configuration management, and integration of cloud applications and services all fall under systems management.

Network Management

IT security analysts manage and configure an organization’s networks. Professionals allocate resources to the applications and services where they are needed, and maintain the quality and availability of services. Network management also includes a security element, as IT operators must maintain network visibility to monitor security status and protect against unauthorized access and data leakage.

Storage Management

Storage space is a limited and valuable asset for organizations. Therefore, a critical aspect of IT infrastructure management is secure data storage.

These include:

• virtual environments;
• Providing access to storage centers;
• Data compression and security.

Automation and virtualization techniques allow enterprises to quickly reallocate storage resources where needed. Other management techniques, such as data replication, mirroring and security, help protect against data loss or theft.

Why manage your IT infrastructure?

1. Regular enterprise operations.

The main purpose of IT infrastructure management is to keep the company running smoothly by preventing downtime and data loss. Infrastructure management allows a faster response to emergencies or other outages.

2. Predicting and preventing emergencies.

Infrastructure management services that include intelligent automation give businesses the ability to predict maintenance rather than approach it as it occurs. Proactive maintenance reduces the likelihood of unplanned outages and unproductive downtime.

3. employee efficiency.

Infrastructure management allows employees to choose more efficient ways to work with information and streamline workflows.

4. Resource allocation.

IT infrastructure management allows you to plan the use of resources. The company can reduce production costs and monitor the condition of technical equipment in real time.

Creation of IT infrastructure

There are several basic elements in any IT infrastructure, which should be given high priority.

Hardware

Obviously, without hardware, there will be no infrastructure. To begin with, a company should make sure that the company has all the necessary technical equipment, including the necessary servers.

A practical server costing no more than a desktop computer can serve 25 or more users, but for most small operations, the ratio of one server to ten users will be ideal.

Software

Software issues range from the operating system on which the network will run to the productivity tools the team needs for day-to-day office operations. The company should think about the needs of the business ahead of time and look closely at tools and software that will help and optimize technical processes.

System audit

The purpose of the audit is to find the weaknesses of the system and to work out the ways to eliminate them. In addition, as a result of the audit specialist will have a complete picture of the work of all server components. Also, the result of the system audit will show how suitable they are for the introduction of new software.

In the action plan, it is important to reflect each stage of IT infrastructure implementation. It is necessary to detail the goals, outline the development strategy and draw up regulations for working with the infrastructure. The plan should also include all the wishes of the technical specialists, the terms of reference and the company’s objectives. Based on the results of the plan the company will be able to estimate the entire process of work, and calculate the resource investment in the construction of IT infrastructure.

Introduction of a support service

The support service will be responsible for working with users. The support team should include experienced specialists, who will be able to promptly respond to user requests and solve problems.

Monitoring tools

Monitoring is necessary to maintain the overall performance of the infrastructure as well as to prevent failures.

The main monitoring tools include:

• inventory;
• checking the serviceability of equipment;
• Document analysis.

Specialists use these tools both comprehensively and individually. It is important to understand that each check should end with a detailed report on the state of all systems.

How to effectively manage the IT infrastructure

Because IT managers are responsible for the design, implementation, maintenance and decommissioning of each of the IT infrastructure elements, it is essential to understand best practices for managing them.

IT infrastructure management best practices include:

• Knowledge Gathering;
• Creating and implementing management standards;
• Keeping all management regulations up to date;
• Applying all provisions of management standards and regulations.

Through effective management, it is easier to keep all the components of the IT infrastructure up and running. This leads to increased productivity, reduces costs to the enterprise, and increases employee and customer satisfaction.

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