Spiceworks - the good, the bad, and the ugly

[Tesla]

Hi all

 

I have recently had my second attempt at trying to get my head around using spiceworks.

 

I want to hear from you guys, what you find good about it, what you find bad about it, what is useful etcetc

 

There seems to be so many bits and bobs on there to get to grips with, i want to know what you guys/gals think is worth utilising from it.

 

thanks

[featured_spectre]

Useful, any hardware it can connect too (pcs, laptops, servers, routers etc) it will collect info for, making it easier for asset management.

Its built in helpdesk can be tweaked to suite your needs

It has a functioning community which can help with any spiceworks issue

Knowledge base can be built from existing and old tickets

 

Bad

 

Tickets cannot be edited retrospectively should a fix be found or a better answer be found

reports from the tickets do not show all pertinent information, and does not accurately represent time management.

[SovietRussia]

We only use it for helpdesk, works fine for that Asset Manager used to slow it down as it was pinging everything!

[localzuk]

We use it here. Its a little bit of a monster though.

 

The helpdesk bit works well.

 

The inventory is good, so long as you keep an eye on it and keep it tidy. If your DNS is a mess, your inventory will end up a mess.

 

Things like warranty tracking for HP and Dell are useful. As is the new feature that seems to have figured out our switch models and backed up the config!

 

Its also useful in that it logs the switch and port of where devices are connected.

 

Bad things: Its a beast. It can eat through resources like the best of them. Scanning the network can cause your Spiceworks server to become unresponsive sometimes.

I can no longer specify a time that a ticket was worked on less than 15 mins (or at least, I can't find how to).

Edited January 28, 2014 by localzuk

[localzuk]

Tickets cannot be edited retrospectively should a fix be found or a better answer be found

 

They can, if you reopen them and edit them.

[featured_spectre]

They can, if you reopen them and edit them.

 

Ahh didn't think of that as previous helpdesk softwares wouldn't let me re-open tickets!

[3s-gtech]

Yeah, editing tickets is a swine but is possible

 

SSO is a great feature - though we've made it so easy to log IT issues, we sometimes get spammed. Better than not reporting them though!

[Tesla]

noob question coming up...did you install it directly onto your server?

[localzuk]

I have it running in its own virtual machine on our cluster.

[jtotheb]

I can no longer specify a time that a ticket was worked on less than 15 mins (or at least, I can't find how to).

 

Have you swapped to the new helpdesk look?

 

On the classic helpdesk (7.0.01329) the inline time has a minimum of 15min, but the separate "Labor" button is still available for any amount.

[featured_spectre]

We have it installed on its own server here, takes minimal resources compared to some of our other beasts! lol

[IWDave]

I use it here for Tickets (I hate post-it notes), Audit, item warranty and supplier info. As well as Community KB (but I've now found EDUGeek (again)). I used to use RFQ (Request For Quote) in Spiceworks, but it was a problem to add or amend a supplier after initiated, so use my own system now.

[localzuk]

Have you swapped to the new helpdesk look?

 

On the classic helpdesk (7.0.01329) the inline time has a minimum of 15min, but the separate "Labor" button is still available for any amount.

 

Running 7.1.00010 here, with the 'new' interface. There is a 'Time Spent' dropdown but no other way to add time in any other way.

[jtotheb]

Running 7.1.00010 here, with the 'new' interface. There is a 'Time Spent' dropdown but no other way to add time in any other way.

 

That is a bind. I liked the ability to quickly add blocks of time with the inline options, but also having the ability to manually add time and assign it to different people who had worked on it via the Labor section.

 

Can you revert to the classic look in 7.1 or is it new or nothing?

[localzuk]

I think you can, yes. But I wouldn't want to - the classic look is incredibly slow.

[Tesla]

Okay, so how are you guys setting up the helpdesk, have you got it linked through Active Directory, or is that a bit overkill?

[localzuk]

Yup. Got it hooked up to AD here - everyone already has their email address entered in AD, so when they email the helpdesk email address it knows who they are and assigns the ticket to them accordingly.

 

From that, we have an email address people can email which goes direct to the helpdesk. I have a rule on that account which strips out all "all users" emails so the helpdesk doesn't get spammed.

[Tesla]

Ok, i have set that up, waiting for the Sync, hopefully will get this all running no problem.

 

Bit of a noob when it comes to these things =[

[Olliesaurus]

I have found Spiceworks ticketing side to be pretty good really, the auditing side leaves a little bit to be desired but I have just turned it off.

 

Shut my 1000th ticket yesterday, congratulation Jaffa Cakes were consumed.

[karlr]

Have any of you guys opened up the portal to end users? If so, how do they seem to be getting on with it? We're currently looking at using Spiceworks as a helpdesk, but the portal side of things doesn't look too great, particularly for staff to view the status of their tickets.

 

Have made some attempts to customise the portal but not sure how much mileage there is going to be in that (I can see future Spiceworks updates breaking everything..): User Portal - Custom Open Tickets/View Ticket Widget - Spiceworks

[Bradlys]

I've just started using it thanks to @Ephelyon despite have a few hiccups because of the way our system is setup, I like the inventory layout etc

[karlr]

Noticed some of you aren't too keen on the asset management/auditing side of Spiceworks. Can I inquire what you don't like about it? I'm reasonably impressed with it myself so far, although this is just running in a small virtual environment so it's only picking a few VMs..

[speckytecky]

I was looking at using it but when it came to reading the 'terms and conditions' I decided against. Free at present but the way I read it they have the option to start charging - including retrospectively at any time they want to.

[localzuk]

Retrospective charging is illegal in the UK - without a statement outlining costs at the beginning of a contract, the terms wouldn't hold up in court - and schools don't just roll over when threatened with such things. So, that wouldn't work in the UK.

 

All free software has the issue of potential future costs, it's a risk you take by choosing it.

[xenonive]

I have to say its been getting better with each versions , been running it since version 2 which was good back in 2008. I do find now our network is getting to 2k+ devices the scans take a long time but still works well. If you like Spiceworks and want to learn more you should come to Spiceworld in London which is sometime in May , best 2 days of IT you can have in the UK and you will see the real power of Spiceworks.