Overall Satisfaction with Solarwinds Service Desk (formerly Samanage)
We are currently using Solarwinds Service Desk as our IT ticketing system. We also use Solarwinds Service Desk for asset tracking. We are only using it for our IT department, but are planning to implement it for other departments in the future. The reporting features allow us to see which problems we have most often and allow us to prepare better to correct them.
- I think the interface (Incidents Page) is easy to use and very customizable.
- Reporting is easy to understand, and there are many pre-built reports that can be used without the user having to do much.
- The asset tracking system allows you to create assets and assign them to particular users or locations. You can also add custom fields to make sure you have all the asset information documented.
- I think the filters for the Incidents can be a little buggy (sometimes shows closed incidents when on the "Active Incidents" filter).
- The reporting section was updated recently and is now much harder to navigate when trying to create custom reports.
- If Service Desk doesn't have a function that other incident systems may have, it can take a long time (or be impossible) to have those functions added.
- Service Desk is helping us stay organized as an IT Department.
- We are able to see what every IT employee has been working on and can help without having to be in direct contact for every incident.
- The reporting functions allow us to see our weaknesses and prepare to resolve those issues more quickly.
For the most part, Solarwinds Service Desk and SolarWinds Web Help Desk are basically the same. Both are extremely customizable, have incident and asset tracking functions and have reporting functions. I believe the kicker was the fact that Solarwinds Service Desk was already cloud-based. Solarwinds Service Desk also has a more friendly interface.
Do you think SolarWinds Service Desk (SSD) delivers good value for the price?
Yes
Are you happy with SolarWinds Service Desk (SSD)'s feature set?
Yes
Did SolarWinds Service Desk (SSD) live up to sales and marketing promises?
Yes
Did implementation of SolarWinds Service Desk (SSD) go as expected?
Yes
Would you buy SolarWinds Service Desk (SSD) again?
Yes
SolarWinds Service Desk Feature Ratings
Using Solarwinds Service Desk (formerly Samanage)
19 - We primarily use Solarwinds Service Desk as an incident response system. We have it linked to our IT email so that it automatically creates an incident when IT receives an email. We also use the asset management section of Service Desk to keep track of our assets and assign them to users or locations.
2 - We have 2 people that troubleshoot and support the Solarwinds Service Desk software for our IT department. One person from the Network team (myself) and one person from the Help Desk team support the Service Desk software. Supporting the Service Desk software is not difficult. I think a person would need good troubleshooting skills and be able to communicate well with Solarwinds support.
- Incident Response
- Asset Management
- Reporting
- Track which problems we deal with most
- See who answers the majority of incidents
- Guestimate average turn around time on incidents
- Provide more in depth information for inventory and assets
- Plan more quickly to fix persistent incidents
- Come up with reward system for technicians
Evaluating SolarWinds Service Desk and Competitors
- Product Features
- Prior Experience with the Product
Prior to starting with this company in 2017, I worked at another company that used Solarwinds Web Help Desk. When I started with this company, I suggested we use Web Help Desk as our incident response system. We got a demo of the product and used it for a couple of weeks. Then, our decision makers decided to go more cloud based. So, we looked in to, and eventually purchased, Solarwinds Service Desk.
I don't know that we could have had a better evaluation and selection process. Most likely, the only way for us to better the process would have been to make the entire department demo the product instead of a select few people. If everyone had been in on the demo, we could have discussed any questions or concerns as a whole and could potentially not have had to deal with them after implementation.
SolarWinds Service Desk Implementation
- Implemented in-house
- The only thing we had to implement was the email setup for creating and responding to incidents.
SolarWinds Service Desk Training
- no training
Working in IT, we were already very familiar with systems like this. Once the system is setup, it is very easy to get used to. The web interface is very user friendly and pretty straight forward. If we did encounter anything that we didn't understand or couldn't figure out, support was there to answer our questions.
Configuring SolarWinds Service Desk
When we were implementing and building our database for Solarwinds Service Desk, we were not crunched for time. We were able to use trial and error for our customization and implementation. If you have a limited amount of time to get this product implemented, I'd strongly suggest asking support to help implement and customize the system.
No - we have not done any customization to the interface
No - we have not done any custom code
We have not done any customization to change the look of the interface for everyone. The way Solarwinds Service Desk is setup allows each technician to edit the look and feel of their own home screen. The only thing we changed for everyone was to add a company logo to the login screen.
SolarWinds Service Desk Support
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Problems get solved No escalation required Immediate help available Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
I do not have a specific time in mind. I haven't had to use support for Service Desk in a while. Each time I use support, I copy our company's direct Solarwinds contact, and I get a response pretty quickly. I haven't come across any issues that have not been able to be fixed or that have taken more than one week to resolve.
Using SolarWinds Service Desk
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | None |
- Reporting
- Asset Management
- Incident Response
- I do not find the system difficult to use.
Yes - I downloaded the Solarwinds Service Desk app from the iPhone App Store. I typically only use this when I'm working at a remote location and in a hurry. The app has limited options compared to the web interface. But, it does allow you to enter your incidents and fully manage them.
SolarWinds Service Desk Reliability
Integrating SolarWinds Service Desk
- None
We have not integrated our Solarwinds Service Desk with any other software.
- Microsoft Outlook
The only software that I'd want to integrate our Solarwinds Service Desk with would be Microsoft Outlook. If we could have the Solarwinds calendar sync with the Outlook calendar, that would be amazing.
- Single Signon
We are planning to implement single sign on for Service Desk. But, we haven't gotten around to it.
If you have any issues with integration, reach out to Solarwinds Support. They are always willing to help.
Relationship with SolarWinds
The only thing that we absolutely wanted was help with the implementation process.
Be straight forward with your vendor. They are trying to make the sale, and they know you are likely choosing between multiple products.
Upgrading SolarWinds Service Desk
- We have not performed an upgrade.
- I haven't been paying attention to the upgrades.