A Service that Really Helps Service Your Support!
Updated July 09, 2021
A Service that Really Helps Service Your Support!
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with SolarWinds Service Desk (SSD)
Our organization is replacing an aging and incorrectly implemented ticketing system with Solarwinds Service Desk in a phased fashion. We currently have the Service Desk, administrators, and Security Team using the product with plans to roll it out for more groups very soon. We have been using the Incident, Problem, Solutions, Assets, Service Catalog, Contracts, Purchase Orders, and Vendors sections. This service has helped roll out service level agreements, Asset Tracking, and much more that we were unable to utilize or provide before implementing this product in our organization.
Pros
- Incident Management
- Solution Catalog Offerings
- Vendors
- Contracts
- Asset Management
- Portal Usage
- Email-to-Tickets processing
- Notifications
- Solarwinds Orion Integration
- Dameware Remote Everywhere Integrations
Cons
- Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager integration
- Problem Management
- SLA Management/Notifications
- Custom Report Building
- Slack Integration
- SLA Management is working well as built, allowing for follow-ups.
- Notifications are working extremely well for SLA Management and tickets in general.
- Processing e-mail-to-incident is works very well, having no issues.
- Problem Management is difficult, as closing the problem does not change the status of the attached incidents.
- SLAs can be tough as notifying direct managers isn't possible just based on the assignee that I can find.
- The SCCM connection for asset discovery doesn't appear to work on the Windows-based scanner; it does seem to work on the Linux-based scanners, though.
- Domain mapping, when licensed, helps by granting users an easy to remember link to access.
- Okta integration is extremely helpful, but somewhat difficult to set up with user provisioning.
As Solarwinds Service desk is completely hosted, it removes the need to commission one or more servers and database(s) which also removes quite a bit of overhead for the IT department to manage and maintain. Also, the operating system, database, and software updates are a thing of the past once the hosted platform is adopted completely. A few detractions of the hosted model are as follows:
- If the Internet or network connectivity is lost, so is the access to the ticketing system.
- There is little control over maintenance windows or problems that may affect the system.
- Customization is not an option beyond the controls provided by the platform.
- Feature additions are somewhat random and not under your company's control.
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
ROI
Yes - SSD Replaced Microsoft System Center Service Manager. We replaced SCSM due to the system being improperly implemented originally, along with the man-hours required to update and maintain the system and its customizations in general. System Center Service Manager required quite a bit of management and configuration upkeep, making its cost too high for an organization of the size of mine. It may have required a part-time dedication, which was too high of a management cost for that system compared to SW Service Desk.
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
The basic feature set was a large part of the factor; one of the biggest pieces was begin hosted. Integrations with existing systems (i.e. Solarwinds Orion, System Center Configuration Manager, SNMP, Slack) was a small piece, but the ability to automate pieces of the ticketing processing and setting up custom forms/requests was huge, as well. As time has gone on, the features being added roughly monthly have been great, as well. Contract, asset, and and purchase orders are also a huge piece of the puzzle for my organization!
SolarWinds Service Desk Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Good followup Knowledgeable team Kept well informed Support cares about my success | Escalation required Difficult to get immediate help Need to explain problems multiple times |
Yes - It is a part of the license level we are currently utilizing. The support level we receive only partially factored into the purchase, as the other portions of the licensing level we chose were required for the level of the product we needed as a company. If there were separate support options from the license level, itself, we may have chosen a different level of support.
Yes - It took quite a while to resolve the issue, as it was a problem that required the Engineering staff at the company to investigate. While the Engineering Team was investigating, it felt as though communication dropped off until there were requests for commands or attempts to repair. We were hoping for a bit more communication, to be honest.
We had an issue that ended up being user error. It was resolved rather quickly when we provided the details. It came down to a part of the user interface that was being missed during the setup phase for mapping custom DNS names. Once the information was provided to their support staff, they provided an answer quickly that solved our issue.
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