Item: SolarWinds Service Desk (SSD)
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Solarwinds Service Desk is being used by not only the IT dept but our Accounting and HR departments as well. Mainly we in IT use it to track "incidents" that occur with the technology on the floor or with our remote workers. Over time other departments have been setting up tickets such as investigations which are exactly as they sound. Accounting utilizes our Solarwinds Service Desk to help keep track of all the software contracts that are expiring, and for us to remember to get them the monthly invoices for contracts that are related to the IT Dept. We utilize Solarwinds Service Desk to track company assets so by putting in the make, model, and the serial number of every machine that we set up and assign it to a user so when that user submits a ticket we can attach it to their computer. Some business problems it has helped address is being able to show proof to our auditor of our monthly reminders such as checking the generator, reviewing training policies and see if the trainings that went out were actually completed on time.

Pros and Cons

Incident/Helpdesk Ticketing
Platform Customization
Asset Management
Contract Reminders
User and Admin Friendly Interface

Mobile App flow could be better in regards to incident management
Certain customization options aren't very easy to find
Difficulty figuring out how to remove legacy categories from incident forms

Return on Investment

Better Device Tracking
Better Ticket and Incident Tracking
Pattern Identification from logged tickets and incidents

Alternatives Considered

Solarwinds Service Desk, in terms of platform customization, incident tracking, reporting, knowledgebase, and asset management, far outpaces many other platforms we have tried in the past. Including Zendesk, which is a great service, but is way too configuration-heavy for a company of our size. In the past, we used Manage Engine. That was good but it was bland and overall lacking many of the features that we needed as our business began to grow. For a small to medium-sized business, I highly recommend Solarwinds Service desk. We even feel it can continue to grow with us as our business grows into a large-sized business.

Support Rating

I've had to interact with their support team on multiple occasions. Each time I was able to give them a brief description and their associates knew exactly where I was supposed to navigate to in the console to make the requested changes. Even with something like billing, we have always been able to reach out to our account manager and they take care of the issue or connect us to the people who can.

Key Insights

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

Other Software Used

KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training, Microsoft 365 Business, Malwarebytes Endpoint Protection

Likelihood to Recommend

Solarwinds Service Desk is well suited for helping with tracking incidents, contract renewals, asset management. The reporting is phenomenal once you have fine-tuned it for your needs. Running a vanilla report that's unconfigured will be difficult to understand.

It's less appropriate for tracking investigations. This is often best left in email with HR. The knowledge base is good, but could use some improvements particularly when typing out the knowledge base articles as they are defined.

Look no further than Solarwinds Service Desk for your support desk needs.

Overall Satisfaction with Solarwinds Service Desk (formerly Samanage)