It's okay for SMB but not great
Updated December 30, 2014
It's okay for SMB but not great
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Software Version
7
Overall Satisfaction with Spiceworks
Spiceworks was used as a ticketing/helpdesk and networking inventory software. We used it for our only location for the network portion but the remote users, in addition to local users, used the ticketing portion. This helped us track issues that were arising, see and also anticipate potential problems and assisted when urging those with the credit cards to make, what we knew to be, very much needed purchasing decisions.
- It's free. No other ticketing system, that I know of, can say that (at least any good ones).
- It integrates nicely, as a whole, with the ticketing in trying to find an answer to the ticket by including links to possible solutions from TechNet, the Community and the manufacturer's website.
- The inventory portion isn't bad. It often has a good deal of scan errors but, once remedied, it does a nice job giving you lots of relevant info.
- The ticketing system is basic but lacks many features of bigger players. Spiceworks was designed for the SMB that didn't/doesn't have the money for a large $$ ticketing system. I currently use Autotask at my current employer and it is far superior in it's tracking with tickets and the like.
- Spiceworks could stand to open up their code a bit more. I often hear of people who have specific needs that wouldn't be difficult to integrate/allow but that aren't done.
- The interface needs a bit of an overhaul. They keep adding features to the product that, while they are good, they need to be addressing previous concerns first. It often feels like, with the product, they're trying to be flashy and show off what it can do now vs address the issues of long-time users/attempted users.
- No projects! Users have been requesting multi-tiered tickets for awhile now or a projects-like ability. Having a task list under a ticket would be awesome as well. I've been using Spiceworks over 2 years and it's been requested since before I started and still hasn't been implemented.
- Allows for tracking of issues/work where having no ticketing system makes it difficult.
- When used properly, a good ticketing system does improve efficiency, in addition to accountability. When you are required to document in a ticket what you've done, otherwise it wasn't done, it makes employees work better.
- Reporting with it is decent. If you are an MSP and tracking billable time, this is an okay way of doing it.
Spiceworks does things Autotask doesn't and vice versa. However, if you remove the network inventory aspect from Spiceworks, it's inferior to Autotask in every way, with the exception of price. Autotask is a CRM, Time Tracker, Helpdesk, KB, Projects, all of it. Spiceworks doesn't do half of the things Autotask does, and, what it does do, it doesn't do as well.