Add a lot of Zing to your network with Spiceworks Inventory
December 11, 2018
Add a lot of Zing to your network with Spiceworks Inventory
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Spiceworks
We use Spiceworks Inventory to discover and inventory all of our network-connected devices. Spiceworks Inventory is a free software package that works either as an agent or with saved credentials (iLO, Windows, Linux, Mac, Printers, WAP, router, switch, etc.) to collect device information on your network. For us, and for anyone who wants to get a handle on what's really connected on your network, Inventory helps us track and manage systems--mostly end-user systems. Inventory performs a sweep of your devices and displays a lot of data such as make, model, warranty info, RAM, CPU, disk space, hardware components, applications, and version information for all listed components. It helps us track systems by model, by age, and the software inventory is very valuable because we also get notifications if an application has a security vulnerability. Spiceworks Inventory is an essential part of our IT toolbox.
Pros
- It accurately and quickly gathers device information.
- It consumes very few resources (network bandwidth, CPU, memory, etc.).
- It can be run and maintained on a virtual machine.
- It requires no special extra software and requires no special hardware.
Cons
- I wish it were easier to remove and wipe data. Doing it one system at a time is tedious.
- I also wish there were a way to better discover new devices, regardless of available credentials--as soon as someone connects to the network, we would get a notification.
- I would like to see Inventory integrate with AD.
- Spiceworks Inventory has had a significant positive impact on our ROI because we only had to invest a little time and a few resources (a Windows VM and license) to its use. The software is free.
- Spiceworks has a huge active community of followers and any questions I have are always answered right away, which helps us maintain our installation and our inventory.
- One significant positive is that Inventory warns us about expiring warranties on our systems so we can make decisions about continued support or plan for decommissioning.
We didn't evaluate any other inventory management software since I knew about Spiceworks Inventory before I came to this position. I had no need to evaluate any competing product. Spiceworks Inventory, in my opinion, fills a void in this market, which is why it has been so successful. Inventory software is either very expensive or very "dumb" in that you have to enter your assets manually.
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