Item: Spiceworks Help Desk
Rating: 8
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

WE have been using Spiceworks in our environment for about a decade to inventory hardware and software. We also rely heavily on the Helpdesk for internal users to open tickets for help with IT needs. This has been a great software to use in this way for multiple reasons. It has been great with getting more people in the IT department to be able to assign tickets and leave notes and other things that email just doesn't do.

Pros and Cons

I love the help desk portion of the software, it works to streamline our department to not step on each other's toes and we know what is being done at all times.
Hardware inventory is really nice, it scans regularly and updates what we have in the environment. Keeping us aware of changes.
The software inventory is great as it scans regularly and updates us on what changes and what has been updated and installed.
The community is great. If I need help, I ask a question and usually get an actionable response quickly.

Upgrades could go smoother. I have bombed out the install at least twice in the 10+ years I have been using it.
The customization of the helpdesk backend is great but sometimes it leaves you unsure of what to do and how to script things.
Extracting data from the DB that it keeps for feedback to management on performance is limited.

Return on Investment

It has helped us maintain our IT infrastructure better.
We have had a huge ROI as we still use the free version and have not removed the ads. I am sure we will do this at some point but it hasn't popped up yet.
I also finally have people using the helpdesk for about 90% of the issues in the business, we still see the occasional call, email or drop by for something. But usually, we also create a ticket.

Alternatives Considered

SherpaDesk and KACE Asset Management Appliance

I looked at a few other options a long time ago and never really found anything that was simple and effective like Spiceworks and that gave me the community of people that are passionate about IT. I had a Kace setup and it never really got off the ground because I needed someone to just figure that part out and never had the time to make it work.

Support Rating

I like Spiceworks but they have no Phone support that I know of and everything is through email. I have had some downtime in the past and trying to work through email can be tedious. I think if you pay for support that you can gain access to phone support but I wouldn't use it enough to justify it. But I bet a larger install at a larger company would make sense.

Key Insights

Do you think Spiceworks Help Desk delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Spiceworks Help Desk's feature set?

Yes

Did Spiceworks Help Desk live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Spiceworks Help Desk go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Spiceworks Help Desk again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Slack, Epicor ERP, Ubiquiti Networks UniFi

Likelihood to Recommend

Small companies that want a cheap and easy to use Helpdesk and software/hardware monitoring service for their company. I would think if the company was larger it would have issues with the management of the software and could become overloaded on the software and people side. I used this software when it was just me and 100 users, and it was hard to get people to use. Now, I have almost 300 people and 2 admins using the software, and it helps us keep up with demands.

The best software that I didn't have to open a helpdesk ticket to get to work

Overall Satisfaction with Spiceworks