Running small biz IT departments can be all consuming at times. We end up being the the in-house computer repair department, the resident electrician, infrastructure gurus, un-jammers of copiers and printers, and experts of any device that plugs into the wall for power. Since we rarely get to focus on what we were truly hired to do (design, implement, and support the true IT function) in the organization we sometimes miss out on tools and techniques that can make our jobs so much easier.
Enter Spiceworks.
I happened to be a member of my local school’s technology advisory committee, along with 3 other gentlemen. We were discussing a partnership with an IT company to do some outsourcing of IT duties at the school as the in-house person just could not keep up with all of the demands of the havoc today’s kiddos can place on IT. The IT rep for the contractor was telling us about this wonderful software they have that can keep up with the health of all PCs, allowing them to see what is on each computer, etc…really cool stuff. So one of the guys on my committee says ‘Oh, well we can do that stuff for free, with Spiceworks’.
Wait, what? Full fledged company IT monitoring…for FREE?
Immediately I started researching Spiceworks when I got back…wow.
Friends in the IT world, if you don’t have this software yet, you need it. Like yesterday.
Spiceworks (I am not sponsored by them in any way) is a wonderful, wonderful tool with so many features that I can’t cover them all. This thing will scan your entire network, inventory every single thing on your net, along with computer types, installed hardware (even tells you how many free slots of RAM exist), installed software, warranty info, and gives you a dashboard to see it all! It displays Exchange performance, sends you alerts when disk space runs low, and sends you weekly emails of what is ‘new’ on the network. This is a godsend when IP addresses are scarce and ‘Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)’ is a common occurrence at work.
(Cue infomercial voice) ‘But that’s not all!’
How often are you on your way to get a glass of water, when someone stops you in the hall and says ‘I can’t get this formula in Excel to work. Can you come see me in a minute?’ Sure, right? So you are pouring your glass of water and then someone else comes in and says ‘The copier in the benefits department is jammed again. Can you come and fix it so I can print out these things that I already have electronic copies of?’ Sure. So you get back to your desk, and start answering the 15 emails that came in while you were away and these two issues get lost!
No longer! Spiceworks also includes a full-featured help desk ticket system. Yes, you heard me correctly! It is both portal-based (go to a website to enter a ticket), or email based (simply email address your problem). This is an IT department's best friend. By migrating your users to the ticket system, you have an accurate log of issues with priorities. You can see when they are due and who they are assigned to. You can add your own fields to track whatever makes sense to your organization. This gives you an awesome knowledge repository, and great accountability so you can go to your superiors at review time and show them what a great job you did. All IT issues can now be accounted for without losing things in passing. It can be a little challenging to migrate your end users to this format, but in less than a week, the tickets will be the standard way end users communicate with the IT department.
It is a very easy installation. A ‘Yes, next, OK’ sort of thing. They have a great support community and have Spiceworks University in the larger cities around the country.
Oh, and remember…all this functionality is F-R-E-E!
And all of this underscores the importance of networking with your IT friends and colleagues. I would have totally missed this awesomeness if I hadn’t been sitting on that committee! Hopefully this blog can become an IT friend to you!
