Spiceworks releases v1.6
Spiceworks released their new version late last night. I got a personal message from my friend Jen on Saturday to let me know it was coming. Now, I call that service.
I haven’t had a chance to fully experience all the new functionality, but so far I’m very impressed. I’ll give you a little run down on some of the new and definitely improved functions of the software:
The Spiceworks HelpDesk was always pretty basic. It’s all I needed, but there was no way to place a bulletin on the HelpDesk page to let users know that we are already aware of the problem they’re reporting. So, you’d get a dozen tickets for the same outage. Bingo, the new release gives me two editable areas on the HelpDesk page!- More HelpDesk goodness… Users can attach files now! Cool deal – they can put a screen shot of the error up there or a PDF thank you card to their IT technician. Possibilities are numerous, and I’m so glad to see this new functionality. By the way, you can also attach files back to the user.
Another cool addition to the software is the “My Spiceworks” page. Just like Google’s personalized home, you can edit everything on the page, put up your favorite RSS feeds, and get a general view of your inventory and helpdesk from one area.
They’ve also created a link to most popular remote control titles, like TightVNC. Click the device, and click “Remote Control,” and bad-a-bing, you’re in action – controlling the machine in question. It seems like it’s still two clicks away from HelpDesk tickets, requiring you to click on the device listed on the ticket to launch you into the inventory view before getting to Remote Control. It’d be great if there was a button right on the ticket. Still, great added functionality.
All in all, I’m thrilled about the new release, and I’m still thrilled about the price. I love that they’re able to stay in business relying only on ad support. I’m happy to click here and there to keep Jen employed.
A couple of weeks ago at the Shelby conference, I mentioned Spiceworks to the group that I was in, and one of the guys in the class said that “Spiceworks is basically spyware.” He continued to say that they capture your hardware information and target ads based on that information. So, I did a little reading on the Spiceworks privacy policy, and I was delighted with what I found… I’ll quote the important bits.
[Spiceworks Desktop] does not gather any non-systems related information such as personal files and content… The information gathered is limited to configuration information about hardware devices and software applications… All of this configuration information is stored locally… None of this configuration information is sent to, or stored at, Spiceworks…
Good news for me. Read the whole thing for yourself as they do collect some anonymous information from you that you may want to know about. Still, nothing identifiable goes to Spiceworks or to third parties.
Go ahead and download it, you know you want to.
I did take a look at the new Spiceworks upgrade the other day, and I’m impressed with a lot of the changes! I haven’t had a chance to review it in-depth (beyond going through the “guided tutorial” upon upgrade) but it looks like it’s becoming an even more powerful solution. I’m not sure what’s keeping me from jumping all the way in, but I’ll continue to use it as one of my tools and keep evaluating it. I’ve been messing with them since before version 1.0 :-)
I am glad to hear that the help desk especially is getting better, because it was very simple before. That’s one of the reasons I decided not to use it. It looks like we’re probably going to go with a different helpdesk solution (likely HelpSpot but nothing final yet) but I’m interested to see if, when HelpSpot’s next version comes out and has push integration with outside tools, if Spiceworks will add a similar feature and maybe they can talk to each other somehow? Mainly to associate helpdesk tickets with hardware where it makes sense to do so. Not exactly sure of the logistics but I’d be interested in looking into it.
Thanks for your comments David. As I’ve further reviewed the product, I wouldn’t grab it up until they release the first patch. There are several issues that need to be resolved, but their support team is VERY good and quick.
Spiceworks 4.1 is currently out with 4.5 hot on its heals.
I can’t wait to meet the Spiceworks team at SpiceWorld London http://www.spiceworld2009.com/london/
It will be a great day with loads off information and hands on training with Spiceworks 4.5
Spiceworks have also managed to team up with Intel for a power manager http://www.spiceworks.com/free-pc-power-management-tool/ which just rocks.
Hi Matthew,
Thanks for previously featuring Spiceworks on your blog. Sites like yours are essential for spreading the word to small and medium businesses about our free IT management software.
I wanted to give you a heads up that we’re currently Beta-testing Spiceworks 4.5 which you and your readers can download and try out here – http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/81484.
If you decide to test it and write a review, let me know so I can promote the post on Twitter and in the Spiceworks online community. The same offer applies if any of your readers host an IT-focused blog and decide to post about Spiceworks.
Let me know if you have any questions and thanks again for your support.
-Jason, Spiceworks