Unofficial Spiceworks

  So I started this post off last year in December and seems fitting to actually get it done after my post yesterday Spiceworks Raises $16M.

I started off by asking around 20 people

Spiceworks is a gret product and really helps lots of people carry out there day to day tasks but there are all these "Little things that would make Spiceworks that much better".

I got a whole 6 replies thanks to benhar, Kimberlin, DigitalBlacksmith, Craig M and Texkonc for replying

In no real order here are some of the things mentioned…

Community

• Mobile version of the community – So you get emails from the community but when your stuck in traffic or on the train or maybe just at a family thing and you want to check out the community it either works but is very slow or you get a error. A mobile version of the community would allow more people get answer questions throughout the day.
• Top Contributor lists -  These don’t really seem to be updated at a regular frequency.  It would be nice if that list was updated every hour or so.  Maybe a counter added that counted down to when it would be refreshed/updated next.
• Download/Bookmark helpful posts, How-To’s, etc in the Community -  Not really a small one but one a lot of people have talked about, a way of book marking posts you want to check out later or need to remember about. At the moment you have to use a third party software and it gets messy.
• New post emails – Emails notifying you of new posts should contain the text of the post (like they do with PMs) to help people on the move keep track of what’s being said.
• Loss points if you don’t post – So if you leave the community and don’t post for a month you lose points, this will keep people coming back to the community even if they only login.
• Email notification when the BA is chosen – When a problem is marked with a best answer it would be nice if it emailed you to say it was resolved, this would stop people having to check back on every post.
• Email nudge to review whitepapers – So you get a email with the whitepaper link but it would be nice if you either got a link in that email to go back to review it or a email 5 days later to remind you to review it. This would help the number of reviews of products.

Spiceworks

• Grouping by client – This is a MSP feature, it would be nice to be able to group everything by client, hardware, software and tickets.
• Change the owner on devices – So you can so you can set who has the device but then it also has the function to look back on the previous owners. So you can keep track of who has had the device though out its life.
• Archive old devices – Be able to archive or delete old devices to help keep the scan clean
• Change the helpdesk view – Add and remove columns from the helpdesk overview section

Hmm so we can see people either love Spiceworks software or they use the community more…

And some of them aren’t really that small but ye… I was trying to get more people to reply to find those niggles that just get pushed down in the feature request section

Got any more?

Post them in the comments, I may update the list later on

So as almost anyone may have seen by now TechCrunch have announced Spiceworks Is Becoming The Facebook For IT Managers; Raises $16 Million Series C. Jay (Spiceworks) has post up there official word on the community news section.

I was reading though the comments and love how Jay managed to get my post about how good free support is in there.

Spiceworks official word on why they needed the money is

There was just one problem – we weren’t building new features and capabilities into Spiceworks fast enough. We were making too many trade-offs, pushing out too many features you asked for. And worst of all – too many of the innovative ideas the team had weren’t seeing the light of day. With our user base approaching 1 million IT Pros world wide, I just wasn’t comfortable with the speed at which we were enhancing the platform.

So what do I think this means for Spiceworks?

I think it means that Spiceworks will grow and grow fast. 4.6 is planned for sometime this month/early next and I have heard some very small talk off 5.0… That’s where the big stuff will come in.

If you read this blog regularly you will have seen my comment on the bottom off ”Spiceworks and Intel® Maintenance Manager Plugin”

So does this mean now if you have the knowledge you can start to execute commands on remote machines? Could we start too see plug-ins for remotely installing software?

We maybe able to start getting hands on with machines via Spiceworks, some of the top feature requests at the moment are

• Knowledge Base

• Auto-archive devices after a time-limit

• Get Information from Active Directory

• Multiple Client View

Spiceworks have been aiming at the MSP market for a while and I think that’s where they will aim. Sorting out the helpdesk to work on for a range of clients, setting up client views, being able to do more things remotely. Why? Because they have spent the time working on the remote collector and getting it secure.

Something else they might start looking into is real time monitoring. With the SQL plugin they have proved it is possible, we just now have to wait and see how real, real time monitoring from Spiceworks can be.

Well see what happens over the next few months, Unofficial Spiceworks will be here to keep you up to date though.

Spiceworks is a finalist in the CODiE awards for “Best Vertical Market Business Content Solution”

Read more http://www.siia.net/codies/2010/

Quickly access, view, and fix remote devices, without pre-installed software.

Personally I have never used LogMeIn so don’t really know what to say about this plug-in but it looks like a great ad-on if you are using LogMeIn Rescue or looking to use it.

Download and install the plugin now

Allows you to run scheduled maintenance tasks on entire inventory groups. Will wake and hibernate computers as needed before and after the maintenance tasks.

With the release of Spiceworks 4.5.45710 on the 31st December we now have the use of the Intel Maintenance Manager Plug-in, this gives the change to “run any executable or batch file that you would otherwise start from the Start->Run field”.

With three “actions” by default “Get critical windows updates”, “Defrag local disks” and “Disk cleanup” you can start to get the feel off how powerful this plugin could be for making things easier. Then you find out you can add your own custom command and away you go. You could even put a batch file with loads of commands into a network share and schedule its execution.

Click for larger version

Download the plugin now

So does this mean now if you have the knowledge you can start to execute commands on remote machines? Could we start too see plug-ins for remotely installing software?

This is just another step in Spiceworks becoming everything IT and making mine and your day soo much easier.

So for Spicework’s new year gift they released version 4.5.45710. This brings two new features LogMeIn Rescue and Intel Maintenance Manager that we will be checking out soon as well as many new bug fixes:

• x64 bit installs will now pickup software better
• Its now able to find SQL Server x64 installs
• If “Stay logged in” is unchecked it will forgot you when closing browser
• Scan Error count now decreases if scan errors are fixed on a scan
• Network map
  • • Users are no longer able to add the same device more than once to a single node
    • When deleting a connection between nodes, a large black spot no longer super imposes itself on the map
    • Users are now able to add sets of devices; if a node is disconnected and then reconnected, the line no longer stays orange
    • Changing a node to be the root node no longer removes the connection
    • ISA server no longer creates a node that prevents the network map from rendering
• Remote Collector – Restarting or connecting to the remote collector installation no longer goes to the dashboard

Just to show how Spiceworks are always working to improve the product.

Download and Install Spiceworks 4.5.45710 Now

To update from a previous version just install over the top.

Not using Spiceworks?

It really can help free up your time so you can spend time with your family and loved ones more without worrying about work.

Lots of people have started to think of there new year resolutions so why not make yours to use Spiceworks in the new year? Spiceworks can save you time and money and its FREE.

So the word free has grabbed your attention?

Spiceworks is 100% free and provides you with so many great features all designed to make your life easier.

• Inventory all of your Network, PCs & Macs
• Monitor & manage your network
• Manage changes
• Manage configurations
• Map your whole network quickly network
• Audit software
• Troubleshoot network problems
• Run an IT Help Desk
• Manage power consumption
• Monitor SQL Servers
• Talk to IT Pros Like You

Still unsure if Spiceworks can really help you? Have a read off a day in the life off and see just how all of those great features help you become a IT pro. Setup and use the Helpdesk to manage your time and then report on it and show how much work you do to get more pay or more time off.

Anyway, what is there to loose in trying? Spiceworks is 100% FREE and supported by a HUGE community of experts on not just Spiceworks but anything from Dell to Microsoft or even Intel. The community is there nearly 24 / 7 powered by people like you who may just have the answer to that question you have been thinking about for 3 weeks.

Already using Spiceworks?

You can save time too, with some simple plugins

• Keyboard Shortcut plugin – Navigate though Spiceworks quicker with this simple plug-in.
• Power Manager sponsored by Intel – Save not just time but money with this one, you can save money by shutting down machines in the evening but also time by not having to hunt around for ages trying to fine or make software to do this.
• Dell Search – Quickly search Dells website for machines and parts from within Spiceworks
• License Manager – This one will help you keep track of your licenses and make sure you are “legal”
• SQL Server Monitor – Monitor your SQL servers for problems before they happen.

This month the Spiceworks community gets to learn more about Dmitriy Beer.

How did you get into IT? How long have you been at it?

As with the most of fellow IT Pros, it’s the usual story of being interested in computers since the very early age. The story is slightly different in the fact that I am Russian born and historically the Eastern block was always poorer hence there was no way an average family could afford a computer at the time. Luckily at my mom’s workplace they were quite progressive, so I could get my hands on a couple of them when she was staying late at work.

Read the rest on the community