Unofficial Spiceworks

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.

So maybe I’ve been slow writing up on the dell plugin but it’s here now…

So about a 3 months ago Spiceworks managed to team up with CDW to make the “CDW Search” as that is a US plugin Unofficial Spiceworks hasn’t reviewed it as its not much use to UK people. This went off well and now has 700 downloads. Then 2 months into this being live Dell and Spiceworks teamed up to produce one to allow you to instead of search CDW search the dell website for products and services.

This would allow people to quickly find Dell products from directly in Spiceworks.

I gave it ago my self it works well, I don’t use Dell myself but it was definitely good to see what they had to offer in the different sections.

If you have dell on your network it is well worth giving ago. Its great to see Spiceworks working with companies like Dell to produce plugins like this, its what makes Spiceworks invaluable.

Screenshots

Get the Dell search plugin now

Jump on over to the community…

The community is a great place for vendors like IBM, Dell, HP, Cisco and well any company to get feedback.

The water cooler area is no expectation to this Justin Davison has just posted a great article (well a rant) about “What I want from the vendors I deal with”

So a couple of conversations I have had recently and a flood of invitations to seminars and meetings have gotten me thinking about what I am looking for when dealing with vendors at seminars, in meetings, and even in the SpiceWorks community.

<rant>

Please don’t read me the marketing brochure, I am very good at reading and if I am actually interested in your product I already have reviewed your marketing materials in literature and on your website. I want the meat, I want to know how your product or service does what you claim and I want to know how it will fit in my organization. Be ready for technical questions, if I have taken the time to meet, attend, or interact with you in the forums it is because I want that technical knowledge.

Read More

The Voice of IT has started with IBM.

They are looking to get into the SMB Market and could do with your help!

MyShell has posted the below, what are your thoughts and comments.

IBM has primarily been known as a leader in the Enterprise space for years. They have recently started to focus on the Mid and Small business Market. They want to learn how to better relate to Mid-market and small business. How are they doing? Do you feel that IBM’s Ad messaging both on Spiceworks and elsewhere is effective? How do you rank the Whitepapers/Case studies/ Digital Assets they produce? What is your current perception of IBM and their role in supporting you, the Mid and Small business IT Professional? What are they doing right, what are they doing wrong?

We would like to hear from you, the “Voice of IT” in this space. Your feedback will help us help IBM better understand your needs, so be sure to tell us what you think!”

Why not pop over to the Spiceworks community and share your feedback?

Click here to view what’s been said already

Hopefully we will see people like Dell, HP and IBM with people actively on the community giving us the latest information and asking for feedback on there products.

A Few Thoughts on Spiceworks written by pd

The data is password protected and stored locally.  My machine is a windows xp, Core 2 Duo, Dell SC440, with 1GB of RAM. It is slow on the onset and that makes sense since it is scanning the entire network. Once it is running, it is an amazing app that I am not willing to live without.

Rock on Spiceworks another happy customer.