Spiceworks is preparing to beta test version 5.0 of the company’s free, advertising-based managed services platform. The Spiceworks 5.0 release seems to target network-centric MSPs. Here’s a quick preview of the release and some more background on Spiceworks.
According to co-founder Jay Hallberg, Spiceworks 5.0 will “include a full set of automated network configuration management features for network routers, hubs and switches. Capabilities include a built-in TFTP server as well as the ability to backup and restore network device settings.”
Hallberg says Spiceworks will unveil at least one more MSP-centric surprise within the next two months — with a potential announcement expected at CompTIA Breakaway (Aug. 9-12, San Antonio, Texas). The final Spiceworks 5.0 release is expected to be ready for general availability by September 2010 — or a few weeks before SpiceWorld, the annual Spiceworks User Conference (Oct. 21-22, Austin, Texas). Ironically, N-able Partner Summit is the same week.
Tracking the Numbers
Spiceworks has spent much of 2010 talking about its business milestones. In June 2010, Spiceworks said more than 1 million IT administrators use the company’s free software. And in January 2010, Hallberg described the company’s march toward profitability in this MSPmentor FastChat video:
Still, I don’t hear too frequently from Spiceworks users… so it’s difficult for me to say whether Spiceworks really is an apples-to-apples alternative vs. traditional, paid RMM (remote monitoring and management) software.
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Posted In: Remote Monitoring & Management Software
Tags: CompTIA Breakaway | Jay Hallberg | N-able Partner Summit | Remote monitoring and management | RMM Software | Spiceworks | Spiceworld
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Nice review and interview
Can’t wait until Spiceworks 5.0 out of beta, so many great new MSP features ready to be used
Cheers
AKP: Thanks for reading. Just a quick clarification: We haven’t “reviewed” Spiceworks’ software. As a tech blogger I’m a bit like a baseball writer… I tell readers what I see and hear, but I’m not really qualified to step onto the baseball field and swing the bat.
Are you a Spiceworks user? Employee? We always ask our readers to disclose company affiliations in the comment areas…
-jp
Joe, fair enough.
Re my affiliation with Spiceworks; Nope I’m not a Spiceworks Employee just a massive fan and over active community member.
Spiceworks is a quite good software, but to be polished verywell.
the key thing I do not like the frontpage, a bit colorful, it is easy to use, but not exactly match flavor of tech. staff.
Hello Joe,
We at Carceron(an MSP)use Kaseya as out RMM. We also use Spiceworks to take care of some of the areas that Kaseya fall short. Every MSP should add this product to its toolbag.
Jeffrey Lee
VP & CTO
Carceron
Jeff, Thanks for posted the comment. Generally speaking, I am starting to hear from MSPs that use Spiceworks in a fashion similar to your approach.
-jp
Hi, I’m interested in offering my clients a solution where I can monitor there computers remotely and be more proactive in their maintenance and support, can Spiceworks do this? I was at the levelplatforms roadshow a couple weeks back and was very impressed at the ability of the level solution however free is a lot better than $$$ so in researching my options the Spice solution keeps coming up. Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated.
Greg: MSPmentor doesn’t endorse any specific RMM tool. We offer the old “try before you buy” advice. Speaking in practical terms, Spiceworks may fit your needs. But I’d also be careful before assuming “free” is “a lot better.” In some cases, free tools certainly are better. In other cases, you get what you pay for…
We always appreciate reader questions about RMM. But I always go back to my usual advice: Just run some of the free trial software to draw your own conclusions. It’s sort of like buying a car: Would you really make a purchase without taking the car for a test drive to see if it matches your specific needs?
-jp