Open Source Help Desk Software

[CCOS_User]

Hi All

wonder if anyone can help - i need to aks the experts!

We are looking to implement a low (ideally no-) cost help desk solution in one of our departments and I have been asked to see what sort of products might be available...

We currently use AXIOS ASSYST and i believe are looking to be able to port our current database over to any replacement.

I hope i am not breaking any guidelines by posting this....

many thanks

[Diarmid]

You will almost certainly get a much quicker, more comprehensive and more reliable answer by using Google.

Presumably you do not need to match the functionality of Assyst; presumably you are only needing a small subset of its functionality and do not require its capability to integrate various service management areas.

It is key to start by defining exactly what you require in terms of functionality, compatibility, future proofing and costs (not just price). I reccomend doing this before looking at any products so that your judgement is not compromised.

Porting your current data to a low cost, low support provision product could be a mountain of work and considerable risk.

With open source there is less redress if a product does not turn out to do what it appears to say and therefore comprehensive trialling (another cost) is advisable.
_________________
"Method goes far to prevent trouble in business: for it makes the task easy, hinders confusion, saves abundance of time, and instructs those that have business depending, both what to do and what to hope."
William Penn 1644-1718

[CCOS_User]

Hi Diarmid

Thanks for the response...

Whilst I appreciate a search would produce a list of titles, I was hoping there might be someone out there who had experience of using a comparable product so could point me in the right direction...

At the moment due to other duties I cannot devote a massive amount of time to it so admit to relying/leaning on professionals within the community a little...


We would of course put in place extensive testing/trialling before implementing any perceived solution...

cheers

[UKVIKING]

So if you are expectinhg the ITIL Community 'experts' to assist you, what is the compensation for the consulting ?
_________________
John Hardesty
ITSM Manager's Certificate (Red Badge)

Change Management is POWER & CONTROL. /....evil laughter

[CCOS_User]

Thanks for the response....

was not "expectinhg", was merely asking for advice/opinions.

That is what I thought forums were for?

my mistake...

[CCOS_User]

...and Diarmid - apologies for missing the first part of your post from yesterday...

I believe there is a expectation for a similiar type of functionality as the ASSYST product - but having no experience or knowledge of what may be out there I didn't really know where to begin...

Thanks to both for the replies though - I do appreciate that the thread is being acknowledged...

[UKVIKING]

CCOS_User

There is a vast difference from free advice - which readily available from the likes of myslef, Diarmid etc

however, your own post stated that you dont have the time to do the research and wanted that provided by the 'experts' in this forum


your own words here
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
due to other duties I cannot devote a massive amount of time to it so admit to relying/leaning on professionals within the community a little
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So you were asking more than an opinion in the forum. You wanted someone to do your leg work because you cant.

This is consluting work as you are actually tasking the virtual experts

Whether you meant it that way is another story

This is a lot different than posting hey..what do you think of x which is askign our opinion - which we have no real problem giving it

-------------hopping off soapbox before it collapses


That said, any ticket system uses a database - oracle, mysql, Microsft sql, etc

The tool - whether it is remedy, clarify, assuyst, service now - merely manipulates the data in the db tables to do what it can

all incident ticket has date,memo, unique id, owner, raiser, classification - priority, seveity, imapct, urgency etc - as well as aother classifciation
they all have a running diary - updates to the ticket

same goes for any ticket system

So the data from one can be imported / exported to another

is it easy - nope
you have to map the outgoing data to the incoming data
sometimes there is no equivilent
sometime a field in one tool is two in another

IT DEPENDS
_________________
John Hardesty
ITSM Manager's Certificate (Red Badge)

Change Management is POWER & CONTROL. /....evil laughter

[CCOS_User]

thanks for the response....

not wanting anyone to do my "legwork"!

just want to know where to start...

a name of a product or two that had proved successful other people would have been useful - we could have then had a look at the product to see how best it fit our needs.

I appreciate that a new user asking for this information might rise the hackles of established users - for that I apologise as I has no intention of stepping on anybody's toes and simpy thought it may be worth asking some people who may have experience of other software may have been able to say "have a look at this one xxxxx - this is quite good and maybe worth further research"

in your words - it was another story...

I genuninely had no intention of any subterfuge and getting any consultation - I can see now that my query caused you major offence and all I can do is apologise to you and all your brethren....


thanks

[Diarmid]

[CCOS_User]

of course - don't want to upset anyone else!

[UKVIKING]

CCOS_User

It does not cause me offense. I posted the original because

a) I am a GoG in the forum - grumpy ole git
b) I am sarcasm incarnate and irony incarnate
c) To prove this I moved from Honolulu a warm tropical climate to London - left unsaid because I was tired on living on an island. IRONY here

Nothing really causes me offense. Irritation, exasperation, etc yes it happens all the time

As I said, ticket systems are ticket systems - open source or not

The issue I see with open source, is that all of the work then is to customize the tool to meet your requirement or change the code to meet your requirements - same as for a non open source tool

You need to before even looking at any ticket system that youa re goign to replace and answer the following

1 - are we using properly
2 - is it linked with our mail system
3 - are we using all of the feature / services available in it
_________________
John Hardesty
ITSM Manager's Certificate (Red Badge)

Change Management is POWER & CONTROL. /....evil laughter

[CCOS_User]

thanks again for the response John

I need to keep looking - obviously...

Has anybody had any experience of GLPI?

ideally we need a MSSQL rather than MYSQL though....