Small business IT management

J

-Jess-

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 28, 2010
Messages
291
Hey guys,

I'm trying to get some feedback on a few IT inventory/asset management/monitoring solutions.

My spreadsheet/DB/calendar combo :)o) has grown more cumbersome (documentation is also behind) and with my job portfolio, it's a PITA to keep ahead of everything.


Summary:
Small business with heavy IT needs. Four permanent members of staff; but during project times (6 to 9 months of the year) we can have up to fifteen more contracted consultants and more devices added to the network.

Enviroment:
7 Servers (Server 2003 -> 2008R2; AD, Exchange, Forefront TMG, et cetera)
5 Workstations (Vista -> Windows 7)
6 Laptops (Vista -> Windows 7)
10+ Network Devices (Modems, Routers, Switches, et cetera)
10+ Printers, Scanners, Storage devices, et cetera.

Basically, I need system to monitor and keep track of the assets and monitor and log changes to the environment. Anything that keeps track of configuration and documentation
is a big plus.

So far I've come across for monitoring:
Zenoss (http://www.zenoss.com/)
OCS Inventory NG (http://www.ocsinventory-ng.org/en/)
Pandora FMS (http://pandorafms.org/)

For configuration and documentation, I came across:
i-doit (http://www.i-doit.org/)

If anyone has any experience with any of the above or suggestions on what to use, please feel free to add them.
 
+1, the first thing I thought when I read this thread was SpiceWorks. Totally free but incredibly powerful software with a GREAT community behind it.
 
Thanks for the suggestion guys. I think I had considered Spiceworks before - but the ads had bothered me. That being said however, it really does cover everything. I'll give it a shot in the morning.

Thanks again! :cool:
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
If you want "free"...and you want something actually decent, www.lansweeper.com
Incredibly detailed in reports of what it finds.

Spiceworks is a turd...and adware.
Click to expand...

I was just about check this thread before making the dive once again into Spiceworks. Those ads really did bother me.

The Lansweeper demo was pretty damn good - giving it a try this morning. Will report back later.

Thanks! :D

P.S. - Free is... better. I would say that I have a small IT budget, but then that would be saying that I have an IT budget in the first place. :rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
-Jess- said:
P.S. - Free is... better. I would say that I have a small IT budget, but then that would be saying that I have an IT budget in the first place. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

They do have some "pay for" options.

We use N-Able to manage most of our managed business clients, but it's more of an MSP product...not practical or economical for a single SMB to use on itself.

Lansweeper...install IIS on a box, deploy a vbs script...the next day, dig into the data.
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
They do have some "pay for" options.

We use N-Able to manage most of our managed business clients, but it's more of an MSP product...not practical or economical for a single SMB to use on itself.

Lansweeper...install IIS on a box, deploy a vbs script...the next day, dig into the data.
Click to expand...

Got it installed on a Win 7 laptop I had at the office. So far I like it.

There's a few things that I'm going to have to sort out though - such as determining what keys it can detect. I'm seeing for most of the office products and operating systems - but nothing yet for Exchange/Sharepoint/Adobe.

I'm not sure if I may have to go for the paid options to get this type of info though.
 
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