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Network, systems, applications and security management software solutions provider ManageEngine announced the release of ServiceDesk Plus version 8.0, an updated generation of the company’s ITIL-ready help desk application. ServiceDesk Plus v8.0 offers a host of new features including a service catalog, enhanced asset management, automation of common help desk processes, multiple Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) designed to further simplify interaction with third-party products and tighter integration with other ManageEngine software suites.
With the new service catalog, IT teams can organize and publish a list of all help desk services available, as well as maintain a workflow for service requests, helping ensure those services are delivered effectively and on time. The service catalog is customizable to fit the needs of individual organizations, the company noted. ServiceDesk Plus 8.0 also features improved asset management capabilities, with an agent-based scanner.
The company claimed that with ServiceDesk Plus v8.0’s asset management functionality, administrators no longer need to open ports, switch off firewalls or enable Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) while scanning assets, and these new capabilities would reduce scanning failures across assets, especially across distributed networks. ServiceDesk Plus is available as a downloadable file for both Windows and Linux platforms.
A 30-day fully functional trial edition is available for evaluation from the Website. Pricing starts at $495 for the Standard Edition, while the Professional Edition starts at $995. The Enterprise Edition starts at $2995 with an annual subscription, and perpetual licensing models are also available.
“ManageEngine is affordable and provides a lot of bang for the buck. The software meets a need in the industry that just is not found any other place. A real one-stop shop. ManageEngine’s ServiceDesk Plus was a key factor in the success of our help desk when the State of Kansas rolled out a major enterprise application across the organization,” said Mary Vanatta, help desk manager at the State of Kansas. “ServiceDesk provides an intuitive interface that allowed our end users and analysts to efficiently enter, track and manage service requests. The real-time reporting features and dashboards provide the statistics we needed to analyze how well we implemented and support the new financial management system.”
The APIs packaged with ServiceDesk Plus 8.0 add another dimension of automation, allowing those working with third-party applications to open help desk tickets in ServiceDesk Plus from within the application they’re accustomed to using. No manual intervention is required. Furthermore, many common help desk tasks, such as assigning incidents to technicians, are automated. With ServiceDesk Plus 8.0 tickets are automatically assigned to technicians based on expertise, availability and criticality of the incident. This version introduces round-robin and load-balancing methods to assign tickets in different helpdesk environments.
“We have designed this new version based on a great deal of passion from our customers,” said Uma Shankar, product manager at ManageEngine. “We have worked closer with our customers in getting their requirements, designing the feature blocks and through the beta release, making the product more user friendly and capable. The new version 8 has been designed to fill-in all the missing pieces – Service Catalog, Agent Scanning, Manager Dashboard and more.”