Top Questions to Ask Before Buying a Help Desk & Asset Management Software

5 All your hardware components like Printers, PCs etc come under various maintenance contracts with different maintenance vendors. Do you know which batch of PCs are under warranty & for what number of PCs is the warranty about to expire (so that you can plan for an AMC)? Can you split up & tell how much AMC charges do you pay for each hardware component & how much for each vendor? Can you re-calculate the costs if an AMC with a vendor is to be renewed?

4 Typically your company gets hardware parts and accessories from different vendors. Is your purchasing done centrally? Can you get the information of all vendors & the products they offer on a single click? Can you compare prices & other information before placing an order? Can you modify a purchase order (PO), have a revision history & email the vendor the updated PO? Can you track POs till all the items mentioned in a PO arrive?

3 You might have entered into contracts with various vendors. Do you maintain & keep track of all your maintenance & support contracts in one place? How about having soft copies of actual contracts that are available to you through a web browser and is always a single click away?

2 Your company has a variety of hardware like PCs, printers, scanners, OHPs etc and a plethora of software ranging from MS Office to Adobe Photoshop (all of various versions). Are you still using spreadsheets & manually tracking all these assets? Can you tell whether all the software you have comply with licensing? Can you tell how many of these hardware components & software copies are available with you at any instant? Can you tell how much of these are under utilized or not utilized at all?

1 Your employees come up with different service requests ranging from "Not able to print from my PC" to "Cannot send mail". How do you ensure that such requests are taken care of by your support staff, that too efficiently? How do you ensure none of the requests fall through the cracks? Is there a Knowledge Base which can offer self-help for the employees? How do you keep track a high volume of requests?

AdventNet&39;s ServiceDesk Plus offers to solve all the above & has much more to offer. The product is available at a very affordable price starting at $495 (there&39;s a Free Edition too) backed by a company that has set a benchmark for customer care & support. For further information, mail to sales@adventnet.com or visit our website http://www.servicedeskplus.com

Natarajan Aravind
Market Analyst
AdventNet,Inc.
http://www.servicedeskplus.com