Spiceworks 4.0 Demo

Summary: (Be sure to click on the full-screen icon for a larger picture.)After discussing Spiceworks 4.0 with Tabrez , I have him walk through a demo of the product itself, mostly highlighting the new features.We start in the dashboard, seeing how the product gives you a general overview of your IT. It also highlights an example of a plugin, the Windows License monitor widget. He also points out an example of the "UI improvements" and rearranging mentioned during the interview. After seeing how these improvements have effected the inventory page, we jump into looking at the new features in the help desk.Next up, we look at the user portal provided in Spiceworks 4.0 which provides a customizable intranet-centric web site with widgets and help-desk integration. The idea here being to provider employees a landing page for interacting with IT.Tabrez then shows us the network map functionality shipping in Spiceworks 4.0. He walks through browsing the network topology, drilling down into individual nodes, and using the network map to trouble-shoot. In asking Tabrez how people are using (or are intending to use) the network map day-to-day, he also goes over future enhancements and functionality Spiceworks is thinking of adding to the network map.We then jump into look at the Spiceworks community and how it directly integrates with the product, and vice-versa. We see methods for sharing customized reports, reporting on Windows event IDs, all in addition to the usual forums and community features you'd expect.Covering the final item of note, Tabrez tells us how Spiceworks uses ads and other offers in the product. As the platform is free, this is the way users "pay" for the application. Disclosure: Spiceworks is a client.