LANDesk 7.5 Offers Mobile Web Desk for IT Support

LANDesk Software, the systems lifecycle management, endpoint security and IT service management software provider, has launched LANDesk 7.5 — the newest version of its IT service management ITSM solution. The solution’s main new feature is the LANDesk Mobile Web Desk, which gives IT support staffs full access to all of their service desk functions via any iOS, Android or BlackBerry mobile device.

The development comes roughy four months after a LANDesk and Service Desk Institute study revealed that 86 percent of 86 percent of IT service desks have seen an increase in the number of mobile devices they’re asked to support. LANDesk has been steadily leading up to this 7.5 release since it developed its 7.3 version, according to  LANDesk Principal Product Manager Brian Hoskins, who detailed the company’s steps leading up this release during our conversation on Jan. 6.

“When we released 7.3, the key was the new web desk build on our web access platform. This is the IT view into the service desk,” Hoskins explained. “7.4 included the next step, which was a self-service system through which users can open incidents and service catalogs and order new hardware. Now we’re bringing in a mobile component with 7.5.”

So IT administrators can now use the new LANDesk ITSM 7.5 solution to view assignments, approve changes, pass on work to others and create reports through dashboards from their mobile devices. According to Hoskins, LANDesk even plans to add mobile support for Windows Phone users “in the next few months.”

Other Features

The Mobile Web Desk stole the headlines, but 7.5 features a slew of other capabilities. Here’s a quick list, courtesy of LANDesk:

Hoskins added that 7.5 features a new web-based shopping cart service catalogue through which users can add review or cancel requests. The feature was added specifically for two different types of LANDesk customers.

All of the new features combined were enough for LANDesk to achieve PinkVERIFY v3.1 status from Pink Elephant for all 15 ITIL v3 processes. ITIL is increasingly becoming the accepted standard fro IT best practices and ITSM. LANDesk is the fourth service management vendor to achieve the verification.

Next up for LANDesk? Hoskins said the next step is to add a mobile self-service feature to LANDesk ITSM 7.6, which we can expect next year.