Spiceworks 6 Adds IT Knowledge Base for SMBs

Spiceworks is reaching out to organizations with limited tech budgets with the latest release of its social network and IT management software, Spiceworks 6, aimed at SMBs.

The latest update includes automated cloud services discovery, an optional remote device agent and a new social IT knowledge base — the platform’s flagship new feature.

The knowledge base lets IT specialists search and bookmark more than 2,200 existing how-to articles to add them to the organization’s base, including information on updating licenses or improving native language typing speeds.

Existing articles can be copied and edited to tailor to the businesses’ specific needs, and IT departments can bookmark and customize community-sourced articles or create custom content they can share or keep private. In addition, articles can be tagged and displayed in the user portal to help minimize support calls.

The Cloud Services Discovery feature allows SMBs to automatically detect more than 40 cloud services, including Dropbox, Evernote and Basecamp, helping IT departments gain insight into which cloud services are in use across their network.

What’s more, an optional remote device agent can perform a local scan and then “phone home” to the main Spiceworks installation so inventory stays up-to-date, as well as provide updates on the device’s health and status.

Automation is a key feature of the agent, which can be mass-deployed across multiple devices, and each time the agent phones home, it checks for the latest version of the agent, simplifying the process of updating.

Spiceworks 6 also includes a host of less prominent but equally alluring updates, including a mobile HD version of the company’s help desk feature for Apple iPad and Google Android tablets.

With a software data ribbon, business can get info about software installed on the network, including the number of installs and licenses and a chart of what versions are being used.

In addition to Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) and Lenovo, Spiceworks 6 users now can get HP devices up-to-date by requesting a quote directly through the platform, and using the Custom Ticket Form IT departments can build a customized ticket entry form and add custom attributes.