TL;DR: you want less ticket chaos, fewer “got a minute?” pings, and this guide is written with exactly you in mind—practical, cross-vendor, and focused on outcomes.
We’ll walk through the leading alternatives to Zendesk, answer the question “who are Zendesk competitors” in straightforward language and highlight where each shines. You’ll see pricing notes, real-world use cases, and where they slot into your environment so you can quickly compare competitors to Zendesk and move on with your day.
If you landed here from a quick internet search on “alternatives Zendesk” you’ll be delighted to hear there are many excellent options across IT service management (ITSM), and customer service. Keep reading for the details, including best Zendesk alternatives, “top Zendesk competitors” by use case, and which tools are the best low-cost Zendesk alternatives for scrappy teams.
We’ll also cover Zendesk knowledge base alternatives for self-service, plus how to systematically compare Zendesk to alternatives with our simple checklist. You’ll find the “Zendesk alternatives compared” section especially helpful if you need to socialize options with stakeholders, and we’ll flag credible free alternatives to Zendesk where they exist.
Comparison table: the top 14 alternatives to Zendesk (2025)
| Product Name | Best for | Starting prices | G2 rating | Key features | Compelling use case |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SolarWinds Service Desk | Best for ITSM and ESM modernization | From $468 annually per user; 30-day trial | 4.3/5 |
|
Unified IT service and asset lifecycle |
| ServiceNow Customer Service Management | Best for complex enterprises | Quote based | 4.4/5 |
|
Cross-department service at scale |
| Salesforce Service Cloud | Best for CRM-led support | From $300 per user annually; 30-day trial | 4.4/5 |
|
Native CRM and support alignment |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service | Best for Microsoft stacks | From $600 per pro user annually; 30-day trial | 4.5/5 |
|
Microsoft-first contact center consolidation |
| Atlassian Jira Service Management | Best for Jira-centric teams | From $240 per user annually (standard plan) | 4.3/5 |
|
Dev-to-ops work management |
| Freshservice (Freshworks) | Best for fast ITSM rollout | From $228 per user annually (starter plan);14-day trial | 4.5/5 |
|
Quick ITSM with built-in ITAM |
| Zoho Desk | Best for budget control | From $240 per user annually (standard plan); 15-day trial | 4.4/5 |
|
Low-cost, configurable support |
| BMC Helix ITSM | Best for regulated industries | Quote based | 3.7/5 |
|
Heavily governed ITSM programs |
| Ivanti Neurons for ITSM | Best for endpoint-centric IT | Quote based | 3.9/5 |
|
ITSM tied to device automation |
| ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus | Best for on-prem flexibility | From $156 per user annually (standard); free trial | 4.2/5 |
|
Hybrid ITSM with strong reporting |
| HubSpot Service Hub | Best for all-in-one hubs | From $180 per user annually | 4.4/5 |
|
Service aligned to marketing and sales |
| Intercom | Best for conversational support | From $348 per user annually; trial available | 4.5/5 |
|
AI-first chat and automation |
| Help Scout | Best for email-first teams | From $600 annually (standard); free trial | 4.4/5 |
|
Simple, human customer support |
| LiveAgent | Best for live chat value | From $180 annually (small business plan); free trial | 4.5/5 |
|
Affordable omni-channel support |
As of September 2025
Top 14 Alternatives to Zendesk in 2025
SolarWinds Service Desk
Overview
What It Is
SolarWinds® Service Desk is a SaaS-delivered service management platform focused on ITSM and broader Enterprise Service Management (ESM) capabilities. It brings ITIL-aligned solutions like incident, request, problem, change, and knowledge management into one workspace with automation, reports, and a clear agent experience. Teams run cleaner queues, reduce repeats, and give requesters fast, predictable outcomes across email, chat, and portal.
Who It’s For
This platform is a strong fit for IT organizations looking to mature their service delivery with ITIL-aligned processes, robust automation, and deep asset context. Teams that value measurable service levels and want to provide a consistent support experience use it daily. Enterprise service teams such as HR, Facilities, and Legal can extend standard workflows without building a new stack or training a second tool.
Platform Approach
The platform combines ticketing, configuration management, asset lifecycle, knowledge, service catalog, and automation. It’s designed to remove swivel chair work between tools, reduce duplicated data, and shorten time to resolution. Admins configure without heavy code, while APIs enable deeper integration with the tools the business already depends on.
Outcomes First
The design centers on outcomes that matter to IT leaders and practitioners. Faster triage and routing, fewer escalations, and fewer repeat incidents translate into service reliability you can defend in monthly reviews. Clear SLAs, approvals, and audit histories help teams balance speed with control without drowning in process.
Core Features of SolarWinds Service Desk
Ticketing Flow
Tickets can arrive from email, chat, Slack, Microsoft Teams, or the portal and land with the right fields, context, and priority. Dynamic forms gather the details agents actually need. Automation assigns the work, nudges the right people, and doesn’t forget follow-ups. The result is a queue that agents can trust and leaders can plan around.
Visual CMDB
Configuration management gives agents and change approvers the service context they need. Relationship maps show business services, underlying infrastructure, and dependencies. When something breaks, teams understand the blast radius before they change anything. That context helps reduce risk, speed restoration, and improve post-incident reviews.
AI Assistance
AI suggestions help classify, summarize, and propose next steps and the next message, while keeping agents in control. The virtual agent deflects common requests through chat and the portal, then hands off the full conversation to humans when required. This helps reduce handle time and keeps agents focused on the work that needs judgment.
Automation Engine
Workflow automation removes repetitive tasks and approvals. Build rules that set priority, route by service, update fields, and notify stakeholders. Create multi-step flows that coordinate approvals, change tasks, and runbooks. Teams use automation to create consistent outcomes without memorizing steps or maintaining brittle checklists.
Integrated ITAM
Integrated IT asset management links devices, contracts, and licenses directly to tickets. Agents see warranty, ownership, and history without switching tabs. Discovery and import options keep data current with minimal effort. Finance and procurement gain visibility into refresh cycles, utilization, and spend aligned with service workload.
Knowledge Built In
Knowledge articles sit one click from tickets and the portal. Simple authoring, review workflows, and feedback loops keep content current. Requesters search and resolve common issues themselves, while agents attach articles to responses and capture new knowledge during resolution. Over time, saved minutes stack into measurable hours.
Service Catalog
The service catalog turns recurring requests into guided forms with approvals, tasks, and expected delivery times. New hires, software access, equipment swaps, and change requests follow the same simple pattern. Requesters get status transparency, while agents receive structured work that is easy to track and report.
Change Control
Standard, normal, and emergency change types include risk, impact, approvals, and communication. Integrated calendars and blackout windows help coordination. Linking changes to incidents and problems anchors post-change evaluation. The change process is designed to be pragmatic, so teams still use it during crunch times.
SolarWinds Service Desk in Operation
Incident Response
Incidents pull together responders, context, and communications. Routing considers affected services and ownership. Stakeholders receive timely updates, while responders see related changes, problems, and assets. After resolution, structured reviews capture lessons learned and feed problem management, so recurring issues should decline instead of repeating.
Problem Management
Recurring incidents roll up to problems with identified root causes, workarounds, and linked changes. Teams see where time is being spent, propose fixes, and measure whether the changes made a difference. The cycle encourages learning without blame and focuses teams on durable reduction of noise in queues.
Request Experience
Requesters use a branded portal that speaks their language. Categories and forms guide them to the right service request type without them needing to master any jargon. Status pages and notifications keep them informed. This transparency helps reduce update pings and improves user satisfaction without extra work from agents.
Agent Experience
Agents work from clean queues, quick filters, and keyboard-friendly actions. Inline context shows recent activity for the requester, related tickets, and linked assets. Macros and templates speed common steps while preserving ticket quality. The result is fewer clicks and less mental overhead during busy shifts.
Reporting Clarity
Dashboards cover ticket volume, time to resolution, backlog age, and SLA compliance. Leaders track trends, spot bottlenecks, and decide where automation or knowledge will save the most time. Report sharing helps teams agree on reality and focus on the fixes that matter rather than losing hours debating anecdotes.
Integration Options
The platform is built to fit into your ecosystem, offering over 200 out-of-the-box integrations. Connect to tools across identity management (like Okta and Azure AD), collaboration (Slack, Microsoft Teams), monitoring, endpoint management, and deployment tools. When an alert fires from monitoring, a ticket appears with context; when a change is approved, deployment tooling receives the signal.
Security by Design
Data segregation, role-based access, and audit trails help protect sensitive requests and change data. Admins control who can view services, assets, and reports. The platform is designed for least privilege by default, with options for single sign-on and multifactor authentication depending on environment requirements.
Advanced Capabilities
The platform includes capabilities that support larger enterprises without overwhelming smaller teams, including extending the service to non-IT departments with enterprise service management.
Runbooks At Scale
Runbooks document approved actions that agents can execute safely. Instead of tribal knowledge, teams store steps in versioned procedures with logging. During incidents, responders run playbooks without needing to wait for a specialist. That consistency helps reduce recovery time and spreads expertise without long training sessions or on-call surprises.
Discovery Coverage
Discovery options identify devices and services across networks, systems, and clouds. Teams map what they have rather than what spreadsheets claim they have. Those records feed assets, services, and change impact analysis. Accurate inventories enable better forecasts, help to eliminate surprise autorenewals, and improve both troubleshooting and audit readiness.
Service Mapping
Service maps connect applications to databases, queues, and underlying infrastructure. During incidents, agents see what else to check and who needs to get a call. During changes, approvers assess likely effects. For leaders, the map enables capacity planning and revenue discussions, because the business is able to see the services it cares about.
Portal Extensibility
Suggested replacement: The platform's portal extensibility is key to its Enterprise Service Management (ESM) capabilities. Portals can be tailored for different business departments, each with its own branding, service categories, and specific forms. For example, HR can publish confidential request types while Facilities offers desk move requests. Each department gets its own workflows and reporting while sharing a single platform, avoiding the cost and effort of managing parallel tools.
Use Cases for SolarWinds Service Desk
Onboarding made easy
New hire onboarding (and other common HR tasks) become predictable checklist tasks instead of a scramble. The request kicks off an automated workflow surfacing hardware allocation, account creation, and access approvals in parallel. Stakeholders receive tasks automatically, and blockers surface early. New colleagues arrive with working accounts and equipment, while IT gets back hours of their time previously spent on coordination.
Access request management
Software access requests route to data owners with clear risk and entitlements. Approvals trigger provisioning tasks or integrations with a workflow. The history shows who approved which access and when. Audits go faster, and revocation at offboarding becomes reliable rather than manual cleanup months later.
Major incident management
For outages, major incident workflows gather responders, set communication rhythms, and capture updates. Tickets link to affected services and open tasks for mitigation. Status pages keep users informed. After service restoration, the post-incident review will document which actions were taken and recommended fixes, feeding continuous improvement of both problem management and change management processes.
Asset lifecycle management
Procurement receives purchase requests tied to standards. On receipt, assets are tagged, assigned, and visible in the CMDB with warranty and location. Incidents and changes link automatically to the asset. At refresh, the device returns to stock, is wiped, and the history remains for reporting and audit.
Customer Success
Support Channels
Support from SolarWinds includes documentation, community forums, email, chat, and scheduled help. SolarWinds Academy offers training paths for agents and admins. The THWACK® user community shares configuration tips and field-proven practices. When you need direct help, support engineers focus on practical fixes rather than abstract theory.
Success Programs
Customer success works with your team on adoption, metrics, and roadmap alignment. Workshops help define request types, categories, and SLAs that reflect reality. Guidance covers change policies, automation targets, and dashboards that show progress. The goal is measurable improvement, not launch day alone.
Adoption and Roll-Out
Implementation Guidance
Implementations work best when scoped to priority services first. Start with incident, request, and a few catalog items. Add change and assets once the queue is stable. Build a small automation set that saves the most time, then iterate. Early wins build confidence and momentum.
Governance Tips
Keep configuration simple and documented. Name services, categories, and fields consistently. Retire legacy forms and unused groups. Review dashboards monthly and adjust where tickets stall. Clear ownership, sensible SLAs, and a living knowledge base help teams sustain gains after the initial rollout.
Admin Experience
Admins configure categories, forms, automation, and portal content without heavy code. Blueprints and templates keep standards reusable. API docs are designed to be clear, and integration patterns are well trodden. The net result is lower maintenance effort and faster response to changing business needs.
Agent Adoption
Adoption grows when the tool helps agents, not only managers. Reduce clicks, provide context, and ship sensible automations early. Solicit feedback weekly during rollout and fix friction fast. When agents save time and resolve issues faster, adoption follows naturally without long change management programs.
Migration Tips
If you are moving from another platform, start with clean data. Migrate active tickets, relevant knowledge, and current assets. Archive the rest. Rebuild forms to match today’s process, not yesterday’s. Train a few champions who can coach peers and surface issues early.
Business Value
Pricing Tiers
Pricing is offered in three tiers designed to align with an organization's service management maturity:
Essentials: Focuses on foundational ITSM capabilities. This includes core ticketing through an omnichannel service desk, incident management, self-service portal, and an integrated knowledge base.
Advanced: Builds on Essentials by adding a broader suite of ITIL processes. This tier introduces change, problem, and release management, a full service catalog, and integrated ITAM to track hardware and software lifecycles.
Premier: Includes the complete platform, unlocking advanced enterprise capabilities. This tier adds generative AI assistance for ticket summarization and resolution, the full visual CMDB with service mapping, automated network and cloud discovery, and powerful runbook automation for orchestrating complex tasks.
Pricing Details
Plans are billed per technician with unlimited requesters. Annual billing reduces frictions for budgeting and planning. Trials unlock full capability so teams can prove value with real workflows. For specifics on inclusions and current pricing, review the public pricing page linked below before you finalize decisions.
Estimating Value
Value shows up in saved minutes per ticket, fewer escalations, and shorter outages. Track baseline metrics before rollout, then compare after automation and knowledge mature. Share the time given back to the business. Those improvements help make the renewal conversation about outcomes rather than line items.
Proof Of Concept
Pilot with a small group. Bring two to three services live, measure impact, and capture feedback. Iterate weekly, then expand. Use the trial to test integrations, automation, and change calendars. A focused proof helps your evaluation team choose with evidence instead of opinions.
Why SolarWinds
The platform focuses on practical outcomes rather than checkbox breadth. It’s designed to help teams fix problems faster, maintain control where it matters, and keep the experience approachable. When your queue is calmer and stakeholders receive predictable updates, everyone feels the difference.
Try It Now
Start a free trial and run a pilot with your real workflows. Get stakeholder buy-in before you commit, and keep Finance happy with low costs. If you want a guided walk-through, book time with our team and bring your edge cases—we’ll share patterns that have worked for teams just like yours.
ServiceNow
Overview
ServiceNow Customer Service Management connects front-line case handling with the operational workflows that actually fix issues. You route requests, orchestrate processes across teams, and surface knowledge where work happens. If you run complex services, need strict governance, and want one backbone for cases, changes, and assets, ServiceNow fits. It shines in regulated environments, global enterprises, and organizations with demanding integrations and approvals where consistency, auditability, and scale matter day to day.
Key features and strengths
- Case management tied to enterprise workflows
- Virtual agent and guided self-service
- Playbooks, SLAs, and entitlements
- Integrations across IT and business apps
- Knowledge, communities, and portals
- Change, problem, and configuration data
Pricing
Quote based; enterprise-oriented packaging
Link
Salesforce Service Cloud
Overview
Service Cloud brings support into the same CRM your sales and marketing teams already live in. Agents get the full customer record, Einstein AI helps with classification and replies, and omnichannel routing keeps queues moving. If your strategy revolves around a single view of the customer, Service Cloud can align service, success, and revenue teams while keeping reports and automations in one platform admins know well.
Key features and strengths
- Omnichannel routing across chat, messaging, and voice
- Einstein AI for replies and case classification
- Macros, flows, and knowledge articles
- Service Console with productivity views
- Entitlements and milestone tracking
- Robust app marketplace and integrations
Pricing
Published tiered pricing; free trial available
Link
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service
Overview
Dynamics 365 Customer Service puts cases, knowledge, and channels inside the Microsoft ecosystem you already use. Agents benefit from Copilot assistance, while Power Platform enables low-code automations and custom apps. If your organization standardizes on Microsoft 365, Azure, and Teams, Dynamics reduces context switching and lets you extend processes with Dataverse, Power Automate, and reporting that plays nicely with your existing governance.
Key features and strengths
- Copilot for agent assistance and deflection
- Omnichannel with voice, messaging, and chat
- Knowledge management and search
- SLAs, entitlements, and analytics
- Power Platform extensibility and Dataverse
- Tight identity and Teams integration
Pricing
Tiered per-user pricing; free trial available
Link
https://dynamics.microsoft.com
Atlassian Jira Service Management
Overview
Jira Service Management (JSM) brings service workflows into the same Atlassian fabric development teams already use. Requests, incidents, problems, and changes live close to code, which keeps handoffs tight and post-incident reviews grounded in reality. Teams like the quick setup, strong automation rules, and deep context from Jira issues, on-call schedules, and runbooks. If you practice DevOps or Site Reliability Engineering, JSM makes change control, releases, and operations feel connected rather than bolted on.
Key features and strengths
- Request portals with branded catalogs
- Incident, problem, and change workflows
- Automation rules tied to events
- Native links to Jira Software
- Assets for CMDB and discovery
- On-call and incident response tooling
Pricing
Per-agent plans; free tier and trial
Link
https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/service-management
Freshservice (Freshworks)
Overview
Freshservice focuses on approachable IT service management with helpful automation and a clean interface. Setup is quick, discovery maps your environment, and workflows keep repetitive work moving without manual steps. Teams appreciate the balance of ITIL coverage and everyday usability, plus AI that speeds classification and suggested responses. If you want modern ITSM without heavy overhead, Freshservice offers a fast on-ramp with room to grow.
Key features and strengths
- Visual workflow builder for approvals
- Incident, problem, change, and release
- CMDB with discovery and service mapping
- Service catalog and request portal
- AI suggestions for agents and requesters
- Reports, dashboards, and SLAs
Pricing
Tiered per-agent plans; free trial available
Link
https://www.freshworks.com/freshservice/
Zoho Desk
Overview
Zoho Desk delivers a budget-friendly help desk that still covers the essentials. The interface is approachable for new teams, and Zia AI assists with classification and insights. If you already run Zoho applications, Desk fits neatly into the broader suite. Smaller support teams value the rapid setup, branded portals, and decent reporting that helps leaders tune workflows without advanced tooling or steep costs.
Key features and strengths
- Contextual tickets with customer timeline
- Multi-brand portals and knowledge
- SLAs, automations, and blueprints
- Zia AI for suggestions and trends
- Collaboration with comments and tags
- Marketplace integrations across apps
Pricing
Free tier plus low-cost paid tiers
Link
BMC Helix ITSM
Overview
BMC Helix ITSM targets organizations that practice ITIL by the book. It provides comprehensive process coverage, strong change governance, and a configurable data model suitable for complex environments. Discovery, service modelling, and AIOps options help operations teams connect symptoms with infrastructure and services. If you run large, regulated programs with strict approvals and audits, Helix offers the depth and control leadership often expects.
Key features and strengths
- ITIL processes across incident through change
- Discovery and service modelling options
- CMDB at enterprise scale
- Automation and orchestration pathways
- Reports and executive dashboards
- Integrations into operations tooling
Pricing
Quote-based
Link
Ivanti Neurons for ITSM
Overview
Ivanti Neurons emphasizes endpoint awareness and automated remediation. It ties service workflows to device health, so common issues hopefully get fixed before users file tickets. The platform supports enterprise service management, bringing HR and Facilities into shared portals with consistent processes. If your environment has many endpoints and you want self-healing alongside ITSM, Neurons aligns operations, security, and service teams around measurable outcomes.
Key features and strengths
- Automated remediation using Neurons
- Incident, problem, change, and release
- Enterprise service management expansion
- Configuration and asset visibility
- Knowledge, portal, and approvals
- Integrations with endpoint tooling
Pricing
Quote based
Link
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is a practical ITSM tool with flexible deployment, including on-premises options. It covers incident, problem, and change while offering asset management and a straightforward self-service portal. Many teams like the generous entry tier and predictable licensing. If you need ITIL features without heavy complexity and prefer control over hosting, ServiceDesk Plus is a reasonable choice.
Key features and strengths
- Incident, problem, and change processes
- Asset management and CMDB modules
- Request catalog and knowledge base
- Automations, templates, and SLAs
- Reports and technician dashboards
- Optional on-premises deployment model
Pricing
Free edition available; paid tiers scale
Link
https://www.manageengine.com/products/service-desk/
HubSpot Service Hub
Overview
HubSpot Service Hub aligns support with marketing and sales in one platform. Tickets, conversations, and knowledge live next to lifecycle data, which helps teams understand context and act quickly. Automation streamlines handoffs, surveys track satisfaction, and reporting visualizes performance. If your company runs RevOps and values a unified customer record, Service Hub can centralize engagement without juggling multiple admin consoles.
Key features and strengths
- Shared inbox with assignment and routing
- Knowledge base, chat, and bots
- Surveys, customer satisifaction, and feedback tools
- Automation with workflows and rules
- Reporting and dashboards across the lifecycle
- App marketplace and integrations
Pricing
Free tier available; paid tiers scale
Link
https://www.hubspot.com/products/service
Intercom
Intercom focuses on conversational support. Its Fin agent deflects simple questions, and agents take over seamlessly for complex cases. In-app messaging proactively reaches users before small problems become tickets. Startups and product-led companies like the tight fit with modern web and mobile apps. If live chat, proactive messaging, and knowledge sit at your core, Intercom can be a good fit for that rhythm.
Key features and strengths
- Fin agent for automated resolutions
- Unified inbox for chat and email
- Help center with articles and search
- Proactive messages and product tours
- Workflows, rules, and assignment
- Reporting on volume and outcomes
Pricing
Seat plus usage components; free trial
Link
Help Scout
Overview
Help Scout keeps support simple and friendly. The shared inbox is fast, Docs makes building a knowledge base painless, and Beacon provides contextual help directly inside your site. Small to midsize teams appreciate the clean interface, sensible reporting, and quick onboarding. If you want email-first support without complexity or heavyweight administration, Help Scout delivers clarity with room to scale.
Key features and strengths
- Shared inbox with collision detection
- Docs knowledge base and categories
- Beacon for embedded, contextual help
- Saved replies and workflows
- Reports for trends and satisfaction
- Light integrations and apps
Pricing
Per-user plans with a free trial
Link
LiveAgent
Overview
LiveAgent focuses on multichannel responsiveness at an approachable price. The universal inbox blends email, chat, and calls so agents do not juggle tabs. Built-in chat widgets and a call center help smaller teams offer real-time support without separate tools. If you need pragmatic ticketing with strong live chat, LiveAgent is a cost-effective way to consolidate channels.
Key features and strengths
- Universal inbox for channels
- Live chat with custom widgets
- Built-in call center and interactive voice response
- Knowledge base and customer portal
- Automation, SLAs, and routing
- Integrations with common apps
Pricing
Low-cost tiers; free trial offered
Link
What is service desk software and what are its common uses?
Service desk software helps teams capture, route, and resolve requests from employees or customers while enforcing process, documenting knowledge, and reporting outcomes. Think “one inbox for requests, one playbook for fixes, one place for lessons learned.”
- ITSM service desks: IT-focused platforms covering incident, problem, change, assets, and service requests with SLAs and approvals for governed environments
- Customer service desks: External support tools for email, chat, social, and voice with knowledge bases, automation, and satisfaction surveys
- Enterprise service management: Extends service processes into HR, Facilities, Legal, and Finance—shared portals, request types, and workflows
Benefits of using service desk software
- Improved efficiency and faster issue resolution through routing, templates, and AI-assisted replies
- Centralized ticket management that unifies requests across channels and enforces SLAs
- Better user experience and satisfaction with clear status, self-service, and consistent updates
- Increased accountability and transparency via ownership, approvals, and audit trails
- Reporting that drives decisions with trends, bottlenecks, and SLA performance
- Proactive problem management by linking incidents to root causes and changes
- Empowered self-service that reduces volume with searchable knowledge and request catalogs
- Asset management context so agents see device, contract, and history alongside tickets
Features to look for in service desk software
Must-have features
- Embedded AI and automation capabilities
- Integrated IT asset management (ITAM)
- AI-powered self-service portal and knowledge
- Integrations into identity, chat, monitoring, and collaboration tools
Important considerations
- Scalability across teams and processes
- Actionable reporting and analytics
- Responsive vendor support and community
Choosing the right Zendesk alternative
- Create a short, prioritized must-have list mapped to your incidents and requests
- Form a small evaluation group with IT, security, support leads, and a business owner
- Run time-boxed trials and proofs of concept against clear, pre-agreed success criteria
- If a trial doesn’t save time in week one, keep looking
How to set up your new service desk software
- Define clear goals and KPIs you care about
- Plan implementation to minimize friction for agents and requesters
- Configure core settings, request types, workflows, and integrations
Documentation
Create a simple, living guide for agents and requesters: how to submit, triage, escalate, and close, plus naming conventions and SLAs.
Testing
Run a short pilot with a volunteer group. Validate workflows, reports, and the portal. Collect feedback, iterate, and then go wide. Where possible, pilot with friendly skeptics; they’ll find the sharp edges before your execs do.
Keep optimizing
Review automation, knowledge gaps, and SLAs quarterly, so that small improvements compound into real time saved.
Disclaimer
Product specifications and other information set forth herein have either been made accessible by suppliers, manufacturers, publications, or gathered from publicly available sources as of the date of this document. Although measures are taken to ensure the accuracy of the information, SolarWinds makes no representations or warranties as to the completeness or accuracy of the information and shall incur no liability for any errors or omissions.
As of September 2025
