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A few months ago, Spiceworks announced the end-of-life for its Desktop solution. This took most users by no surprise. The desktop version is free. You only have to pay to remove ads and any modules that you might need. In return, you get a completely customizable and feature-rich help desk.
In this article, we're going to explain why Spiceworks Desktop is retiring and what you can do if you're currently using the on-prem version. So, let's dive in!
Why Is Spiceworks Desktop Being Retired?
The team at Spiceworks stopped the developments on legacy Desktop years ago. As a result, the on-prem version has not received a significant update since 2018. Other than that, the company said that the upcoming updates from Microsoft and Google could affect the users of the Desktop 7.5 application. Specifically, the changes mentioned above will make GSuite and Office 365 mail services unusable.
In one of his comments, the community director mentioned that the team decided to build Spiceworks 8.0. However, the new version failed to perform the way they wanted.
Ultimately, the team has decided to retire the Spiceworks desktop app and give their users options while there's enough time.
What has changed is that there are updates coming that, sooner or later, may make the legacy Desktop no longer work. We felt that it was both our responsibility and the right thing to do to ensure our members are aware of this. I feel like we can all agree that finding out that legacy Desktop no longer works without advance notice would be much worse. We wanted to ensure all of you knew this and had time to evaluate your options.
What are Your Options?
There are a few options you can consider:
- Continue using the Spiceworks software at your own risk.
- Migrate to Spiceworks Cloud Help Desk.
- Find a replacement.
After exploring the Spiceworks Community, we’ve come to these conclusions.
Continue Using the Legacy On-prem
You can take the chance that the Desktop app will continue to work for years to come. In the end, Spiceworks is dropping support and has already made it impossible to download the app. There are no clear statements that the app will stop working. However, are you willing to take this chance?
EOL software poses many dangers to the business. Some of them being:
- Security vulnerabilities. Since Spiceworks will no longer update the on-prem version, more and more security issues can show up.
- High operating costs. The cost of fixing bugs and maintaining a system that’s no longer updated can be steep. But, despite the operating expenses, think of the harm the EOL software can do to a business if it goes out of order.
- Software incompatibility. Updates are also meant to ensure that the help desk integrates with other applications. No updates, no guarantee of integration.
Migrating to the Spiceworks Cloud
Many users have already migrated to the Cloud version. The interface and functionality are pretty similar to the on-prem. However, users share that the Cloud version lacks a lot of essential features. Take this, for instance.
We’ve also noticed another interesting thing.
The Desktop solution is trendy among healthcare organizations. If you’re one of them, then you need to start looking for a replacement. This leads us to the next point.
Migrating to Another Help Desk
A great majority of Spiceworks users are going to look for another solution. Part of the reason is that the Cloud version does not comply with HIPAA and that Spiceworks has no intentions of working in that direction. The other being that the Cloud solution has an uncertain future.
Taking everything into consideration, migrating to another help desk software sounds like the only logical solution.
How Can Help Desk Migration Help?
Many Spiceworks users are frustrated. Finding another help desk solution that can come close to Spiceworks on-prem is a challenging task. Migrating all data, when many companies have been with Spiceworks for years, is another tricky endeavor. But we’re here to ease the pain.
If you’re currently looking for a replacement, we’ve made a post about software that can be an excellent alternative to Spiceworks help desk. We’ve also stacked up cloud and on-prem versions for those considering the Cloud. And finally, Help Desk Migration is a reliable and easy-to-use tool that can migrate your data from Desktop to Cloud or another help desk of your choice.
Learn more about how data migration works and how it can save you time. We also provide a custom migration service which may be interesting if you have a heavily customized Spiceworks instance. Should you have any questions? Leave us a message.
