Discover the Many Tools on the Market
There are many help desk or ITSM tools on the market; some are suited to small businesses, and others might be capable of scaling up to global corporations. Here’s a list of some of the more well-known ITSM tools available. The gradings for complexity and organizational size are indicative only, and many of the tools can be enhanced through additional plugins from the software authors or third parties.
The functionality of some of the ITSM tools is designed around ITIL ways of working. Not being ITIL compliant is not necessarily a negative point, but working to elements of the ITIL framework guidelines, and using ITIL terminology, are very common in commercial and corporate support environments. In any event, most can be used to provide service in an ITIL-oriented way. Here’s a list of some of the more well-known ITSM tools available:
Tool | ITIL Compliance | Comments |
High | Some functions are provided by commercial plugins | |
No | Can be used in an ITIL-like way | |
ITIL 2 | Free open source and cloud commercial versions | |
ITIL Aligned | ITAM function integrated | |
High | Uses ITIL workflows | |
No | Free IT help desk software | |
High | Optimized for ITIL 4 | |
No | Free open source and cloud commercial versions | |
ITIL templates | Free open source and cloud commercial versions |
As you might have guessed, we will use Zendesk throughout this course. Nevertheless, it’s always useful to know what other options are out there. Feel free to check out some of the websites on the list.
Let’s Recap!
There are many help desk or ITSM tools available on the market.
Many tools use ITIL-oriented terminology or base their workflows on ITIL guidelines.
Compliance with ITIL is not a must, but working with elements of the ITIL framework is very common in commercial and corporate support environments.
Now that you know various ticketing tools exist, why don’t we pick one and start creating tickets? If you are ready to become a Zendesk whizz, see you in the next chapter.
