Alloy Navigator Software

Alloy keeps our technology department on task, and gives our company's users an easy way to ask for help in solving their issues. The software is near limitless in what you can do with it thanks to the scripting and automation it provides. The automation also helps us manage our inventory, by keeping up with computers and hardware in stock, on loan, etc. We send emails to users to remind them to return hardware they've borrowed, and we've created a process that will create a ticket if our stock of hardware or computers starts getting low. Monthly tasks such as access reviews and computer updates are tracked using tickets that are automatically created. This software is highly customizable, provided you've got the knowledge and imagination to write the scripts and workflow.

Pros

Our favorite part about the Alloy software is the scripting and automation it provides. You can have it create tickets or work orders automatically when certain conditions are met, such as a ticket to order more computers when stock is running low.

Cons

The scripting is a bit hard to understand if you don't come from a SQL background. However, Alloy's support team is excellent and has been able to help with every issue we've given them.

Pros

The flexibility is endless, this product is capable of doing anything you design. It can output to batch files, automate tasks and digitise forms. The only limitation is your imagination. Treat this as a very advanced GUI for SQL

Cons

You do need to get a full understanding of the administration side if you wish to use this product to its full potential

Pros

Navigator is a good management tool for IT assets. You can get inventory, service desk and project inside an ITIL framework with this simple and efficient software. It s easy to implement and you can have a CMDB for a low cost.

Cons

You must register on alloy navigator web site if you want to get a price or a trial of the software.

Pros

The software is very easy to user and the staff is very helpful!

Cons

There needs to be more reporting tool and user control of reports.

We are very satisfied with this product because it does everything we expect it to do when properly set up.

Pros

We use the Help Desk feature in Navigator and Machine Inventory in Discovery primarily. They allow us to efficiently handle user problems and requests of all kinds and keep track of company assets such as computers, servers and software installations.

Cons

The software is extremely powerful and flexible but because of this it is also very complicated to configure properly.

Asset tracking, ticket management, knowledge base articles and full asset library reservation system.

Pros

The straight forward approach for an all encompassing program is why we chose this product 13 years ago. We can accomplish our daily ticketing system, maintain a company equipment reservation program and inventory all company assets in one out of the box program. On top of that, the support team is always available to help and always responds in a timely manner to any question or request.

Cons

The programming logic can be a bit confusing at times on the back end. There are lots of logic statements, actions, etc. that can be buried in a specific place that are not always easy to find.

Pros

The best thing about Alloy Navigator is the customization. If there is something you want this software to do, it can probably do it.

Cons

What I care for least about Alloy Navigator are the UI and UX. There are so many menus that are buried within multiple layers of menus.

Pros

Great software for ticketing and inventory needs. Customer service is extremely helpful in customizing the solution to best fit your needs. Software does everything you need for helpdesk and servicedesk operations.

Cons

Can be a little slow on a WAN or remote connectivity, I recommend the web interface for those situations.

The majority of our IT department lives inside Alloy. It is simple to use for the average technician and the user portal is good as well. The integration of software allocation and databases of all hardware on our network is a must.

Pros

- Alloy user portal and technician portals are easy to use
- Runs quickly and smoothly
- Easy to import users from AD
- Email integration for alerts on new tickets and updates on existing tickets
- Training that Alloy offers is well thought out and contains tons of information.

Cons

- Customer Support can take 1-3 days to get back to you
- The backend of Alloy is very confusing. Trying to change simple things can be extremely difficult since there is no search functionality and no documentation online.
- If you want custom features added it is going to cost a decent chunk of money.

Robust help desk solution.

Pros

Almost all the features have customization to fit your business. From device inventory to custom reporting, Alloy helps you get what you need for metrics.

Cons

There is a learning curve on the product. If you do too much customization, like all things, something may break when an upgrade is released.

Asset tracking and ticket metrics

Pros

Allows full IT management from asset inventory to helpdesk metrics. Allows full financial tracking, tickets, and asset discovery.

Cons

It can be cumbersome to learn in an SMB environment with small teams and no compartmentalization. If you have no teams at all, individuals can be overwhelmed as their are many features to this application.

Pros

I really like the variety of modules, and the tech support available to help out. I also like the ease of use for my technicians.

Cons

How much back end maintenance I have to be involved in. I would prefer a solution that is able to smartly manage itself out of the box OR more accurately describe what errors are causing an issue.

Alloy keeps track of a ll of our inventory, software changes, support incidents, knowledge base, etc. The information in Alloy puts all the necessary information in one place to manage our IT environment easily and efficiently.

Pros

Alloy can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be based on how you set it up. The flexibility and depth are what I love most about it. You can really keep track of everything in your IT environment and you can customize it to fit your specific needs. Other products make you use their preconfigured categories and workflows, etc. While Alloy comes preconfigured with almost everything you need, you can add or remove just about anything you want and build your own workflows to automate the system.

Cons

I find that the more flexible a product is, the more cumbersome it can be. Since Alloy is extremely flexible, the set up can be a little complicated. However, they have a great support team to help you when you need it.

Pros

This software is very easy to use. It keeps track of all our work tickets and inventory very well.

Cons

The Asset Management feature could be a little easier to configure. It also seems a little redundant when you setup a new asset.

Pros

It has helped streamline our department by having all documents and references in a central location.

Cons

At times it can be a little confusing with what seems to be duplicate areas. But on a positive note these areas can be linked.

Pros

The thing that I like most about Alloy is that it's able to house ALL of our IT related data. One stop shop for whatever information you need to access.

Cons

Sometimes the user interface is a little confusing when it comes to finding a certain help desk ticket or an inventory item. But otherwise it's a really good IT software package.

Easy tracking of hardware and software licenses. Tracking of helpdesk issues has been easier that previous product.

Pros

The help desk and software licensing components really save a lot of time and are easy to use. I've been able to use the software licensing piece to fulfill a Microsoft audit with ease.

Cons

Migration from other software vendors is a little tricky, but that's more due to how the other vendors configure their databases.

We've used the network inventory to scan all PCs weekly and it lets me know if there are any changes going on with our hardware. We keep track of all of our maintenance history so we know the history of all of our hardware. We've done some software monitoring so we know what versions of software are being used.

Pros

I like the network inventory. It lets me know what is going on with our PC's and if anything is changing. I use ANX to input all of our service done on PCs so it's easy to find out the history of a PC

Cons

It takes a little time to get used to how to make modifications but the support has been great and will be looking into some training to be able to use more affectively.

providing an efficient service desk

Pros

There are many features, and they are entirely customisable. The out of the box features and set up is very useable from day 1.
Support is great.

Cons

Programming is too simplistic and doesn't encourage code reuse - which leads to difficulty in long term maintenance.
The agreement with Alloy suits an end customer, it doesn't cater for the needs of true resellers and service providers.
Priced for larger organisation - difficult for small organisations to get started.

Pros

I really like being able to track incidents, attach notes and files to the incidents. It is also very handy for keeping track of purchase orders.

Cons

There are a whole bunch of duplicate areas for things. The configuration of an item is under the Computer item, but the Finance is under the Asset side. Just gets confusing with the multiple elements.