Spiceworks iPhone app eases IT admin stress

Network management software firm Spiceworks has released an iPhone app designed to allow IT administrators to monitor and manage a range of tasks directly from their smartphone.

The app allows users to connect with the Spiceworks networking community, which is made up of over 1.3 million IT professionals, the firm said.

Key features of the app include the ability for administrators to manage helpdesks, monitor services and access employee information.

Administrators can open, edit and manage help desk tickets, and monitor enterprise networks by viewing the status of servers and applications.

The Community Access feature allows all employees with access to the Spiceworks network to follow popular IT discussions, get advice from other professionals and view and comment on topics.

The app is also economical in terms of data allowances as it typically uses 70 per cent less data than the web application when displaying information, according to Spiceworks.

"Although there were a couple of challenges with the real estate on the iPhone we were able to bring the majority of the features from the Spiceworks desktop app to the smartphone," Francis Sullivan, co-founder and chief technology officer at Spiceworks, told V3.co.uk.

"We are also developing an Android version and expect to release a beta version in five weeks' time. There are plans to develop an app for the Windows Phone 7 platform, but nothing is in the pipeline for the BlackBerry platform yet."

The Spiceworks app is available to download from the iTunes store for free.