Best MSP Service Desk: JIRA vs SolarWinds

The choice of service desk software for managed service providers (MSP) can be a tricky one. There is a multitude of service providers, each with its own set of pros and cons. 

To aid you in your choice, let’s focus on two of the most popular service desk providers: JIRA and SolarWinds. Below, we will consider the strengths and weaknesses of each.

First, What Is an MSP Service Desk?

With the right service desk, your MSP will have the following:

• One point of contact for all IT-related processes.

• The ability to track service level agreement compliance. 

• A self-service platform where customers can fill in incident reports or service requests. All queries will be logged, organized, and, where possible, resolved by the service desk.

• A software that continually communicates with the configuration management database

• A software that is integrated with all IT service management (ITSM) processes 

Essentially, the software continually identifies any shortcomings or opportunities that should be addressed. It also helps identify any repeated/ongoing requests that might require further attention. 

These features mean that the right service desk will function to improve the efficiency of an MSP’s IT processes.

JIRA vs. SolarWinds - Which One Is Better?

Now, let us delve into the strengths and weaknesses of two of the most popular service desk software providers: JIRA and SolarWinds.

JIRA Service Desk Software

JIRA by Atlassian Corp is a simple service desk solution that offers high customization. It offers four different pricing plans starting from a free version for three agents and going up to an enterprise plan. 

If you’re a small MSP business with three agents or less, then JIRA could be the ideal, cost-effective ticketing solution. Then, as you grow, you could upgrade to one of their more comprehensive plans.  

JIRA Strengths

1. JIRA allows a high level of customizability when it comes to notifications. You can decide exactly who to send a notification to and when it will send.  

2. You can very easily customize the ticket interface. This means you can ensure that all your software is branded by your business.

3. The service desk is highly integrated, allowing you to do things like move support tickets into different Long Term projects when required. 

4. JIRA includes all features provided by Atlassian. This means that when you purchase the service desk, you can browse the impressive Atlassian Marketplace for bonus extra features.

JIRA Weaknesses

1. In certain instances, the ability to customize built-in functions or workflows is lacking. These small flaws can become frustrating. For example, for the “notify on critical ticket creation” feature, you can only select individuals, you can’t select an entire group.

2. The ticket interface is rather confusing. Each ticket has multiple tabs labeled “investigate”, “pending”, “workflow” and you need to change the status of each as you go. It could be simplified to just one status menu from which you can select “unassigned” or “open” or “pending.”

3. It doesn’t have an integrated knowledge base for customers. This means there’s no way for customers to find answers to common queries before contacting an agent.

SolarWinds Software 

SolarWinds is an easy-to-use service desk solution that also offers a high level of customizability. It offers several plans to accommodate small businesses to large enterprises.

While it can be used for incident and asset management, SolarWinds is also a good single-portal ticketing solution. This makes it a top choice for MSPs as it makes it easy to manage and respond to clients. 

SolarWinds Strengths

1. The search function is efficient and easy to use. If you need to find a specific ticket, all you do is pop in a keyword or username and the search function finds it in no time. 

2. The process of creating forms is very easy to follow. Almost anyone can design a form using this software without requiring hours of reading or training. You can also choose between plenty of extra features that can be added to each form, so it’s highly customizable. 

3. Each ticket or service request can have multiple layers of approval attached to it. This allows for auditors to easily track and confirm that all info has been reviewed and signed-off by the correct overseers.  

4. On the security front, SolarWinds is easily integrated with SAML-based SSO (security assertion markup language for single sign-on platforms) and MFA (multi-factor authentication).

SolarWinds Weaknesses

1. As the system is now, you can only assign tickets, forms, or service requests to one top-level category and/or one subcategory. More than one available category or sub-category would greatly improve the usability and organization of the platform.    

2. There is not much room allowed for customization of incident request forms. 

3. The service should integrate with more cloud file-sharing platforms, other than Dropbox. 

4. Recent hacks to SolarWinds databases might raise questions over the security of the data stored.

To Conclude

While each platform does have its drawbacks, both will infinitely improve the efficiency of your MSP. 

Both JIRA and SolarWinds are great service desk platforms to consider. The best advice would be to give a free trial of each and find out which meets the needs of your business best.