We are using it for our data center operations, to monitor the stack layers that we have. We are also using it for our procurement operations, taking orders and tracking deliveries. In addition, we use it for following up on contracts so that we make sure not to miss any renewal or cancellation of a contract.
Previously, our company had a lot of issues keeping track of all the data centers and the inventory, as well as the purchase orders. All of these were managed by other tools. The good thing about Device42 is that it can be used for all this together. We don't need to spend time checking many other tools and files.
The solution has reduced the time spent managing our IT assets. It's an easy-to-use program and everything is pretty understandable. We are able to manage everything pretty quickly, definitely saving time with the tool. For every task, my colleagues have told me that they save between five and 15 minutes. There might be some 30 tasks to do during the day, so it can save a lot of time.
It's an easy-to-use tool. It's not too complicated with too many settings. It has a pretty friendly user interface and is understandable at first sight. Everything was pretty clearly explained in the tutorial when I started using it.
And I would rate its automatic IT asset discovery and inventory functionality at eight-and-a half or nine out of 10. It works well for us. I haven't been working with the tool for that long, but over those five months it's has been really helpful for us. My colleagues who have been working with the tool longer than I have are also very satisfied with it. It's really helping us to keep track of everything:
Sometimes we need to add some details on the purchasing side of the tool. If we have a contract, we need to keep track of the beginning of the contract, the end date of the contract, and a notification period when we need to decide whether we are going to cancel it or renew it. This is related to the reporting because we wanted to add these details in the list which we see on the tool, but even when we succeeded with that, we couldn't see this information on a report.
But overall it's an easy program and we can manage it without too much trouble.
I have been using Device42 since I started working for my current employer in mid-October last year. So it has been about five months.
It's a really good product in terms of stability. It works in the way we expect. We don't have any complaints except with the support for our request on the reporting, which didn't go as we expected.
I don't deal with the scalability of it. I deal with procurement mostly. But my colleagues say it's easy to work with and they don't have difficulty with this.
I think it can be a bit tricky when they need to add many assets. We may need to do some internal upgrades when it comes to serial number scanning of small items for replacement, but that's not related to the tool. In the end, all this information will go into the tool and it will help us to track things better.
The only thing which I have noticed so far that is not good is that we had an issue with some reporting from the tool, reporting we had to export. We couldn't do it in the way we wanted to, so we tried to reach out to their support but it took pretty long until we understood how we can manage the reports. We still haven't received a complete explanation of what we need to do and how to do it. We understand that the master admin can do this, but it still hasn't been explained, completely, how it's possible. Their support has been a bit slow.
And we also don't know if the master admin can provide access to other users to download such reports. It's one guy who takes care of all of this, who receives requests from everyone in the company who is using the solution.
I had one other issue, in the beginning. The tool didn't work for the whole company so I opened a ticket and had a remote session with a guy from support. He worked really well and really fast and resolved the problem within an hour-and-a-half. He found there was a programming issue and contacted his colleagues and they fixed it pretty quick so we had access again.
We have definitely seen a return on investment. I cannot give you numbers, but from what I have heard from my manager, they are satisfied with the tool.
We have a yearly license.
If a company with our type of business asked me if they should go for it, I would definitely recommend it if they have the same kinds of operations that we do.
The users of the solution in our company are from the lowest positions to almost the top. It might be over 300 people. We are using it on a daily basis. As a company, we are growing every day and more and more people are starting to use it.
It's a pretty good solution for data center operations, for what we are doing, and for procurement as well. I would recommend it because it's easy to use with a friendly user interface. It's not a difficult program at all. So far, everything is going well.
