Getting started: Administrator introduction to Service Desk

Thank you for choosing Service Desk, a leading SaaS IT Service Desk and Asset Management service. SolarWinds is excited to introduce you to all the features at your fingertips.

Service Desk is an on-demand service. There are no servers to provision, no software to maintain, and no databases to administer. Additionally, with Service Desk there is no need to worry about running additional software or backing up your data.

This guide

This guide will serve as an outline to assist your administrators with initial setup. It will help you get your organization started with user friendly, superior IT Service Management (ITSM). This introduction into Service Desk will give you the foundation to gain better control in regard to IT requests, solutions, and assets across your organization.

Getting started: Before you begin

Getting started: Before you begin contains information about factors you should consider in advance of setup, how to plan a setup that will meet your organization’s needs, and a short description of the overall setup process.

Begin initial setup

Getting started: Begin initial setup contains a quick overview of login procedures, a description of your landing page, and useful links to more setup information.

At least annually, assess and reassess your use of Service Desk features

As your organization's needs and maturity evolve, you may find value in Service Desk features you haven't yet enabled. The Maturity Model will help you decide what features to implement next to help meet your goals.

Set up reminders to reassess your configuration at least annually to ensure it continues to support your team's needs as you continue to adopt more Service Desk features.

Consider trying out Service Desk features you are not currently using by setting up a Sandbox.

Other useful information

Dashboard contains a complete description of your dashboard and how to use it.

Getting started: Service Desk assistance contains methods for seeking information and assistance.

Setup: Account contains information about the account module of Service Desk and links to the sub-modules.

Getting started: Users & groups contains information about setting up users and groups in Service Desk and links to the sub-modules.

Setup: Integrations contains a list of applications that can be integrated with Service Desk and links to instructions for integrating them.

Setup: Global settings contains information about the global settings you establish in Service Desk and links to guidance for setup of each, including setup of your service portal, creation of custom states, notification settings for your service desk, and email sections used in those notifications.

Custom fields and Custom forms contain information that can help you customize your service desk by collecting the information you need when requests are submitted.

Enterprise Service Management (ESM) explains how you can expand from a single service provider (ITSM tenant) to multiple service providers, such as IT, Marketing, Legal, HR, and Facilities.