What is our primary use case?
GLPI by Teclib serves as my primary
CMDB and database for our company's inventory of devices. A specific example would be the inventory of laptops, resources, and servers that we have in the company.
We also use it for diagramming the data centers, the racks we have, the location of the devices in the racks, the units they occupy, and the specific data for each server. We use the platform for inventorying IP ranges for the different environments, which allows us to link the IPs to the devices or to the inventory of the virtual machines we have loaded in the CMDB. This gives us exact knowledge of the free IPs that we have in the company.
Another valuable addition is the plugin for the Active Directory connector, which allows us to import the company's users and assign company users to devices such as printers, headsets, keyboards, monitors, and mice. This ensures we know precisely which devices a user has at their location that belong to the company.
What is most valuable?
The best features offered by GLPI by Teclib include everything related to the inventory part, which is what we use. We do not use the ticket, change, and other types of functions. The versatility it has to load data into the inventory of devices is noteworthy, where if you want, you do not load any data and it still lets you add a resource to the CMDB, or you can load everything in super detail. Even with additional plugins, it lets you add custom fields and personalized fields to add data that one truly considers fundamental.
The metrics are basically having exact knowledge of the inventory the company has. It also speeds up the time in terms of knowing what is assigned to a user. Previously we used to manage it with an Excel spreadsheet, but the spreadsheet could suffer a malfunction, some modification by a third party, or other issues. There was no version tracking, and that caused problems. With GLPI by Teclib, we were able to have knowledge of the changes that a device or an inventory item undergoes and to have this tracking. This ease allows you to work in a much more organized and simpler way without having to redo work.
I found a plugin developed by a third party that allowed me to make the connection to the CMDB and, through some filters, avoid creating external inventories in order to work with Ansible. Instead, Ansible directly consumed the connection data that I had in the CMDB, which greatly simplifies the task and allows you to avoid dealing with duplicates everywhere while centralizing everything in a single tool.
What needs improvement?
At this time I do not have anything in mind internally where I would say this tool should have something to be better, since I do not use it in depth like maybe other companies that might get more out of it. I think I could get more out of it, but for now nothing comes to mind as an extra improvement. What it has so far really works very well and functions very well.
One of the more critical evaluations I have regarding tools is that they allow user validation for login against Active Directory or some public cloud SSO, and this tool already has that. I am not even using one of the latest versions; I am using an older version, so the latest versions surely come much more compatible. This allows and simplifies administration a lot on a day-to-day basis.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working in my current field for 5 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have never had any problems with GLPI by Teclib in my environment.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a very small organization, so scalability is not a concern.
How are customer service and support?
I have not needed technical support for GLPI by Teclib.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before GLPI by Teclib, we used an Excel spreadsheet with which we managed the inventory, and it was always generating problems. That is why we migrated to a solution that we really knew and knew that it worked.
How was the initial setup?
Integrating GLPI by Teclib with Ansible caused me a bit of trouble, but mostly because of the plugin I am using, which is basically the only one I found. The integration with Active Directory was very simple, and I had no problems at all. The integrations are quite practical and simple to carry out.
What about the implementation team?
The implementation was done entirely by us by following and reading GLPI by Teclib documentation. It is a tool that I already knew from many years ago, which for me was always very good. The implementation so far has been free of cost.
What was our ROI?
I have not seen a return on investment since I started using GLPI by Teclib. The only metric was just to have better order; no other metrics were measured.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We are using a free version of GLPI by Teclib and the implementation was done entirely by us.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I do not have the names in my head right now, and we considered several alternatives and solutions. I always try to look for open source or free solutions of this type that are really very well developed, but none of them ended up convincing us or getting close to what GLPI by Teclib offered. I always knew it from before and GLPI by Teclib always provided that simplicity that other tools end up turning into many complications.
What other advice do I have?
My advice for other people who are considering implementing GLPI by Teclib is to install it, implement it, try it, and use it, as it is excellent.
For whoever ends up reading this, GLPI by Teclib is a free, open source tool that really works very well and runs very well. I had already known it from a long time ago, and whoever does not use it is missing out on a great tool. I give this review a rating of 9 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other