ITSM tools: free tools for IT service management

What is an ITSM tool?

IT service management sees IT as a service provider for the business. An ITSM tool is the instrument for this: it makes sure that no request gets lost, that it is clear who is responsible, and that last time's solution can be found again next time. Typical building blocks are:

• Incident management: recording incidents, classifying them by impact and urgency, and resolving them.
• Service requests: requests such as new access rights, a second monitor or a new program.
• Problem management: finding and permanently removing the causes of recurring incidents.
• Change enablement: requesting changes, assessing risks, approving them and implementing them in a controlled way.
• Knowledge base: proven solutions that are suggested again for the next matching ticket.
• CMDB: the configuration management database with devices, software and their relationships.

Large ITSM suites offer all this and much more – with a corresponding effort for introduction, licences and maintenance. In small and medium-sized enterprises with a small IT team or an external service provider, a lean tool that covers the basics properly is often enough. That is exactly what I built my ITSM tools for.

My free ITSM tools at a glance

ITSM tool: incidents, service requests, problems and changes

The ITSM tool records incidents, requests, their causes and the changes that fix them – based on ITIL® 4, but deliberately lean. Each ticket opens in a clear form with assignment, priority from P1 to P5, service level and history. If similar incidents keep recurring, a problem groups them together; you implement the permanent solution through a change. Reports show incoming and resolved tickets per week, failure-prone systems, and changes and their consequences – for printing as PDF and as CSV for Excel.

Open the ITSM tool in your browser · detailed description in the blog

A knowledge base like a wiki

The ITSM tool includes a knowledge base: each solution is a page of its own with symptoms, cause, steps, tables and pictures, with versions and in a German and an English version. While a ticket is being recorded, the tool already suggests matching solutions; resolved tickets can be taken over as a draft with a tick. You import existing instructions from Word, PDF, PowerPoint or LibreOffice, and you can export every solution as a document again – so instructions can be passed on without the recipients needing to know the tool.

CMDB of the MC4Y Productivity Suite

The CMDB keeps track of servers, workstations, notebooks, printers, network and security components, software and applications in categories that you adapt to your business. Every change is recorded in the history, and every device shows where it came from and when it was last changed. You import existing lists from Excel or CSV, from Active Directory, from the DHCP server or from Wireshark. The ITSM tool names the affected devices from the CMDB, and the CMDB shows the related tickets for each device.

More about the CMDB

Agents and crawler: recording the inventory automatically

If you do not want to maintain everything by hand, you can set up agents for Windows, Linux, Raspberry Pi, macOS, Android and Home Assistant; if you wish, a crawler finds the reachable devices in the networks you enter. They report hardware, operating system, installed software, services and network adapters – no user names and no file contents, encrypted and only to your own suite.

More about agents and the crawler

Kanban board for the IT team

For work that does not fit into a ticket – improvements, small projects, tasks arising from a problem – there is a Kanban board with user stories, dependencies, ready and done criteria and reports such as lead times and burn-down.

Open the Kanban board · description in the blog

The MC4Y Productivity Suite: working together as a team

On their own, the tools run in the browser and save to a file on your computer. In the MC4Y Productivity Suite, several people work together: with sign-in, rights per tool, shared storage, locks while editing, the knowledge base as a module of its own and a daily backup. You install the suite on a Windows server, on Linux, on a Mac or with a web host – no cloud and no tracking.

More about the MC4Y Productivity Suite · all downloads

Who these ITSM tools are for

• small IT teams and IT managers in small and medium-sized enterprises,
• companies that want to introduce IT service management based on ITIL without buying a large suite straight away,
• service providers who set up an orderly service desk for their customers,
• anyone who wants to get to know and try out ITSM.

The tools are based on ITIL® 4 but are not a certified product. I keep developing them and welcome feedback.

Introducing ITSM – with consulting

A tool alone does not make IT service management. What matters are clearly described services, responsibilities and rules for incidents and changes. From my roles as IT service owner and product owner at Audi AG, I know ITSM from practice; in ITSM consulting I help you find the right scale for your company. How to do this step by step is described in the article Introducing ITSM in practice. For the architecture of your IT landscape, there are also my free EAM tools.

Frequently asked questions about ITSM tools

What is an ITSM tool?

An ITSM tool is software for IT service management. It records incidents, service requests, problems and changes, monitors service levels and usually includes a knowledge base and a CMDB.

Are there free ITSM tools for small businesses?

Yes. I provide a free ITSM tool with a knowledge base, a Kanban board and – in the MC4Y Productivity Suite – a CMDB, all as free software under the GPL. The browser tools need neither installation nor an account.

Which ITSM tool is suitable for a small IT team?

One that covers the basics properly and can be maintained by a few people: tickets for incidents and requests, clear responsibilities, a knowledge base and a simple overview of the devices. Clear rules for incidents and changes matter more than the range of functions.

What is the difference between an ITSM tool and a CMDB?

The ITSM tool manages the work – tickets, changes and solutions. The CMDB describes what is being worked on: devices, software and their relationships. The two belong together because every ticket names the systems affected.

Are the tools certified to ITIL?

No. They are based on ITIL® 4 but are not a certified product.

Where does my data stay?

The browser tools save to a file on your computer and transmit nothing. In the MC4Y Productivity Suite, the data is stored on your own server.

Trademark notice: ITIL® is a registered trademark of the PeopleCert group. The name is used descriptively only; there is no connection with the trademark owner.