GLPI
Key Info:
GLPI is open-source IT service-management and asset-management software. It provides an inventory and service desk environment for tracking computers, peripherals, software, contracts and other resources alongside support requests, users, locations and operational processes.
Details
Inventory within service operations
GLPI links inventory records with support and service processes. Assets can carry technical, user, location, software and contract information, giving agents context when handling a request. Evaluate the data model using a real incident and a planned replacement: check whether the relevant asset is found reliably, whether history remains understandable and whether an update made during a ticket is appropriately controlled.
Extensibility and connected tooling
The platform's ecosystem can extend inventory, discovery and service-management capabilities. This makes scope selection important: list the core features, plugins, collectors and integrations required for the intended operation, then test their compatibility and upgrade path together. A module that works alone may introduce maintenance or security responsibility when combined with several community extensions.
Deployment and governance
GLPI can be operated in different hosting arrangements. The organisation must decide who patches the application, protects credentials, takes backups, monitors jobs and approves extensions. Review access roles, audit records, imports, exports, automation, API use and data retention. Run one restoration and one upgrade rehearsal before relying on the platform for a large support or asset-management programme. Include the inventory collector and each chosen plugin in that rehearsal, because their compatibility, data flow and maintenance responsibilities determine the practical scope of a GLPI deployment.
Evaluation record
Document the approved asset scope, identity rules, required fields, operational owners, source systems, retention, integration boundaries, test exceptions and acceptance measures. Keep fields for pricing, customer size, languages, operating systems and apps blank unless a current official source maps them precisely to the BBS field. Run a time-boxed pilot with a representative asset sample, named data stewards and a written exception log. Compare user actions, audit trail and reports against the present process. At the end, decide whether the product can support the required control model, what configuration or integration work remains, and which measurable result would justify a full rollout. Keep the pilot evidence in a decision record that another administrator can replay, including sample source files, permission settings, expected reports, failure handling, sign-off owners and the plan for migration, training and post-launch review.