LAS VEGAS -- Spiceworks Tuesday is planning to introduce an updated version of its free IT Desktop application that now includes features that lets customers track outsourced services, more easily navigate data on managed devices and view the history of IT services via a feature similar to a social-networking news feed.

Spiceworks IT Desktop 3.0 to include a software-as-a-service inventory management feature that the company says will help its small to midsize customers better track the SaaS services they use. The software will track items such as service cost, related contract dates, help desk tickets, outages, documents and other data relevant to the outsourced services that can range from technologies such as online backup or e-mail hosting. IT Desktop 3.0 will be showcased by the vendor at Software 2008, a conference that is collocated with Interop Las Vegas.  

"This release gives managers the ability to track the SaaS services they consume and also start to compare how well the services perform, what they pay for the services and how well the SLAs are met," says Spiceworks CEO Scott Abel, who previously co-founded management automation software company Motive.

Spiceworks IT Desktop is available free for download and is designed to manage networks with as many as 250 devices. The software runs on an IT manager's workstation and inventories systems, clients and other IP-based devices through agentless discovery methods using open protocols such as Windows Management Instrumentation and Secure Shell. The application can provide inventory data, monitor the health and status of managed devices, and enable IT managers to keep an eye on their distributed assets at no cost to the user -- with one caveat.

Spiceworks users must be willing to tolerate adware in the management console. By partnering with Google AdSense, Spiceworks is able to garner revenue from clickable ads featured in the console and offer its software free to users. Company executives say the number of downloads proves the company's business model resonates with IT managers. To date, Spiceworks has logged 325,000 registered users of this application; the company doesn't consider unregistered downloads in its total number of registered users.

This release also includes an updated user interface feature, dubbed Network Glide, which allows IT managers to flip through and view network devices, applications and services more quickly. An IT services activity feed will let IT managers see the history of services in an activity stream similar to a social-networking application news feed. IT managers can also use Version 3.0 to create reports and share them with peers in the Spiceworks community. This version also introduces support for Microsoft Exchange and Active Directory.