This is precisely what we found out when we ran a survey across users who use ManageEngine free tools. Among the survey highlights, we found that mid-size and large enterprises - not cash-strapped solopreneurs, startups and SMBs - are the leading users of free tools.
We have seen a 40 percent increase in downloads during the first half of 2013. Contrary to popular belief, it was found that a whopping 61% of free tools users are mid and large enterprises, 46% of which use it them on a daily basis!
Click here for Free Tools Infographic
The decision to use free tools is really about functionality and performance, not price. That's one of the biggest takeaways of this survey. Free tools won't replace the management consoles that give admins the big picture on IT, but the nimbler tools are often the go-to solutions for looking at a problem in isolation. Free tools are quick to install, easy to use and provide real-time data. That's why admins keep going back to them.
"Free Tools" Survey Takeaways
The ManageEngine "Free Tools" survey was sent to users who downloaded one or more of ManageEngine free IT management tools. Key survey findings center on who, exactly, is using free IT management tools.
Companies of all sizes use free tools:
• Mid and large enterprises (100+ employees) - 61%
• Small businesses (up to 100 employees) - 16%
• Solopreneurs and startups (up to 10 employees) - 23%
Free tools are used by IT teams across different industries:
• IT and technology - 28.53%
• Banking, financial services and insurance - 20.98%
• Healthcare - 18.38%
• Education - 10.38%
• Government - 10.23%
• Other - 11.50%
Sysadmins (43.5%) aren't the only IT pros using free tools. Others include:
• Network admins - 24.8%
• IT managers - 21.3%
• Vertical admins - 10.4%
This survey also revealed that the most common uses of the free tools include solving common Windows and desktop management problems (64 percent), troubleshooting (44 percent) and monitoring (29 percent).
Vidya Vasu is Head of the ManageEngine Community.
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