We have modest needs from a ticketing system, no desire for customer chat - just email to ticket workflow. Zendesk works, but is a bit oversized for our ticketing needs (and slightly overpriced, perhaps - but not by an order of magnitude, so to speak).
We have a lot of history in our zendesk - and some of our customers are acquainted with the workflow.
I would probably not introduce zendesk as a new tool, but I do not have a clear recommendation on what should replace it.
At a previous work place we were quite happy with Trac - and I was a bit disappointed ttha Apache Bloodhound seemingly died off (it was in many ways an opinionated Trac setup/distribution).
On the other hand, if the other choice was a monstrosity like jira, I'd probably prefer zendesk.
I do think it's important to realise that support ticket (sub)systems are not issue trackers/scrum tooling - and vice-versa. Not all tickets are issues, and many issues are not tickets.
But if the two sub systems have some easy integration, that can still be beneficial. Just don't fool yourself into thinking that it can (should!) all be automated. Good support ticket handling provides real value both for customers and the development team.
We have a lot of history in our zendesk - and some of our customers are acquainted with the workflow.
I would probably not introduce zendesk as a new tool, but I do not have a clear recommendation on what should replace it.
At a previous work place we were quite happy with Trac - and I was a bit disappointed ttha Apache Bloodhound seemingly died off (it was in many ways an opinionated Trac setup/distribution).
On the other hand, if the other choice was a monstrosity like jira, I'd probably prefer zendesk.
I do think it's important to realise that support ticket (sub)systems are not issue trackers/scrum tooling - and vice-versa. Not all tickets are issues, and many issues are not tickets.
But if the two sub systems have some easy integration, that can still be beneficial. Just don't fool yourself into thinking that it can (should!) all be automated. Good support ticket handling provides real value both for customers and the development team.
[ed: maybe fogbugz warrant consideration?]