Looking for an ePulpo alternative? Why it’s time to escape the tentacles and embrace pure GLPI

If your organisation is currently scanning the horizon for a viable ePulpo alternative, you are definitely not alone. Many large organisations, particularly within the Spanish public sector, ministries, and state-owned enterprises,are actively re-evaluating their asset management and IT Service Management (ITSM) strategies.

Public entities in Spain have a strict, non-negotiable set of rules to play by. We are talking about compliance with the Esquema Nacional de Seguridad – ENS (Stands as Spanish National Security Framework) and ISO 27001. When you are managing critical public infrastructure, you need absolute data sovereignty, predictable budgets, and integrations that actually work without jumping through costly vendor hoops.

Lately, we have been approached by several leads who are ready to break free from proprietary constraints. They want to move away from the tightening grip of platforms that essentially use GLPI under the hood, wrapping it in restrictive layers, version delays, and arbitrary licensing models.

The problem with GLPI under the hood

Using a platform that wraps open-source GLPI in a proprietary shell might seem convenient at first, but it quickly leads to vendor lock-in.

An octopus has an incredibly powerful grip, and proprietary software suites feel remarkably similar. When a tool uses GLPI under the hood but restricts your direct database access or locks you out of the native GLPI ecosystem, you lose the very flexibility you bought into. You are left waiting for the vendor’s release roadmap just to get critical security updates or new features.

For Spanish public administrations navigating the rigid realities of ENS High or Medium compliance, this lack of direct control makes auditing and system integration unnecessarily complex.

That is why transitioning to pure, unrestricted GLPI is becoming the preferred path for organisations that want to regain control of their IT infrastructure.

The benefits of transitioning to pure GLPI

Transitioning to native GLPI is a great ePulpo alternative, with us is not about swapping one cage for another. It is about choosing absolute freedom:

• True ownership: A pure open-source core means your data belongs entirely to you. You decide whether to host on-premises on your own metal or in a secure, local cloud. Even if you choose to host on the official GLPI Network Cloud handled by Teclib’, there is still zero lock-in, you can leave at any time and take your entire database with you. No strings attached.
• API-driven liberty: You can connect, automate, and scale your infrastructure exactly how you see fit, without hitting artificial vendor walls, hidden feature gates, or sudden licence traps.
• Rock-solid compliance: Native GLPI naturally adapts to ENS High or Medium baselines, giving Spanish public entities complete peace of mind without sacrificing flexibility. Andif you miss something TICGAL is here to help 😉

A bit of 90s nostalgia (and why change is not as scary as it looks)

Allow me to take a tiny detour. (perks of been the main writer at TICGAL :)). Anyone who knows me is fully aware that music is my passion. Spinning a record, whether a new release or a classic has a brilliant way of resetting my perspective.

Yes, that is my real, physical compact disc in the photo, no AI for a change ;). Go ahead and laugh. I realise I am starting to sound a bit like an old grandpa telling stories about the ancient times around a campfire. The funny thing is, some of you reading this might not even have been born yet when this record dropped back in 1997.

The album is Eight Arms to Hold You by Veruca Salt (their website is down by the way), an absolute powerhouse of 90s alternative rock.

Whenever I think of an octopus, the traditional Galician feira-style dish always comes to mind first, closely followed by this record. Just in case you were wondering, that’s exactly what the second photo is about. I was tempted to use Cthulhu here, but I don’t want any calls from a lawyer 😉

Volcano Girls, one of the most popular songs on the album, hits you immediately with a killer line:

Leave me lying here

’cause I don’t wanna go.

It is such a raw, honest lyric about our natural resistance to change. It captures that exact feeling of staying right where you are, even if the situation is a little suffocating, simply because moving or changing feels like too much effort. But sometimes, you are forced to leave anyway. And here we are.

In the IT world, we fall into that exact same trap. We tolerate the growing pains and the shifting licensing models because staying put feels easier than making a move.

Making GLPI work for you

Let’s be completely honest here. We don’t believe in fairy tales, thus one size fits all software. Every organisation has its own quirks, its own legacy mess, and its own unique workflows. GLPI isn’t a magic wand that solves all your problems the second you double-click install.

But that is exactly why we are here. After all, this is our job. We don’t just hand you a subscription and wish you luck. As a certified GLPI Platinum Partner, we specialise in taking this incredibly powerful engine and tailoring it to your exact reality. We handle the technical heavy lifting, protect your historical data during the migration, and design a modern, compliant workflow that actually serves your team.

Let’s break the tight hold of the octopus and build an ITSM environment that gives you room to breathe.

I promise not to ramble too much about 90s rock when you contact us, well, I can’t guarantee that 100%, but I’ll certainly try!