BMC Helix Discovery Reviews

Vendor: BMC

4.3 out of 5

26 reviews
88% willing to recommend

251 followers

What is BMC Helix Discovery?

BMC Discovery, formerly ADDM, is a digital enterprise management solution that automates asset discovery and application dependency mapping to build a holistic view of all your data center assets and the relationships between them.

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BMC Helix Discovery is the #2 ranked solution in top IT Asset Management solutions. PeerSpot users give BMC Helix Discovery an average rating of 8.6 out of 10. BMC Helix Discovery is most commonly compared to ServiceNow: BMC Helix Discovery vs ServiceNow. BMC Helix Discovery is popular among the large enterprise segment, accounting for 74% of users researching this solution on PeerSpot. The top industry researching this solution are professionals from a financial services firm, accounting for 18% of all views.

Helped 842,388 peers since 2012

Featured BMC Helix Discovery reviews

Shirish Kamalapurkar

Solutions Architect at Kinsfolk Technology Private Limited

Our company uses the solution as an inventory tool for customers. The solution discovers your infrastructure and lets you know what servers and network devices are on it. It gives you details about applications, hardware, and software such as how they are connected and the dependencies between…

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Rafael Pinto Ferreira

IT Director at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

I like the artificial intelligence and machine learning that it uses in the solution. Because once the solution discovers all the assets, all the infrastructure, and all the dependencies between services, it learns how it works. So, it learns to predict when a problem is going to happen. It becomes predictive in an autonomous way. You don't need a human to do that, and it helps the IT team go to the root cause of the problem. That reduces noise about the exam. Like, when a portal or a system goes down, you have a storm of incidents. Everybody opens an incident because they can't access the portal. It's not working, or they access it, and they can't input data into the portal or something like that. So when you have the AIOps — the artificial intelligence and machine learning — you aggregate all these incidents and use information from other solutions like a CMDB, Helix, nonuse, Dynatrace, or Apache Log. It makes the relationship between all this data and helps you go to the root cause of the problem really fast. So, AIOps is the most important feature of the BMC Helix platform because it helps a lot. It combines IT operations with business operations. Today, in most enterprises, we have siloed areas. Business is siloed, and what they're doing in IT is isolated here. But when you deliver the BMC Helix platform to an enterprise, you help them break these silos and integrate all areas. The visibility that the platform gives is for all areas, not just for IT. So, in the portal, you have a collaboration, like social media collaboration, and you have a chatbot, an automated chatbot, and an intelligent chatbot, which helps you understand the problems you encounter. And the communication between the areas becomes better. And this is all possible because of the AIOps in the solution.

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ShashiGupta

Soo at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

The tool's accuracy of the results we receive looks promising in general. Its values are more than 95 percent accurate compared to other clients or different tools. I would say that Discovery offers a valuable mechanism to discover information. The new features of the blueprint open doors for platform teams within organizations. In manufacturing or service industries, specific platform levels of networks are available, and the product simplifies finding that information. Modeling is also easier. Apart from these, there are many other features, but the most promising factor is user-friendliness. It's straightforward: scan it, and you'll get the result. Another important aspect is security. BMC Helix Discovery's visualization may not be available in other tools. Compliance metrics and results from Tenable and Splunk are promising, but they usually filter information. BMC Helix Discovery provides a holistic view, which is valuable. I consider BMC Helix Discovery easy to learn, especially with proper training or one month of good mentorship.

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BMC Helix Discovery mindshare

As of March 2025, the mindshare of BMC Helix Discovery in the IT Asset Management category stands at 8.8%, up from 8.0% compared to the previous year, according to calculations based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

IT Asset Management

PeerAnalyst reports based on BMC Helix Discovery reviews

Type	Title	Date
Category	IT Asset Management	Mar 26, 2025	Download
Product	Reviews, tips, and advice from real users	Mar 26, 2025	Download
Comparison	BMC Helix Discovery vs ServiceNow	Mar 26, 2025	Download
Comparison	BMC Helix Discovery vs BMC Remedy	Mar 26, 2025	Download
Comparison	BMC Helix Discovery vs ServiceNow Discovery	Mar 26, 2025	Download

Title	Rating	Mindshare	Recommending
ServiceNow	4.2	23.3%	92%	216 interviews Add to research
Qualys VMDR	4.2	3.6%	94%	93 interviews Add to research

Valuable Features

BMC Helix Discovery offers agentless application modeling, automated service mapping, and extensive data integration. It excels in security, scalability, and speed in asset management and infrastructure visibility. Its intuitive interface simplifies deployment, while AIOps and machine learning enhance predictive capabilities. Integration with IT platforms boosts operational efficiency and collaboration. Users appreciate its comprehensive dependency mapping and strong technical support, making it user-friendly, secure, and powerful for managing IT infrastructure.

"BMC Helix Discovery has delivered a very good return, and we cannot stop using it at this moment."
"It immediately understands which component it is, and it provides the exact API details with all the components."
"The initial setup is simple."

Room for Improvement

BMC Helix Discovery needs enhanced cloud platform scanning and improved integration with other tools. Many users seek more user-friendly customization options and better handling of asset data. There is a demand for increased automation, client-side discovery features, and stable updates. Additionally, the application infrastructure, CMDB data extraction, and pricing flexibility require attention. Improved dashboards, more detailed mapping capabilities, and comprehensive training would benefit users, while addressing stability and manual dependency mapping processing issues is necessary.

"I would like to see a lower price and better technical support."
"The improvement I want to see is a reduction in duplicate records."
"It is very complicated to use."

ROI

BMC Helix Discovery delivers a strong return on investment. Organizations experience significant operational efficiency, reducing costs and saving time through automation, achieving software audits in 15 minutes. Customization options address specific needs, covering 70-80 percent of requirements. A Forester study indicates a 314% ROI. Continuous optimization identifies unnecessary expenditures, such as excess memory or disk space. BMC Helix Discovery enables substantial cost savings and remains essential to operations, seamlessly delivering financial benefits.

Pricing

BMC Helix Discovery's pricing varies significantly among users, with some considering it affordable compared to competitors like ServiceNow, often citing it as half the price. Cost structures include yearly licenses, with complexities in managing licenses for different assets such as servers and storage. While a trial is available for users to explore, fixed licenses are chargeable. Opinions on expense range from fair to costly, with optional consulting services for implementation contributing to overall costs.

"I've heard that the solution was expensive earlier but is now much cheaper than its competitors."
"It's not a cheap product. But the benefits it delivers is that it's a fair price."
"I rate the pricing an eight out of ten. All BMC products are expensive."

Popular Use Cases

BMC Helix Discovery is primarily used for asset and configuration item discovery, data center exploration, and service management integration. It helps organizations automate event management, visualize infrastructure using mapping, and populate the configuration management database (CMDB) for accurate data. BMC Helix Discovery supports hybrid environments, identifies IT assets, manages network connections, and generates organizational maps. It assists with IT service, operations, and enterprise service management, ensuring up-to-date information with periodic rediscovery.

Service and Support

Customer service and support for BMC Helix Discovery receive mixed feedback. Many commend the knowledgeable and professional technical support, often highlighting quick and responsive assistance, especially with premier support. Managed service support is often praised, but some users note delays in response time, which affect satisfaction levels. English support is prioritized, though global support offers local language options. Internal teams often supplement support, with satisfaction ratings ranging from moderate to high.

Deployment

BMC Helix Discovery's setup is praised for being simple and efficient. Most users found installation quick, often requiring minimal personnel and time. Some reported complexities, particularly with large networks or specific requirements, where expertise was necessary. Deployment times varied, with cloud and on-premises options available. Internal processes or connectivity issues sometimes extended timelines. Generally, users highlighted the ease of spinning up virtual machines and minimal configuration needed to begin effective use.

Scalability

BMC Helix Discovery offers flexible scalability, accommodating both on-premise and cloud deployments. Users appreciate its ability to handle complex environments and various integrations, including API support. While some find it expensive and require specific techniques for certain integrations, others rate its scalability highly, especially for medium to large enterprises. It efficiently accommodates diverse user bases and infrastructure setups, making it well-suited for hybrid cloud environments, though maintenance needs may vary.

Stability

BMC Helix Discovery's stability receives high marks with many users rating it eight or nine out of ten. It is described as robust, using a pre-hardened virtual appliance on Linux, making it less vulnerable to viruses. A few users reported occasional bugs or experienced less reliability during upgrades. However, the majority agree on its reliability, citing minimal downtime and strong support. Stability is often noted as superior to other tools in the market.

These insights are based on the in-depth reviews provided by peers to help you make a better buying decision.

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