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BMC Atrium CMDB vs ServiceNow CMDB comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

BMC Atrium CMDB
Ranking in Configuration Management Databases
4th
Average Rating
9.2
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
ServiceNow CMDB
Ranking in Configuration Management Databases
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Configuration Management Databases category, the mindshare of BMC Atrium CMDB is 10.0%, down from 17.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow CMDB is 41.6%, down from 44.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Configuration Management Databases
 

Featured Reviews

Yousef Bayari - PeerSpot reviewer
Serves as a repository for storing configuration items, encompassing both physical and logical entities
The main feature is the relational model database, where you define relationships between CIs. Being able to establish CI relationships and building a service model is a key aspect of CMDB. Additionally, the traditional features of asset management, such as tracking assets through attributes, location, and ownership (both organizational and individual), are also part of it. On top of these, the CI model, which handles relationships and service models, is pivotal.
EdwardScott - PeerSpot reviewer
It has helped us consolidate information, improving reporting and visibility
The setup was pretty straightforward on the development side, but I don't think the expectations of the user community are properly set. There is a gap between what the development side is doing, and what the user community expects. For example, my company has used ServiceNow for several years. When I joined, they weren't using it for much besides change management. That was easy to set up and configure. It was immature but fairly usable because no other processes had access to CMDB. It was easy, but their knowledge of what to do with CMDB was underdeveloped. We redeployed it in nine months, but we're still building. I wouldn't say that the deployment is complete because we haven't finished service mapping yet. We spent nine months fixing old problems and ensuring discovery is dependable. A team of about six people is working on the deployment, including architects, developers, subject matter experts, and process owners.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"This solution makes it easy for us to access data, and seamlessly integrates with all ITSM as well as the monitoring parts."
"It allows me to easily manage my data: Cleanse, load, and report on it."
"The rules functionality makes it easier to classify data for different groups."
"The most valuable features of BMC Atrium CMDB are its ease to build new classes. For example, let's say there are types of CIs or efforts that do not exist in BMC Atrium CMDB. You can create your own and their relationship to existing classes."
"Atrium Integrator​ allows me to manage my data, with regular updates, etc. and integrate with multiple systems."
"This solution has improved our tracking."
"Over the years, we have progressed to have close to a real-time up-to-date view into the assets in our environment."
"The main feature is the relational model database, where you define relationships between CIs. Being able to establish CI relationships and building a service model is a key aspect of CMDB."
"ServiceNow is basically a go-to when it comes to Remedy and ticket management."
"It has helped in tracking hardware and software and reducing overall costs."
"I like ServiceNow CMDB's discovery tools. If you have discovery tools and the discovery tools are built around a philosophy of mapping, then we can implement a top-down architectural mapping of the elements in the upper structure and create your CI."
"The support of the whole infrastructure is one of the main features that makes ServiceNow CMDB suitable for every type of company. It integrates with all other modules like change, business management, HR, and customer service management."
"There is a lot of documentation online regarding CMDB."
"Portfolio management is very useful for us."
"ServiceNow CMDB is fully integrated and complete. ServiceNow has modules for everything an IT service company needs, and it's flexible."
"We were previously using spreadsheets to keep track of everything. ServiceNow CMDB has enabled us to consolidate all this information into one place, which helps with audits and reporting. It also improves visibility."
 

Cons

"There could be a provision in the back end to ensure unique collections and avoid duplicate services."
"Recently, improvements have been more focused on the interface side."
"Looking for a more streamlined interface; one that matches the other parts of the BMC Remedy product line."
"BMC Atrium CMDB could improve if they had a cloud version and made the interface better."
"We would like the service modelling functionality of this solution to be improved."
"I am just waiting for the new release with the new enhanced UI."
"ServiceNow CMDB could be easier to use. Beginners don't always understand the features. It would be helpful if ServiceNow offered more training or self-guided courses where people could learn to leverage the platform better. I've used ServiceNow for a long time, but I see new users struggling with these processes. There's a steep learning curve."
"The platform's stability needs improvement."
"An area for improvement in ServiceNow is the reporting because there are reporting features that would be better when done within the platform, rather than having to buy the performance analytics model. There is so much difference between the dashboarding that you can do from the platform versus what's on the performance analytics model. Some of the features currently available within performance analytics would be good to have within the platform because sometimes, customers will say that the tool is okay, but it's not enough, so you'll need to go with the performance analytics model, and that's costly."
"The initial setup is a bit complex."
"They can improve the mobile application and the TGO tool, which is a built-in tool for development and implementation. As a developer, it is very frustrating to configure or customize the mobile app. In my opinion, this part of the application needs full rework and re-engineering."
"ServiceNow CMDB may face performance issues if we try to make the solution too large by adding more CIs."
"The tool is not user-friendly. It has a lot of features and you can get lost in it."
"If you have multiple tools that are going to ingest data into the CMDB, you need to be careful of what rules we write to ensure that they fall in place."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"CMDB is more expensive than one of its competitors."
"It is really expensive. I don't know actually how much it costs, but in 2016, when a client decided to move from an old solution to ServiceNow and had to choose a supplier for ServiceNow, I had heard that it could cost $10 per hour, which is really expensive. I am not aware of any additional fees to the standard licensing fees. There is no standard ServiceNow solution. When a company wants to acquire ServiceNow, they already know which module they will choose. In a basic package, you would have Service Catalog, Incident Management, and Change Management. These modules are usually required in an IT company."
"It is always fluctuating. It seems to change every six months. Every time they come out with a new iteration, it changes. It is pretty complicated, and they should improve it."
"The market sees ServiceNow as the Ferrari in terms of pricing. It's at the very top, and its cost is very, very high."
"I would like it to be cheaper. If you've got a large environment, it can get quite expensive quite quickly. You still get a return on investment, but everybody has a tight budget. In terms of licensing, everything is pretty much known upfront. Being SaaS-based, there are no real additional gotchas that we came across."
"In comparison to the cost of other solutions, you get value for your money with ServiceNow CMDB. It could definitely be cheaper though."
"The product is pricey."
"The product price falls on the higher side of the spectrum."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
30%
Government
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Healthcare Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BMC Atrium CMDB?
The main feature is the relational model database, where you define relationships between CIs. Being able to establish CI relationships and building a service model is a key aspect of CMDB.
What needs improvement with BMC Atrium CMDB?
Recently, improvements have been more focused on the interface side. The core code itself is stable. For instance, there's been a transition from using Flash on the interface to more modern externa...
What is your primary use case for BMC Atrium CMDB?
The Atrium CMDB is where you would store all your configuration items, whether they're physical or logical. For example, server PCs, routers, switches, and other network devices, as well as the sof...
What do you like most about ServiceNow CMDB?
The product's initial setup phase was simple.
What needs improvement with ServiceNow CMDB?
I don't currently see any problems with ServiceNow CMDB since everything works fine. If I click on some particular CIs at the moment, all the information related to that CI appears by default. Righ...
What is your primary use case for ServiceNow CMDB?
I use ServiceNow CMDB in my company to deal with areas like incidents, problems, and change management. I use ServiceNow CMDB in my company to deal with all the equipment inventories and our infras...
 

Also Known As

Atrium CMDB
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Brookfield
Wayfair, Siemens, Allianz, Experian, Vitas Healthcare
Find out what your peers are saying about BMC Atrium CMDB vs. ServiceNow CMDB and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,651 professionals have used our research since 2012.