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BMC Helix Discovery vs Qualys VMDR comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 5, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
8.2
BMC Helix Discovery saves time, boosts ROI by 314%, enhances efficiency, and reduces costs through automation and optimization.
Sentiment score
7.2
Qualys VMDR enhances security, risk reduction, and compliance, improving asset management and operational efficiency with substantial benefits.
BMC Helix Discovery has delivered a very good return, and we cannot stop using it at this moment.
We saw a return on investment through significant savings in time, money, and resources.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
BMC Helix Discovery's customer service receives mixed reviews, with praise for expertise but criticism on response times and resolutions.
Sentiment score
6.7
Qualys VMDR's customer service is praised for expertise but faces occasional delays and generic responses, needing faster resolutions.
The response has been satisfactory, though improvements could be made in response time and overall competence.
We usually get on calls with tech support, and they are very helpful.
The technical support provided by Qualys is pretty good.
The response time takes a while.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
BMC Helix Discovery offers adaptability for cloud and on-premise deployments, with mixed reviews on scalability and usability.
Sentiment score
8.0
Qualys VMDR offers high scalability for large networks, efficiently managing resources and adapting to diverse requirements seamlessly.
Scalability depends on the license and the number of assets being monitored.
Qualys VMDR can handle scalability, although increasing the inventory can raise the licensing costs.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
BMC Helix Discovery is highly stable and reliable, praised for security, enterprise management, despite minor upgrade issues.
Sentiment score
8.0
Qualys VMDR is praised for its stability, with users rating it highly, despite minor bugs and occasional connectivity issues.
 

Room For Improvement

Users seek BMC Helix Discovery enhancements in integrations, scalability, user-friendliness, customization, cloud capabilities, and technical support.
Qualys VMDR needs better reporting, UI, integration, and support to improve usability, manage vulnerabilities, and reduce costs.
I would like to see a lower price and better technical support.
If AI features were integrated, it could enhance the capabilities significantly.
It does not automate patching unless the patch management module is purchased separately.
They can tweak their UI since the new version seems a bit jumbled up.
 

Setup Cost

BMC Helix Discovery offers competitive pricing but has complex licensing, requiring careful alignment of use cases with budgets.
Qualys VMDR offers competitive pricing and comprehensive features, justifying its cost for medium to large enterprises with flexible options.
The price is about twelve per license per year, and the support is included.
I have a notion that Qualys might be more expensive than Rapid7.
Qualys offers better pricing and is feature-packed compared to other tools.
I would rate the pricing between seven to eight out of ten.
 

Valuable Features

BMC Helix Discovery provides fast, agentless deployment, intuitive interface, superior application modeling, integration, and AI-driven insights for asset management.
Qualys VMDR offers comprehensive vulnerability management with strong cloud capabilities, automated detection, and user-friendly dashboards for efficient threat remediation.
This is very useful for compliance as it helps in audits by providing a comprehensive view of all assets and software.
The prioritization of vulnerabilities has improved our remediation efforts by around thirty to thirty-five percent.
We use it daily to fix vulnerabilities by connecting with infrastructure to remediate.
Qualys VMDR offers a one-stop solution for monitoring and reporting.
 

Categories and Ranking

BMC Helix Discovery
Ranking in IT Asset Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Qualys VMDR
Ranking in IT Asset Management
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
93
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (2nd), Configuration Management Databases (2nd), Container Security (12th), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the IT Asset Management category, the mindshare of BMC Helix Discovery is 8.7%, up from 7.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qualys VMDR is 3.6%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Asset Management
 

Featured Reviews

Shirish Kamalapurkar - PeerSpot reviewer
Very stable, fast, and powerful with valuable inventory management features
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…
Harold Jensen - PeerSpot reviewer
Good visibility but expensive and needs better support
Support: It's often overseas and often following a script, basically asking us to redo what we opened the case with. Multiple APIs: There seems to be a lack of easy onboarding into Qualys. We had to use manual inputs and some API calls to get items in place. Dashboard: It is very rudimentary with very little customization. The Qualys Scripting Language (QSL) works differently in different Qualys modules, so when you get it working in one area you have to modify the syntax in others. User account management: We often have to give users more rights than needed just to give them what they need. Integration with the various Qualys Modules: You can tell the UI is different based on of the different teams that created them. QSL syntax same in all modules Responsiveness of some of the components: They time out, you get a blank screen, etc. Backend updates between the various modules: You update connectors and information takes a few minutes to show in VMDR or Global Asset View Connectors: Connectors have a throttling issue with AWS which causes them to frequently fail unless you manually run them again.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
17%
Energy/Utilities Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
36%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BMC Helix Discovery?
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 se...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for BMC Helix Discovery?
The price of BMC Helix Discovery is licensed by asset. It is challenging to maintain licenses, as every piece of equipment is considered a license. We pay attention to the growth of assets. The pri...
What needs improvement with BMC Helix Discovery?
I would like to see a lower price and better technical support.
What do you like most about Qualys VMDR?
I like that we have many scanners and channels that don't overload. It helps us scan and track easily. Also, the tagging system is good for tagging. We can still use QualysAgent task ID tools even ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys VMDR?
Qualys offers better pricing and is feature-packed compared to other tools.
What needs improvement with Qualys VMDR?
They can tweak their UI since the new version seems a bit jumbled up, and the old UI was more user-friendly.
 

Also Known As

Discovery, ADDM, Atrium Discovery & Dependency Mapping
Qualys VM, QualysGuard VM, Qualys Asset Inventory, Qualys Container Security
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Windstream Communications, News UK, Mercator Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR)
Agrokor Group, American Specialty Health, American State Bank, Arval, Life:), Axway, Bank of the West, Blueport Commerce, BSkyB, Brinks, CaixaBank, Cartagena, Catholic Health System, CEC Bank, Cegedim, CIGNA, Clickability, Colby-Sawyer College, Commercial Bank of Dubai, University of Utah, eBay Inc., ING Singapore, National Theatre, OTP Bank, Sodexo, WebEx
Find out what your peers are saying about BMC Helix Discovery vs. Qualys VMDR and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,767 professionals have used our research since 2012.