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BMC Helix Discovery vs ServiceNow Discovery comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

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
6.9
ROI from ServiceNow Discovery varies, influenced by efficiency, data use challenges, automation benefits, and implementation strategies.
BMC Helix Discovery has delivered a very good return, and we cannot stop using it at this moment.
 

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
6.3
ServiceNow Discovery's support is inconsistent, ranging from responsive to inadequate, with reliance on community forums and documentation.
The response has been satisfactory, though improvements could be made in response time and overall competence.
 

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
7.8
ServiceNow Discovery is scalable for diverse infrastructures with challenges in legacy apps and Google Cloud, impacting smaller entities' cost.
I would rate it as a nine on a scale of one to ten, indicating it is highly scalable.
 

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
8.2
ServiceNow Discovery is praised for its stability and reliability, performing well across updates with minimal issues when properly resourced.
 

Room For Improvement

Users seek BMC Helix Discovery enhancements in integrations, scalability, user-friendliness, customization, cloud capabilities, and technical support.
ServiceNow Discovery needs improved integration, UI, pricing, cloud features, AI utilization, and support for ease and flexibility.
I would like to see a lower price and better technical support.
Improvements could include implementing chatbots to simplify ticket creation.
 

Setup Cost

BMC Helix Discovery offers competitive pricing but has complex licensing, requiring careful alignment of use cases with budgets.
ServiceNow Discovery is considered costly, but many users find its advanced features and automation worth the investment.
The price is about twelve per license per year, and the support is included.
ServiceNow is considered more expensive compared to other products.
 

Valuable Features

BMC Helix Discovery provides fast, agentless deployment, intuitive interface, superior application modeling, integration, and AI-driven insights for asset management.
ServiceNow Discovery offers seamless integration, service mapping, security, and accurate data insights, enhancing IT operations and change management.
This is very useful for compliance as it helps in audits by providing a comprehensive view of all assets and software.
The workflows are beneficial as they allow tasks to be assigned to respective teams without the need for coding.
 

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
ServiceNow Discovery
Ranking in IT Asset Management
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
Server Monitoring (2nd), Cloud Resource Discovery Services (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the IT Asset Management category, the mindshare of BMC Helix Discovery is 8.8%, up from 8.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow Discovery is 5.5%, up from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Asset Management
 

Q&A Highlights

MOHSIN SHAWL - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 06, 2023
 

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…
Kaustubh Partha - PeerSpot reviewer
Scans servers and network devices through SNMP and reduces manual maintenance for our infrastructure team
I like how ServiceNow Discovery scans servers and network devices through SNMP. Most fields on our forms are auto-filled, reducing manual maintenance for our infrastructure team. Post Discovery implementation there is hardly any maintenance. There are three to four fields that are customized. Otherwise, 90% of the data is auto-filled. Discovery can also run in bulk, which is helpful for organizations that cannot run it during weekdays. With identification rules, if a configuration item (CI) isn't in the CMDB, you can simply add the IP address, and it will be automatically added based on criteria like name or serial number, making CMDB maintenance easier.
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Answers from the Community

MOHSIN SHAWL - PeerSpot reviewer
Jan 6, 2023
Jan 6, 2023
Hello Mohsin, Unfortunately, I don't have experience with ServiceNow Discovery. But I have been using BMC Helix Discovery for more than five years. It is a really fast and user-friendly system. There is no need for an agent when installing the solution. I recommend this solution.
2 out of 3 answers
CG
Dec 23, 2022
I have implemented both, and BMC Helix Discovery including its earlier versions is a far easier solution to implement than the ServiceNow Discovery offering. The BMC discovery solution integrates with Remedy and ServiceNow CMDBs and is also a technically superior product if you also want application service mapping. Contact me directly if you need a more detailed explanation.
Madhurima  Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 26, 2022
Hi Mohsin, Not only BMC Helix or ServiceNow Discovery, but a few other Discovery tools are also available in the market and every discovery tool has a unique feature, hence as per me, choosing a discovery tool for your organization should be based on the organization's needs and infrastructure. I suggest you go for proper requirement assessment sessions, i.e. infrastructure architecture, existing implemented tools, their features, use, possibilities & integrations, kind of devices in scope to discover, focused data center discovery,  focused client-side discovery, or both. What I mean to say is do not choose any tool for its features but choose the one best suitable for your organization that can provide the best output with less investment after a proper assessment of the organization's requirements and expectations from a tool. I know my reply to your query is not the exact answer you looked for but yes, this is what I would suggest to you on the basis of my experience. As far as tool comparison is concerned, you can find it in many places with the help of search engines but I think once you know what you want then reading tool features on the tool's official website will help you more to choose the best suitable Discovery tool for your organization. Thanks, Madhurima
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Energy/Utilities Company
8%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
9%
 

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 ServiceNow Discovery?
The solution can prioritize the discovery of IP ranges. The product automatically places all Discovery CIs into the correct class within the CMDB.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ServiceNow Discovery?
ServiceNow is considered more expensive compared to other products. If I were to rate the pricing on a scale from one to ten in terms of expense, I would rate it quite high.
What needs improvement with ServiceNow Discovery?
Improvements could include implementing chatbots to simplify ticket creation. Currently, each new product must be manually created if it is not already available in ServiceNow, which can be cumbers...
 

Also Known As

Discovery, ADDM, Atrium Discovery & Dependency Mapping
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Windstream Communications, News UK, Mercator Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR)
York, National Grid, DXC Technology, experian, BEACHBODY
Find out what your peers are saying about BMC Helix Discovery vs. ServiceNow Discovery and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,194 professionals have used our research since 2012.