BMC Helix ITSM vs OpenText Service Management Automation X (SMAX) comparison

BMC Helix ITSM vs. OpenText Service Management Automation X (SMAX)

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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 Helix ITSM

Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)

4th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Help Desk Software (4th)

OpenText Service Management...

Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)

16th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category, the mindshare of BMC Helix ITSM is 11.4%, down from 13.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Service Management Automation X (SMAX) is 2.1%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

IT Service Management (ITSM)

Featured Reviews

Fairoz Gadad

Project Manager at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Development team is quick to address bugs or shortcomings in their product

BMC's technical support team needs to improve. Right now, the problem over here is we are not getting the exact answers on time. Their engineers are mainly based in the US or Israel, and we get comprehensive dedicated support. Some of the Indian customer service representatives are also outstanding. Unfortunately, in the past six months or seven months, I've been getting brand-new engineers. Either they're not entirely aware of most cases, or they don't know how to troubleshoot further. So for any product to be stable and work correctly, BMC must ensure that customer service is excellent. Even though if your product is a hundred percent, we'll have problems marketing it to our customers.

Read full review

Mourad Ali

ITSM Consultancy Head at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Offers topic analytics for incident and problem management

The only challenge with Azure customers is when they have a specific requirement that is not available out of the box and is inflexible to adjust. Sometimes, customers have tough requirements that are not flexible enough to be adjusted, even if SMAX can provide a better alternative. They need this specific feature. This challenge is common with SMAX, BMC, ServiceNow, IBM, or other similar tools. When working with enterprise tools that are not developed in-house, I don't have access to the source code and am limited to the features and capabilities provided by the leading vendors. So, this challenge is common across SMAX, BMC, and ServiceNow. The solution could have more customization flexibility.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features of BMC Helix ITSM are its customization ability and the addition of new features. As a built-in Suite, it covers all that is needed in the IT guidelines, which is good. Each customer has their own needs, and the customization the solution provides is beneficial."

"Initial setup is straightforward, and if you follow best practices, then future enhancements will be smoother."

"We find the incident management module the best. The reporting part is also useful. We use a feature called smart reporting, and it is very beneficial for us."

"In BMC, you can do absolutely anything. You can customize, you can configure, and you can customize and develop pretty much anything."

"The way you can customize this product to adapt to the process the customer is already using is what sets this apart from other ITSM products out there. This helps customers to adapt to the tool pretty quickly."

"The ease of use and integration made it a worthwhile investment, since we did some integrations with other tools making our lives easier."

"This product has helped us to maintain our OLAs (Organisation level Agreements) and SLAs (Service Level Agreements) by tracking incidents, requests, problem records, and change requests, all in the form of tickets."

"Reports have helped us to improve our IT processes. The main benefit is providing the right information to our decision makers."

More BMC Helix ITSM pros

"OpenText Service Management Automation X provides valuable features such as topic analytics for incident and problem management. It also includes natural language processing for analyzing technical descriptions. Additionally, it features a virtual chatbot capable of processing natural language to interact effectively with end users. This service enhances customer support and is not subject to the limitations often found in offerings from other vendors."

"The tool is very easy to use."

"The product provides an interface for the end users to make requests."

"This is a cordless application that can be used throughout any organization."

"The most valuable features of Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX) are that it is user-friendly, easy to configure, and adaptable."

"It offers a range of tools for sales and configuration. It's like a business process improvement platform, suitable for various lines of business operations."

Cons

"The initial setup of BMC Helix ITSM is complex because it has different integrations with other tools. Additionally, it needs to be integrated with the active directory and have different databases. The environment will dictate how difficult the process is."

"They could be more responsive to feedback from their community board."

"In the next release, I would like to see AI used for classification or categorization."

"Integration could be better. If something doesn't work well with some tools and operations, then management becomes difficult, so you have to integrate other tools."

"Smart Reporting was added, then was purchased from another vendor. We have little ability to customize and correct issues due to this."

"Whenever you start exploring some new product features, you run into defects. It has been like this for the last six years."

"It needs a more organic workflow, so every field you create is labeled throughout the stack. BMC has a few products that they try to bundle together. Generally, that solution works. BMC should take a step back and think about the overall solution—not only ITSM but also CTI Integration along with chat. They have all that, but it's not an end-to-end holistic solution with the added reporting analytics."

"BMC Helix ITSM should improve its price."

More BMC Helix ITSM cons

"The initial setup of Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX) is complicated, but once it is set up the configuration is straightforward to adapt to the users' or customers' needs."

"The contract management feature can be improved."

"The product's connectivity with third-party products is an area of concern where improvements are required."

"The solution lacks sufficient documentation."

"The tool has negatively impacted our productivity."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Please always get the latest quote from a BMC partner or from BMC. Check for the latest offerings."

"I am not sure the exact price we pay for the solution but I know it is in the high seven-figure amount annually."

"While purchasing, try to negotiate on per user licensing costs, associated maintenance, and purchase 20% more then what you think you should have. Bulk is always cheaper."

"It is not very expensive and not very cheap. It is somewhere in-between. Some of the features are more expensive. There are also additional costs. If you want to use most of the features, you need to pay more."

"Just make sure you really sit down and look at what you will be using per user, therefore you will not be surprised with a big bill. You do not want every user having every license, it really is not needed."

"The solution's pricing should come down."

"It's a yearly subscription but there are a couple of customers who go for the monthly subscription."

"The cost is relatively high, especially for the BMC Controller application. However, the expense is justified by the standard and reliable features it offers. This product's reputation in the market is strong, providing assurance in terms of data and other considerations."

More BMC Helix ITSM pricing and cost advice

"The solution is somewhat cheaper than the competitors."

"The cost of the license for SMAX varies depending on the configuration, including the number of seats for users and the customer's specific requirements. It's not a fixed cost and can vary."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BMC Helix ITSM?

If we consider major players like Ford or BMW, their core focus is manufacturing products like cars. To ensure smooth operations, any arising issues, be it security concerns or issues within depart...

What needs improvement with BMC Helix ITSM?

BMC Helix ITSM is difficult for us to customize, and most customizations require vendor support, which leads to extra costs. The interface should be more user-friendly, and the customization should...

What is your primary use case for BMC Helix ITSM?

We are currently using BMC Helix ITSM in our organization. We are in the process of implementing new modules like CMDB and discovery.

What do you like most about Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)?

The tool is very easy to use.

What is your primary use case for Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)?

The solution is used for the end-user portal. It is used for incident management, requests, and other informational purposes.

What advice do you have for others considering Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)?

The tool is appropriate if we don't have a complicated use case. It is the right tool for simple use cases. It's a lot cheaper than ServiceNow. It is an appropriate tool for a smaller business or m...

ServiceNow vs BMC Helix ITSM

Comparisons

Compared 61% of the time

JIRA Service Management vs BMC Helix ITSM

Compared 11% of the time

Zendesk vs BMC Helix ITSM

Compared 3% of the time

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus vs BMC Helix ITSM

Compared 3% of the time

IBM Maximo vs BMC Helix ITSM

Compared 2% of the time

More BMC Helix ITSM Competitors

ServiceNow vs OpenText Service Management Automation X (SMAX)

Compared 34% of the time

JIRA Service Management vs OpenText Service Management Automation X (SMAX)

Compared 32% of the time

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus vs OpenText Service Management Automation X (SMAX)

Compared 11% of the time

More OpenText Service Management Automation X (SMAX) Competitors

Product Reports

BMC Helix ITSM

Download BMC Helix ITSM product report

IT Service Management (ITSM)

Download OpenText Service Management Automation X (SMAX) product report

OpenText Service Management Automation X (SMAX) report

Also Known As

Remedy ITSM, Remedy, Helix Remedy

OpenText Service Manager, Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)

Interactive Demo

Demo not available

BMC

OpenText

Overview

BMC Helix ITSM is a cutting-edge IT service management platform that leads the service management industry. It is built natively for mobile with an intuitive, beautiful, people-centric user experience that makes your whole organization more productive. This platform leverages artificial intelligence to automate and streamline various service management processes. In doing so, it will ultimately make your organization more efficient. This simple-to-use platform is capable of handling even your organization’s most advanced management requirements.

BMC Helix ITSM is a predictive platform that does not simply wait for problems to occur. The advanced analytics software aims to improve your organization’s efficiency by spotting weak areas and then proposing solutions. This platform can improve your resource deployment efficiency by as much as 45% .This is why it is trusted by corporations across a variety of industries.

Key Features

Some of BMC Helix ITSM’s key features include:

Solves service issues in a way that makes you more efficient. BMC Helix ITSM employs advanced analytic software that searches for areas where your organization can drive efficiencies to provide the best possible service.
Groups issues that recur in a way that streamlines both analysis and incident management. It uses artificial intelligence to identify and solve groups of incidents in real time. The AI automates these processes, which can prove both tedious and time-consuming.
Securely and seamlessly provides services across multi-cloud environments with “a single pane of glass” interface. This allows you to be highly flexible. You can configure your services in a number of different ways without having to worry that your multi-cloud environment won’t be able to support your service management.
The ability to view all of your management data in a way that provides you with clear insights into your system’s management. BMC Helix ITSM enables you to create custom reports and dashboards. This makes it possible for you to see any and all significant trends in your operations and services data.

Reviews from Real Users

BMC Helix ITSM’s software stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two of these are the robust activity tracking features and the lightweight nature of the solution.

A PeerSpot user who is a technical Program Manager and Site Lead at a computer software company notes the nature of Helix’s task tracking when they write, “The most valuable features I have found are the activity logs. Additionally, the other features where you are able to continuously address issues and are able to annotate notes inside to convey them to the customer. The customer can read the notes and are able to know where you are in the procedures and process of fixing the problem for them. It has a good interactive piece for dialogue with customers where you do not have to interact with them personally, but they can do it on their own just by going into that activity log. This is great for the customer to have the ability to find out how things are being progressively taken care of.”

Another PeerSpot user, who is a Practice Director of Global Infrastructure Services at a computer software company, notes, “Many other tools are similar. I've used these tools and find that they meet my requirements. Helix is more lightweight than these tools. It's a traditional tool that was developed more than 10 years ago. Ease of use is the operative word.”

BMC

OpenText™ SMAX is a SaaS-based solution that delivers a smart approach to IT and enterprise service management with built-in analytics, codeless configurations, and private generative AI chatbots.

OpenText SMAX delivers a smart approach to service management, with full capabilities for IT service management (ITSM), IT asset management (ITAM), and enterprise service management (ESM). Empower users to self-resolve common requests with private generative AI chatbots that offer human-like responses. Give your team what they need—ITIL best-practice templates, codeless configurations, and built-in AI and analytics for automating workflows, improving processes, and solving issues. With SaaS deployment, SMAX eliminates the hassle of installation, maintenance, and upgrade. What’s more, SMAX offers flexible and affordable licensing that adapts to your business needs and saves you money.

SMAX has a flexible and transparent pricing model that lets you change license allocations or add capabilities without costly surprises. Pricing starts at $79 per agent per month for a full range of processes and features that include a service portal, mobile app, AI, analytics, federated CMDB, ITSM, ESM, discovery, and orchestration. Visit the OpenText ITSM SaaS pricing page for details.

OpenText

Sample Customers

Brookfield, HealthSouth Corporation, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Mercator, SAP, Stanford University

Zurich Airport, Envirosuite, Norsk Helsenett, Achmea, University of Milan, World Vision, Petroleum Development Oman, Court of Justice of the Federal District and Territories (TJDFT).

BMC Helix ITSM vs. OpenText Service Management Automation X (SMAX)