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BMC Helix ITSM vs ServiceNow comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 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
6.6
BMC Helix ITSM boosts business automation with variable ROI; users value performance but find ROI tracking and cost justification challenging.
Sentiment score
6.9
Using ServiceNow boosts efficiency and ROI, overcoming challenges; quick integration and diverse modules enhance productivity and cost savings.
The return on investment is good when implementing for ourselves and for other clients.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.3
BMC Helix ITSM support quality varies by service level, with premier support praised, but improvements needed in communication and resolution speed.
Sentiment score
7.1
ServiceNow's customer service is efficient, though technical support varies; knowledgeable staff and community resources are valuable.
The support is exemplary and deserves a perfect rating.
I have contacted them four to five times over the past two years, and they have been quite helpful.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
BMC Helix ITSM is highly scalable, supporting large enterprises, though it requires substantial infrastructure, with positive growth adaptability.
Sentiment score
7.5
ServiceNow is scalable, cloud-based, supports large enterprises, with easy expansion and integration, despite potential rapid scaling challenges.
The product's scalability is adequate for us, yet its complex customization sometimes restricts extensive adaptability.
It is capable of vertical scaling with no issues.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
BMC Helix ITSM is stable overall, with minor issues, improving over time; proper configuration enhances reliability.
Sentiment score
7.7
ServiceNow is generally stable and responsive, with occasional issues resolved efficiently by the support team.
ServiceNow is stable enough.
ServiceNow is already a stable tool.
 

Room For Improvement

BMC Helix ITSM needs a streamlined interface, enhanced integration, better support, and improved AI, automation, and customization.
ServiceNow needs enhanced UX, simpler interfaces, better licensing, improved documentation, integration, and expanded mobile and offline functionality.
BMC Helix ITSM is difficult for us to customize, and most customizations require vendor support, which leads to extra costs.
There is a need for bug or error tracking in ServiceNow.
There are sometimes challenges with the portal being a bit confusing for new users.
 

Setup Cost

BMC Helix ITSM is costly, yet justified by robust features, requiring strategic license management and negotiation for effective cost control.
ServiceNow's high pricing and complex licensing favor larger enterprises with scalability and functionality, despite deterring smaller businesses.
The pricing of BMC Helix ITSM and its implementation costs are quite high, including subscription and maintenance costs per year.
ServiceNow's pricing can be justified if more functionality is required.
 

Valuable Features

BMC Helix ITSM excels in automation, integration, and customization, enhancing workflow management with user-friendly and scalable features.
ServiceNow offers flexible customization, cloud-based integration, real-time analytics, and automation for efficient business process management across various departments.
These features are crucial as we complete the implementation and maintain data accuracy in the CMDB.
ServiceNow provides a wide range of functionality, covering all the necessary modules, unlike Jira which is primarily for IT.
The most valuable features of ServiceNow for me are its ticketing and reporting capabilities.
 

Categories and Ranking

BMC Helix ITSM
Ranking in Help Desk Software
4th
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
ServiceNow
Ranking in Help Desk Software
1st
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
216
Ranking in other categories
IT Asset Management (1st), Rapid Application Development Software (2nd), No-Code Development Platforms (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category, the mindshare of BMC Helix ITSM is 12.9%, down from 13.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow is 25.8%, down from 27.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Service Management (ITSM)
 

Q&A Highlights

Miriam Tover - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 02, 2020
 

Featured Reviews

Fairoz Gadad - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Somnath Kand - PeerSpot reviewer
Custom integration and reporting lead to efficient ticket management
There is a need for bug or error tracking in ServiceNow. Although there are child incidents or tickets, tracking primary issues or bugs within enhancements is not present. The reporting features in the new portal could be more user-friendly. While it provides options to minimize chart and image sizes, actual implementation doesn't always reflect these changes.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which IT Service Management (ITSM) solutions are best for your needs.
831,020 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Answers from the Community

Miriam Tover - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 2, 2020
Jul 2, 2020
I agree with above analysis, But both tools fit the profile of a big Lego box, a toolbox where you can do almost everything with it but seldom need it. You need for both a lot of technical background to use it properly and the cost are for both on the top of market. you should ask yourself do I need this Best-of-suit approach from both vendors or do I look for better tools for part of the suit...
2 out of 8 answers
it_user917112 - PeerSpot reviewer
Feb 12, 2019
Team, Please find the attached comparison sheet. Rgds, Pavan Kumar iValue InfoSolutions Pvt. Ltd. m: +91 9008097032 e: pavan.kumar@ivalue.co.in w: www.ivalue.co.in Leaders in optimizing, protecting and transforming “DIGITAL ASSETS" of organizations with leading edge & proven offerings, in collaboration with trusted Partners
JS
Feb 12, 2019
BMC Helix (Remedy) is not a new product release from BMC. This is a relaunched SaaS offering from BMC under a new Package called as Helix previously known as RemedyOnDemand. Having said that, the Helix seems much more than RemedyOnDemand used to offer. With Helix, the customer has the option to choose a cloud - BMC Cloud, AWS and MS Azure. The core products are Remedy ITSM, Digital workplace (MyIT/SmartIT) mobile apps, BMC Discovery, BMC Business workflows (case management solution for LOB). The supported products are Remedy Single-Sign-On, BMC Client Management, and BMC Client Gateway. These are all available today On-Premise as well. The deployment technology is no longer the old method of installations and configurations on a VM. The new technology that BMC Helix brings is Containerisation. The Docker and Kubernetes container technologies help in provisioning the Helix Products within a day and thus you are ready to configure/customized to suit your business needs from day two itself. Further, Helix offers cognitive capabilities for your ITSM with solutions completely built on cloud - Chatbot and AI automation powered by IBM Watson. Innovation suite platform - a microservices based architecture and integrations through REST APIs. The innovation suite offers an integration studio with few in-built connectors as well like Jira, Service Cloud, etc. You can further build your own connectors using the integration controller within the innovation suite platform. So to summarise my view - Helix offers a lot to the customer within one single package and must be given a shot as it brings a choice of cloud, container technology and cognitive capabilities for the products which are already known and popular in the ITSM world.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
27%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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.
Which solution is better for developing non-ITSM applications: OutSystems or Service Now?
The short answer is that OutSystems is far better for 2 main reasons. Firstly, with Service Now you are locked into that platform for good. The business model is to lock in and then keep pumping th...
Would you choose ServiceNow over Microsoft PowerApps?
Hi Netanya, I will choose ServiceNow because ServiceNow is a very good tool compared to Microsoft PowerApp. Because ServiceNow has a very strong module (Performance Analysis) reporting which will ...
What do you like most about ServiceNow?
The solution has a user-friendly interface.
 

Also Known As

Remedy ITSM, Remedy, Helix Remedy
No data available
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Brookfield, HealthSouth Corporation, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Mercator, SAP, Stanford University
AAA, AstraZeneca, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Broadcom, Christus Health, Epicor, Equinix, GE Capital, Intuit, KPMG, Loyola Marymount University, OshKosh, Quantas, RedHat, Royal Bank of Scotland, Swiss Re, U.S. Department of Energy, Safeway, Yale University, and Zillow    
Find out what your peers are saying about BMC Helix ITSM vs. ServiceNow and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,020 professionals have used our research since 2012.