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IBM Maximo vs ServiceNow 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

IBM Maximo
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) (1st), Billing Software (5th)
ServiceNow
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
223
Ranking in other categories
Help Desk Software (1st), IT Asset Management (1st), IT Service Management (ITSM) (1st), Rapid Application Development Software (2nd), No-Code Development Platforms (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

IBM Maximo and ServiceNow aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. IBM Maximo is designed for Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) and holds a mindshare of 16.0%, down 27.4% compared to last year.
ServiceNow, on the other hand, focuses on IT Service Management (ITSM), holds 16.6% mindshare, down 24.9% since last year.
Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM Maximo16.0%
Oracle Enterprise Asset Management7.8%
IFS Cloud Platform7.4%
Other68.8%
Enterprise Asset Management (EAM)
IT Service Management (ITSM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
ServiceNow16.6%
JIRA Service Management7.6%
BMC Helix ITSM6.0%
Other69.8%
IT Service Management (ITSM)
 

Featured Reviews

Omar Samy - PeerSpot reviewer
Maximo Team lead at Masters United
Improved resource management and streamlined operations enhance organizational efficiency
IBM Maximo could be improved if they added a comprehensive finance module, as that would make it a more complete standalone application. Currently, if you need specific finance software, you need to purchase something such as SAP and integrate it with IBM Maximo. Coverage in this area would help reduce dependency on additional software. Regarding finance features, I would want to see payment capabilities added to IBM Maximo, particularly for factories making payments with providers and collections. This feature isn't adequately covered in IBM Maximo. Additionally, enhanced finance reporting and managing GL would be beneficial. IBM Maximo covers GL but only at a surface level. It doesn't provide deep account analysis.
SP
General Manager at sPerception IT
Adopting flexible workflows with customized automation delivers measurable benefits
There are things that I would like to see improved in ServiceNow, such as the pricing, as it is a very costly solution compared to other tools. Additionally, its presence in the local market is very limited; in Pakistan, for example, I don't see any vendor or distributor of ServiceNow available. They need to increase their sales spectrum globally so people can easily access them and engage them for client meetings and more. From a functionality perspective, the features in ServiceNow are acceptable as, at the moment, the ITSM modules rank highly, being 13 plus Pink Elephant certified, which is a good aspect to have. When providing advice to users, I would suggest they consider making strategic decisions about their per user pricing since it is very high. In our region, people normally start with 5 to 10 users, but the per user price is quite steep. Moreover, ServiceNow does not charge based on data uploaded or downloaded, so they should reconsider their pricing and data policies to align better with the financial capabilities of the region.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I have found Work Order management the most valuable feature. Additionally, it is a very robust and powerful solution."
"The most valuable features of IBM Maximo are the overall power and interface, and there are a lot of different modules that we use that are helpful. Additionally, it's an integrated solution and it has a lot of capabilities."
"We were doing all kinds of paperwork for every type of order and to maintain our assets but with the use of the IBM Maximo application, we can automate a lot of the processes."
"It can be particularly useful for power line operations, enabling linemen in the field to gather information and send it across the country as well as different parts of the world."
"Reliable, very configurable, and it's all integrated in the same database."
"The ability to configure and integrate it with other solutions for ERP."
"The most powerful features are the database and integration with CMDB."
"Provides great flexibility."
"In terms of the most valuable features, it's nice to have everything in one place. Things are easy to follow up on. ServiceNow provides that workflow. I know at some level it is in the pipeline and then if I need to follow up, everything's there. Those are the key benefits of ServiceNow."
"There are features included in the new release for intelligent software, like the chatbot. For HR services, the HR agent which is in that chatbot has been fantastic."
"Within our organization, we're not finding really any major issues with scalability and things of that nature."
"You can have it installed and up and running within hours if you know what you're doing. Time to market would be one of the main things to consider."
"In financial management, this platform has the infrastructure allowing us to expand the way we want to. For example, it gives you many business rules and budget models that you can use to optimize your workflow. It does not put you in a box. Additionally, integrating this solution with other platforms is extremely easy to do."
"HR Case Management and Customer Service Management are two of the key areas which clients are using."
"I have definitely seen a positive impact of ServiceNow on our company and customer processes, including time savings and money savings."
"It can scale well if you are managing IT assets."
 

Cons

"There are always ways to improve and make things better."
"Initial setup is a longer process because Maximo is bigger and has more processes."
"​Maximo is a big system, so the initial setup is complex."
"Coding can be complex when customization is required."
"Areas for improvement include: an enhanced Service Catalog on Mobile; Agent intelligence; better dashboards for KPIs."
"IBM is a big company and they have a lot of products. Level One, the first level of tech support, is the one that is used to stop the tsunami. For everyone, it's always work to get past that."
"The initial setup was complex, because it is a complex product."
"Revision management of file attachments."
"The major area for improvement for our needs would be monitoring the metrics of the times to acknowledge and resolve issues and escalations."
"Transparency in the pricing model needs to be improved."
"I am interested to see the firm's strategic plans for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), and how the particular areas it will expand on from its existing investments (that feature, for example, in its ITSM Pro and CSM Pro modules)."
"It's not very secure, it's web-based, and I prefer Remedy. Both the security and the web interface could be improved."
"The scalability needs improvement."
"The licensing needs to be divided into tiers in order to attract lower-level users."
"Their cloud management is also not that great compared to other products."
"It would be nice if we could, with some specific access rights, move histories from one squad to another, as they generate dependencies or duplicate or flag them."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Explore the possibility of using DB2. You will avoid the cost of SQL Server or Oracle licenses."
"IBM has changed the licensing policy. As I understand now, they are going from a complex way of licensing to a more simple way of licensing."
"Where available, concurrent licenses can be more cost efficient and provide more flexibility."
"IBM Maximo offers a licensing application, and you have to comply with the license."
"$USD700 per agent user."
"The price of IBM Maximo could reduce, it is expensive."
"I do not know about the price of the solution. However, this has been an expensive project overall."
"The concurrent user license is much more effective in management and cost-wise, as it is more suitable for maintenance management."
"The price could be a little lower for the solution. Many of my customers have issues with the licensing process, they have to make it easier and straightforward."
"The solution is expensive."
"There are licensing fees."
"The pricing is on the high side, but if you look at the stability and option to work, it's kind of justified."
"I would say it is moderately expensive, ranging from six to seven on a scale of ten."
"The first impact for the customer is that it is expensive, but do not forget that it is a solution that includes infrastructure; a single cost, easy to justify."
"It is an expensive platform."
"The price of the solution is comparable to industry standards. For the features that we received, it is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
12%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
7%
Energy/Utilities Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business55
Midsize Enterprise35
Large Enterprise164
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with IBM Maximo?
IBM Maximo could be improved if they added a comprehensive finance module, as that would make it a more complete standalone application. Currently, if you need specific finance software, you need t...
What is your primary use case for IBM Maximo?
My main use case for IBM Maximo is managing maintenance. I used it first as an end user, and later joined the implementation team. Now I'm administrating and implementing IBM Maximo. The transition...
What advice do you have for others considering IBM Maximo?
There are many good implemented functions in IBM Maximo, but I see these two functions as the most valuable ones from my point of view. My advice to others considering IBM Maximo is that top manage...
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

Maximo
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V., DTE Energy, Swedish Match, Projetech, Fingrid, East Coast
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 IBM, Prometheus Group, Infor and others in Enterprise Asset Management (EAM). Updated: December 2025.
879,425 professionals have used our research since 2012.