Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Jira Align vs ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Jira Align
Ranking in Enterprise Agile Planning Tools
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites (8th), Value Stream Management Software (1st)
ServiceNow Strategic Portfo...
Ranking in Enterprise Agile Planning Tools
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
34
Ranking in other categories
Project Portfolio Management (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Enterprise Agile Planning Tools category, the mindshare of Jira Align is 5.9%, up from 4.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management is 6.6%, up from 4.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Agile Planning Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Tonia Spight-Sokoya - PeerSpot reviewer
User-friendly with good documentation and the ability to integrate with other third arty vendors
I am really focused on identity access management and getting access to the vendors. Right now, I'm setting up vendor access through Azure. You can do that or with the IAM. Sometimes we have to create several different types of access because we have vaulted databases. We have the Unix databases, I have MySQL, and we have Mongo, where I get access to those user classes or to the databases in the host group. Those are all different access scenario forms that I submit after I do the configuration in the form with the security team. I need clarity on the IAM. I'm not clear on PAM eighter. Is there a form that they have to submit to get access to the internal cyber-risk teams to get their access for people to be able to use the tool on the Confluence side? Do they have to send some kind of form to the operation's security or enterprise security? To be able to get the access for privileged access, do they need to be working on projects that have vaulted databases? I still need to figure out how that works. Other companies that are competitors of Jira and Confluence, are able to create their active directories for the vendors that don't come in internally. They only do access through the cloud and through third-party, two-factor identification. That's something I was wondering if that was already implemented in the packages, the package for Confluence. It would be nice to have that right in the solution.
Srinivasa Neelapu - PeerSpot reviewer
Strategies and goals are aligned with demands and partners, making it a strategic approach for the enterprise but the finance part needs improvement
SPM is definitely strong for project management, but its finance capabilities are not as robust. While there is a separate Financial Management product, it would be beneficial to have more out-of-the-box support for finance integrations within SPM. I’m not suggesting replacing systems like SAP for finance, but there should be better support for financial integrations. Currently, connecting to SaaS solutions is complicated, and getting into detailed financial calculations is challenging. Forecasting is manageable, but handling actual financials is not as straightforward. The finance area needs improvement, specifically making finance application integrations easier. Generic finance capabilities should be more user-friendly and integrated into SPM. Although they have started this journey, it hasn’t been fully released yet. There seems to be a roadmap, and once complete, it will be very useful. Additionally, incorporating a Q&A feature for entire strategies or project demands and enhancing text analytics within SPM would be beneficial.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product's most valuable feature is CMDB for services desk management and backlog projects."
"Jira Align is an easy-to-use and user-friendly solution."
"The most valuable features in Jira Align are the dashboard and the reporting feature."
"The tool helps us with better tracking across various departments. Jira Align is highly valuable for organizations due to its flexibility. With my experience as an administrator, I can attest that it can be tailored to meet the diverse needs of any organization. It helps to eliminate the mess created by Excel spreadsheets."
"Jira Align has been quite a helpful tool for us because, without it, we would be juggling with all our story points or our backlog items, which would be difficult to manage."
"I found Confluence most valuable."
"Jira is one of the most widely used tools in the market, and it has a vast amount of data already stored in it. Jira Align is crucial in orchestrating this data and providing valuable views and insights. However, it's essential for tools like Jira Align to offer configurable features. While complete customization might not always be feasible for enterprise-level tools, configurable features allow organizations to drive transformation accordingly."
"The interface of Jira Align is very easy to use and manage"
"The product is quite convenient and user-friendly."
"We mainly use the solution to support operations and align our ITSM operations with our business goals. This involves coordinating between our application development, support teams, and network engineering teams. When there's an issue at the product or network level, we raise a ticket, and our team works together to resolve it."
"The alignment feature between projects from the idea phase until it is finalized is highly valuable."
"The interface is user-friendly. It's one of the most user-friendly on the market, and the most complete."
"The solution was quite easy to use. The interface was quite user-friendly, and I've become quite familiar with it."
"The feature I find the most valuable is the one that lets you see how much time has been used in processing a ticket. This allows us to better monitor performance."
"ServiceNow brings to the market different layers with different pricing, so you can customize. And all the layers are really enterprise-ready."
"The solution offers a lot of opportunities for integrations. We can integrate with Slack, Azure, all the API alternatives, etc. There's a lot of integration modules provided."
 

Cons

"There are fewer customization options in Jira Align due to how it was designed."
"One area where Jira Align could be improved is mobile accessibility."
"The workflows are scalable from portfolio to individual level but can sometimes be complex to navigate."
"Jira Align's user interface needs improvement because its user experience is really bad."
"Jira Align should reduce the many information fields we need to provide while closing defects."
"Jira Align's cost needs improvement."
"The platform's communication features could be more robust for better team integration."
"One area where Jira Align could improve is in its licensing model. There was a significant change in the licensing module about six months ago, which resulted in increased costs for customers like us. This change wasn't communicated clearly, and it made it challenging for companies to adopt Jira Align without facing higher expenses. In terms of features, I would like to see improved workflows in the next release, as that would greatly benefit our organization."
"The pricing is average."
"The adoption of the Common Service Data Model in an organization to leverage best practices is where the challenge lies. It's not that the product lacks features, but rather organizations often adopt it at a maturity level beyond their capacity."
"When we import a really big project with a lot of tasks on it, we face some issues with dependencies. The links between tasks are not working very well. There is definitely room for improvement there. Microsoft Project, in my opinion, is the best option for such a use case."
"When we originally set it up, we had some kind of success manager free of charge, and now it's an additional charge over and above what we're paying."
"I would like to see some artificial intelligence incorporated into the management functions."
"The cost could be improved. The solution is quite pricey."
"The portfolio management tool is not as good as DevOps or Jira because it requires a Russian site and BitLocker to train users or run projects."
"ServiceNow need to focus on internal empowerment rather than awareness to drive the change."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Jira Align's pricing is reasonable."
"My company pays approximately 399 USD per month for the solution."
"The license for Jira Align is priced fairly."
"Jira Align was reasonably priced then, especially for a bundle license that accommodated around 50 monthly users."
"The tool is moderately expensive."
"Jira Align is quite expensive for small-to-medium companies, but it's quite reasonable for larger ones."
"Our customers buy licenses. We are not involved in its purchase."
"At our company, we were concerned about the cost of Jira Align, which is expensive"
"They sell some things in bundles, and it could be handier that some of those things could be sold in another way, like purity models and other packages. Another thing that I'm struggling with is the pricing of ServiceNow's FYE experience, which includes the tools that are positioned for supporting HR."
"The pricing is negotiable based on the contract and licensing perspective."
"It is a little expensive. We are in Brazil, and for us, it is a little expensive."
"I would rate the cost as five out of ten."
"The tool is expensive."
"It's more suitable for larger companies as the licensing cost is relatively high. Not everyone can afford this tool."
"I rate the price of ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management a seven out of ten."
"The licensing is based on metrics and is tailored to customer's needs."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Enterprise Agile Planning Tools solutions are best for your needs.
850,671 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
23%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Insurance Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Healthcare Company
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Jira Align?
I joined the company because they had a large project, and as a startup company, they needed to scale up efficiently. My task was to review the current baseline, assess the team's capabilities, and...
What needs improvement with Jira Align?
The platform's communication features could be more robust for better team integration.
What is your primary use case for Jira Align?
We use Jira Align for business strategies, collaboration, and reporting. The solution allows us to manage the various products and features delivered on that platform.
What do you like most about ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management?
We mainly use the solution to support operations and align our ITSM operations with our business goals. This involves coordinating between our application development, support teams, and network en...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management?
The pricing is rated six, as it's relatively low-medium compared to other solutions. However, the value isn't fully justified when not all features are used. A pricing model adjustment is needed fo...
What needs improvement with ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management?
Improving configuration activities and productivity would be beneficial, as fresh graduates using the system require training to adapt. Additional online help or materials would ease the configurat...
 

Also Known As

AgileCraft
IT Business Management, ServiceNow IT Business Management Suite, ServiceNow ITBM Suite, ServiceNow ITBM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Anthem, nielsen, Homeland Security, NCR, dimension data
Proximus, UNT SYSTEM, SAP SuccessFactors
Find out what your peers are saying about Jira Align vs. ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,671 professionals have used our research since 2012.