OpenText Service Management Automation X (SMAX) vs SCSM comparison

OpenText and Microsoft are both solutions in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category. OpenText is ranked #16 with an average rating of 7.3, while Microsoft is ranked #11 with an average rating of 7.4. OpenText holds a 2.1% mindshare in ISM, compared to Microsoft’s 1.6% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of OpenText users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 66% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

OpenText Service Management...

Read 6 OpenText Service Management Automation X (SMAX) reviews

875 Views
410 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

SCSM

Read 26 SCSM reviews

896 Views
495 Comparison Views

66% willing to recommend

OpenText Service Management...

SCSM

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

SCSM and OpenText Service Management Automation X (SMAX) are competing in the IT service management category. SMAX appears to have the upper hand with its broader cloud-based flexibility and advanced automation capabilities.

Features: SCSM offers strong integration with Microsoft products, seamless Azure and Office 365 connectivity, and a robust CMDB for configuration management. SMAX features advanced AI capabilities, omnichannel support, and comprehensive automation, allowing for greater customization.

Room for Improvement: SCSM could enhance its cloud-based features, reduce complexity in deployment, and improve its automation capabilities. SMAX can improve by providing more user training resources, enhancing its pricing structure for better accessibility, and simplifying its initial setup process.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SCSM's deployment is more complex due to its on-premises infrastructure, requiring significant IT resources. SMAX's cloud-native architecture allows for quicker deployment and more flexible scaling. SMAX also excels in providing comprehensive customer support, enhancing satisfaction.

Pricing and ROI: SCSM presents a lower initial cost, attractive for Microsoft-licensed businesses, but its ROI may be limited by its lack of advanced features. SMAX involves higher upfront costs, associated with its cloud-based operations, yet offers higher ROI potential due to its scalability and automation capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed OpenText Service Management Automation X (SMAX) vs. SCSM Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

OpenText Service Management Automation X (SMAX) vs. SCSM

April 2025

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Helped 847,625 peers since 2012

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

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

SCSM

Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)

11th

Average Rating

7.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Help Desk Software (12th)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category, the mindshare of OpenText Service Management Automation X (SMAX) is 2.1%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SCSM is 1.6%, down from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

IT Service Management (ITSM)

Featured Reviews

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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PraveenSharma3

UX Manager at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Enhanced remote functionality complements intricate admin management

We are using it as co-management, working from SCCM and some from Intune. However, there are dissimilarities between SCCM and Intune, so we use SCCM for specific tasks or policies Currently, with the system, we have some remote tool functionality which is not available with Intune. We are also…

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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

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

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

"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."

"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."

"We've been in contact with Microsoft technical support mainly. After doing the research ourselves and troubleshooting, etc., if we can't find a permanent solution, we contact Microsoft to help us fix the issue. Sometimes the issue never gets fixed even by Microsoft. It can sometimes require us to reinstall the solution. However, these are very rare instances."

"This solution is easy to use."

"Many more features than other comparable products."

"A very convenient package like an all-in-one tool but it is actually five or six products acting well together."

"The remote access is one of the features I really enjoy. The pushing of email updates and things like that are very good."

"The most requested feature from our customers is the helpdesk ticketing system."

"The reporting is very good."

"SCCM provides remote tool functionality, which is not in Intune."

More SCSM pros

Cons

"The solution lacks sufficient documentation."

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

"The contract management feature can be improved."

"The tool has negatively impacted our productivity."

"The configuration could be easier."

"It would be better if they had a portal for administrators. It would help me use it from anywhere and connect to any device from anywhere. I can administer the solution without a VPN."

"They might be looking for additional functionalities that SCSM could integrate."

"The solution could be more simple. For example, it takes a lot of work to create reports. It runs on Microsoft SQL queries. Creating custom reports on ManageEngine takes less work from the administrator."

"My company had planned a few months ago to apply SCSM over the cloud in order to provide updates, like regular updates, but it had to be put through a few tools from Microsoft on the cloud, which was not easy."

"The product needs to improve its integration with other tools. It also needs to have a better UI and a simple dashboard."

"It crashes our client's computers. Sometimes they get blue screens. It would be useful if SCSM could check the upgrades or patches before we implemented them to see if they are going to crash a client's system. Or, if it does install, and the client's system crashes, it would be good if the solution could revert back somehow."

"It's not too hard to compile stuff but it is hard to manage the solution. Even the design itself makes it difficult for management."

More SCSM cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"The solution is somewhat cheaper than the competitors."

"Licensing can be complex and confusing."

"It is a lower price vs. other things on the market."

"The license for SCSM is cheap."

"The platform is competitively priced."

"The price of the solution could be better. My organization has an enterprise annual license with Microsoft which provides us support."

"The pricing is reasonable."

"It comes free with the enterprise agreement that we have, but the expense really is in having to buy another product to sit on top of it to make it work properly. You wind up having to buy additional support and additional product with their own support and maintenance costs on top of that."

"It is an expensive solution."

More SCSM pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

25%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

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

The tool is very easy to use.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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...

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What do you like most about SCSM?

The solution offers good productivity at a low price point.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SCSM?

We acquired SCSM for free with our Microsoft Endpoint Manager purchase, and we only paid for the integration process.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SCSM?

From an admin point of view, Intune has more features and is easier to manage compared to SCCM. SCCM is a little complex for the admin point of view. Although some engineers at Microsoft are good, ...

See all answers

Comparisons

ServiceNow vs OpenText Service Management Automation X (SMAX)

Compared 35% of the time

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

Compared 32% of the time

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

Compared 22% 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

ServiceNow vs SCSM

Compared 58% of the time

BMC Helix ITSM vs SCSM

Compared 17% of the time

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus vs SCSM

Compared 15% of the time

JIRA Service Management vs SCSM

Compared 10% of the time

More SCSM Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IT Service Management (ITSM)

March 2025

OpenText Service Management Automation X (SMAX) report

Download OpenText Service Management Automation X (SMAX) product report

Buyer's Guide

SCSM

March 2025

Download SCSM product report

Also Known As

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

System Center Service Manager

Interactive Demo

OpenText

Demo not available

Microsoft

Overview

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

System Center Service Manager is a software product by Microsoft to allow organizations to manage incidents and problems. Microsoft states that the product is compliant with industry best practices such as the Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) and in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). SCSM has integrated ITIL compliant fulfillment of service requests. Service requests are submitted by the end user in order to obtain information, access to a new application or the most common of all, password reset.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

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

Fibabanka, UMC Health System

Buyer's Guide

OpenText Service Management Automation X (SMAX) vs. SCSM

April 2025

Free Report: OpenText Service Management Automation X (SMAX) vs. SCSM

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