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SCOM vs ServiceNow IT Operations Management 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

SCOM
Ranking in Event Monitoring
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
81
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (14th)
ServiceNow IT Operations Ma...
Ranking in Event Monitoring
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Management (9th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (8th), AIOps (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Event Monitoring category, the mindshare of SCOM is 7.4%, down from 10.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow IT Operations Management is 18.4%, up from 13.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Event Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

MarcMermuys - PeerSpot reviewer
Has efficient monitoring with robust integration capabilities
We use SCOM to configure different monitors using several management packs. It integrates systems like Active Directory and correlates them, and it is used for monitoring and managing systems SCOM allows integration of several systems, providing correlation between different systems such as…
RichardG - PeerSpot reviewer
Effortlessly blends management systems for comprehensive infrastructure insight
ServiceNow IT Operations Management brought together Intune and SCCM or MECM really well. It provided out-of-the-box integrations, requiring only minimal effort, typically a couple of days, to massage those systems into a seamless operation. Additionally, the performance analytics of ServiceNow was especially beneficial for setting thresholds, aggregating, and correlating infrastructure data.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I like the historical reporting of observer metrics."
"This is a product that does more generally than any of the competing solutions."
"Availability monitoring is the feature I have found most valuable, as well as the capacity and ability to send notifications."
"The most valuable feature of SCOM is real-time alerts."
"Being able to make and customize management packs and send out notifications is very valuable."
"Because it's Windows-based, it actually reports quite well. It reports everything you can think of on the Windows server and allows you to monitor anything. It's excellent for those in the Windows world as it's very good at it."
"The ease of deployment, especially on Windows platforms, is valuable."
"The most valuable feature is the monitoring of Windows and Linux servers."
"I like the solution mostly for CMDB discovery."
"The solution is saving time by providing templates, reducing duplication in rule configuration, and offering efficient alert management."
"The Discovery feature is the most valuable. I only use the Discovery and Service Mapping features. I am using the minor subscription called ITOM Visibility, which includes the Discovery and Service Mapping features. It is easy to understand and easy to use. It has a lot of documentation. You can find a lot of help online, which helps me in finding what I need in a rapid way. You can find videos on YouTube channels and a lot of stuff and information in the online community."
"It is a market leader and is very implementation-friendly. Developers have a clear understanding of how the solution works, and it is mature enough to handle different client needs."
"The scalability of ServiceNow is good."
"It is a product that is familiar for a lot of users."
"ServiceNow IT Operations Management is beneficial for the discovery of all CIs in our environment."
"It is a stable solution. I have not experienced any system outages during my time using the solution."
 

Cons

"We didn't know the solution enough, and therefore, it took a while to set everything up correctly. There was a learning curve."
"There are some negative points about this product. Sometimes, the capabilities of the software don't appear, and you can't directly see the results. You have to wait for a long period to refresh the policy to push it to the software or other patches."
"The solution should be more user-friendly and offer a better user interface."
"The end-user components, including the dashboards, the administration console, and the web console, need to be improved."
"It'll help if they can provide real-time or closer to real-time monitoring."
"SCOM's feature that notifies us when a server is down is not present in recent updates, which has weakened the product."
"The dashboard features are not user-friendly for our management team, only for the technical department."
"It would be a much better product if Microsoft provided management packs with the product."
"Even though they call it low code there are a lot of customizations needed, especially from an ITOM standpoint."
"At times, it got cumbersome from the project management perspective. It could have been because of the way we were using it. I found Microsoft Project to be more extensive and robust than ITOM."
"We are facing difficulties with service mapping of CIs from the end users, and are seeking help from third-party vendors."
"The out-of-the-box reporting feature is not as user friendly as other tools."
"The solution's licensing model is a bit complicated. It should be simple and easy for people to understand."
"The product needs to add a workflow insight tool."
"ServiceNow could be more prescriptive on how customers can leverage some of the benefits."
"There is room for improvement in service mapping within ServiceNow ITOM. When we have more time, we'll look to extend that and apply it to business-critical services like email."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"SCOM is very cheap because it's included in the license for the System Center suite, which is around $8,400 per CAL."
"SCOM's pricing is average."
"SCOM is part of the System Center suite and I am satisfied with the pricing."
"There is a license needed to use this solution and it is paid annually."
"It is more expensive than the competition."
"Our licensing fees are approximately $30 per user, per month."
"The pricing is good, and it's part of their system center suite."
"Our Enterprise Agreement includes the price."
"The cost of ServiceNow is much higher."
"The solution is costly compared to the products offered by its competitors."
"There are additional costs, you have to pay more for everything."
"It is moderately expensive. The pricing itself and the licensing options are depending on the model and the customization."
"We obtained discovery licenses at about seven dollars Australian per unit, which we found to be reasonable and competitive."
"The pricing is high and may be excluding the small to medium-sized enterprise businesses."
"My customers pay for the ServiceNow IT Operations Management license annually. I'd rate the pricing based on value. ServiceNow IT Operations Management is a premium product as it has better features than competitors."
"I would rate the product's pricing a five out of ten since there are vendors who are cheaper."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Energy/Utilities Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about SCOM?
The tool helps to monitor Windows servers. It offers alerts from a central location.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SCOM?
I am not aware of the exact pricing as it is managed by my supervisor. As an academic institution, we receive substantial discounts.
What needs improvement with SCOM?
SCOM is not as straightforward in terms of user interface or general experience, which could be improved. Additionally, I would like to see a software-as-a-service version in Azure to eliminate the...
What do you like most about ServiceNow IT Operations Management?
From my perspective as an asset manager, the most valuable feature of the solution is the configuration management portion, where I can actively add something to the database.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ServiceNow IT Operations Management?
We obtained discovery licenses at about seven dollars Australian per unit, which we found to be reasonable and competitive. The pricing model offers scaling where not everything consumes a license ...
What needs improvement with ServiceNow IT Operations Management?
There is room for improvement in service mapping within ServiceNow ITOM. When we have more time, we'll look to extend that and apply it to business-critical services like email.
 

Also Known As

System Center Operations Manager, SCOM 2012
ServiceNow ITOM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Dialog Telekom
servicenow, TransAlta, NATS, Symantec
Find out what your peers are saying about SCOM vs. ServiceNow IT Operations Management and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.