What is our primary use case?
BMC Helix Operations Management with AIOps contains many excellent features within the AIOps bundle. The best features for me are the AI capabilities, specifically the Insight Finder, the Log Analyzer, and the Change Advisor, which combine artificial intelligence with platform data to analyze all information and simplify processes for IT managers and support staff. The monitoring panel provided for the Network Operations Center works seamlessly with the solution and displays all relevant information for incidents or system outcomes. The artificial intelligence operates independently and provides all necessary information for making informed decisions to resolve problems faster and more effectively. Additionally, integration with the automation component allows you to automate solutions and achieve self-healing features within the platform, making AIOps in monitoring and service monitoring the best product on the market in my opinion.
Machine learning algorithms in BMC Helix Operations Management with AIOps help my customers significantly with IT decision-making by providing a substantial amount of information quickly and in an understandable format. Once the AI learns about your infrastructure, it delivers extensive information that is easy to access. The platform is driven by agentic AI, supplying numerous agents that provide extensive assistance. For instance, in the DWP, end users and managers can engage an AI agent, the employee navigator, for approvals or to address problems in critical services without completing forms. This chat-based interaction creates a different experience for the end user. Similarly, a Network Operations Center operator working with service monitoring can query an AI agent about logs, gaining insights and answers about incidents, which transforms them into specialists who resolve incidents more rapidly.
What is most valuable?
The analytics feature in BMC Helix Operations Management with AIOps helps identify issues and root causes, making the process of treating an incident much faster. Without AIOps in your infrastructure, it typically takes approximately two hours to understand an outcome of a critical system, but with AIOps, you can accomplish this in minutes without gathering all the specialists. The artificial intelligence performs all the analysis for you, generating a report with detailed information on solving it and who solves it, allowing you to aggregate automations to act independently. This is a significant differentiator from the competition that Helix offers. Although I primarily work with BMC Helix Operations Management with AIOps because of AIOps, ITSM is common for everyone. BMC Helix ITSM contains substantial artificial intelligence, and its integration with AIOps is excellent, but AIOps stands alone without competition. ServiceNow's AIOps is not as good as BMC Helix Operations Management with AIOps, and other competitors do not approach ServiceNow, making AIOps unparalleled in the market. Therefore, I am focusing on promoting and exploring this module within enterprises.
If you have AIOps, the downtime is considerably less than if you do not have it. Without AIOps, downtime for incidents will negatively impact your business, but with AIOps, you can reduce the downtime, and the way the platform operates allows you to prevent incidents. After installation, once AIOps learns about the infrastructure over approximately one year, it will prevent incidents from occurring by identifying anomalies that avert impact to your business. This is a strong selling point for BMC Helix Operations Management with AIOps when presenting it to clients.
BMC Helix Operations Management with AIOps provides a unified view across hybrid environments seamlessly. It does not matter whether you have an on-premises data center or are using cloud or multi-cloud environments. Once all infrastructure is discovered, whether on-premises or in a cloud, it becomes an IC within the platform. From that IC, you can create dynamic and service models. With these service models integrated into the monitoring module, the AI handles the rest, gathering information and learning about the services you have, facilitating incident response. The AI can even identify whether a change causes an incident. The unified view aligns with the ServiceOps concept that Helix and ServiceNow are developing, integrating operations with IT services in your enterprise for mutual benefits.
What needs improvement?
The technical support for BMC Helix Operations Management with AIOps is excellent if your platform is in production, but if you are conducting a proof of concept on a client site and encounter issues in the platform that are not in production, you will have a difficult time gathering help. I have experienced this firsthand in a couple of proofs of concept using discovery. It is not easy and takes longer to receive assistance, primarily because the support team prioritizes production environments. This means that problems in a demonstration environment do not receive the same immediate attention, making it acceptable but highlighting a challenging aspect of the support you would receive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been dealing with the product for approximately three years since I began working with it in 2023.
What was our ROI?
Many of my customers consider its pricing in Brazil to be high, which could be a challenge. However, when assessed against the benefits and positive outcomes it yields, particularly when applied to critical business systems, an ROI can validate the investment in the platform. The difficult part lies in convincing them of its value, as typically, while customers appreciate the features, the discussion around pricing proves challenging. In Brazil's current economic climate, exacerbated by the government situation, selling such solutions has become increasingly difficult.
What other advice do I have?
I am dealing with BMC Helix Operations Management with AIOps, specifically the AIOps component.
I do not see any disadvantages regarding BMC Helix Operations Management with AIOps; it is a great platform. The only disadvantage comes from not having AIOps. Once you utilize it, it surpasses any alternative in the market. There is a learning curve for your team or the need to hire an integrator for setups, which is not as straightforward as advertised, yet this challenge is comparable to the competition. Implementing AIOps is still considerably easier than ITSM. A project in a significant corporation might take around three months to go live, and by the second month, you could already showcase its capabilities and business benefits. Therefore, I find AIOps, in comparison to competitors, stands well ahead in the market, especially with its integration into ITSM. ITSM benefits from AIOps, and clients are acquiring AIOps to enhance their existing ITSM solutions, making it a highly satisfactory investment.
In Brazil, customers have the alternative to purchase BMC Helix Operations Management with AIOps either directly from BMC, via the AWS Marketplace, or through third-party resellers. In the public sector, selling involves political influences and a slower process, making it challenging. In the private sector, price sensitivity hampers sales efforts, as they generally prefer inexpensive solutions. Most of my deals with larger private sector companies see them buying licenses directly from BMC, and I typically handle only the service part, which does not offer substantial financial compensation to resellers. This model complicates project feasibility, as private sector clients often bypass resellers, opting instead to purchase directly from BMC while relying on us for implementation and support.
I would rate this review a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller