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Alemba Service Manager vs BMC Helix ITSM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 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

Alemba Service Manager
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
24th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
BMC Helix ITSM
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
Help Desk Software (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category, the mindshare of Alemba Service Manager is 0.8%, down from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of BMC Helix ITSM is 11.1%, down from 13.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Service Management (ITSM)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1099623 - PeerSpot reviewer
Fulfills all IT management needs, simple setup, but could be more user-friendly
Unfortunately, we were not able to implement the mobility feature so I won't be able to provide feedback on it (and it was something that has been requested since we have field workers and given the WFH case due to the pandemic). This is due to results of security tests and which we were not yet able to address in our environment. We've been also trying to integrate our current system with discovery solutions but it was not easy. I am not sure if it is due to the fact that we still have an older version of the AlembavFire product. Also, users are also requesting that the current system's UI can still be improved. For those of our users who had experienced ServiceNow, they cited that they can do RFC chats via the tool. In our group, we are using AlembavFire for recording the ticket and do other discussions/alignments via Teams chat.
Fairoz Gadad - PeerSpot reviewer
Development team is quick to address bugs or shortcomings in their product
BMC's technical support team needs to improve. Right now, the problem over here is we are not getting the exact answers on time. Their engineers are mainly based in the US or Israel, and we get comprehensive dedicated support. Some of the Indian customer service representatives are also outstanding. Unfortunately, in the past six months or seven months, I've been getting brand-new engineers. Either they're not entirely aware of most cases, or they don't know how to troubleshoot further. So for any product to be stable and work correctly, BMC must ensure that customer service is excellent. Even though if your product is a hundred percent, we'll have problems marketing it to our customers.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"When we met with the Alemba vFire from Australia, it was a good discussion and they have a good feature roadmap."
"Incident Management is the most valuable feature of the solution."
"The workflow is very good, as well as customizable."
"BMC Smart IT is somewhat rigid, but they have a powerful backend that supports our complex need for extension versus customization. Between extension and customization, you can achieve complex business processes. That's one of the main advantages of BMC."
"The digital workplace is appealing."
"The way you can customize this product to adapt to the process the customer is already using is what sets this apart from other ITSM products out there. This helps customers to adapt to the tool pretty quickly."
"It has been instrumental in aligning our service desk with the ITIL fundamentals and continuously improving the operating metrics of that area."
"Our Change Management and Incident Management​ processes have been greatly improved."
"Automatic orchestration is the most valuable. The feature for designating some cases or incidents to the right PM for resolution, first call resolution, and change management are also important. The self-service feature and knowledge base resolutions are helping the customers in resolving issues rather than opening tickets."
"The most valuable feature for our customers using BMC Helix ITSM is change management."
"We use the solution's Discovery tool to discover our assets, and we've used the ticketing tool for years."
 

Cons

"The reporting needs to be improved."
"We had issues with the user interface, the way it was structured wasn't that user-friendly. The chat features could improve. For example, in change management, all the chat discussions can be done via ServiceNow. We are using two separate solutions, such as Teams, to chat, and the Alemba vFire tool to process."
"The product should improve its ability to integrate with third-party tools."
"Encountered issues with scalability and stability."
"The reports need improvement, it is not a good functioning tool."
"There are some limitations or restrictions to using BMC Helix. For example, when we do some reporting, the reporting interface should be more user-friendly from my point of view."
"Its performance can be improved. Sometimes, there is a performance issue, and it is a little slow and difficult on the usage side. It would be beneficial for us if there is a lighter version of this solution. There is also a limitation on the number of columns and memory for extracting a report, and this functionality can be improved. We would like to have better integration and UI in this solution. The user interface should be easy to navigate. Its integration with other tools, such as SharePoint or Jira, can also be improved, which would be beneficial for us. In terms of new features, there should also be a mobile version. The desktop version is available, but the mobile version is not available, which is one of the challenges that our team has. For users who work on Remedy and who raise the ticket, it would also be very beneficial to have some chatbot features."
"Needs to make customizable/configurable article templates in the Knowledge Management."
"The search feature and the dashboard could both be improved."
"Provide documentation on the content of the REST API interfaces. Right now, it is pretty much non-existent."
"The product's customization capabilities, price, and technical support are areas of concern where improvements are needed."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is much cheaper than ServiceNow."
"Alemba vFire is more affordable than the other solutions on the market. The solution changes for the number of customers not per user or module. The price was reasonable overall. We paid for support and it was a fair price."
"BMC Helix ITSM is a very cost-effective solution."
"It is too expensive for a small business."
"The price of BMC Helix ITSM could improve their price."
"Please always get the latest quote from a BMC partner or from BMC. Check for the latest offerings."
"If you are looking for some kind of professional services form the OEM then you would have to purchase that."
"I am not sure the exact price we pay for the solution but I know it is in the high seven-figure amount annually."
"It is not very expensive and not very cheap. It is somewhere in-between. Some of the features are more expensive. There are also additional costs. If you want to use most of the features, you need to pay more."
"I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive. The solution is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
22%
Computer Software Company
14%
Non Profit
10%
Energy/Utilities Company
6%
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Alemba vFire?
Incident Management is the most valuable feature of the solution.
What needs improvement with Alemba vFire?
The product should improve its ability to integrate with third-party tools. The service portal should be customizable.
What is your primary use case for Alemba vFire?
The product is used for incident management, change management, and request management. We can store assets like people, machines, and processes in CMDB. We can also use the solution to see the cha...
What do you like most about BMC Helix ITSM?
If we consider major players like Ford or BMW, their core focus is manufacturing products like cars. To ensure smooth operations, any arising issues, be it security concerns or issues within depart...
What needs improvement with BMC Helix ITSM?
In User Group sessions held by BMC in India, I mentioned the challenges with vast documentation, making it difficult to find the right information quickly. The recent move to a new platform is bene...
What is your primary use case for BMC Helix ITSM?
I am currently working as a BMC Remedy developer. I have been working for over ten years on the BMC platform. My company uses BMC Helix ITSM for IT service management processes.
 

Also Known As

vFire
Remedy ITSM, Remedy, Helix Remedy
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Hiscox Liverpool City Council Karachaganak Petroleum Operating (KPO) PPG Barnardo's Victoria University of Wellington
Brookfield, HealthSouth Corporation, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Mercator, SAP, Stanford University
Find out what your peers are saying about Alemba Service Manager vs. BMC Helix ITSM and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.