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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)
31st
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)
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
Help Desk Software (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category, the mindshare of Alemba Service Manager is 0.9%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of BMC Helix ITSM is 5.7%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Service Management (ITSM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
BMC Helix ITSM5.7%
Alemba Service Manager0.9%
Other93.4%
IT Service Management (ITSM)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1099623 - PeerSpot reviewer
ICT Analyst at a energy/utilities company with 5,001-10,000 employees
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.
KN
Senior Application Developer BMC at Balfour Beatty
Self-service portal significantly reduces resolution time and transforms service process with advanced features
We initially had a lot of tickets generated via the service desk through calls and emails. Now, we have almost moved out of email creations by introducing the DWP features on the Studio pages, with about 90% of the tickets coming in via our self-service portal. Recent upgrades offer different types of views for particular business lines, which was missing earlier. The new landing pages have allowed us to add banners, images, and internal videos, encouraging most customers to use these DWP self-service features. Resolution time has decreased significantly since implementing the self-service portal. Additionally, the availability of knowledge articles, chatbots, and the new Helix GPT feature has improved service processes.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The workflow is very good, as well as customizable."
"From the time we started using vFire, we were able to ensure continuity tracking of Service Tickets (incident and request fulfillment-related)."
"Incident Management is the most valuable feature of the solution."
"The workflow is very good, as well as customizable."
"When we met with the Alemba vFire from Australia, it was a good discussion and they have a good feature roadmap."
"It's one of the top solutions on the market for ITSM capabilities."
"The versatility and customizability of the product is what I like most."
"It might cost a few more bucks than its competitors like ServiceNow, but it certainly has a better technological edge over ServiceNow."
"Since 8.1 is compatible with the ADDM discovery tool, we automated discovery and mapping of assets (CIs) and their relationships migration to the CMDB."
"Customer Service: It's very good. Technical Support: It's very good."
"Provides a clean front-end for our users to log requests and has rich ITSM functionality."
"Customer support is always fantastic and willing to help."
"BMC Helix ITSM is a good product out-of-box, with a lot of functionalities built-in, so there is no need to worry—just plug and play."
 

Cons

"The reporting needs to be improved."
"The product should improve its ability to integrate with third-party tools."
"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."
"We had issues with the user interface, the way it was structured wasn't that user-friendly."
"The dashboard can be better."
"While Remedy is an excellent ticketing system, the knowledge base module needs to be optimized for MITS companies to organize documentation for multiple client organizations."
"The interface is one major complaint about this product."
"The User Interface still has the appearance of being clunky and not user friendly."
"There is a text editor that we use to enter our incident description or service request description, and it should be richer in terms of features."
"It’s not an easy product to use for the customers."
"BMC should take a step back and think about the overall solution—not only ITSM but also CTI Integration along with chat. They have all that, but it's not an end-to-end holistic solution with the added reporting analytics."
"Log in process is unnecessarily complicated."
 

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."
"It's a yearly subscription but there are a couple of customers who go for the monthly subscription."
"Just make sure you really sit down and look at what you will be using per user, therefore you will not be surprised with a big bill. You do not want every user having every license, it really is not needed."
"While purchasing, try to negotiate on per user licensing costs, associated maintenance, and purchase 20% more then what you think you should have. Bulk is always cheaper."
"The cost is relatively high, especially for the BMC Controller application. However, the expense is justified by the standard and reliable features it offers. This product's reputation in the market is strong, providing assurance in terms of data and other considerations."
"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."
"We did not compare the price of BMC Helix ITSM to other vendors. However, it has a mid-range price."
"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."
"There are licenses to use this solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise55
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
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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?
Although BMC Helix ITSM is a strong enterprise platform, there are areas where it could be improved. One key area is usability and simplification of configuration, especially for new administrators...
What is your primary use case for BMC Helix ITSM?
My main use case for BMC Helix ITSM is validating and automating core ITSM workflows, such as incident, change, and service request management. I focus on ensuring that these workflows function cor...
 

Also Known As

vFire
Remedy ITSM, Remedy, Helix Remedy, BMC Helix IT Service Management
 

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: March 2026.
884,976 professionals have used our research since 2012.