Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Alemba Service Manager vs IFS Cloud Platform 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)
28th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IFS Cloud Platform
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
11th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
CRM (21st), Customer Experience Management (7th), Field Service Management (2nd), Help Desk Software (12th), ERP (12th), Activity Based Costing Software (7th), Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) (2nd), Local Government CRM (9th), IT Asset Management (10th), License Management (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category, the mindshare of Alemba Service Manager is 0.8%, down from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IFS Cloud Platform is 1.6%, up from 1.1% 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.
Brendan Fisher - PeerSpot reviewer
Robust, customizable, and modern
IFS is a very large and complex software, and implementation of IFS can be challenging and may lead to a difficult lengthy project. It can take between 12 and 24 months in some cases to deploy. I have found that not all clients are fully aware of how big the task is that they're undertaking when they make a decision to move to software like this. Companies need to be more aware of the complexity of an ERP implementation project and while I fully recommend moving to IFS, it is not easy and does require business change when adopting an ERP solution. New features are a difficult ask - I work across multiple industries and everyone would probably choose a different feature. Maybe BIM in Construction or Customs link-ups for importers/exporters.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Incident Management is the most valuable feature of the solution."
"When we met with the Alemba vFire from Australia, it was a good discussion and they have a good feature roadmap."
"The workflow is very good, as well as customizable."
"The workflow of the solution is very good."
"What I like about IFS Applications is that it's easier to use and implement than SAP. I also like that the IFS Applications team is more flexible than the SAP team."
"Individual user profiles that can be configured as templates to minimize data entry."
"The financial posting controls are quite handy. The user interface is really friendly, highly flexible, and pretty intuitive for end users."
"Having a young talented programmer, during the six years of use, we were able to save around 75 000 EUR preparing simple modifications using customization rather than ordering them in IFS / Partner."
"The platform is reliable and stable."
"There tends not to be a massive weakness in the product itself, as weaknesses can quickly be resolved in the next patch or the next release."
"The most valuable feature is the distribution module."
 

Cons

"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."
"An area for improvement would be transactions, which can be tedious to complete as the process is very complex."
"IFS uses Crystal Report mostly, which isn't too user-friendly. Developing reports isn't easy and requires a lot of dev time. Since SAP bought it, Crystal Report has become more complicated to use on IFS. You have a dashboard for reporting that is good, but it's incomplete. Most of our clients use Power BI or some additional tooling for BI."
"We have upgraded to the latest version right now. We have issues with the quality. We tried to enroll in their Evergreen program which was meant to help us adopt any service update or anything that the tool’s providers come up with."
"There should be some improvements in the predefined templates in IFS Applications."
"IFS Applications is not robust enough to handle high-volume transactions, so it's not suitable for larger enterprises."
"Documentation-wise, they need more."
"The solution needs to improve its documentation and user-friendliness."
"Sometimes from the sales perspective, clients don't always fully understand how large a task or a project they're getting involved in when they decide, "We're going to switch across to IFS." They could probably do a little bit more, maybe around preparing people for these projects."
 

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."
"There's an additional yearly cost for support."
"IFS Applications is expensive software, but it's on par with SAP and Oracle. It's for large enterprises and government entities and not for small and medium-sized enterprises. They have one licensing model, but if you want to have a module-specific license, they provide component-based licenses. Unlike SAP and Oracle, it doesn't have different levels of licensing. It's one level of licensing."
"There are varying license levels that you can purchase."
"IFS Applications are competitive in terms of pricing compared to other vendors, such as SAP, Oracle, and Epicor. They are generally cheaper, especially for licensing costs."
"Pricing is an area that could be improved. They could be more competitive."
"I consider it to be a well-priced solution compared to other mid-range or high-end ERP solutions."
"The product is reasonably priced."
"Compared to SAP, the pricing for IFS Applications was very affordable. People using the solution would find that it's worth the money."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which IT Service Management (ITSM) solutions are best for your needs.
857,585 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
24%
Computer Software Company
16%
Non Profit
11%
Energy/Utilities Company
8%
Computer Software Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Energy/Utilities Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What do you like most about IFS Applications?
Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine or ten out of ten since it is an extremely scalable solution that can be used for various use cases with thousands of users.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IFS Applications?
The product is reasonably priced. The costs are justified by the value provided, considering the comprehensive features and minimal need for customization. I rate the pricing a seven out of ten.
What needs improvement with IFS Applications?
I am not able to recall much about batch. Documentation-wise, they need more. There is not much available online, and the documentation availability is on the lower side compared to other products,...
 

Also Known As

vFire
IFS Applications, Assyst, IFS Cloud
 

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
China Airlines, Electrolux Group, Babcock, Cimcorp, Sky, Multiplex, Veolia. 
Find out what your peers are saying about Alemba Service Manager vs. IFS Cloud Platform and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
857,585 professionals have used our research since 2012.