BMC FootPrints Service Core vs SCSM comparison

BMC Helix and Microsoft are both solutions in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category. BMC Helix is ranked #27, while Microsoft is ranked #16 with an average rating of 6.7. Additionally, 90% of BMC Helix users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 64% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

SCSM and BMC FootPrints Service Core are two popular IT service management solutions. SCSM stands out for its integration with Microsoft services, while BMC FootPrints Service Core is favored for its comprehensive feature set, including customizable workflow automation and asset management.

Features: SCSM offers integration with Microsoft ecosystems, automatic ticketing systems, and strong reporting services. BMC FootPrints Service Core boasts customizable workflows, a relational database for history and audit trails, and the ability to auto-generate email messages and approvals.

Room for Improvement: SCSM could improve its user interface for better accessibility and streamline its setup process for users outside the Microsoft environment. Enhancements in customizable features and support documentation could also benefit its users. BMC FootPrints Service Core could improve its pricing model, offer more scalable solutions, and enhance its integration capabilities with non-relational databases.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SCSM is easily deployable in Microsoft-aligned environments but can require more configuration for others. Its online training resources are helpful for new users. BMC FootPrints Service Core offers a straightforward deployment with extensive support resources, ensuring a smooth setup process for a wider audience.

Pricing and ROI: SCSM provides an economical setup for Microsoft environments, which can translate into a favorable ROI for such organizations. BMC FootPrints Service Core, while potentially demanding a higher initial investment, presents strong ROI potential owing to its expansive feature set, making it a worthy investment for those seeking robust IT management.

To learn more, read our detailed BMC FootPrints Service Core vs. SCSM Report (Updated: August 2026).

Buyer's Guide

BMC FootPrints Service Core vs. SCSM

August 2026

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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

Automation Anywhere

Featured Reviews

Venkat Sivaprakash

Management Consultant at Accenture

Has significantly improved document-driven workflows and reduced processing time across finance and HR functions

Automation Anywhere has evolved significantly and upgraded itself to provide agentic AI and AI-based automation solutions for document automation. The product has matured considerably over time. We can create workflows that can call an API. We can include prompts in particular workflows for ChatGPT-related functions, connecting to an LLM and RAG to perform tasks. For document automation, modern features are available to train documents, ensuring high accuracy and repeatability over time. The system is very easy to use. I recently completed a course in document automation, typically designed for people involved in coding and technical aspects. Though I understand coding comprehensively, I don't do actual coding. The course was very accessible. Currently, extensive coding isn't necessary due to the hybrid model incorporating GenAI aspects, low-code, no-code capabilities, APIs, and numerous pre-built objects in Automation Anywhere. The features include GenAI-driven prompting methods and workflow creation capabilities. In these workflows, we can create decision boxes and call APIs without coding. We simply pull objects, drop them, connect them, and add minimal coding when needed. The most crucial aspect isn't coding but rather sizing the automation and fleshing out the details. Automation Co-pilot takes notes and performs automated analysis. It can extract details from videos, summarize conversations, and provide detailed information. During calls, it identifies instructions and performs tasks such as preparing reports and reconciliation. Automation Anywhere can also connect with Microsoft Co-pilot. Through Co-pilot, real-time operations can be executed, allowing direct interaction between vendors and automation through this component.

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reviewer1765752

System Engineer at a manufacturing company with 51-200 employees

A flexible, comprehensive, integrated IT service and asset management platform with good technical support

We use BMC FootPrints Service Core to manage network issues, infrastructure issues, software issues, and ERP. We also use it to manage our facility. So, we do some work orders and also use it as an extra ticketing system Technical support is good. It would be better if it were more…

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LuisSanchez3

Director Metropolitano de Gobierno Digital at a government with 10,001+ employees

Current setup enables smooth problem-solving but lacks comprehensive guidance and local support

More information about setup procedures and a more user-friendly front end would be beneficial. We need more information for setup processes. It is difficult to do the work independently, requiring us to hire external companies for maintenance hours to fix small issues that could be resolved faster in-house if we had better information. We have been looking for an upgrade version, but finding local service has been difficult. It has been challenging trying to get things done. Speaking with the Microsoft office, we found there are no local companies with substantial experience with SCSM. What we have now was installed five or six years ago. It has been difficult to change configurations and look for upgrades, even with all the manuals. Our office is considering moving away from SCSM and getting a service desk solution outside of Microsoft. For me, it has been a good tool to get help and solve internal problems in the office. It is a very good tool, but the difficulty in getting local service or more information is pushing us to look for another tool.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"In human resources, we created several core SAP systems so that the basic users in human resources can reduce redundancies by 10 times with very little cost."

"My experience with the deployment has been very good."

"Earlier users were converting the unstructured data from the PDF into the structured format to process the task but now, this activity is replaced by IQ Bot."

"IQ Bot is the most valuable integrated feature of Automation Anywhere."

"Automation Anywhere's OCR functionality stands out as the most valuable feature for us, as it allows us to swiftly extract data for repetitive tasks, significantly boosting our efficiency."

"The best features in Automation Anywhere that I really appreciate are found in the basic module for pure RPA, such as the recorder function, which helps in making automation even easier; no coding is required, you are just doing things, and the recorder records your movements and actions, creating the code out of that."

"From the second year onward, ROI is achieved, which is a great thing because year-over-year you are accruing those benefits."

"The time savings are valuable."

More Automation Anywhere pros

"I have used Tier II BMC support a few times. They were very responsive and recreated my environment in their lab to support me."

"Ability to auto-generate email messages, process email messages, and approvals."

"It's extremely stable; we've got customers who are mobile telecommunication customers, hospitals, power companies, and an airport, and we can handle the volume with no interruptions where instability would really be unacceptable."

"It has helped the help desk team. We get our tickets in and are able to support our customers, the end-users, with this solution."

"I feel confident in saying that BMC FootPrints Service Core is definitely one of the best products in the market."

"The discovery feature is very flexible."

"Implemented system-wide process for approving and tracking "employee move" requests for over 15,000 employees."

"Now all IT related issues, problems, changes and even projects are more controlled using Footprints."

More BMC FootPrints Service Core pros

"The solution offers good productivity at a low price point."

"SCCM provides remote tool functionality, which is not in Intune."

"We've been in contact with Microsoft technical support mainly. After doing the research ourselves and troubleshooting, etc., if we can't find a permanent solution, we contact Microsoft to help us fix the issue. Sometimes the issue never gets fixed even by Microsoft. It can sometimes require us to reinstall the solution. However, these are very rare instances."

"The integration of the whole Microsoft suites is awesome, a very convenient package like an all-in-one tool but it is actually five or six products acting well together."

"If it is correctly configured, you can access and give service quickly to all the end users."

"Improved time management, all the details logged (nothing missed), roles and responsibilities in tool are set according to policy/procedure."

"This product has helped our organization by allowing people to connect with each other."

"It is quite scalable."

More SCSM pros

Cons

"As a developer, I find Automation Anywhere's bot editor riddled with minor workflow issues that hinder productivity."

"I would like more cognitive abilities, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. E.g., if I see you, your facial recognition has to be there. If I send your picture, it should tell me your name, where you are from, and when I met you because we forget people. It should have these type of capabilities."

"Automation Anywhere could benefit from more in-person support, as they currently maintain only a virtual presence."

"One thing I dislike about Automation Anywhere is that our process is time-consuming. Since the bot is utilized by that machine and if a long-running task is happening, then another bot may not run and the machine is locked."

"The AI is very important, and they are starting to use AI. They could continue to develop it out."

"Automation Anywhere has to be integrated with machine learning and AI systems to read images and videos, then put the information into another format."

"I would like to see them expand the service catalog with RCA add-ons to the current RPA package."

"More interactions with PDFs would be great for Automation Anywhere."

More Automation Anywhere cons

"The pricing could be a little lower and the product should cover more iTel versions."

"The workflow should be made to be more user-friendly. It should also have more granular scalability."

"It would be better if it were more user-friendly. The reporting part in the version we have is a little complicated. It takes too long to build and report. It would also be better if there were another way to manage notifications."

"Reporting could be improved along with the option to create more fine tuned reports and to create specific fields for each type of ticket."

"We need more customizable reporting functionality. We could also use more collaboration of service desk tickets. This will allow for two departments to share the same information, track the progress of the total task scope no matter how complex the request is."

"There are still a few odd issues in FootPrints 12.x, which are frustrating."

"It is pretty clunky and not very intuitive. Even though I have used it for many years, I don't think it is a very good ITSM platform in general."

"Hyphens are not allowed in the quick search bar. This has created a problem in our environment where we use hyphens in our asset names."

More BMC FootPrints Service Core cons

"The product needs to improve its integration with other tools. It also needs to have a better UI and a simple dashboard."

"I would like to have the ability to integrate with other systems from the back-end. I am using Orchestrator and it is a little bit difficult because there are too many constraints."

"Service Manager is not doing very well because, for example, there is no default web application and in order to use Service Manager we have to use the desktop console which is a disadvantage."

"The user interface needs to be improved."

"Better integration with other services in Azure is needed because everything is moving from on-premises to the cloud, and as an integrator, we have to help our clients with the migration."

"It crashes our client's computers. Sometimes they get blue screens."

"On a scale from one to ten where one is the worst and ten is the best, I rate this product as a seven, maybe even between six and seven, because there are a few things they need to improve, especially in the interface."

"They need to improve their support. When you cannot support the company that has your solution people will start to jump to another company that has a similar solution where somebody can support them if they have a problem."

More SCSM cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We only deal in annual licenses. There are no pay-as-you-go licenses."

"We just did a round of price comparison on a global scale and found it's so hard to compare the license prices. But, Automation Anywhere, in general, is on the same price level as the other vendors, a bit lower in some cases."

"The Community Edition is a good offering from the company."

"It's very good in terms of cost and pricing."

"Subscription for Automation Anywhere (AA) is paid yearly."

"The pricing and licensing of Automation Anywhere plays an important rule in the Indian market because in the Indian market $10,000 USD is too much. Hence, the pricing tends to go down depending on the customer relationship with the partner: A starter pack is $10,000 and an enterprise pack is $100,000. If you go through an implementation partner, you can get good deals. They can save some money."

"We save 34,000 hours of time per year and have recouped up to $6000 in lost revenue."

"From my experience, I can say that the initial setup cost is easily recovered over a period of time once the bots start running in production."

More Automation Anywhere pricing and cost advice

"The licensing for FootPrints is a perpetual license with an annual support fee."

"This solution has good pricing."

"Cost was on par with other service desk products, and well below Remedy, while still being a BMC product."

"Our costs are well over $250,000."

"Licensing can be complex and confusing."

"It comes free with the enterprise agreement that we have, but the expense really is in having to buy another product to sit on top of it to make it work properly. You wind up having to buy additional support and additional product with their own support and maintenance costs on top of that."

"The license for SCSM is cheap."

"The pricing is reasonable."

"The platform is competitively priced."

"It is a lower price vs. other things on the market."

"It is an expensive solution."

"I would rate the pricing as two out of five."

More SCSM pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Construction Company

11%

Outsourcing Company

10%

Construction Company

21%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Outsourcing Company

Comms Service Provider

Construction Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

10%

Outsourcing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	157
Midsize Enterprise	82
Large Enterprise	558

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	14

Questions from the Community

How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

It depends on your use case. Is it simply to automate a couple of processes? Is it to augment a human team? AA is ver...

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How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

From my experience using AA tool, it depends on the applications that you want to automate, because there some applic...

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How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

It is a highly preferred RPA tool. You can check my Automation Anywhere Review to know more.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SCSM?

I am not sure about the pricing as I do not have experience with it.

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What needs improvement with SCSM?

More information about setup procedures and a more user-friendly front end would be beneficial. We need more informat...

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What is your primary use case for SCSM?

In my job, I work for the city where we have an enterprise agreement with Microsoft. We have Office, Word, PowerPoint...

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Comparisons

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Compared 12% of the time

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Compared 9% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

AutomationEdge vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 3% of the time

WorkFusion vs Automation Anywhere

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ServiceNow vs BMC FootPrints Service Core

Compared 18% of the time

BMC Helix ITSM vs BMC FootPrints Service Core

Compared 16% of the time

Rezolve.ai vs BMC FootPrints Service Core

Compared 15% of the time

Zendesk vs BMC FootPrints Service Core

Compared 4% of the time

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus vs BMC FootPrints Service Core

Compared 4% of the time

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ServiceNow vs SCSM

Compared 13% of the time

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus vs SCSM

Compared 12% of the time

Infraon Desk vs SCSM

Compared 10% of the time

IT Care Center vs SCSM

Compared 9% of the time

BMC Helix ITSM vs SCSM

Compared 5% of the time

More SCSM Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Automation Anywhere

August 2026

Download Automation Anywhere product report

Buyer's Guide

IT Service Management (ITSM)

August 2026

Download BMC FootPrints Service Core product report

Buyer's Guide

SCSM

July 2026

Download SCSM product report

Also Known As

Automation Anywhere, Testing Anywhere, Automation Anywhere Enterprise, Agentic Process Automation System (Now Certified for WorkSpaces)

FootPrints Service Core

System Center Service Manager

Interactive Demo

Automation Anywhere

Demo not available

BMC Helix

Demo not available

Microsoft

Overview

Automation Anywhere offers ease of use, robust system connectivity, and GenAI-driven document automation through a cloud-native platform, significantly enhancing productivity across multiple industries with advanced AI features.

Delivering a comprehensive suite of tools designed for easy integration and rapid deployment, Automation Anywhere drives efficiency by reducing costs and automating repetitive tasks. Its cloud-native platform supports broad industry adoption, including advanced AI features like process automation and Co-Pilot, streamlining complex workflows with minimal technical skills required. Users benefit from robust integration capabilities, which facilitate seamless interaction with multiple systems. However, there is room for improvement in areas such as user-friendliness for beginners, stability, flexible licensing, and enhanced OCR functionality. Organizations in sectors such as banking, finance, manufacturing, and healthcare gain from the improved operational efficiency and ROI Automation Anywhere offers.

What are the important features of Automation Anywhere?

Ease of Use: Simplifies automation tasks with a user-centric interface.
Robust Connectivity: Provides seamless integration with multiple systems.
GenAI-Driven Document Automation: Leverages AI to automate document management.
Process Automation & Co-Pilot: Enhances workflow automation with advanced AI.
Cloud-Native Platform: Enables rapid deployment and integration.

What benefits should be evaluated in reviews?

Time Savings: Automation drastically reduces manual processing time.
Cost Efficiency: Decreases overall operational costs by automating tasks.
Productivity Enhancement: Streamlines workflows with AI-driven tools.
Improved Integration: Enhances ability to work with multiple systems.
Scalability: Supports growth with a flexible cloud-native architecture.

In the insurance industry, Automation Anywhere is utilized for automating processes such as enrollment management and compliance checks. Its applications extend to supply chain management, financial transactions, and business performance monitoring across sectors like banking, finance, manufacturing, and healthcare, helping organizations to automate routine tasks, improve efficiency, and reduce costs.

Automation Anywhere

BMC FootPrints Service Core is a comprehensive tool that aids in incident, problem, and change management while offering customizable views and integration options.

Valued for its customizable home views and flexible database relations, BMC FootPrints Service Core excels in stability and responsive technical support. With capabilities for email automation, survey integration, and report creation, it enhances IT service management and business process efficiency. The solution supports ticket status updates with minimal downtime and accommodates multiple administrators across workspaces. Pink Elephant certification and smart IT features broaden its appeal for IT departments.

What are the key features of BMC FootPrints Service Core?

Incident Management: Tracks and resolves service desk tickets efficiently.
Problem Management: Identifies and mitigates underlying issues to prevent recurrence.
Change Management: Helps assess and handle changes seamlessly in the environment.
Customizable Views: Offers tailored dashboards for user-specific information.
Email Automation: Facilitates swift communication and response handling.

What benefits or ROI should users look for in reviews?

Stable Performance: Ensures reliable operation for consistent IT services.
Responsive Support: Provides timely technical assistance to resolve issues.
Administrative Flexibility: Allows versatile control across different workspaces.

In industries like IT services and HR, BMC FootPrints Service Core supports managing service desk tickets, tracking assets, and resolving issues in network, infrastructure, and software areas. Its functionalities also extend to HR issue tracking, service requests, and contract management, facilitating both on-premises deployments and ITIL process implementations such as Service Request and Service Catalog Management.

BMC Helix

SCSM integrates with Microsoft tools, offering robust ticketing, incident management, and a scalable architecture. It automates orchestration tasks, provides comprehensive reporting, and enhances IT environments through SCCM integration, supporting various service management needs.

SCSM is known for integrating well with Microsoft suites and is valued for its ease of use and scalable design. Organizations utilize its capabilities for managing customer service, system deployments, and ticket handling. Its essential components include activity management, remote access, and comprehensive security updates. However, improvements are needed in areas such as integration with Azure and open-source tools, simplicity of the self-service portal, mobile support, and reporting complexity. Despite these challenges, many rely on SCSM for IT operations management, HR onboarding, and cloud functionality integration.

What are the most valuable features?

Seamless Microsoft Integration - Easily connects with Microsoft suites
Robust Ticketing - Efficient management of tickets and incidents
Scalable Architecture - Adapts to increasing demands and growth
Automated Orchestration - Streamlines various IT scenarios
Comprehensive Reporting - In-depth insights and analysis
Activity Management - Coordination of tasks and operations
Security Updates - Ensures systems remain protected
Easy Learning Materials - Accessible and straightforward resources

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Enhanced Efficiency - Improved ticketing and incident management
Cost Management - Optimal use of IT resources and budgeting
Flexibility - Supports both cloud and on-premise deployments
Risk Reduction - Security updates and management features
Strategic Insights - Customized reporting for informed decisions

SCSM finds application in industries ranging from IT service management to HR onboarding and system administration. Enterprises use it for remote assistance, device management, and patch management, while some leverage its cloud capabilities. This broadens the scope of how IT operations are supported and managed effectively in different settings.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Google, Linkedin, Cisco, Juniper Networks, DellEMC, Comcast, Mastercard, Quest Diagnostics

Cast & Crew

Fibabanka, UMC Health System

Buyer's Guide

BMC FootPrints Service Core vs. SCSM

August 2026

Free Report: BMC FootPrints Service Core vs. SCSM

Find out what your peers are saying about BMC FootPrints Service Core vs. SCSM and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.

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