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BMC Helix Discovery vs CA Asset Portfolio Management comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 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

BMC Helix Discovery
Ranking in IT Asset Management
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
CA Asset Portfolio Management
Ranking in IT Asset Management
23rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
License Management (13th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the IT Asset Management category, the mindshare of BMC Helix Discovery is 7.4%, down from 8.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of CA Asset Portfolio Management is 0.6%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Asset Management
 

Featured Reviews

Fairoz Gadad - PeerSpot reviewer
Effortless network component identification, provides API details, and an easy setup
We need to discover anything in the network and ensure that the discovered data is moved into the CMDB for asset management The best part is that whenever there is an outpost or any particular network, it can identify servers, routers, switches, etc. It immediately understands which component it…
reviewer1998918 - PeerSpot reviewer
Integrates well, highly stable, and scalable
CA Asset Portfolio Management can improve the uploading of batch information. I have to upload large amounts of information and it can take a long time to finish. There are some other solutions that are better, such as Micro Focus. We have approximately 10,000 PCs that we are busy processing and we have to upload information to them but when we use this solution it is complex. When we use Micro Focus it is better.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is agentless, which means you don't have to install anything on all the different pieces of hardware that you are looking to discover."
"It is a stable solution. The stability is okay."
"The solution is definitely useful."
"The speed at which it's able to collect a wide-range of information, then make it useful for you, like asset management, knowledge management, and incident management."
"The most valuable feature of BMC Helix Discovery is it operates well. It is well known and has gained recognition for its software."
"The data models are the most useful aspect of the solution."
"It now comes with a very flexible deployment solution, whether you want to keep it inside your data center or want to have the cloud, depending on if you're cloud forward or not."
"It provides comprehensive dependency mapping, which is essential for reducing the time spent and addressing problem-solving between data centers."
"You build the items one time and then you have your discovery that's coming in and the system will let you know whether or not you're out of compliance."
"Being able to determine the licensing position for existing vendors and future vendors. Also, visibility into our environment,"
"You could also look for software that is no longer being used and you can re-deploy the software, so then you save from a purchasing standpoint because you don't have to buy the software again."
"Reduces software cost. Reduces the risk of software audits."
"Also, the software you have, you can monitor for end of life. If you have software that is end of life, then you can have it uninstalled and buy the new software, so you can make sure that you're not running into vulnerabilities with unsupported software in your environment."
"They're staying up to date as vendors make changes to how they want to manage the software. CA is usually really quick about getting those updates in the system."
"It's easy to integrate with our system information."
"My organization now understands what type of products they have: warranties, how long the warranties last, depreciation. We never really knew what our depreciation values were, so it was really nice to have that on hand as well. It gives us a better view of our hardware, which is really beneficial."
 

Cons

"BMC Helix Discovery needs more customization options."
"The improvement I want to see is a reduction in duplicate records."
"What would make BMC Helix Discovery better is if it had more client-side discovery features, for example, printers and desktops. Right now, it's focused more on data center discovery, so if it had additional features focused on the client-side discovery, that would be great. In the next release of BMC Helix Discovery, I'd like more client-side discovery features such as desktop discovery, printer discovery, and other IP-based client-side discovery features. The solution can discover desktops and printers, but there's still room for improvement on the client side."
"It is very complicated to use."
"There isn't much that could be improved. The solution is pretty thorough, very easy to implement, and very easy to operate."
"The solution's scalability is an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are needed."
"If the dependency maps can go live and we can work through the process with a click, we're reaching the stage where issues are identified and mitigated. It would be ideal if we could utilize it to reduce vulnerabilities or address any other feedback."
"The monitoring tools could be more stable."
"I'd like to see end-of-life information on software products."
"Keeping the catalog updated and having more titles in the catalog is helpful, because the more items that are in the catalog, your process goes faster because you don't have to manually build all the entitlements."
"CA SAM is not a CA product. The vendor is Aspera and CA is the distributor, so support is difficult. It's more difficult to get a good response."
"I would like to see more control over audit trail features, where you can turn on and off fields."
"There were a lot of things that we had to prepare for that we weren't thinking about with this installation. I think from a CA standpoint, the software was good. But us preparing for that, we had a lot more work to do."
"It needs ​stronger rebooting components and the ability to develop our own software metrics."
"CA Asset Portfolio Management can improve the uploading of batch information. I have to upload large amounts of information and it can take a long time to finish. There are some other solutions that are better, such as Micro Focus."
"The UI, even though they upgraded the UI, it's still kind of dated, it's a little bit convoluted to use. It's not like something that you can sit down and automatically understand how to use it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licenses are very complex and quite costly."
"I've heard that the solution was expensive earlier but is now much cheaper than its competitors."
"We have a perpetual license for the solution."
"Operating cost is actually high compared to other products, actually. It's a little expensive only, but it's very good than other products."
"It's not a cheap product. But the benefits it delivers is that it's a fair price."
"You need a license to use BMC Helix Discovery. The license is paid yearly, though I have no idea how much it costs."
"The price was fair compared to competitors. BMC is very affordable. There are optional consulting services to assist with implementation."
"The solution offers yearly licenses."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BMC Helix Discovery?
I like the artificial intelligence and machine learning that it uses in the solution. Because once the solution discovers all the assets, all the infrastructure, and all the dependencies between se...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for BMC Helix Discovery?
The price of BMC Helix Discovery is licensed by asset. It is challenging to maintain licenses, as every piece of equipment is considered a license. We pay attention to the growth of assets. The pri...
What needs improvement with BMC Helix Discovery?
The query language is somewhat challenging to learn. It uses a Berkeley database, and the query language is not easy to master for performing complex queries.
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Also Known As

Discovery, ADDM, Atrium Discovery & Dependency Mapping
CA IT Asset Manager, CA Asset Manager, ITAM, IT Asset Manager, CA SAM, CA Software Asset Manager, Asset Portfolio Management, Asset Portfolio Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Windstream Communications, News UK, Mercator Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR)
First Horizon National Corporation, Logicalis, Racing and Wagering Western Australia
Find out what your peers are saying about BMC Helix Discovery vs. CA Asset Portfolio Management and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.