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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
7.1
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
CA Asset Portfolio Management
Ranking in IT Asset Management
24th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
License Management (13th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the IT Asset Management category, the mindshare of BMC Helix Discovery is 8.1%, up from 7.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of CA Asset Portfolio Management is 0.5%, 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

"I've used other discovery tools, but I found BMC Helix Discovery to be more UI-friendly, and that's the most valuable feature of the solution."
"BMC Helix Discovery comprehends the infrastructure you've procured and deployed within your environment."
"The most valuable feature is the automated service mapping."
"BMC provides great support. As managed service support, they are gold."
"BMC Helix Discovery has delivered a very good return, and we cannot stop using it at this moment."
"The initial setup was quite easy."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is its application dependency mapping."
"A valuable feature concerns the ability to integrate with different solutions."
"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."
"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."
"The most valuable feature of CA Asset Portfolio Management is the full integration with our Service Desk. It allows us to work both sides of life cycle management."
"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."
"It's easy to integrate with our system information."
"Being able to determine the licensing position for existing vendors and future vendors. Also, visibility into our environment,"
"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."
 

Cons

"It is very complicated to use."
"The license model could be more flexible and cheaper pricing."
"BMC is agentless discovery, followed by hybrid discovery, which performs discovery across clouds, on-premises, and then dynamic service modeling."
"The CMDB could be improved. Getting data from the CMDB is the greatest challenge."
"The solution should have different portals and logins for each customer so only that customer's assets show."
"We would like updates more often."
"I would like to see a lower price and better technical support."
"There is still room for improvement in terms of stability."
"It needs ​stronger rebooting components and the ability to develop our own software metrics."
"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."
"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."
"I'd like to see more mobile. I'd like to have it actually manage mobile devices. It really doesn't, and I'd like to have a mobile application just for asset management."
"I'd like to see end-of-life information on software products."
"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."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licenses are very complex and quite costly."
"I rate the pricing an eight out of ten. All BMC products are expensive."
"The solution offers yearly licenses."
"The licensing fee is very low."
"BMC is available for a reasonable price compared to ServiceNow — it's half the price."
"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."
"Operating cost is actually high compared to other products, actually. It's a little expensive only, but it's very good than other products."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
18%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Energy/Utilities Company
8%
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?
I would like to see a lower price and better technical support.
Ask a question
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Comparisons

 

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: June 2025.
857,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.