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BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management vs ServiceNow comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 21, 2025

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 Enterprise Servic...
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
25th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
4.8
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
ServiceNow
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
224
Ranking in other categories
Help Desk Software (1st), IT Asset Management (1st), Rapid Application Development Software (2nd), No-Code Development Platforms (1st)
 

Featured Reviews

KV
Utilize comprehensive IT service modules while addressing configuration database issues
There are several areas where BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management could be improved. Currently, ServiceNow has an edge when it comes to the ease of discovering Configuration Items (CIs). In BMC Helix, there are issues with the Configuration Management Database (CMDB), such as duplicate entries and problems with reconciliation. The recently introduced dashboard tool in Helix, which replaced Smart Reporting, has several issues. Reporting has been a consistent problem in BMC, and it would greatly benefit from enhancements.
Anil  Rao - PeerSpot reviewer
Have reduced L1 dependency and improved incident resolution through AI-powered automation
To make ServiceNow better, they should reduce their pricing, especially because there's a lot of competition. Many customers have moved to ManageEngine because they cannot afford the license cost. The price should be reduced by at least 40%. The setup of ServiceNow is sometimes complex when new updates or versions are released. When they introduce something new, they should provide training to understand the new features and their functionality. We sometimes get stuck and have to call them to learn about the changes in the latest version. They should communicate the changes made from older versions to new versions, which features are not available, which features have changed, and how to implement them. If the communication part was handled properly, it would benefit us.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The support of BMC is generally good and better compared to some competitors."
"ServiceNow is easy to use."
"Straightforward tool."
"There are many expansions available."
"The thing that I like most about it is the easy integration with the CMDB. I'm able to look at the CMDB for applications and develop my assessments and attestations based on the application and point them at that application owner. So, I can really automate the whole thing."
"The impact of ServiceNow's self-service portal on IT staff dependency levels has shown a dramatic improvement."
"You can scale the solution."
"I like the ease of use."
"Within our organization, we're not finding really any major issues with scalability and things of that nature."
 

Cons

"There are several areas where BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management could be improved. Currently, ServiceNow has an edge when it comes to the ease of discovering Configuration Items (CIs)."
"I know that discovery tools are not meant to be simple, but somehow, if they could make it more simple and robust, that would be great."
"There is inherent complexity with this tool because of the number of things that it can do."
"Currently, we are finding it a bit difficult to monitor the subscriptions that are being used. The reporting feature related to this can be improved. Its ITOM functionality can be improved. BMC does a better job than ServiceNow in terms of capturing utilization and other such things."
"The technical support SLA can be improved because sometimes they take a long time to answer our queries."
"ServiceNow might need to improve its capabilities to integrate with third-party tools."
"The challenge with ServiceNow lies in its expansive portfolio of services. It can be complex, and users may find it expensive and challenging to understand. There is a need for a configurator within ServiceNow that guides users on how to utilize the tool effectively. This configurator should provide insights into licensing, team requirements, and the best licensing model based on whether companies prefer ownership or consumption-based models."
"We don't have a huge amount of password reset requests, but the minimum package of resets that ServiceNow offers is much more than we need."
"The contract module is quite rudimentary and doesn't support contract line items."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The licenses are expensive."
"We are happy with the pricing."
"This is a pretty expensive product, so the licensing could be better."
"The price is okay for us. It's reasonable."
"It's sold as a less expensive solution, but it has to be highly modified. That's where you get into the cost."
"Some time ago it was expensive, but large companies have special contracts. It's enterprise prices, and we're talking about millions per year."
"The solution is priced for medium to enterprises sized businesses. However, it is expensive compared to competitors."
"The licensing expenses are excessively high."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business54
Midsize Enterprise36
Large Enterprise164
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management?
While I am not very sure about the pricing, I have heard that the license cost of BMC is relatively lower than its competitors.
What needs improvement with BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management?
There are several areas where BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management could be improved. Currently, ServiceNow has an edge when it comes to the ease of discovering Configuration Items (CIs). In BMC...
What is your primary use case for BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management?
I use BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management ( /products/bmc-helix-enterprise-service-management-reviews ) primarily for IT service management. It supports modules like incident management, change...
Which solution is better for developing non-ITSM applications: OutSystems or Service Now?
The short answer is that OutSystems is far better for 2 main reasons. Firstly, with Service Now you are locked into that platform for good. The business model is to lock in and then keep pumping th...
Would you choose ServiceNow over Microsoft PowerApps?
Hi Netanya, I will choose ServiceNow because ServiceNow is a very good tool compared to Microsoft PowerApp. Because ServiceNow has a very strong module (Performance Analysis) reporting which will ...
What do you like most about ServiceNow?
The solution has a user-friendly interface.
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
AAA, AstraZeneca, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Broadcom, Christus Health, Epicor, Equinix, GE Capital, Intuit, KPMG, Loyola Marymount University, OshKosh, Quantas, RedHat, Royal Bank of Scotland, Swiss Re, U.S. Department of Energy, Safeway, Yale University, and Zillow    
Find out what your peers are saying about ServiceNow, Atlassian, BMC Helix and others in IT Service Management (ITSM). Updated: October 2025.
872,837 professionals have used our research since 2012.