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BMC Helix ITSM 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.9
BMC Helix ITSM offers good value and time savings, with automation praised and high stability, despite costly licensing.
Sentiment score
5.1
Users reported improved operations and financial reporting with IFS Cloud, seeing up to 4.5x ROI over 18 months.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.4
BMC Helix ITSM customer service varies widely, with premium support praised, but lower tiers face delays and inconsistent quality.
Sentiment score
5.7
Australian support is strong with expert consultants, but timeliness and service consistency vary, impacting resolution times and communication.
There are issues with misrouting and a preference for email rather than direct communication via phone calls.
Senior Application Developer BMC at Balfour Beatty
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
BMC Helix ITSM is scalable and robust, suitable for diverse organizations, though customization can limit larger implementations.
Sentiment score
7.8
IFS Cloud Platform is scalable for businesses of all sizes, though some face complexity in updates and dependency management.
The product's scalability is adequate for us, yet its complex customization sometimes restricts extensive adaptability.
Head of IT, Service & Operation Department at National ITMX Co., Ltd.
IFS Cloud Platform has standard functionalities that follow the standard supply chain management processes, and it is easy to customize or configure.
Consultant at Arcwide
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
BMC Helix ITSM is generally stable; initial issues may occur, but proper architecture enhances reliability over time.
Sentiment score
8.0
IFS Cloud Platform is praised for stability and reliability, with rare downtime, and depends on client maintenance and setup.
I find BMC Helix ITSM stable, and that is why we have been with the product for the past 15 years.
Associate Director at a media company with 10,001+ employees
Over the past five years, we have experienced no major issues or downtime during upgrades.
Senior Application Developer BMC at Balfour Beatty
Now, with the drastic developments especially in the cloud applications known as Arena on IFS Cloud Platform, it has improved tremendously.
Consultant at Arcwide
 

Room For Improvement

BMC Helix ITSM needs a more intuitive, customizable interface, enhanced reporting, better performance, support, documentation, and streamlined customization.
IFS Cloud Platform requires usability, integration, and support improvements, along with enhanced customization, AI, and simplified user experience.
BMC Helix ITSM is difficult for us to customize, and most customizations require vendor support, which leads to extra costs.
Head of IT, Service & Operation Department at National ITMX Co., Ltd.
We lack access to a sandbox for in-house development, which was very helpful for hands-on work with new features.
Senior Application Developer BMC at Balfour Beatty
They are working on IFS AI, but we have not explored much into that yet, and if they want to keep their competitive edge, that is an area they need to concentrate on.
Consultant at Arcwide
There is not much available online, and the documentation availability is on the lower side compared to other products, especially Maximo.
Senior Director at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise users find BMC Helix ITSM costly but cost-effective, requiring careful licensing analysis and negotiations to manage expenses.
IFS Cloud Platform offers competitive pricing, best for large enterprises, with scalable value similar to SAP and Oracle.
The pricing of BMC Helix ITSM and its implementation costs are quite high, including subscription and maintenance costs per year.
Head of IT, Service & Operation Department at National ITMX Co., Ltd.
 

Valuable Features

BMC Helix ITSM is scalable, integrates easily, enhances management, and aligns with ITIL, offering advanced features and customization.
IFS Cloud Platform offers customizable pricing, robust integration, intuitive interface, and excels in enterprise management with adaptable features.
Resolution time has decreased significantly since implementing the self-service portal.
Senior Application Developer BMC at Balfour Beatty
These features are crucial as we complete the implementation and maintain data accuracy in the CMDB.
Head of IT, Service & Operation Department at National ITMX Co., Ltd.
The cloud feature in IFS Cloud Platform is predominantly valuable, especially the enterprise asset management module, which IFS has very good business into, along with strong finance, project management, and supply chain management modules.
Consultant at Arcwide
There are fewer fields on the user screen compared to other products.
Senior Director at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

BMC Helix ITSM
Ranking in Help Desk Software
7th
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IFS Cloud Platform
Ranking in Help Desk Software
16th
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
14th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
CRM (25th), Customer Experience Management (8th), Field Service Management (2nd), ERP (15th), Activity Based Costing Software (7th), Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) (4th), Local Government CRM (12th), IT Asset Management (11th), License Management (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Help Desk Software category, the mindshare of BMC Helix ITSM is 5.5%, down from 12.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IFS Cloud Platform is 1.8%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Help Desk Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
BMC Helix ITSM5.5%
IFS Cloud Platform1.8%
Other92.7%
Help Desk Software
 

Featured Reviews

KN
Senior Application Developer BMC at Balfour Beatty
Self-service portal significantly reduces resolution time and transforms service process with advanced features
We initially had a lot of tickets generated via the service desk through calls and emails. Now, we have almost moved out of email creations by introducing the DWP features on the Studio pages, with about 90% of the tickets coming in via our self-service portal. Recent upgrades offer different types of views for particular business lines, which was missing earlier. The new landing pages have allowed us to add banners, images, and internal videos, encouraging most customers to use these DWP self-service features. Resolution time has decreased significantly since implementing the self-service portal. Additionally, the availability of knowledge articles, chatbots, and the new Helix GPT feature has improved service processes.
Thangaraj Ramasamy - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at Arcwide
Has supported project management and business customization through strong modular flexibility
The cloud feature in IFS Cloud Platform is predominantly valuable, especially the enterprise asset management module, which IFS has very good business into, along with strong finance, project management, and supply chain management modules; these are the major modules that are performing well with IFS, and the cloud options along with user-friendly customizations for any technical developments are additional advantages. The integration of IoT with IFS Cloud Platform is performing well, enabling us to integrate with predominantly any third party through the standard inbuilt connectors that are readily available, and if we need to customize the integration, we can certainly do that too.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Energy/Utilities Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise54
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BMC Helix ITSM?
If we consider major players like Ford or BMW, their core focus is manufacturing products like cars. To ensure smooth operations, any arising issues, be it security concerns or issues within depart...
What needs improvement with BMC Helix ITSM?
Currently, we are not utilizing the AI functionality in BMC Helix ITSM as we are still in the roadmap and development phase at this point in time. There isn't anything that I would suggest for impr...
What is your primary use case for BMC Helix ITSM?
We use BMC Helix ITSM for the complete end-to-end ITSM suite, mainly for ticketing and service management. BMC Helix ITSM supports our IT service management processes primarily for all incident, pr...
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?
When it comes to AI, I feel that is the area where we expect something more from IFS Cloud Platform. They are working on IFS AI, but we have not explored much into that yet, and if they want to kee...
What is your primary use case for IFS Applications?
Currently, I am working with Arcwide, which is a service industry that predominantly focuses on IFS consulting, including IFS implementations, rollouts, upgrades, and support services.
 

Also Known As

Remedy ITSM, Remedy, Helix Remedy, BMC Helix IT Service Management
IFS Applications, Assyst, IFS Cloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Brookfield, HealthSouth Corporation, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Mercator, SAP, Stanford University
China Airlines, Electrolux Group, Babcock, Cimcorp, Sky, Multiplex, Veolia. 
Find out what your peers are saying about BMC Helix ITSM vs. IFS Cloud Platform and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,310 professionals have used our research since 2012.