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BMC Helix ITSM vs ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus vs SysAid comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Help Desk Software category, the mindshare of BMC Helix ITSM is 7.1%, down from 12.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is 5.1%, down from 7.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SysAid is 1.1%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Help Desk Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus5.1%
BMC Helix ITSM7.1%
SysAid1.1%
Other86.7%
Help Desk Software
 

Featured Reviews

Ameet Darole - PeerSpot reviewer
Used for user ticket management, incident management, and event management
We had a manual event management process and a separate monitoring tool called Dynatrace. The alerts generated did not flow to the ITSM tool. With BMC Helix ITSM, the alerts flow and auto-route to respective technical support. If the alerts are resolved, the ticket will be automatically closed. So, the workload and automation are much better now. BMC Helix ITSM is a fast platform, so it is quite manageable. I would recommend BMC Helix ITSM to other users because it is a good solution. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Prashanth Magadi - PeerSpot reviewer
Has reduced complications and supports smooth workflows through customizable features
From a user perspective, I am very satisfied with the current functionality. I don't see any improvements that are required. They might be working on integrating AI functionality. Additionally, they have multiple different tools for each service. They might consider creating a bundled ERP solution for all these tools where purchasing one license would enable access to all functionalities. I'm not certain if such an option exists currently.
Todd Blake - PeerSpot reviewer
A solution that streamlines ticket creation for the staff members of a business and enables efficient issue resolution by the IT team
SysAid is similar to Nintex AssureSign. Some of the back-end configurations of the solution are very difficult. So, we always need SysAid's help. Also, there are almost too many features that we are not taking advantage of in our company since we don't even know about them. A little bit of a streamlining or simplification of the main features would be a good improvement. I would like to see SysAid present its solution more easily. There is a lot in the solution, and it is more than what we need in our company.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Initial, out-the-box setup was easy with no problems."
"BMC offers excellent customer solutions, and they're quick to address bugs or shortcomings in their product."
"We use this tool for managing tickets, other employee related services, and reporting purposes."
"Reports have helped us to improve our IT processes. The main benefit is providing the right information to our decision makers."
"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 departments like HR or finance, require a swift resolution. This is where the product comes into play. It provides a platform for raising tickets and obtaining quick solutions."
"The solution can perform well for large-sized companies."
"The solution's most valuable features are automation and orchestration."
"The ease of use and integration made it a worthwhile investment, since we did some integrations with other tools making our lives easier."
"The strength is its pricing. It is easy to use."
"The automation features in ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus are what I like the most, particularly the business rules and customization capabilities."
"The most valuable feature of ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is change management."
"The platform's most beneficial features are incident management, change management, request management, and asset management."
"It offers robust project management capabilities. You can create projects, define staging environments, and set rules and regulations according to organizational standards."
"ServiceDesk Plus manages all our requests, both internal and external requests, for not only ticketing but users' requests."
"The ticketing function is very straightforward and easy to use."
"The self-service portal enhances our company's user experience."
"The simplicity of the solution is excellent."
"The solution can scale."
"The solution provides us with multi-layered service management along with all our support pieces integrated in one system. Our entire system is run on SysAid, from Tier 1 to Tier 3. All the other IT department functionality is captured in SysAid, like development, warehousing, and application. So, it has vertical and horizontal coverage."
"It tracks everything that the technicians are doing. We can account for time and manage resources."
"I would say the overall flexibility of the product is its most valuable feature."
"SysAid is more user-friendly, and its configuration is easier than other tools."
"The service desk automation and orchestration are very good. We are implementing it at the moment. We implemented it for two of our applications already for our CRM. Whenever there's a change in the CRM, it will automate them into SysAid as well. We have two workflows from our CRM into SysAid, which is very helpful. Overall, we're very happy with the workflow."
"The service desk orchestration, overall, is good. It allows an organization to build that service desk concept into its organizational and support strategy. And it allows an organization to digest that and create a support model very quickly around the tools. The fact that the tools are integrated within the system itself gives the organization a really robust way to integrate everything and have a complete support model."
 

Cons

"When BMC Helix ITSM did some upgrades it caused some issues. They have fixed some of the problems but more improvement is needed."
"The notifications that the solution is providing are very helpful, they should keep improving them for the future."
"It has created more layers of bureaucracy."
"Smart Reporting was added, then was purchased from another vendor. We have little ability to customize and correct issues due to this."
"The interface is somewhat dated as compared to technologies in use today."
"Some parts of the solutions are using the old interface."
"The dashboard can be better."
"To raise any ticket, there are too many fields to be filled and it makes generating tickets very time-consuming."
"The reporting capabilities are not as good as Ivanti's. So, ManageEngine could certainly improve on that."
"ServiceDesk's reporting module could use an update. It looks outdated, and the interface could be more intuitive."
"There is a limitation when assigning an approval; it has to be a single user. It would be beneficial to have an option to assign approvals to a user group or a variable."
"Offers very limited customizations."
"The only challenge we are having is integrating with Jira."
"We have experienced issues with tables, sheets and columns not displaying properly. This is temporarily fixed with updates but then reoccurs. The way tickets are displayed is messy."
"There's no native integrations between the systems."
"Customization has room for improvement in ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus."
"We would like them to approve the security functionalities, e.g., management security features."
"The administrative side of the user interface could be a little more user-friendly. It is easier for me to export our reports into Excel, then do a server retrieval and get the information. Whereas, to do a report, you have to go through a configuration type of process, which is kind of difficult and complicated. I have been using this solution for two years now and I still haven't gotten the hang of the reports."
"There is a learning curve for the users."
"SysAid has fewer AI features compared to other tools."
"The automation needs improvement. The workflow has some improvements to do. There's some stuff that they are working on like having cascaded fields. For example, we're categorizing tickets by location, by site and by building and then by data room within a data center. At the moment they're all separate fields."
"So far, we're very happy with the new integration. The only thing that I would like to see is for them to improve asset management so that it's more usable. We looked at it once and we didn't find it quite usable for us. That's why we didn't use it. We haven't looked into the new one yet but the asset management is something that can be improved even more and patch management is not as good as it could be."
"One of the features that I'm hoping comes at some point is that currently you can only have one Knowledge Base instance within it. For me, it would be beneficial to have multiple instances for different purposes. I'd like to have a completely separate one for customers and the only way I can achieve that right now, where I can tag articles to only be viewed by customers, would be if I use its portal function."
"Some of the back-end configurations of the solution are very difficult. So, we always need SysAid's help."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive. The solution is expensive."
"There are licenses to use this solution."
"While purchasing, try to negotiate on per user licensing costs, associated maintenance, and purchase 20% more then what you think you should have. Bulk is always cheaper."
"We did not compare the price of BMC Helix ITSM to other vendors. However, it has a mid-range price."
"It is too expensive for a small business."
"I am not sure the exact price we pay for the solution but I know it is in the high seven-figure amount annually."
"The cost is relatively high, especially for the BMC Controller application. However, the expense is justified by the standard and reliable features it offers. This product's reputation in the market is strong, providing assurance in terms of data and other considerations."
"If Customer and IT agents are happy, that is one of the greatest ROI. However, one of the major factors is Leadership, because at the end they have to justify the cost."
"It is not an expensive solution."
"ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus' pricing is reasonable."
"For our 500 assets that are using the professional version of the solution, we pay somewhere between $4,000 and $5,000 per year."
"It is cheaper than the competitors."
"As compared to a lot of systems out there, it is more affordable."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
"Cost-wise, we're quite happy."
"ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is much cheaper than many of its competitors. We pay about nine dollars per agent and one dollar per device. There are no hidden costs."
"We saw our investment back at the end of year one."
"The pricing of SysAid is less than its competitors."
"Once you're interested, talk with SysAid. You can have them come in and look at your company and advise you on the best solution. They will tell you what comes with each separate package and also advise you what application to activate. If you want something that they don't have, they have a department that can design something based on your unique requests."
"Overall, the price is good. It's all about what you get for the base amount. From my perspective, you want to look at what you're getting out-of-the-box. SysAid does a good job of putting key stuff in the box for you."
"SysAid is a good solution, especially from a pricing perspective."
"Though I am not really sure about SysAid's prices, I know that it is competitive compared to some of the other products that our company looked at, like ConnectWise and ServiceNow."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
19%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Performing Arts
6%
 

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 Business31
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise19
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
 

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...
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...
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 ...
What do you like most about ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus?
The platform's most beneficial features are incident management, change management, request management, and asset man...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus?
The costing for ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus ( /products/manageengine-servicedesk-plus-reviews ) is very flexible an...
What needs improvement with ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus?
The solution needs to integrate with the telecom system in more depth. Currently, the feature is limited to the SMS l...
What do you like most about SysAid?
SysAid is more user-friendly, and its configuration is easier than other tools.
What needs improvement with SysAid?
With SysAid, most of the customers are requesting a native mobile application. SysAid has fewer AI features compared ...
What advice do you have for others considering SysAid?
Our customers use the enterprise edition and the standard edition of SysAid. We provide local support, but there are ...
 

Also Known As

Remedy ITSM, Remedy, Helix Remedy, BMC Helix IT Service Management
No data available
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Brookfield, HealthSouth Corporation, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Mercator, SAP, Stanford University
Tranter IT Infrastructure Services Limited, Sterlite Technologies, averda, Radiology Associates
Disney, Sears Holdings Corporation, LAN Airlines, Schneider Electric, On Semiconductors, Toyota, Sky, KPMG, Georgetown University Law Center, Motorola, North York General Hospital, Volksbank, Xerox, Bacardi, Del Monte Fresh Produce, Manpower, Nucor, Ecobank
Find out what your peers are saying about ServiceNow, Atlassian, ManageEngine and others in Help Desk Software. Updated: September 2025.
869,160 professionals have used our research since 2012.