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BMC Helix ITSM vs SysAid 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

BMC Helix ITSM
Ranking in Help Desk Software
8th
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
79
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SysAid
Ranking in Help Desk Software
26th
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
25th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Help Desk Software category, the mindshare of BMC Helix ITSM is 4.9%, down from 10.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SysAid is 1.7%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Help Desk Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
BMC Helix ITSM4.9%
SysAid1.7%
Other93.4%
Help Desk Software
 

Featured Reviews

AK
Senior Quality Automation Engineer at BMC Software, Inc.
Workflow automation has improved incident handling and now reduces manual effort significantly
Although BMC Helix ITSM is a strong enterprise platform, there are areas where it could be improved. One key area is usability and simplification of configuration, especially for new administrators, because the platform is highly flexible and the learning curve can be steep during initial setup. Improving UI responsiveness and simplifying certain configuration screens would enhance the overall user experience. Additionally, more guided templates or best practice configuration recommendations could help organizations implement processes faster and reduce onboarding time. These improvements would make the platform more intuitive while still maintaining its powerful customizable capabilities. Beyond the usability improvements mentioned earlier, another area that can be enhanced is performance optimization in highly customized environments. While the platform is stable, complex configurations with zero downtime requirements and large data volumes may require tuning. More built-in optimization guidance or diagnostics would be helpful. It would also be beneficial to have more out-of-the-box integration templates and clearer API examples, which could speed up onboarding for customers integrating with monitoring or DevOps tools.
Todd Blake - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior IT Specialist at COMMUNITY HEALTH CONNECTIONS INC
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

"Smart IT and the phone app are easily the most valuable features in reporting and tracking ongoing issues."
"With service requests, we have been able to give visibility to the business users."
"Technical support has been fine."
"The standards and the framework that it follows are most valuable. It has an ITIL and out-of-the-box framework."
"The versatility and customizability of the product is what I like most."
"The way you can customize this product to adapt to the process the customer is already using is what sets this apart from other ITSM products out there. This helps customers to adapt to the tool pretty quickly."
"Helix is stable."
"Resolution time has decreased significantly since implementing the self-service portal."
"SysAid is more user-friendly, and its configuration is easier than other tools."
"I would say the overall flexibility of the product is its most valuable feature."
"It tracks everything that the technicians are doing. We can account for time and manage resources."
"It's really customizable. It's very user-friendly to change very quickly. We've developed lots of custom forms and things, without any need for thousands of accounting consultants which was one of our main aims of it."
"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 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."
"The simplicity of the solution is excellent."
 

Cons

"Log in process is unnecessarily complicated."
"There is a text editor that we use to enter our incident description or service request description, and it should be richer in terms of features."
"BMC Helix ITSM is difficult for us to customize, and most customizations require vendor support, which leads to extra costs."
"The interface is one major complaint about this product."
"The notifications that the solution is providing are very helpful, they should keep improving them for the future."
"It would also be beneficial if there was a text-based editor for the workflow rules instead of using the developer studio, which adds a lot of time when developing quick solutions to problems."
"Needs less infrastructure requirements."
"Provide documentation on the content of the REST API interfaces. Right now, it is pretty much non-existent."
"Some of the back-end configurations of the solution are very difficult. So, we always need SysAid's help."
"SysAid has fewer AI features compared to other tools."
"Monitoring needs improvement. At the moment we are looking for some advanced monitoring tools, which are using AI and machine learning as well. This product currently does not offer that."
"There is a learning curve for the users."
"We would like them to approve the security functionalities, e.g., management security features."
"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."
"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."
"Currently, SysAid does not have a mobile application."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are licenses to use this solution."
"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."
"If you are looking for some kind of professional services form the OEM then you would have to purchase that."
"The price of BMC Helix ITSM is expensive."
"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."
"It is not very expensive and not very cheap. It is somewhere in-between. Some of the features are more expensive. There are also additional costs. If you want to use most of the features, you need to pay more."
"I am not sure the exact price we pay for the solution but I know it is in the high seven-figure amount annually."
"BMC is a little bit cheaper than ServiceNow, but BMC doesn't have the same capabilities in its entry-level product at the moment. The basic version does not have the DWP features that most of our customers are requesting."
"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."
"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."
"SysAid is a good solution, especially from a pricing perspective."
"We saw our investment back at the end of year one."
"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
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
5%
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Performing Arts
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise55
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 operations, any arising issues, be it security concerns or issues within depart...
What needs improvement with BMC Helix ITSM?
Although BMC Helix ITSM is a strong enterprise platform, there are areas where it could be improved. One key area is usability and simplification of configuration, especially for new administrators...
What is your primary use case for BMC Helix ITSM?
My main use case for BMC Helix ITSM is validating and automating core ITSM workflows, such as incident, change, and service request management. I focus on ensuring that these workflows function cor...
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Comparisons

 

Also Known As

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Brookfield, HealthSouth Corporation, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Mercator, SAP, Stanford University
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 BMC Helix ITSM vs. SysAid and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,797 professionals have used our research since 2012.