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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
9th
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SysAid
Ranking in Help Desk Software
27th
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 April 2026, in the Help Desk Software category, the mindshare of BMC Helix ITSM is 4.7%, down from 10.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SysAid is 1.6%, 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 ITSM4.7%
SysAid1.6%
Other93.7%
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.
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

"Helix is more lightweight than these tools. It's a traditional tool that was developed more than 10 years ago. Ease of use is the operative word."
"Customer support is always fantastic and willing to help. No matter what time of day we have a problem."
"The self-service feature and knowledge base resolutions are helping the customers in resolving issues rather than opening tickets."
"Call logging and escalation features are the most valuable for us because they are easy to use and with them, we can assign a request to a specific person or department."
"The most valuable features of BMC Helix ITSM are its customization ability and the addition of new features; as a built-in Suite, it covers all that is needed in the IT guidelines, which is good, and each customer has their own needs, and the customization the solution provides is beneficial."
"Our Change Management and Incident Management processes have been greatly improved by using Remedy."
"The product's initial setup phase was easy."
"In BMC, you can do absolutely anything. You can customize, you can configure, and you can customize and develop pretty much anything."
"All our service management is integrated into one system. Our response time is much faster because we have a visual into what is going on."
"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."
"At our agency, people love SysAid."
"SysAid is more user-friendly, and its configuration is easier than other tools."
"It's supporting the daily routine of the IT organization, it is the ticketing system, and it's very helpful due to the fact that it provides us with full evidence and full transparency for what we are working on."
"The SysAid team provided excellent service to implement the solution for us. From the very first day, we received a comp manager, and a project manager, to implement the product. They continued to inquire about our business needs and then finalized the best path for us."
"The SysAid team provided excellent service to implement the solution for us, and from the very first day we received an account manager and a project manager who continued to inquire about our business needs and then finalized the best path for us."
"The simplicity of the solution is excellent."
 

Cons

"Smart Reporting was added, then was purchased from another vendor. We have little ability to customize and correct issues due to this."
"The data was slow and the BMC support was lacking."
"Any software has a lifecycle. To me, BMC is a dated architecture."
"Customer Service could use some improvement – while they are technically very good, some of the agents have poorer communication skills than others."
"Regarding reporting, when sharing information with leadership, we utilize BI support and data or more analytical tools. These tools provide accurate and comprehensive reports, covering various aspects. Reports are either sent directly through email or automated using scripts. It would be beneficial to integrate similar capabilities into BMC for future use. Many applications we work with already have a centralized virtual automation tool, such as Control M, but manual effort is still required. Improvements in automation for accurate and efficient reporting in BMC would be valuable."
"BMC Helix ITSM is difficult for us to customize, and most customizations require vendor support, which leads to extra costs."
"It doesn't allow a person logging a call to assign the ticket to a specific department, but only to update it."
"SmartIT could include PR. This would help us greatly in bridging the gap between Remedy's views and SmartIT."
"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."
"The automation needs improvement. The workflow has some improvements to do."
"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."
"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."
"This means the facilities people can see every ticket that is in the support queue, which is not great."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"Just make sure you really sit down and look at what you will be using per user, therefore you will not be surprised with a big bill. You do not want every user having every license, it really is not needed."
"There are licenses to use this solution."
"BMC Helix ITSM is a very cost-effective solution."
"I am not sure the exact price we pay for the solution but I know it is in the high seven-figure amount annually."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"We saw our investment back at the end of year one."
"SysAid is a good solution, especially from a pricing perspective."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
6%
Government
5%
Construction Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
10%
 

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 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...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for BMC Helix ITSM?
My thoughts on the pricing and licensing cost of BMC Helix ITSM are that it is flexible.
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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: April 2026.
886,976 professionals have used our research since 2012.