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BMC Helix Monitor vs SCOM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 23, 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 Monitor
Ranking in Event Monitoring
7th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SCOM
Ranking in Event Monitoring
4th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
82
Ranking in other categories
Network Monitoring Software (18th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Event Monitoring category, the mindshare of BMC Helix Monitor is 9.7%, down from 12.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SCOM is 8.9%, up from 8.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Event Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

Jijil GHosh - PeerSpot reviewer
An agentless tool that offers great scalability and a straightforward setup phase
The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that BMC Helix Monitor is an agentless tool, because of which you don't need to deploy agents on each and every system in your IT environment. If you want to install an agent on each and every system, manpower is needed, while there is no such need when one uses BMC Helix Monitor. BMC Helix Monitor provides you with details on asset relationships. If a particular printer is connected to a core network printer or a particular desktop is connected to the servers, the product scans and gives you a free structure of relationship, which doesn't need any human intervention, making it an automated process. BMC Helix Monitor gives you the entire information about your assets, because of which you can sit in one place and keep track of whether a particular asset is online or offline.
MarcMermuys - PeerSpot reviewer
Has efficient monitoring with robust integration capabilities
We use SCOM to configure different monitors using several management packs. It integrates systems like Active Directory and correlates them, and it is used for monitoring and managing systems SCOM allows integration of several systems, providing correlation between different systems such as…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that BMC Helix Monitor is an agentless tool, because of which you don't need to deploy agents on each and every system in your IT environment."
"The product's initial setup phase is easy."
"It is evolving more and more into artificial intelligence."
"The service operations monitoring features are valuable."
"Availability monitoring is the feature I have found most valuable, as well as the capacity and ability to send notifications."
"The solution has improved our overrides and the ability to start services if they're stopped."
"This solution helps our application teams by allowing them to drill further into issues and perform a root cause analysis."
"The tool helps to monitor Windows servers. It offers alerts from a central location."
"Because it's Windows-based, it actually reports quite well. It reports everything you can think of on the Windows server and allows you to monitor anything. It's excellent for those in the Windows world as it's very good at it."
"We have found the scalability capabilities to be okay."
"The inbuilt management pack that Microsoft provides is really helpful. I know it's a mature product, and they keep upgrading the management pack."
"This solution saves us a lot of work because it reduces the effort that is required in order to start monitoring."
 

Cons

"The product must provide more information and dashboards."
"The initial setup of the solution is complex."
"I feel that the tool's stability has some scope for improvement."
"The solution's GUI and some patching-related information are areas with shortcomings where enhancements are needed, though I believe they are areas that fall under BMC's roadmap for the future."
"Direct integration with third-party tools, like ticketing systems, is lacking but would be beneficial."
"SCOM is not as straightforward in terms of user interface or general experience, which could be improved."
"On-prem network monitoring is something that could be improved drastically."
"The solution should be more user-friendly and offer a better user interface."
"The dashboard features are not user-friendly for our management team, only for the technical department."
"Application monitoring must be improved."
"The management of the servers could be better."
"In a future release, they should add email notification alerts."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product’s price could be improved."
"The pricing and licensing are fair."
"We have an enterprise agreement that includes this product as part of it."
"Two customers bought the enterprise agreement with Microsoft and paid for Software Assurance. But few customers don't buy it for Software Assurance. They just buy it and deploy it, and they think that we will be using it for the next five years."
"Our licensing fees are approximately $30 per user, per month."
"We have to pay for a license and the price is fine for us."
"We have an EA with Microsoft, and it comes as part of the EA."
"SCOM's pricing is average."
"It is more expensive than the competition."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
27%
Computer Software Company
14%
Insurance Company
6%
Healthcare Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BMC Helix Monitor?
The service operations monitoring features are valuable.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for BMC Helix Monitor?
The product’s price could be improved. The company is quite flexible with pricing. Legacy products need to revise their pricing strategy without losing their position in the market. The legacy mode...
What needs improvement with BMC Helix Monitor?
I feel that the tool's stability has some scope for improvement.
What do you like most about SCOM?
The tool helps to monitor Windows servers. It offers alerts from a central location.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SCOM?
I am not aware of the exact pricing as it is managed by my supervisor. As an academic institution, we receive substantial discounts.
What needs improvement with SCOM?
SCOM is likely to be phased out in favor of more compatible tools like Icinga ( /products/icinga-reviews ) for application monitoring or when moving to cloud solutions like CloudWatch and Azure ( /...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Helix Monitor
System Center Operations Manager, SCOM 2012
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Grupo Moura, Goodman, Aspect, Telefónica Colombia, Fujitsu
Dialog Telekom
Find out what your peers are saying about BMC Helix Monitor vs. SCOM and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.