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Cherwell Service Management vs SCSM 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

Cherwell Service Management
Ranking in Help Desk Software
26th
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
28th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SCSM
Ranking in Help Desk Software
11th
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
10th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category, the mindshare of Cherwell Service Management is 1.0%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SCSM is 1.4%, down from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Service Management (ITSM)
 

Featured Reviews

Thobile Moeketsi - PeerSpot reviewer
Having everything in one location has significantly improved our efficiency and reporting
We need to be on VPN in order to set up and access the solution, and that has created some challenges. Even though it uses our Windows login, we still have to be on VPN. The product should be able to log tickets directly from system to system. We haven't got there yet and I'm not sure it's possible but it would determine the product's capability to integrate with other systems.
LuisSanchez3 - PeerSpot reviewer
Current setup enables smooth problem-solving but lacks comprehensive guidance and local support
More information about setup procedures and a more user-friendly front end would be beneficial. We need more information for setup processes. It is difficult to do the work independently, requiring us to hire external companies for maintenance hours to fix small issues that could be resolved faster in-house if we had better information. We have been looking for an upgrade version, but finding local service has been difficult. It has been challenging trying to get things done. Speaking with the Microsoft office, we found there are no local companies with substantial experience with SCSM. What we have now was installed five or six years ago. It has been difficult to change configurations and look for upgrades, even with all the manuals. Our office is considering moving away from SCSM and getting a service desk solution outside of Microsoft. For me, it has been a good tool to get help and solve internal problems in the office. It is a very good tool, but the difficulty in getting local service or more information is pushing us to look for another tool.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The dashboard and the reporting functionality are the solution's most valuable features."
"All our activities are carried out in the one place."
"Clear processes with transparent responsibilities led to more efficiencies within the teams."
"The most valuable features are problem management and change management."
"Its integration features, orchestration features, and discovery tools are the most valuable. It is also pretty stable, and it can be as scalable as you want."
"The dashboard is very useful to get a quick overview of current tasks."
"The solution's setup process is relatively straightforward due to the familiar deployment steps similar to other Microsoft solutions."
"SCCM provides remote tool functionality, which is not in Intune."
"For our cloud-based deployment of SCSM, the Autopilot is the best feature."
"The remote access is one of the features I really enjoy. The pushing of email updates and things like that are very good."
"SCSM helps us keep organized by tracking all user demands and change requests. However, the reporting is not sufficient to provide a clear view of ongoing projects. It helps with daily operations and change request management."
"We use SCSM to manage all of our IT operations, including incident and service requests and problem management."
"This product has helped our organization by allowing people to connect with each other."
"We've been in contact with Microsoft technical support mainly. After doing the research ourselves and troubleshooting, etc., if we can't find a permanent solution, we contact Microsoft to help us fix the issue. Sometimes the issue never gets fixed even by Microsoft. It can sometimes require us to reinstall the solution. However, these are very rare instances."
 

Cons

"Areas for improvement would be the service catalog and customer catalog, which is not very user-friendly. The shopping cart experience is also terrible - you submit and go straight to the cart, you can't continue shopping or see your overall cost."
"The stability, specifically in the on-premises deployment model, could be improved."
"Application service mapping, GRC, SecOps, and things like that need improvement."
"Access is only available if we're on VPN."
"They might be looking for additional functionalities that SCSM could integrate."
"It would be good if Microsoft added custom attributes or tagging like in Jamf."
"The price of this solution is high and it needs to be cheaper."
"Mobile application integration would be an improvement."
"The patch management aspect of the solution should be improved. It's quite complicated and not user-friendly. If your systems are not patched properly, you are unable to pull reports."
"Although some engineers at Microsoft are good, the support often lacks expertise, and response times are slow."
"Once we had an issue with a desktop download that would not open."
"It would be better if they had a portal for administrators. It would help me use it from anywhere and connect to any device from anywhere. I can administer the solution without a VPN."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For an ITIL user, the cost is probably about 50 bucks a month."
"The license for SCSM is cheap."
"The platform is competitively priced."
"The price should be lower."
"The price of the solution could be better. My organization has an enterprise annual license with Microsoft which provides us support."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"It is a lower price vs. other things on the market."
"It is an expensive solution."
"Licensing can be complex and confusing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
28%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Energy/Utilities Company
7%
Government
25%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What do you like most about SCSM?
The solution offers good productivity at a low price point.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SCSM?
We acquired SCSM for free with our Microsoft Endpoint Manager purchase, and we only paid for the integration process.
What needs improvement with SCSM?
From an admin point of view, Intune has more features and is easier to manage compared to SCCM. SCCM is a little complex for the admin point of view. Although some engineers at Microsoft are good, ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
System Center Service Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Ausenco, Highlights for Children, B/E Aerospace
Fibabanka, UMC Health System
Find out what your peers are saying about Cherwell Service Management vs. SCSM and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.