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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
27th
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 September 2025, in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category, the mindshare of Cherwell Service Management is 1.3%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SCSM is 1.6%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Service Management (ITSM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SCSM1.6%
Cherwell Service Management1.3%
Other97.1%
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 most valuable features are problem management and change management."
"The dashboard is very useful to get a quick overview of current tasks."
"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."
"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 remote access is one of the features I really enjoy. The pushing of email updates and things like that are very good."
"We use SCSM to manage all of our IT operations, including incident and service requests and problem management."
"The solution's setup process is relatively straightforward due to the familiar deployment steps similar to other Microsoft solutions."
"This product has helped our organization by allowing people to connect with each other."
"I like the reporting service. SCSM has a good reporting service and analysis service for analysis requests."
"It is one of the most stable solutions in the market."
"The call logging is the solution's most valuable feature. It's very easy to use."
"Many more features than other comparable products."
 

Cons

"Application service mapping, GRC, SecOps, and things like that need improvement."
"Access is only available if we're on VPN."
"The stability, specifically in the on-premises deployment model, could be improved."
"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."
"Better integration with other services in Azure is needed because everything is moving from on-premises to the cloud, and as an integrator, we have to help our clients with the migration."
"Our office is looking for maybe getting out of SCSM and getting a service desk solution outside of Microsoft."
"The user interface needs to be improved."
"My company had planned a few months ago to apply SCSM over the cloud in order to provide updates, like regular updates, but it had to be put through a few tools from Microsoft on the cloud, which was not easy."
"We have had some issues with the SCSM on-premise deployment version in the imaging aspects."
"The logs and reporting-related features of the product have certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"Mobile application integration would be an improvement."
"They might be looking for additional functionalities that SCSM could integrate."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For an ITIL user, the cost is probably about 50 bucks a month."
"It is a lower price vs. other things on the market."
"I would rate the pricing as two out of five."
"The license for SCSM is cheap."
"It comes free with the enterprise agreement that we have, but the expense really is in having to buy another product to sit on top of it to make it work properly. You wind up having to buy additional support and additional product with their own support and maintenance costs on top of that."
"It is an expensive solution."
"The platform is competitively priced."
"Licensing can be complex and confusing."
"The pricing is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Energy/Utilities Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Legal Firm
9%
Government
26%
Computer Software Company
9%
University
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise14
 

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?
I am not sure about the pricing as I do not have experience with it.
What needs improvement with SCSM?
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...
 

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: September 2025.
867,676 professionals have used our research since 2012.