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Clarity SM vs Hornbill Systems Supportworks 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

Clarity SM
Ranking in Help Desk Software
22nd
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
21st
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
107
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Hornbill Systems Supportworks
Ranking in Help Desk Software
33rd
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
32nd
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category, the mindshare of Clarity SM is 1.7%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Hornbill Systems Supportworks is 1.1%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Service Management (ITSM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Clarity SM1.7%
Hornbill Systems Supportworks1.1%
Other97.2%
IT Service Management (ITSM)
 

Featured Reviews

Sandip Kheni - PeerSpot reviewer
Lead Developer at STL - Sterlite Technologies Limited
Allows for customization of the service desk manager
They should enhance the service desk manager's service point function to be more customizable. Presently, there are so many limitations in this particular UI. Thus, similar to the existing UI, they should provide a customization source for this new UI. It could turn out to be very good for the end-user experience.
it_user1262703 - PeerSpot reviewer
Service Desk Team Leader at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Excels in call logging and call flows but is limited in terms of scalability
I'd advise others to map their processes out before starting with the solution. Hornbill has recently generated a new version of its product and it meets some of the requirements that we would have been looking for. It's a bit more scalable, a bit more responsive to a customer-focused model for support, and they've improved a lot of things like process flow and self-service. In terms of rating the solution, it's difficult to grade. It really depends on the size of the organization that's trying to use it as that tool. One of the reasons why we're looking to shift is because we've grown quite a bit over the years that we've had it, which makes it difficult for it to meet our demands. However, for an organization the size of what we were when we started our journey with it, I'd rate it ten out of ten. Where we are now, with our company size and needs, I'd rate it six out of ten.

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 for me are the scalability of it, its ability to bring in everyone at one time, and all the data-related functionalities."
"Our managers are able to properly monitor their team activities with CA Service Desk, and with the knowledge base, the end users are able to fix simple issues."
"We centralized our knowledge from various sources into one source of truth that is continually updated."
"We have certainly increased our quality level: first of all, the system is more robust and allows us to elaborate on more complex services, it integrates with other systems to transform more solid information, and thanks to the integration with BI we now have various possibilities to create reports that show where and when we need to modify our processes, resulting in a decrease in the number of open and duplicate tickets."
"It keeps all of our changes in one spot, so it's easy for management to see any given changes that are happening, and how they cross pollinate with CMDB."
"It allows IT to handle users on a personal basis. It allows IT to have a name and a face, and we interact with the end-users."
"The use, from administrative stance, is pretty simple; and even from an analyst and employee's stances. It's an easy to use system, as far as ticketing systems go, because some of them can be really inundating and complex."
"We've improved as an organization very quickly because of it, especially when it comes to self-service capabilities for our customers."
"It is quite user friendly to use and has a lot of very useful features that makes the analyst/technician's life easier."
"We've definitely seen an ROI; we've had the system in place for eight years, and it's provided a solid platform for us to deliver our services during that period."
"The solution's business process flow is quite strong. Its reporting is quite good. The standard, basic ITSM functionality like call logging and call flow, for example, are areas the solution really excels in."
 

Cons

"Some of the features that can be improved are usability, as xFlow is a great step forward but further steps are needed, and internalization where CA is quite far behind."
"Release Management is not supported out of the box"
"Reporting and integration to SCCM need improvement."
"We just upgraded about a year and half ago and it was painful. We had the testing of the dev environment, and then testing of the production environment, so it was two weekends out of my life."
"The Knowledge Management module in Service Desk Manager is cumbersome and hard to use."
"Minor issues creep up and create huge problems. Product stability is also an issue."
"Ticket event and notification creation and management is cumbersome and has not improved over the many versions I have worked with."
"Support is a problem area for us. They take too long to respond to tickets logged."
"It's worked well for us for a significant period of time. However, we are kind-of outgrowing it at the moment. We're struggling a bit with making it meet our requirements."
"It's worked well for us for a significant period of time. However, we are kind-of outgrowing it at the moment. We're struggling a bit with making it meet our requirements."
"Customer Service: I'd rate it as a 5/10 or 6/10."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a subscripted needed to use Clarity SM. The price of the solution could be less expensive. ServiceNow is less expensive and BMC Helix is priced similar to Clarity SM."
"Clarity offers a perpetual license. Customers purchase the license once and then pay for maintenance. CA provides a subscription model as well. Both models are available for our customers."
"It is a bit expensive, but you definitely get what you pay for. It is worth it!"
"I think pricing of this model is suitable for growing corporations."
"The solution is quite reasonable compared to other solutions in the market."
"The pricing is based on a subscription model."
"Pricing is simple, as it’s per concurrent analysts."
"I don't see anyone other than large companies being able to afford this system."
"Our organization pays about $40,000 annually. There are ongoing consultancy costs and if we want to change anything, we're charged a day rate. Other than that, there are no other extra costs involved in working with the solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Marketing Services Firm
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Media Company
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise66
No data available
 

Also Known As

CA Service Desk Manager, Clarity Service Management, CA Service Management, Unicenter Service Desk, CA SDM, CA Service Catalog, CA Business Service Insight
Supportworks
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Banco G&T Continental City of Perth, FEMSA, Fujitsu, Manpower, Muslim Commercial Bank - MCB, Punjab National Bank, Santa Clara County Social Services, Stefanini
Aylesbury Vale District Council
Find out what your peers are saying about Clarity SM vs. Hornbill Systems Supportworks and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,976 professionals have used our research since 2012.