Clarity SM vs SolarWinds Service Desk comparison

Broadcom and SolarWinds are both solutions in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category. Broadcom is ranked #23, while SolarWinds is ranked #13 with an average rating of 9.0. Broadcom holds a 1.6% mindshare in ISM, compared to SolarWinds’s 0.6% mindshare. Additionally, 85% of Broadcom users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

Clarity SM

Read 107 Clarity SM reviews

1,652 Views
1,206 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

SolarWinds Service Desk

Read 3 SolarWinds Service Desk reviews

421 Views
413 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Clarity SM

SolarWinds Service Desk

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Clarity SM and SolarWinds Service Desk based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two IT Service Management (ITSM) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Clarity SM vs. SolarWinds Service Desk Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Clarity SM vs. SolarWinds Service Desk

December 2025

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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 IT Service Management (ITSM)

23rd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

107

Ranking in other categories

Help Desk Software (25th)

SolarWinds Service Desk

Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)

13th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category, the mindshare of Clarity SM is 1.6%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Service Desk is 0.6%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

IT Service Management (ITSM) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
SolarWinds Service Desk	0.6%
Clarity SM	1.6%
Other	97.8%

IT Service Management (ITSM)

Featured Reviews

Türker Kara

Application & Software Architect at Turkiye Finans Participation Bank

Quite good back-end architecture for end users but the API is very, very bad

Our company uses the solution for system, program, service request, change, and knowledge-based management. We perform CMD authorizations and use a lot of integrations for our in-house or third-party applications. We also use Salesforce automations and Microsoft orchestrations. We have about…

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Vaibhav Patkar

CISO at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Improved service requests and network monitoring have increased efficiency but integration needs work

SolarWinds Service Desk is a recognized product across the world and a dependable product. Kaseya is somewhat dated, and SolarWinds Service Desk has better connectivity in terms of superior integration facilities compared to Kaseya. Additionally, SolarWinds Service Desk offers multiple options within the same tool, including ITSM as well as NOC and network monitoring capabilities. SolarWinds Service Desk has much greater acceptability in the market and a wide range of implementations and integrations with various tools and applications. Life becomes simpler when choosing a standard product, whereas Kaseya may not be as highly regarded in the market. SolarWinds Service Desk may have some flaws, but work is being done to address them. SolarWinds Service Desk is an affordable product. SolarWinds Service Desk is suitable for all customers ranging from small to enterprise. There are some small customers, and the primary usage is within the company itself, and then as customers require it, access can be provided to them.

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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 the requests and incident tracking."

"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."

"It helps when you have an incident or performing a problem change management process."

"It has given us the ability to automate a lot of tasks, things we couldn't do before."

"The most valuable fractures of Clarity SM are its ease of use and security. I have been highly satisfied. We've been able to integrate it with email and an SMS gateway for the purposes of notifications. That works very well."

"Logging every action in Service Desk Manager (SDM)."

"The view it provides into who's doing the work."

"Ability to write macros, which can in turn trigger some condition or could be conditioned to basically trigger notifications, the workflow desk, or web calls. It is huge benefit to customize it."

More Clarity SM pros

"What I appreciate the most about the product is that, as per the name given, it brings better visibility to the client in terms of their infrastructure, application, and performance."

"The solution is very stable."

"SolarWinds Service Desk is a recognized product across the world and a dependable product."

Cons

"The upgrade was pretty complex."

"They need to improve the High Availability, and the native integration between CA Service Desk Manager, CA Process Automation, CA Service Catalog and CA Unified Self-Service."

"We talk a lot about the idea that Service Desk Manager should be more "service" oriented, not just ticket oriented."

"Clarity tech support has gotten worse since Broadcom acquired CA Technologies. We're not getting the support we've come to expect as a large enterprise. Clarity's support needs to improve, or it's going to lose market share."

"The SDM administration and customisation needS deep information about architecture and vendor support continuously."

"I would like to see the API cleaned up."

"Nowadays every person is used to an interface that is more user-friendly and this one is not so user-friendly maybe due to the fact that, if you need to let people customize everything, sometimes you lose out on a clean user experience."

"The cost of this solution is too high, which is why we're leaving."

More Clarity SM cons

"The integration with other applications can use improvement because, for example, it was nearly impossible to integrate SolarWinds Service Desk with monday.com because we had to get an add-on from Zapier."

"The primary concern so far is the integration part because of the APIs; this is the main area of concern."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is based on a subscription model."

"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."

"Pricing is simple, as it’s per concurrent analysts."

"I think pricing of this model is suitable for growing corporations."

"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 don't see anyone other than large companies being able to afford this system."

"The solution is quite reasonable compared to other solutions in the market."

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Media Company

10%

Performing Arts

10%

Manufacturing Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	20
Midsize Enterprise	15
Large Enterprise	66

No data available

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

What needs improvement with SolarWinds Service Desk?

The primary concern so far is the integration part because of the APIs; this is the main area of concern. Currently, the installation of SolarWinds Service Desk is simple, but the integration may b...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Service Desk?

SolarWinds Service Desk is used for ITSM and network monitoring purposes. The major use cases being utilized are from Kaseya itself; the same use cases that were previously implemented are being re...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering SolarWinds Service Desk?

I think the pricing of SolarWinds Hybrid Cloud Observability is now comparative and suited to our business model, which is the reason we have moved to that. It has actually helped my customers' tec...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 6% of the time

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ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus vs SolarWinds Service Desk

Compared 21% of the time

Samanage vs SolarWinds Service Desk

Compared 20% of the time

ServiceNow vs SolarWinds Service Desk

Compared 16% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Clarity SM

January 2026

Download Clarity SM product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Service Desk

January 2026

Download SolarWinds Service Desk product report

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

No data available

Overview

Service desk capabilities, an integral part of the CA Service Management solution, can enable you to deliver efficiencies in IT service management to business consumers, power users and decision makers. Mobility and collaborative self-service capabilities provide a modern user experience for accessing services and performing tasks, which can help drive user adoption, satisfaction and productivity.

Learn More: https://www.ca.com/us/products...

Broadcom

Incident management consolidates, manages, and prioritizes incoming tickets.
Service catalog standardizes service request and fulfillment processes.
Fully integrated IT asset management compiles hardware, software, POs, and more.
Service portal for users to have a single place to submit tickets and requests.

SolarWinds

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

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Clarity SM vs. SolarWinds Service Desk

December 2025

Free Report: Clarity SM vs. SolarWinds Service Desk

Find out what your peers are saying about Clarity SM vs. SolarWinds Service Desk and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

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