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IBM Tivoli NetCool OMNIbus vs ServiceNow IT Operations Management comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

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

IBM Tivoli NetCool OMNIbus
Ranking in Event Monitoring
3rd
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.2
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
ServiceNow IT Operations Ma...
Ranking in Event Monitoring
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
46
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Management (17th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (16th), AIOps (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Event Monitoring category, the mindshare of IBM Tivoli NetCool OMNIbus is 7.7%, down from 9.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow IT Operations Management is 5.6%, down from 15.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Event Monitoring Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Tivoli NetCool OMNIbus7.7%
ServiceNow IT Operations Management5.6%
Other86.7%
Event Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

Ahmed Salman - PeerSpot reviewer
Performance & Monitoring Supervisor at Saudi Telecom Company
Aids in network performance monitoring and management
I am working as a customer, mainly using IntelliQ and another product, IBM NetCool, Watson AI. These products are used for monitoring network performance and management.  The primary use case involves network performance monitoring, and it is compatible only with IBM DB2 IBM Tivoli NetCool…
AB
Associate Vice President at AWL
Unified workflows have centralized ticketing and have provided real-time visibility across companies
ServiceNow IT Operations Management can be improved by focusing on adoption, as some companies still use other tools, and we had to onboard them initially, addressing challenges such as data migration and consistency, especially since we have 14,000 users in my group company utilizing this for multiple purposes, emphasizing workflows defined so that onboarding processes can be streamlined into a single tool. To improve ServiceNow IT Operations Management, I believe incorporating natural language processing is essential, allowing users to type queries such as 'I need this' and receive responses based on AI and data. Furthermore, enhancing analytics is crucial, as we have seven years of data providing a substantial history of past ITSM and non-ITSM business tickets that can help predict and reduce the volume of calls.

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 is the event management capability."
"It also offers us everything we need in terms of features and functionality."
"The biggest plus points for me are the configurability and scalability of the solution, as well as the multi-tenancy of the platform."
"It is an easy-to-use solution."
"This solution is highly scalable; we have hundreds of probes running on more than thousands of devices, gathering millions of alarms and creating thousands of tickets, and yet we have never seen any performance issue."
"This is an amazing product and you will fall in love with it."
"IBM Tivoli NetCool OMNIbus supports legacy protocols like CORBA, Huawei, and other telecom protocols, which I find beneficial."
"Offers very good event/alert drill-down and statistical reporting capabilities."
"The auto remediation feature has been most valuable. They have also introduced an AOP feature of ServiceNow that we are keen to explore."
"The reason is it's cost-effective, number one."
"Has service mapping, impact management, metric intelligence and health of analytics."
"The dashboard maintenance is very good, and the tool doesn't get stuck."
"We use this solution primarily for event management, aggregation, correlation, and analytics, and it has moved from simple correlation to AIOps and helps us and our customers move towards AIOps."
"ServiceNow IT Operations Management is a stable product."
"It is a stable solution. I have not experienced any system outages during my time using the solution."
"It is a product that is familiar for a lot of users."
 

Cons

"The solution needs to invest in the development of a knowledge base and use of AI services for providing event resolution and intervention directions."
"The web portal and typical event controls are a little outdated."
"There should be an easier-to-understand model, more of a flat-structured model rather than different tiers of licenses which complicates licensing."
"The cost of the product is quite high. They should work to adjust their pricing models."
"A lot can be improved in this product considering the performance."
"Its integration could be better. They should provide an easier integration for all the monitoring stuff, and it will make things easier for us. Currently, there is a complexity in integrating it with a vendor application, and we have to use another tool to integrate it with a vendor application. To integrate some applications with NetCool, I need to install an IBM tool on top of it. It would be good if they can provide an API or any kind of interface that we can leverage while developing a new protocol interface or application. We should be able to use an API or interface with NetCool. Its GUI can also be better. As compared to other tools, it is not user friendly, and it is not easy to do stuff through GUI. Whenever we do anything on the GUI, it takes time. They need to focus on the GUI part, especially the dashboard. They should focus on how users can effectively drill down from one box to another. The visual appeal of the dashboard is as important as the data and functionality."
"Its GUI can also be better. As compared to other tools, it is not user friendly, and it is not easy to do stuff through GUI."
"The solution has limitations in database integration as it cannot integrate with databases other than IBM DB2."
"The out-of-the-box reporting feature has room for the improvement, it can be make more user friendly as other tools."
"It didn't provide as much value as we thought it would."
"In providing for customers, I think that the cost of ServiceNow is quite high."
"Lacks the ability to do its own monitoring."
"The setup and deployment could be simplified, and the pricing could improve."
"ServiceNow IT Operations Management can be improved by focusing on adoption, as some companies still use other tools, and we had to onboard them initially, addressing challenges such as data migration and consistency, especially since we have 14,000 users in my group company utilizing this for multiple purposes, emphasizing workflows defined so that onboarding processes can be streamlined into a single tool."
"The pricing is high."
"An area for improvement for ServiceNow IT Operations Management is making service mapping and discovery easier for non-IP devices."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its license cost is a little bit more than other solutions. Our customers expect a standard market price that is comparative to other products. For each and every NetCool OMNIbus component, we have to purchase a separate license. These components are not free with the product."
"It is a costly solution."
"You have to have the right level of budget to afford this solution."
"ServiceNow IT Operations Management is a costly solution. I'd rate the price at ten, on a scale from one to ten with one being the lowest and ten being the highest price. Some clients do have a problem with the price, but most find that the solution is worth the cost."
"We obtained discovery licenses at about seven dollars Australian per unit, which we found to be reasonable and competitive."
"The solution is costly compared to the products offered by its competitors."
"It is moderately expensive. The pricing itself and the licensing options are depending on the model and the customization."
"It has different subscription models."
"The solution offers yearly licenses and a subscription model for add-on features."
"While not entirely sure, I believe the solution costs at least a million dollars annually."
"The price of ServiceNow IT Operations Management is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
20%
Computer Software Company
11%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Construction Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise29
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Tivoli NetCool OMNIbus?
I would rate the pricing for IBM Tivoli NetCool OMNIbus as three, where one is a high price and ten is a low price.
What needs improvement with IBM Tivoli NetCool OMNIbus?
Based on my experience and my colleagues' feedback, IBM can improve IBM Tivoli NetCool OMNIbus in automation with respect to using AI, as it lacks considerably compared to other tools. The integrat...
What is your primary use case for IBM Tivoli NetCool OMNIbus?
My current use case for IBM Tivoli NetCool OMNIbus is for monitoring the networks.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ServiceNow IT Operations Management?
Regarding pricing, while I initially felt the prices were high when we moved, I now see that it is reasonable considering that we are not just using an ITSM tool; we are improving processes and com...
What needs improvement with ServiceNow IT Operations Management?
ServiceNow IT Operations Management can be improved by focusing on adoption, as some companies still use other tools, and we had to onboard them initially, addressing challenges such as data migrat...
What is your primary use case for ServiceNow IT Operations Management?
As an implementation expert and former CIO, I handled implementation from an IT best practice perspective for different companies.
 

Also Known As

Tivoli NetCool OMNIbus
ServiceNow ITOM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Consolidated Communications, €sterreichische Bundesbahnen (€BB), Capgemini
servicenow, TransAlta, NATS, Symantec
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Tivoli NetCool OMNIbus vs. ServiceNow IT Operations Management and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
921,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.