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OpenText Service Management (SMAX) vs OpenText Service Manager [EOL] comparison

OpenText Service Management (SMAX) and OpenText Service Manager [EOL] are both solutions in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category. Additionally, 88% of OpenText Service Management (SMAX) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 79% of OpenText Service Manager [EOL] users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 21, 2025

OpenText Service Manager [EOL] and OpenText Service Management SMAX compete in IT service management. SMAX appears more favored for its advanced automation and AI capabilities, providing better long-term value.

Features: OpenText Service Manager EOL offers comprehensive IT service request management, robust integration capabilities, and customization options. SMAX boasts advanced automation, AI-driven insights, and a modern architecture, which are often preferred for their enhanced functionality.

Room for Improvement: OpenText Service Manager EOL could enhance its cloud capabilities, reduce deployment resource requirements, and simplify its integration process. SMAX might improve by refining its reporting tools, enhancing dashboard customization, and expanding customer support to meet complex demands.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: OpenText Service Manager EOL involves a traditional deployment model that can be resource-intensive, but it offers strong customer support. SMAX provides a more flexible deployment through cloud-based technologies, allowing for quicker implementation and improved satisfaction from its responsive service.

Pricing and ROI: OpenText Service Manager EOL typically has a lower initial setup cost, appealing for budget concerns. SMAX requires a higher initial investment but offers a better return on investment over time due to its scalable, flexible features that enhance efficiency, justifying the total cost of ownership.

To learn more, read our detailed IT Service Management (ITSM) Report (Updated: October 2026).

Buyer's Guide

IT Service Management (ITSM)

October 2026

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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

Automation Anywhere

Featured Reviews

Nadeem K.

Rpa Developer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

Automation has freed teams from repetitive finance and supply tasks and supports global operations

In the current organization, we had trouble initially because I think the documentation and support could be better than what it is now. This is one difference between Automation Anywhere and other RPA tools such as UiPath. In UiPath, if you have an issue, you go to the UiPath website and search for it, and you get lots of help materials. In Automation Anywhere, you do not get exactly what you are looking for. You get a very large number of results when you search for something, and from this large result set, you have to filter out what you need, or only partial information will be available. User handbooks are available for each product. In that regard, I would say Automation Anywhere is lagging compared to other RPA tools. It is difficult to get hold of their customer support team. I want to clarify that it is not a matter of us building logic on Automation Anywhere and it failing. When it is a product-related issue, they have to give us support because we only know how to develop within Automation Anywhere. We do not know how to fix Automation Anywhere itself. Whenever we have an issue, trying to get in touch with them always takes three to four business days.

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HugoAlmeida

Head Of Delivery at Timestamp ITM

Centralized service processes have improved cross‑department visibility but reporting still needs work

The machine learning capabilities in OpenText Service Management (SMAX) are somewhat not published the way they should be. They work pretty well, but they are not used as much in the current experience of our customers. They have them; the solution has them, but they usually go a little bit below the radar in terms of visibility. I believe there is room for improvement when it comes to machine learning capabilities. OpenText Service Management (SMAX) has room to improve mainly on reporting components. The reporting components include dashboards, and while OpenText Service Management (SMAX) has a reporting module, it's somewhat limited, so I believe it has room to improve there, with more inclusion of artificial intelligence in the models and more in project management and portfolio management capabilities. We want to see better use and more functionalities enabled with the already existing capabilities such as AI and reporting in the next OpenText Service Management (SMAX) release, but one important thing we think should be included is a module for metrics, similar to Google Analytics, that focuses on the metrics of the tool usage. The module shouldn't just report on the components of OpenText Service Management (SMAX) but also track how the tool is used by end users, for example, what functionalities users utilize more frequently, the performance of those functionalities, and how long it takes them to open a ticket or log in, focusing on applicational monitoring metrics and performance management metrics.

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MEKKAB Raouf

Information Technology Service Manager & Technology Integration DevOps at Djezzy

Excellent pricing with great change management and service management capabilities

We started with version 9.3, and now we're on 9.6 with the full solution, including the CMS. They have lots of options. They propose a full solution for technology and IT service management. We are a telecom company. We are a leader in the market, and therefore, we need to have all details about our own environment and assets. So far, Micro Focus answers all our needs. I'd advise new users to go directly to the SMAX solution, the last, last version of Service Manager. If they are a technical company or information technology company with engineers and developers, they can use it on-premise. If they don't have such competence in the company, they can ask for the solution on the cloud. It is easily available on Microsoft, Amazon, or Google clouds. I'd rate the product nine out of ten.

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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

"One very useful feature is the IQ Bot, which is helpful in the operation of the data input process to all of their applications."

"Because it reduced the time duration of our processes, our costs went down."

"From my developer's point of view, the tool is pretty strong."

"If we talk about the automation RPA, it definitely has worked very well for us, giving good savings of more than 180 FTEs after implementing more than 200 plus bots."

"It is easily understandable and very well structured."

"The most valuable feature is its easy to use."

"OCR, Image Recognition, Object Cloning, and PDF integration help us a lot."

"We are measuring ROI through quality: Reducing errors, saving time, and saving money."

More Automation Anywhere pros

"I've used this kind of application for more than 20 years and from my perspective, SMAX is one of the best products on the market."

"The most valuable features of Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX) are that it is user-friendly, easy to configure, and adaptable."

"OpenText Service Management (SMAX) is evolving in addressing the needs across different sectors like IT or HR."

"The product provides an interface for the end users to make requests."

"The customization features are quite good, and we have a very good local vendor helping us in this regard."

"This is a cordless application that can be used throughout any organization."

"It offers a range of tools for sales and configuration. It's like a business process improvement platform, suitable for various lines of business operations."

"The tool is very easy to use."

More OpenText Service Management (SMAX) pros

"Technical support is absolutely very good."

"It has an intuitive front end which allows us to roll out good customer end user experiences."

"Micro Focus Service Manager is fine."

"It's mostly so reliable and has a lot of functionality. We're using a lot of HPE tools and we can do a lot with it. So, its functionality is the most valuable feature."

"It is a rich content solution and a good and complete solution, along with a lot of functionality."

"The return on investment is unquantifiable; I would have thought we have made our money back now in the way it has streamlined processes."

"It's easy to scale."

"A valuable feature for us is that we have an ordered way to handle all the cases that we can handle with the infrastructure."

More OpenText Service Manager [EOL] pros

Cons

"In the 10.7 version, the back-end port for the MetaBot password has looping. This has been a type of limitation."

"A standardized improvement area for any RPA tool is making it more user-friendly. This can be done by allowing users to give instructions in their language. For example, one should be able to say in his or her language to automate the login page of the XYZ application. It should be able to create a flow based on the information or screenshots that the user provides."

"The approval process needs improvement."

"Setting up Automation Anywhere is a bit complex."

"One aspect I wish to mention regarding needed improvements is that Automation Anywhere currently works only on Windows systems."

"There are areas of improvement needed, such as complex decision-making skills. When updates are made, the IQ Bot's actions can be affected, leading to decision-making failures."

"We encountered issues during the upgrade of the framework. We were using the older framework of version 10.3.5. When we were upgrading, we were having a few issues in terms of getting the proper hardware and software prerequisites. For some things, like getting the controls of some of the application's tools, we were getting Automation Anywhere's help."

"Automation Anywhere is unable to connect to the database directly. What we are doing now is directly writing the PL/SQL scripts and trying to push the data from the database into Automation Anywhere. This feature is available in UiPath, but not in Automation Anywhere."

More Automation Anywhere cons

"The reporting functionality is not the best as it is not easy to use."

"OpenText Service Management (SMAX) has room to improve mainly on reporting components. The reporting components include dashboards, and while OpenText Service Management (SMAX) has a reporting module, it's somewhat limited, so I believe it has room to improve there, with more inclusion of artificial intelligence in the models and more in project management and portfolio management capabilities."

"The product's connectivity with third-party products is an area of concern where improvements are required."

"The solution lacks sufficient documentation."

"SMAX lacks in integrations as well as written documentation."

"The tool has negatively impacted our productivity."

"The initial setup of Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX) is complicated, but once it is set up the configuration is straightforward to adapt to the users' or customers' needs."

"OpenText Service Management (SMAX) has some stability challenges that are crashable and not stable at times."

More OpenText Service Management (SMAX) cons

"It's not user friendly (too complex), and it gives limited guidance documentation of how to filter all the logs detected."

"The interface could be better."

"The licensing model could be made more flexible."

"We struggle with and the simplicity of getting reporting data at a high level, and output is not where it needs to be for us."

"Stability was always an issue until we did a full load and performance test, since then this is in good shape."

"I think one area which is the most painful from my point of view is if you need to integrate a lot of the tools, and being able to make that a lot more seamless."

"We had quite a lot of issues with stability and the quality of the product so far."

"There could be some slight fixes to managing the catalog, because you can customise the items so much you can't really change the items in dropdown lists easily."

More OpenText Service Manager [EOL] cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is affordable for us."

"The licensing cost of Automation Anywhere is better than UiPath and Blue Prism."

"Costs savings have been seen by employing bots for multiple shifts instead of people."

"We have saved a lot of money on taxes based on the stuff that we run."

"I do not know the price, but I am told that it is cheaper than UiPath."

"The pricing of AA is similar to UiPath."

"They give us a good deal on the licensing because we bundle and customize things. If you ask to get a bulk business deal, you will receive more benefit. If you take other products from the suite, like IQ Bot, you can also receive a deal on the licensing."

"Complaints are generally about the cost of IQ Bot, which is higher than its competitors. The base model’s pricing is comparable to other platforms with attended, unattended, and IDP capabilities as well."

More Automation Anywhere pricing and cost advice

"The solution is somewhat cheaper than the competitors."

"The cost of the license for SMAX varies depending on the configuration, including the number of seats for users and the customer's specific requirements. It's not a fixed cost and can vary."

"I pay for Service Manager on a yearly basis, and the price is reasonable - I would rate it five out of ten."

"The license is not cheap."

"I would say that identify your requirements and pay for the support to implement and test those requirements, and then hope that you did a good job because the cost of their service is fairly expensive."

"Micro Focus Service Manager is a little cheaper than other options. You have to pay a monthly subscription fee."

"HP Service Manager has moderate pricing."

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921,338 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Outsourcing Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

13%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Outsourcing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

13%

Outsourcing Company

12%

Construction Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	162
Midsize Enterprise	86
Large Enterprise	566

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	4

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	38

Questions from the Community

How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

It depends on your use case. Is it simply to automate a couple of processes? Is it to augment a human team? AA is ver...

See all answers

How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

From my experience using AA tool, it depends on the applications that you want to automate, because there some applic...

See all answers

How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

It is a highly preferred RPA tool. You can check my Automation Anywhere Review to know more.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)?

We mostly deal with OpenText Service Management (SMAX), Service Management, and UCMDB, the UD Discovery, Unified Disc...

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What advice do you have for others considering Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)?

We are still working with OpenText and Splunk. I remember that Splunk is now with what Cisco AppDynamics bought. We a...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)?

OpenText Service Management (SMAX) is okay, not expensive and not the cheapest. It is overall good.

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Comparisons

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Compared 10% of the time

Blue Prism vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 5% of the time

Microsoft Power Automate vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 4% of the time

AutomationEdge vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 3% of the time

HyperScience vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 2% of the time

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ServiceNow vs OpenText Service Management (SMAX)

Compared 15% of the time

JIRA Service Management vs OpenText Service Management (SMAX)

Compared 11% of the time

Ivanti Voice vs OpenText Service Management (SMAX)

Compared 10% of the time

BMC Helix ITSM vs OpenText Service Management (SMAX)

Compared 4% of the time

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus vs OpenText Service Management (SMAX)

Compared 4% of the time

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ServiceNow vs OpenText Service Manager [EOL]

Compared 18% of the time

BMC Helix ITSM vs OpenText Service Manager [EOL]

Compared 11% of the time

JIRA Service Management vs OpenText Service Manager [EOL]

Compared 11% of the time

Clarity SM vs OpenText Service Manager [EOL]

Compared 7% of the time

TOPdesk vs OpenText Service Manager [EOL]

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Automation Anywhere

November 2026

Download Automation Anywhere product report

Buyer's Guide

OpenText Service Management (SMAX)

October 2026

OpenText Service Management (SMAX) report

Download OpenText Service Management (SMAX) product report

Buyer's Guide

OpenText Service Manager [EOL]

October 2026

Download OpenText Service Manager [EOL] product report

Also Known As

Automation Anywhere, Testing Anywhere, Automation Anywhere Enterprise, Agentic Process Automation System (Now Certified for WorkSpaces)

OpenText Service Manager, Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)

Micro Focus Service Manager, HPE ITSM, HPE Service Manager

Interactive Demo

Automation Anywhere

OpenText

Demo not available

OpenText

Overview

Automation Anywhere offers ease of use, robust system connectivity, and GenAI-driven document automation through a cloud-native platform, significantly enhancing productivity across multiple industries with advanced AI features.

Delivering a comprehensive suite of tools designed for easy integration and rapid deployment, Automation Anywhere drives efficiency by reducing costs and automating repetitive tasks. Its cloud-native platform supports broad industry adoption, including advanced AI features like process automation and Co-Pilot, streamlining complex workflows with minimal technical skills required. Users benefit from robust integration capabilities, which facilitate seamless interaction with multiple systems. However, there is room for improvement in areas such as user-friendliness for beginners, stability, flexible licensing, and enhanced OCR functionality. Organizations in sectors such as banking, finance, manufacturing, and healthcare gain from the improved operational efficiency and ROI Automation Anywhere offers.

What are the important features of Automation Anywhere?

Ease of Use: Simplifies automation tasks with a user-centric interface.
Robust Connectivity: Provides seamless integration with multiple systems.
GenAI-Driven Document Automation: Leverages AI to automate document management.
Process Automation & Co-Pilot: Enhances workflow automation with advanced AI.
Cloud-Native Platform: Enables rapid deployment and integration.

What benefits should be evaluated in reviews?

Time Savings: Automation drastically reduces manual processing time.
Cost Efficiency: Decreases overall operational costs by automating tasks.
Productivity Enhancement: Streamlines workflows with AI-driven tools.
Improved Integration: Enhances ability to work with multiple systems.
Scalability: Supports growth with a flexible cloud-native architecture.

In the insurance industry, Automation Anywhere is utilized for automating processes such as enrollment management and compliance checks. Its applications extend to supply chain management, financial transactions, and business performance monitoring across sectors like banking, finance, manufacturing, and healthcare, helping organizations to automate routine tasks, improve efficiency, and reduce costs.

Automation Anywhere

OpenText Service Management (SMAX) is a user-friendly platform tailored for ITSM and BPM activities with AI-driven chatbots, analytics, and low-code adaptability for efficient incident and problem management.

OpenText SMAX is designed to enhance business processes across departments, offering integration support through AI-enhanced features like chatbots and comprehensive analytics tools. Its robust orchestration and natural language processing capabilities make it a good fit for complex issue management and business improvement. While workflow customization can be challenging and integration documentation needs enhancement, its focus on visibility, low-code configuration, and adaptability serves diverse operational needs. SMAX supports both IT and non-IT implementations, facilitating ease of installation and integration with various tools such as UCMDB.

What key features does OpenText SMAX offer?

Easy Configuration: Low-code setup ensures swift deployment and changes.
AI-Enhanced Chatbots: Facilitates user interaction with better natural language processing.
Robust Analytics: Provides detailed insights through comprehensive dashboards and reports.
Orchestration Capabilities: Enhances process automation and visibility for business improvement.
Integration Support: Supports cross-departmental integration with tools like UCMDB.

What benefits should reviewers consider?

Adaptability: Easily configured to meet specific business demands.
User-Friendliness: Designed for intuitive use with enhanced chatbot interactions.
Comprehensive Analytics: Offers strong reporting tools for performance tracking.
Flexibility: Supports both IT and non-IT use cases with powerful orchestration.
Incident Management: Effective in handling complex problem management tasks.

OpenText SMAX is applied across sectors like banking and telecom, primarily for ITSM and BPM. It facilitates incident management through an end-user portal and integrates with UCMDB, supporting alert handling and management in regions such as Saudi Arabia.

OpenText

Service Manager on SaaS provides you with a cloud-based, industry leading IT Service Management solution.

OpenText

Sample Customers

Google, Linkedin, Cisco, Juniper Networks, DellEMC, Comcast, Mastercard, Quest Diagnostics

Zurich Airport, Envirosuite, Norsk Helsenett, Achmea, University of Milan, World Vision, Petroleum Development Oman, Court of Justice of the Federal District and Territories (TJDFT).

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Buyer's Guide

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October 2026

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