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OpenText Service Management (SMAX) vs Zendesk comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 19, 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

OpenText Service Management...
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
16th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zendesk
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
60
Ranking in other categories
CRM Customer Engagement Centers (7th), CRM (19th), Help Desk Software (9th), Sales Force Automation (8th), Reporting (14th), Knowledge Management Software (5th), Community Platforms (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category, the mindshare of OpenText Service Management (SMAX) is 2.1%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zendesk is 3.9%, down from 4.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Service Management (ITSM)
 

Featured Reviews

Evgeniy Kolotilov - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers a range of tools for sales and configuration that can be used in banks and telecom companies
The deployment takes three months. In this process, customers need to allocate resources like networks, data storage, and images. They then need to decide which business functions they intend to use in production and perform some basic configurations. Custom documentation is prepared and provided for user renewals and administration. I would rate the experience of the initial setup a nine out of ten.
JohanSkibdahl - PeerSpot reviewer
Automating customer support with advanced AI capabilities and seamless communication
Zendesk has been invaluable in automating communications such as email and phone calls. It allows us to handle more support cases with fewer people due to its advanced artificial intelligence capabilities. This intelligent tool can manage complex queries before users even realize they are interacting with a non-human. Additionally, we have integrated Zendesk with Datto and Klaviyo ( /products/klaviyo-reviews ), enhancing our workflows.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"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 most valuable features of Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX) are that it is user-friendly, easy to configure, and adaptable."
"This is a cordless application that can be used throughout any organization."
"The product provides an interface for the end users to make requests."
"OpenText Service Management Automation X provides valuable features such as topic analytics for incident and problem management. It also includes natural language processing for analyzing technical descriptions. Additionally, it features a virtual chatbot capable of processing natural language to interact effectively with end users. This service enhances customer support and is not subject to the limitations often found in offerings from other vendors."
"The tool is very easy to use."
"The stability has been very good."
"It's very convenient to use."
"Zendesk Support has a lot of good APIs."
"The feature to move over my customer experience team tickets for different specialists is very valuable for my team."
"It is very easy to connect back and forth between the requester and the person fulfilling the ticket."
"The most valuable features of Zendesk Support are collaboration, reports, and a self-service portal. The customer and team can see all the information needed from the portal."
"The most valuable feature is the trackability of incoming requests. The system keeps a comprehensive history of work requests, making it a useful tool for our internal processes."
"The product offers very good management. It has a great ability to assign tickets based on content."
 

Cons

"The solution lacks sufficient documentation."
"The contract management feature can be improved."
"The product's connectivity with third-party products is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"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."
"The tool has negatively impacted our productivity."
"Zendesk's stability on inbound calls could be improved as compared to Talkdesk."
"The solution could integrate better with QR codes from some websites such as Facebook."
"The dashboard could be better."
"Sometimes if there was a way to just flag the actual issue out of those email chains - that would be really helpful."
"There could be improvements in integration, which can be achieved with APIs or tools like Zapier."
"There is always a network issue with Zendesk. But we don’t know whether it is managed. The network issue is that when I call, it does not let us."
"They have something called Zendesk Explore, which isn't as good as what they had in place previously."
"The data you get when logged in to Zendesk Support differs from the data you get when you programmatically query Zendesk Support through its API because of a sync time delay."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"The solution is somewhat cheaper than the competitors."
"There are different plans that are offered. We are using the entry-level plan. The overall price of the solution should be reduced. The price is too high."
"You have to pay extra for better support. So it's not only the license that you pay for, but you have to pay extra for the support as well."
"Zendesk's licensing is not cheap. For Enterprise, we are paying $200 per agent. It's a per-month cost, so it's pretty steep. There are some services you need to pay extra for. For example, with Zendesk Guide, we had to buy the most expensive offering in order to get Multibrand and everything. We also had to pay a lot of money for themes."
"The price is very competitive."
"From what I hear, Zendesk's pricing is a little expensive."
"We pay for the solution on a yearly basis and my understanding is that the cost is about $30,000. That's the cost for 24 to 25 agents."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
24%
Educational Organization
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your primary use case for Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)?
The solution is used for the end-user portal. It is used for incident management, requests, and other informational purposes.
What advice do you have for others considering Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)?
The tool is appropriate if we don't have a complicated use case. It is the right tool for simple use cases. It's a lot cheaper than ServiceNow. It is an appropriate tool for a smaller business or m...
What do you like most about Zendesk Support?
I found the user experience with vendors on Zendesk to be straightforward, especially when it comes to understanding and searching for specific tickets. The search and navigation tools are easy to ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zendesk Support?
Zendesk's pricing is reasonable. It is not the cheapest solution nor the most expensive, but it provides value for money.
What needs improvement with Zendesk Support?
There could be improvements in integration, which can be achieved with APIs or tools like Zapier ( /products/zapier-reviews ). However, easier integration could enhance the usability. Multilingual ...
 

Also Known As

OpenText Service Manager, Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)
Zendesk Support, Zendesk Guide, Zendesk Sell
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Zurich Airport, Envirosuite, Norsk Helsenett, Achmea, University of Milan, World Vision, Petroleum Development Oman, Court of Justice of the Federal District and Territories (TJDFT).
Mailchimp, Tesco, Vimeo, Instacart, Mediaocean, Slack, Uber
Find out what your peers are saying about OpenText Service Management (SMAX) vs. Zendesk and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
858,038 professionals have used our research since 2012.