OpenText Service Management (SMAX) vs Zendesk comparison

OpenText Service Management...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 19, 2025

Zendesk and OpenText SMAX compete in the service management software category. Zendesk typically has the upper hand in pricing and customer support, while OpenText SMAX wins with its advanced features for comprehensive service management.

Features: Zendesk provides a robust ticketing system, intuitive interface, and integrations with various platforms to enhance customer interaction. OpenText SMAX offers extensive automation capabilities, flexible workflows, and advanced analytics tailored to complex enterprise needs.

Room for Improvement: Zendesk could improve by expanding its advanced analytics and AI features, increasing deployment flexibility, and enhancing customization options. OpenText SMAX may benefit from reducing its high initial costs, simplifying its interface for better user interaction, and improving cloud-only deployment conveniences.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: OpenText SMAX offers both cloud and on-premise deployment, providing flexibility and strong technical support. Zendesk is entirely cloud-based, known for quick setup and ease of use, prioritizing customer support efficiency.

Pricing and ROI: Zendesk is appreciated for its affordable pricing, ideal for smaller businesses, and rapid ROI. OpenText SMAX, though potentially expensive upfront, justifies costs with scalability and features that aim to provide long-term ROI, suitable for larger enterprises.

To learn more, read our detailed OpenText Service Management (SMAX) vs. Zendesk Report (Updated: July 2025).

OpenText Service Management (SMAX) vs. Zendesk

July 2025

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Helped 865,384 peers since 2012

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)

14th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Zendesk

Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)

11th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

CRM Customer Engagement Centers (7th), CRM (24th), Help Desk Software (11th), Sales Force Automation (11th), Reporting (19th), Knowledge Management Software (4th), Community Platforms (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category, the mindshare of OpenText Service Management (SMAX) is 2.3%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zendesk is 3.9%, down from 4.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

IT Service Management (ITSM)

Featured Reviews

Evgeniy Kolotilov

Managing Director at Intracom Telecom Ukraine

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.

Read full review

JohanSkibdahl

CEO at Etcetera Networks

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, enhancing our workflows.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The tool is very easy to use."

"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."

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

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

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

"I love how the tickets would auto-populate very quickly in Zendesk, especially when a call comes in."

"Zendesk has been invaluable in automating communications such as email and phone calls."

"It has good management, the ability to sign tickets based on content, the multi-channel support, the self service portal, the integration with Salesforce, the setup process, and the product features as we are currently using them."

"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 use, and I haven't encountered any issues with delays or communication gaps in ticket resolutions."

"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 stability has been very good."

"Zendesk Support has a lot of good APIs."

"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."

More Zendesk pros

Cons

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

"The contract management feature can be improved."

"The tool has negatively impacted our productivity."

"The solution lacks sufficient documentation."

"I'm going to piggyback on what I said regarding Freshdesk concerning what could be better in Zendesk: incorporate more AI."

"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."

"There could be improvements in integration, which can be achieved with APIs or tools like Zapier."

"The support team is time-consuming, and they don't find the answer to our problem."

"It needs to improve in terms of its flexibility, price, and installation."

"The dashboard could be better."

"The solution could integrate better with QR codes from some websites such as Facebook."

"Zendesk Guide could be improved by allowing us to put our assets in one location. What happens now for each article, for example, is we have to upload the images for that article to that location, so the image reuse is still not something that they have perfected. If they could allow us to update all the images in one location, and then pull the image from there, it would be easier when working on Multibrand projects. There are no Multibrand updates available—we have to update each brand manually. For my company, I have come up with an API tool which allows me to push the content to multiple brands together, but if you don't have something like that, you have to manually do it."

More Zendesk cons

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."

"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."

"From what I hear, Zendesk's pricing is a little expensive."

"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."

"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."

"The price is very competitive."

"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

13%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

22%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Performing Arts

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)?

The tool is very easy to use.

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 ...

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Product Reports

IT Service Management (ITSM)

August 2025

OpenText Service Management (SMAX) report

Download OpenText Service Management (SMAX) product report

Download Zendesk product report

July 2025

Also Known As

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

Zendesk Support, Zendesk Guide, Zendesk Sell

Interactive Demo

OpenText

Demo not available

Overview

OpenText Service Management Automation X delivers efficient service management automation with user-friendly configurability across IT, IoT, HR, and finance sectors. It enhances business processes through integrated incident management and natural language processing with virtual chatbots.

OpenText SMAX blends user-friendly design with broad language support and robust storage. It enables organizations to deploy in both on-premise and cloud environments using Kubernetes. SMAX excels in business process improvement, incident management, and uses intelligent agents for autonomous alerts and issue resolution. However, it requires enhancements in integration capabilities and documentation, third-party product connectivity, and contract management. Users face challenges with process automation and search functionality, demanding greater customization and flexibility.

What are the key features of OpenText SMAX?

User-Friendliness: Simplifies service management across departments.
Configurability: Allows customization to meet specific needs.
Adaptability: Effective across IT, IoT, HR, and finance.
Language Support: Broad language capabilities for diverse users.
Storage Capabilities: Efficient and reliable data management.
Process Improvement: Tools for streamlining business operations.
Incident Management: Effective handling and resolution of issues.
Natural Language Processing: Chatbots that enhance customer support.
Automation: Facilitates seamless logistics and service catalog management.

What benefits and ROI should users evaluate?

Enhanced Efficiency: Streamlines service management processes.
Improved Customer Support: Virtual chatbots provide superior assistance.
Scalability: Adaptable to growing business needs.
Cost Reduction: Optimizes resource usage and reduces operational costs.
Employee Onboarding: Simplifies and accelerates onboarding processes.

Banks and telecom companies primarily employ OpenText SMAX for service management automation, leveraging its ESM and ITSM capabilities. Deployed on-premise and via cloud, organizations in regions such as Saudi Arabia focus on integrations and upgrades, using SMAX as an end-user portal for incident management.

OpenText

Zendesk Support is intuitive, and it's built with support agents in mind. Everything they need lives in a single, dynamic help desk interface so it's easy to be productive and manage customer interactions.

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