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Polarion ALM vs ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

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

Polarion ALM
Ranking in Enterprise Agile Planning Tools
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites (6th)
ServiceNow Strategic Portfo...
Ranking in Enterprise Agile Planning Tools
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
Project Portfolio Management (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Enterprise Agile Planning Tools category, the mindshare of Polarion ALM is 3.5%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management is 3.4%, down from 7.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Agile Planning Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management3.4%
Polarion ALM3.5%
Other93.1%
Enterprise Agile Planning Tools
 

Featured Reviews

LasseMikkonen - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at byte
Has provided mature traceability and configuration features while supporting complex product development for mid-to-large companies
Polarion ALM can learn from Atlassian tools a lot, as the usability is not the best, and it is really narrowly focused on requirements management only. For example, if you want to do testing and test result management with it, it is very limited. Jama Connect has similar limitations, and both should really focus on developing the integrations and extendability. For example, Jama Connect does not even have an extension marketplace, whereas Polarion has a small one. However, compared to the Atlassian Marketplace where you can get whatever applications for whatever price, it is a totally different ballgame. I would highly recommend Polarion ALM add more AI features to it. I know they have started to do something, but for example, I have been developing widgets for IBM DOORS Next, AI widgets, so that you can write and analyze requirements with the AI, and I have also done the same for Jira, creating a couple of Jira applications in the marketplace as well.
SC
BA at North America Direct, Inc.
Has improved workflow automation and provided visibility through seamless integrations and intuitive reporting
I don't have a comment on what areas of ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management could be improved or enhanced, which may be because we're not utilizing it properly. I found the documentation difficult to figure out the basics of how it works. If the documentation could be improved to make understanding the basics easier, that would be beneficial, as I had to search through different videos and multiple places to find information.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This one tool incorporates almost all engineering tasks we need to do for one project."
"It is a very stable solution."
"You can see the work ticket and you can circulate that within the teams. You can define your flows, customize according to your needs, and you can create dashboards and create the reports according to your needs."
"Polarion ALM delivers both document views and table views simultaneously and organizes configurations according to norms and standards."
"Polarion ALM helps us better structure our customer requirements, and we can also validate the specs of our products against those. If anything changes on our side, we see the impact, and we can see the effect If a customer changes requirements."
"It meets with everybody's needs without having to grab plugins."
"It's extremely flexible. Configuring items is straightforward and doesn't require involving the supplier each time. We find the requirement management, test management, documentation, and dashboards very effective."
"The most valuable feature is the function of the ALM system."
"The PPM module is an excellent service."
"It helps us in utilizing the resources to the perfect level to generate more revenue at the same cost."
"The solution has opened many doors for me."
"The demand management tool is very strategic because it helps assess risk, gives you a visual of different demands, and rates those values."
"The most important feature of ServiceNow IT Business Management is flexibility."
"We now have good visibility of our entire information system."
"Competitive in terms of research"
"In mature companies ready for it, the return on investment would be a nine point five."
 

Cons

"I also recently suggested that CMS consider incorporating generative artificial intelligence into the system."
"The user interface of Polarion ALM needs improvement as it can experience changes that disrupt workflows, especially during major updates."
"The solution needs to improve its user experience and graphics."
"Test management lacks an automated process."
"We use PTC Windchill, and Polarion ALM doesn't have native integration, so we had to purchase the connector to integrate it with Polarion ALM. We still haven't implemented it."
"Polarion ALM can learn from Atlassian tools a lot, as the usability is not the best, and it is really narrowly focused on requirements management only."
"The interface for this solution needs to be made more user-friendly to provide a better user experience."
"I don't think that this solution scales well. It means that we have to split our project and use something with fewer objects in it."
"The program isn't very user-friendly, as it is rather difficult to use."
"The price keeps going up, and to remain competitive, it needs to have a competitive edge."
"The configurations are fine, but the user interface could be improved."
"The setup is a bit complex. It depends on the organizational needs, and sometimes, we make customizations based on those needs."
"The solution needs a few things in terms of resource management."
"ServiceNow needs to invest more in integration."
"Improving configuration activities and productivity would be beneficial, as fresh graduates using the system require training to adapt."
"The main challenge we face with SPM is its flexibility, which can sometimes lead to lengthy discussions and slow down implementation. As for improvements, integrating IT finance management tools like AppTio or Nearos would be beneficial. We already have data mining capabilities, but continuous updates and enabling of new features would be great, considering the rapid pace of DevOps advancements in the market. In terms of forward-looking analytics and comparison to tools like Power BI, there are areas that could be enhanced, especially in drill-down reporting."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The license model is okay for large companies but would be quite expensive for smaller enterprises."
"You have to pay around 50-60 euros per user."
"If the pricing would come down and it was more affordable then we wouldn't have to switch."
"Our license for Polarion ALM is yearly. And it's not the cheapest tool that we've looked at. So if we had made our decision purely based on the licensing cost, we wouldn't have selected Polarion."
"It is an expensive product."
"The solution is expensive."
"Software for medical devices is always expensive."
"The licensing is based on metrics and is tailored to customer's needs."
"I would rate the cost as five out of ten."
"We have a team of about 6,500 employees across the globe. So, the amount of money I'm going to save by putting the money on the table for the implementation and licenses is very high."
"The solution is expensive."
"It's more suitable for larger companies as the licensing cost is relatively high. Not everyone can afford this tool."
"The solution was quite expensive."
"It is a little expensive. We are in Brazil, and for us, it is a little expensive."
"I rate the price of ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management a seven out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
30%
Computer Software Company
8%
Healthcare Company
6%
Comms Service Provider
5%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
6%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise12
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise26
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Polarion ALM?
Polarion ALM can learn from Atlassian tools a lot, as the usability is not the best, and it is really narrowly focused on requirements management only. For example, if you want to do testing and te...
What is your primary use case for Polarion ALM?
We are in our product development using Polarion ALM's functionalities. I am a power user, partly responsible for configuring the tool. We are using it for many things. The idea was to go for a req...
What advice do you have for others considering Polarion ALM?
The pricing of Polarion ALM and IBM ELM is pretty much aligned. They are not at the same level, but I would say aligned according to the capabilities of the tools, with DOORS being more expensive b...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management?
The pricing is rated six, as it's relatively low-medium compared to other solutions. However, the value isn't fully justified when not all features are used. A pricing model adjustment is needed fo...
What needs improvement with ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management?
I don't have a comment on what areas of ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management could be improved or enhanced, which may be because we're not utilizing it properly. I found the documentation diff...
What is your primary use case for ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management?
We started off using ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management as an ITSM tool for workforce integrations, workflows, and creating integrations with other systems such as Microsoft Teams to give up...
 

Also Known As

No data available
IT Business Management, ServiceNow IT Business Management Suite, ServiceNow ITBM Suite, ServiceNow ITBM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Engineering Ingegneria Informatica, IBS AG, Zumtobel Group
Proximus, UNT SYSTEM, SAP SuccessFactors
Find out what your peers are saying about Polarion ALM vs. ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,270 professionals have used our research since 2012.