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ServiceNow Discovery vs VMware vCenter comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.9
ServiceNow Discovery's ROI is inconsistent, with full benefits seen when combined with other services for operational efficiency.
Sentiment score
8.5
VMware vCenter boosts ROI by streamlining operations, reducing costs, enhancing scalability, and improving energy savings and security.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.2
ServiceNow Discovery's support varies, with mixed experiences on responsiveness and effectiveness, improving with advanced support tiers and partnerships.
Sentiment score
7.4
VMware vCenter's customer service is mixed, with calls for quicker, knowledgeable support and better documentation and root cause analysis.
This rating is because there are features on the tool that never worked and despite calling our support, there were no results.
The technical support is good.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
ServiceNow Discovery is highly scalable, suited for large infrastructures, compatible with AWS and Azure, but requires careful cost management.
Sentiment score
8.3
VMware vCenter is praised for its scalability and efficiency in managing large infrastructures, despite some preferring Nutanix.
I would rate it as a nine on a scale of one to ten, indicating it is highly scalable.
It receives this rating because it can be difficult to troubleshoot when the discovery is failing.
On a scale of one to ten, I would rate its scalability as ten.
The scalability is good in vCenter.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
ServiceNow Discovery is highly stable and reliable, with minor configuration issues not affecting its strong overall performance ratings.
Sentiment score
4.8
VMware vCenter is highly reliable, with strong stability and minimal disruptions, even in complex environments like banks.
I would rate the stability of ServiceNow Discovery as nine, as we never had downtime.
 

Room For Improvement

ServiceNow Discovery struggles with service mapping and integration, necessitating enhancements for usability, cloud capabilities, and easier licensing.
VMware vCenter faces pricing confusion, management challenges, and needs improvements in support, security, scalability, and cloud capabilities.
Improvements could include implementing chatbots to simplify ticket creation.
The areas of ServiceNow Discovery that have room for improvement are getting custom reports on the relationship between CIs that are not on the same table.
The licensing model has shifted, leading to higher costs, particularly for smaller organizations.
Better redundancy options can be achieved by using multiple vCenter machines.
The protocol interface or web page is not easy to use.
 

Setup Cost

ServiceNow Discovery is pricey but valued for advanced features, with potential discounts though standalone costs are high.
VMware vCenter's high costs and complex licensing, especially post-Broadcom acquisition, concern smaller businesses despite larger enterprises finding value.
ServiceNow is considered more expensive compared to other products.
I think the price of ServiceNow Discovery is cheaper than BMC.
The licensing model now requires purchasing 96-core solutions, even if fewer cores are needed, adding to the cost burden.
 

Valuable Features

ServiceNow Discovery integrates seamlessly with ServiceNow suite, enhancing IT operations through automated mapping, security, and cloud discovery.
VMware vCenter enhances centralized management and virtualization with features boosting efficiency, scalability, and integration, reducing downtime significantly.
The workflows are beneficial as they allow tasks to be assigned to respective teams without the need for coding.
The most beneficial features of ServiceNow Discovery for maintaining my IT infrastructure are the CMDB top and discovery of network switches.
High availability is employed so if an ESXi server is down, the VM is supported on another ESXi on other servers.
In vCenter, I can easily manage storage and move it from one server to another, which is beneficial for the environment.
VMware vCenter is excellent for managing and monitoring hypervisors, specifically with features like live migration, storage vMotion, and host vMotion.
 

Categories and Ranking

ServiceNow Discovery
Ranking in Server Monitoring
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
IT Asset Management (2nd), Cloud Resource Discovery Services (1st)
VMware vCenter
Ranking in Server Monitoring
3rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Server Monitoring category, the mindshare of ServiceNow Discovery is 3.8%, down from 6.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware vCenter is 0.7%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

Ayobanji Iluyomade - PeerSpot reviewer
Service helps organizations with network discovery and IT infrastructure management but troubleshooting challenges remain
ServiceNow Discovery was adopted by my organization. We use ServiceNow Discovery for discovery and ITSM The most beneficial features of ServiceNow Discovery for maintaining my IT infrastructure are the CMDB top and discovery of network switches. The areas of ServiceNow Discovery that have room…
Muhammad Fahad - PeerSpot reviewer
Great for live migration and storage management with simple deployments
I am using vMotion for live migration and storage migrations. I can use vCenter for both now. In vCenter, I can easily manage storage and move it from one server to another, which is beneficial for the environment. If any server is down, I can utilize the storage for different servers. I can easily manage from anywhere. Deployments are simple, and optimization can improve security management. Troubleshooting is easy, and it is possible to detect noncompliance configurations, minimizing costs. The deployment does not require high-cost human resources. I use a single dual machine for multiple VMs. This offers many benefits compared to physical servers or machines.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
9%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ServiceNow Discovery?
The solution can prioritize the discovery of IP ranges. The product automatically places all Discovery CIs into the correct class within the CMDB.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ServiceNow Discovery?
I think the price of ServiceNow Discovery is cheaper than BMC.
What needs improvement with ServiceNow Discovery?
The areas of ServiceNow Discovery that have room for improvement are getting custom reports on the relationship between CIs that are not on the same table.
What do you like most about VMware vCenter?
The filtering capabilities also enhance scalability by optimizing resource allocation.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware vCenter?
The initial package for VMware vCenter is not less than $10,000, which can be prohibitive for smaller organizations. The licensing model now requires purchasing 96-core solutions, even if fewer cor...
What needs improvement with VMware vCenter?
The main issue with VMware vCenter is its pricing and licensing model. The licensing model has shifted, leading to higher costs, particularly for smaller organizations. Additionally, the transition...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

York, National Grid, DXC Technology, experian, BEACHBODY
1. Amazon 2. Apple 3. ATT 4. Bank of America 5. Cisco Systems 6. CocaCola 7. Dell 8. ebay 9. Facebook 10. Google 11. HP 12. IBM 13. Intel 14. JPMorgan Chase 15. LinkedIn 16. Microsoft 17. Netflix 18. Oracle 19. PayPal 20. SAP 21. Siemens 22. Tesla 23. Toyota 24. Twitter 25. Visa 26. Walmart 27. WeWork 28. World Bank
Find out what your peers are saying about ServiceNow Discovery vs. VMware vCenter and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
857,162 professionals have used our research since 2012.