ServiceNow vs SolarWinds Web Help Desk comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

ServiceNow
Ranking in Help Desk Software
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
212
Ranking in other categories
IT Asset Management (1st), IT Service Management (ITSM) (1st), Rapid Application Development Software (4th), No-Code Development Platforms (1st)
SolarWinds Web Help Desk
Ranking in Help Desk Software
18th
Average Rating
7.6
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2024, in the Help Desk Software category, the mindshare of ServiceNow is 24.7%, down from 26.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Web Help Desk is 1.4%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Help Desk Software
Unique Categories:
IT Asset Management
22.9%
IT Service Management (ITSM)
27.1%
No other categories found
 

Featured Reviews

PN
Feb 6, 2024
Has valuable incident and problem management features, but the scalability needs improvement
We use the product for ITSM, DevOps, change management, problem management, and incident management. We utilize all the modules The product's integration functionality in the change management module has significantly improved efficiency in our organization. It has enhanced the delivery process…
AR
Sep 23, 2021
Reasonable pricing and simple installation, but support is neither knowledgeable nor responsive
They can build on providing product knowledge to the sales teams. They are not familiar with all of the product capabilities, or the comparison between similar products. I don't feel that we receive an adequate amount of help or cooperation from technical support. We would like to see automation included in the next release. We would like to eliminate the L1 and L2 support, by at least 80%. To do this, we need automation with AI (Artificial Intelligence) in combination with ML (Machine Learning). As an example, consider that we are monitoring a storage system, particular server storage, that is going to breach its threshold very soon. Based on the learning of the day-to-day running, or day-to-day transactions, it should be able to understand that there is a number of GBs occupying spaces every day and a number of GBs left over, and within another 10 days or 15 days, it will breach the threshold. I should be notified on whether there is a place for me in the storage and some other LUN where I can provide the storage for it. Otherwise, I have to order another storage system. This is the kind of automation we are looking at.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I like that it's always up and running."
"Creating a ticket is much simpler in this tool. That is one big advantage. Also, the simplicity and ease of use are much better. I've used HPSM and it is very complex in comparison to ServiceNow."
"Easy to integrate with third-party applications."
"Being able to have the required information for project management is valuable. I've got multiple people accessing it, and I'm tracking tasks with percentages done. It allows me to have detailed notes and provides the ability to attach documents. I have used a lot of project management solutions, and there were gaps in terms of what was available. ServiceNow has got all the features and functionalities. It is a solid solution. It is also easy to get into and use. It is certainly highly scalable."
"It actually has quite a wide list of modules and processes. Currently, we are implementing project management and Scaled Agile Framework for one of our customers."
"The most recent addition of SAM Premium is a game changer for many organizations."
"Makes ticket information easy to access."
"You can scale the solution."
"Once installed, it runs like a charm and doesn't ever crash."
"It is easy to use."
"SolarWinds is scalable as far as adding devices and servers."
"It has a pretty good search function. If you do the advanced search, you can basically search for anything in any field. If I do a search on the request field and just put in some terms I'm searching for, I can usually find the ticket that I'm looking for."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the assets management module."
"SolarWinds supports case and incident reporting. This includes logging incidents and tracking them efficiently. Additionally, it is compatible and approved by the ITIL foundation and standards, meeting world-class standards."
 

Cons

"Vulnerability management could be improved. Also, integration with tools such as Microsoft Defender ATP needs improvement."
"Compared to other products that I have been using, it is not as user-friendly."
"The level of complexity and the level of discovery are the two areas that can be improved. Its UI needs to evolve. They focus a lot on cool colors and other little things, which don't bring value in terms of functionality. They need to focus less on presentation and more on the functionality within the UI. Its discovery mechanism should be improved. There is a component in ServiceNow that discovers the assets, but it doesn't do an immediate discovery, and there is a lag. If I want to open a ticket for a laptop or an asset, that asset needs to exist within ServiceNow for me to be able to say that I need to have its disk space or memory increased. It is referred to as a CI or configuration item in ServiceNow. Sometimes, ServiceNow doesn't discover these items, and as a result, I cannot open a ticket and tag that system or asset. If a system was introduced to the environment last week and it is still not listed, it becomes a problem. I will either have to wait or manually enter that system or asset. So, if I have a laptop with only 8 GB of memory and I want to request 16 GB of memory, I won't be able to do that in ServiceNow because my system or asset hasn't been discovered yet. Discovery is not immediate, and there is a lag."
"This solution needs to be improved for global use. Currently, it's very oriented to the processes and needs of the US customer base, like their compliance solution or GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance), and not so much for customers from other parts of the world. Some users may like the things that ServiceNow is improving, but those are very oriented to users based in the United States and Europe."
"There should be greater integration with other enterprise applications. We're using Microsoft, Oracle, and other applications, and it would be good to have a greater integration on some of the immediate hiccups that you have with these services. It doesn't mean that when we have a problem with using another application, ServiceNow should be able to fix it, but ServiceNow should be able to alert us to things. There should be a bit more automation or integration."
"Its setup is tough. It takes a lot of knowledge and a lot of experience."
"The licensing needs to be divided into tiers in order to attract lower-level users."
"if I consider from the IT operations management side, ServiceNow is pretty premature on some things, especially the discovery, while the other tools like Micro Focus and BMC Remedy, those that have been in the market for quite some time. ServiceNow is evolving itself in the discovery piece of the future."
"We would like to see automation included in the next release. We would like to eliminate the L1, and L2 support, by at least 80%. To do this, we need automation with AI (Artificial Intelligence) in combination with ML (Machine Learning)."
"This solution needs to have mobile application support added."
"It would be good if there were training and tutorial videos on the Web Help Desk."
"A little outdated compared to newer products that include protection and detection."
"The interface feels clunky to me compared to some other systems that I've used. I used ManageEngine Service Desk prior to this at my previous job and that had stuff like categories that we use that I don't see in SolarWinds."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost is quite high."
"The pricing is reasonable and affordable, making it suitable for businesses ranging from small to large scale."
"The mandatory minimum is US$ 20,000 for licensing."
"The price of the solution is comparable to industry standards. For the features that we received, it is reasonable."
"The licensing expenses are excessively high."
"ServiceNow is a leader and its pricing is quite good, quite competitive... Sometimes some plugins are not priced reasonably but, generally, the platform itself, its modules, are priced reasonably."
"The solution is expensive."
"The CapEx version is great."
"When you compare with ManageEngine and ServiceNow, SolarWinds is reasonable."
"They charge by the technician. It costs $117 per technician per year."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
23%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
7%
Educational Organization
75%
Computer Software Company
4%
University
3%
Government
2%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which solution is better for developing non-ITSM applications: OutSystems or Service Now?
The short answer is that OutSystems is far better for 2 main reasons. Firstly, with Service Now you are locked into that platform for good. The business model is to lock in and then keep pumping th...
Would you choose ServiceNow over Microsoft PowerApps?
Hi Netanya, I will choose ServiceNow because ServiceNow is a very good tool compared to Microsoft PowerApp. Because ServiceNow has a very strong module (Performance Analysis) reporting which will ...
What do you like most about ServiceNow?
The solution has a user-friendly interface.
What do you like most about SolarWinds Web Help Desk?
Once installed, it runs like a charm and doesn't ever crash.
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Web Help Desk?
Some features in the product are supposed to run. However, if they don't, it may require some time to configure or fix them, such as asset management. We have been struggling with asset management ...
What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Web Help Desk?
SolarWinds Web Help Desk is a case management system. Each user logs their concerns or problems into the portal, which are then assigned to one of our support engineers responsible for managing the...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

AAA, AstraZeneca, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Broadcom, Christus Health, Epicor, Equinix, GE Capital, Intuit, KPMG, Loyola Marymount University, OshKosh, Quantas, RedHat, Royal Bank of Scotland, Swiss Re, U.S. Department of Energy, Safeway, Yale University, and Zillow    
Instacart
Find out what your peers are saying about ServiceNow vs. SolarWinds Web Help Desk and other solutions. Updated: July 2024.
793,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.