We use many different tools such as Lansweeper and SolarWinds, but not exactly for the same purposes as the solution. 

There are open-source solutions available. ManageEngine is one option, but its look and feel and dependency mapping are not as good as Discovery and are not as intuitive.

We have evaluated ServiceNow. It has significant capabilities and provides essential data as well.

I did not evaluate other options. 

We compared BMC Helix Discovery with ServiceNow ITOM Visibility. ServiceNow is expensive.

I don't know if my company was involved in any evaluation process before selecting BMC Helix Discovery. I came to know about ITSM tools in detail only after joining my current company.

Our customers do like to have that proof-in-the-pudding test, whether it's going beyond just the general demo, having us come onsite, implementing the solution in front of them, then running a level of Discovery with them. There is no better test of a Discovery tool, or an asset management tool, then to go to a customer and say "Here you go. This is what we found on your data center."

The competition is from Microsoft System Center. While it is agent-based, it has a level of being able to look at Windows systems just like BMC Discovery would. However, it does lack the ability to go into network devices and Linux systems.

The other one that we see in the market is a solution from ServiceNow called Discovery, which is still a fledgling solution. However, in another five to ten years, it might give BMC Discovery a run for its money.

From what I've heard and I've seen, the BMC Discovery solution has been in the market for over 15 years. The library of things that you can discover without having to make a custom pattern is very vast. It grows each month. BMC works with Microsoft, HPE, and all those different companies to make sure that the library is up-to-date and is all-inclusive as possible. Along with that, being able to scale to meet the demands of custom-made solutions and the ability to integrate with other BMC technologies, and even non-BMC technologies.

One of the things that sometimes people forget is the BMC Discovery tool can integrate with any CMDB. It's not just for RMDB. 

The primary functionality of the solution ranks well against other solutions in its ability to discover the topology of devices, the connection into them and its relationship with different services.