BMC Helix ITSM vs IBM SmartCloud Control Desk comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between BMC Helix ITSM and IBM SmartCloud Control Desk based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about ServiceNow, Atlassian, BMC and others in Help Desk Software.
To learn more, read our detailed Help Desk Software Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The most valuable features of BMC Helix ITSM are the service level management, configuration, and reporting tool.""The most valuable features of BMC Helix ITSM are the collaboration, integrated with the help of another solution called Entity. We can do all the integration and receive an automatic ticket with the help of email. We are able to receive SMS alerts to clients and end users. Every step of the ticket is generated and we are able to resolve and close them. It's very helpful to have the ability to inform the user with detailed information.""With service requests, we have been able to give visibility to the business users.""The versatility and customizability of the product is what I like most.""In general, for incident management, it's okay.""The solution can scale.""The Helix chatbot is helpful, and we can use its workflow features to automate some of the use cases for our clients.""The digital workplace is appealing."

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"SLA integrations, reports, and integration with other applications are the most valuable.""The solution is very easy to work with.""The workflow capability is useful. It's not a manual helpdesk operation. It's fully automated, even when an alarm has occurred. It covers the complete cycle of initiation to resolving the events. This is its most strong feature that is easily integrable with a monitoring solution. It creates tickets, and the workflow feature is the most important one.""What I like about the Control Desk is that everything is centralized. You have all the requests in one place, you know which ones are for whom and who is working on them.""The most valuable are its flexibility and agility. It's quick to change it, to adapt it to your needs. That's the most important for us.""In the early stages of our company, all requests were done in notebooks, and none of it was centrally managed. But now we have a central tool which is an entry point for all requests that come in.""The brand name is the most valuable aspect of this solution for me. It's IBM. It's a global company that supports this product, it's not something open source or something like that.""A feature I found most valuable in IBM SmartCloud Control Desk is the service request. Another feature I like most about the solution is IT asset management, which tells you who owns a specific asset in the company and from which date."

More IBM SmartCloud Control Desk Pros →

Cons
"It's expensive, particularly in the emerging market where you see a lot of customers that have a budget crunch over issues.""Maybe it could be more simplified and easier to change the reporting point of view, like from a different vendor to another.""BMC Helix ITSM could improve by having a cloud version. They are working on it which is a good thing because their competitors, such as ServiceNow, already provide cloud services.""To raise any ticket, there are too many fields to be filled and it makes generating tickets very time-consuming.""When BMC Helix ITSM did some upgrades it caused some issues. They have fixed some of the problems but more improvement is needed.""Integration could be better. If something doesn't work well with some tools and operations, then management becomes difficult, so you have to integrate other tools.""The interface is one major complaint about this product.""The tool needs greater customization flexibility, particularly concerning notifications and the progressive view web page. This is significant because it encompasses various aspects like incident management, problem management, change management, work orders, and tasks. Aligning the GUI interface with these functionalities requires more flexibility."

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"The user interface is not very interesting. If you look at other products like JIRA and ServiceNow, they have made it much easier for the end-users. Maybe not ServiceNow, but JIRA is quite flexible. From a presentation point of view, IBM should make more user-friendly interfaces.""The reporting in relation to updating could be improved upon.""Support has been the biggest problem for us. I understand that because we use the product of a global company, some changes are not quick to deploy.""The time calculations can be improved. While working on reports, it was taking the time only in seconds, which was hard for me to work out. While creating some dialogs in the service portal, you have to use certain data types in some fields. It was very tricky to make them work. I was testing a certain type of input, and it didn't work. It didn't show me the domain that the fields have to show. I had to make the change to the database, and only then it worked. It was a tricky thing to make them work with the dialogs. Their technical support can also be improved in terms of response time.""Overall the user experience, as opposed to the system and databases, could be improved. It does work as it should and it's good, but they should invest more in the user interfaces to be less data oriented and more appealing for the user.""It could use more facility or flexibility for reporting, and business intelligence in the tool.""The solution lacks a graphical user interface.""The main issue that we hear from our customers is that the self-service user interface is a little bit old, possibly due to the fact that IBM is such a large enterprise company. People say that they think they're in the year 2004, because you can very clearly see that the technology is lagging behind modern trends."

More IBM SmartCloud Control Desk Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Please always get the latest quote from a BMC partner or from BMC. Check for the latest offerings."
  • "While purchasing, try to negotiate on per user licensing costs, associated maintenance, and purchase 20% more then what you think you should have. Bulk is always cheaper."
  • "If Customer and IT agents are happy, that is one of the greatest ROI. However, one of the major factors is Leadership, because at the end they have to justify the cost."
  • "It is costly, but it is well worth it."
  • "Just make sure you really sit down and look at what you will be using per user, therefore you will not be surprised with a big bill. You do not want every user having every license, it really is not needed."
  • "If you are looking for some kind of professional services form the OEM then you would have to purchase that."
  • "It is too expensive for a small business."
  • "It is not very expensive and not very cheap. It is somewhere in-between. Some of the features are more expensive. There are also additional costs. If you want to use most of the features, you need to pay more."
  • More BMC Helix ITSM Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "It's basically for a big company because of the costs. A small company can't afford the licensing cost. For medium and large companies, it's the best product. The price of the license is on the higher side compared to others."
  • "The licensing we have for IBM Control Desk is on a yearly basis. They have a concurrent license and an administrative license. And with these, you get all the products. There aren't any additional fees for extra add-ons or anything like that."
  • "The license for IBM SmartCloud Control Desk is paid yearly and is on a per-user basis. You buy the product and pay for its license yearly. IBM is changing the licensing structure, but for now, it's a yearly license. There's no additional cost. It's just the license that you need to pay for to use IBM SmartCloud Control Desk."
  • More IBM SmartCloud Control Desk Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:It is suitable for the present circumstances, providing reliability and adhering to the necessary procedures Having ITSM and proper knowledge is essential for our work to be acknowledged and… more »
    Top Answer:Regarding reporting, when sharing information with leadership, we utilize BI support and data or more analytical tools. These tools provide accurate and comprehensive reports, covering various… more »
    Top Answer:We used to support VMware applications, focusing on distributed applications such as data from ETW, Snowflake, and SAP. Our role involved processing critical data systems through internal mechanics… more »
    Top Answer:A feature I found most valuable in IBM SmartCloud Control Desk is the service request. Another feature I like most about the solution is IT asset management, which tells you who owns a specific asset… more »
    Top Answer:The license for IBM SmartCloud Control Desk is paid yearly and is on a per-user basis. You buy the product and pay for its license yearly. IBM is changing the licensing structure, but for now, it's a… more »
    Top Answer:What needs improvement in IBM SmartCloud Control Desk is its graphical interface because it needs to be more user-friendly. IBM is a big company, but this solution is a little bit outdated. The most… more »
    Ranking
    3rd
    out of 59 in Help Desk Software
    Views
    8,522
    Comparisons
    4,804
    Reviews
    21
    Average Words per Review
    414
    Rating
    7.6
    21st
    out of 59 in Help Desk Software
    Views
    632
    Comparisons
    356
    Reviews
    1
    Average Words per Review
    1,117
    Rating
    8.0
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Remedy ITSM, Remedy, Helix Remedy
    SmartCloud Control Desk
    Learn More
    Overview

    BMC Helix ITSM is a cutting-edge IT service management platform that leads the service management industry. It is built natively for mobile with an intuitive, beautiful, people-centric user experience that makes your whole organization more productive. This platform leverages artificial intelligence to automate and streamline various service management processes. In doing so, it will ultimately make your organization more efficient. This simple-to-use platform is capable of handling even your organization’s most advanced management requirements.

    BMC Helix ITSM is a predictive platform that does not simply wait for problems to occur. The advanced analytics software aims to improve your organization’s efficiency by spotting weak areas and then proposing solutions. This platform can improve your resource deployment efficiency by as much as 45% .This is why it is trusted by corporations across a variety of industries.

    Key Features

    Some of BMC Helix ITSM’s key features include:

    • Solves service issues in a way that makes you more efficient. BMC Helix ITSM employs advanced analytic software that searches for areas where your organization can drive efficiencies to provide the best possible service.
    • Groups issues that recur in a way that streamlines both analysis and incident management. It uses artificial intelligence to identify and solve groups of incidents in real time. The AI automates these processes, which can prove both tedious and time-consuming.
    • Securely and seamlessly provides services across multi-cloud environments with “a single pane of glass” interface. This allows you to be highly flexible. You can configure your services in a number of different ways without having to worry that your multi-cloud environment won’t be able to support your service management.
    • The ability to view all of your management data in a way that provides you with clear insights into your system’s management. BMC Helix ITSM enables you to create custom reports and dashboards. This makes it possible for you to see any and all significant trends in your operations and services data.

    Reviews from Real Users

    BMC Helix ITSM’s software stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two of these are the robust activity tracking features and the lightweight nature of the solution.

    A PeerSpot user who is a technical Program Manager and Site Lead at a computer software company notes the nature of Helix’s task tracking when they write, “The most valuable features I have found are the activity logs. Additionally, the other features where you are able to continuously address issues and are able to annotate notes inside to convey them to the customer. The customer can read the notes and are able to know where you are in the procedures and process of fixing the problem for them. It has a good interactive piece for dialogue with customers where you do not have to interact with them personally, but they can do it on their own just by going into that activity log. This is great for the customer to have the ability to find out how things are being progressively taken care of.”

    Another PeerSpot user, who is a Practice Director of Global Infrastructure Services at a computer software company, notes, “Many other tools are similar. I've used these tools and find that they meet my requirements. Helix is more lightweight than these tools. It's a traditional tool that was developed more than 10 years ago. Ease of use is the operative word.”

    IBM Control Desk on Cloud offer an access to a user friendly self-service, automated service management, and seamlessly-integrated, best-practice based service desk capabilities. IBM Control Desk provides the IT service management (ITSM) needed to simplify support of users and infrastructure. It also offers a unified IT asset and service management software provides a common control center for managing business processes for both digital and physical assets and enables control, governance and compliance to applications, endpoints and assets to protect critical data and prevent outages. Control Desk is IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL)-compliant, accessible through mobile devices and integrates with social media and development tools.
    Sample Customers
    Brookfield, HealthSouth Corporation, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Mercator, SAP, Stanford University
    St Vincent's Health Australia, Kalibrate Pty. Ltd., Cognizant Technology
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company22%
    Manufacturing Company16%
    Comms Service Provider13%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Government10%
    Manufacturing Company6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company20%
    Financial Services Firm12%
    Energy/Utilities Company8%
    Government8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business22%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise61%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business17%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise70%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business67%
    Large Enterprise33%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business27%
    Midsize Enterprise7%
    Large Enterprise66%
    Buyer's Guide
    Help Desk Software
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about ServiceNow, Atlassian, BMC and others in Help Desk Software. Updated: March 2024.
    765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    BMC Helix ITSM is ranked 3rd in Help Desk Software with 75 reviews while IBM SmartCloud Control Desk is ranked 21st in Help Desk Software with 9 reviews. BMC Helix ITSM is rated 8.0, while IBM SmartCloud Control Desk is rated 7.6. The top reviewer of BMC Helix ITSM writes "The leading service management platform for delivering intelligent, user-centric experiences". On the other hand, the top reviewer of IBM SmartCloud Control Desk writes "Stable but clunky and lacks a user interface". BMC Helix ITSM is most compared with ServiceNow, JIRA Service Management, ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus, Freshdesk and IBM Maximo, whereas IBM SmartCloud Control Desk is most compared with ServiceNow, JIRA Service Management and SymphonyAI IT Service Management.

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    We monitor all Help Desk Software reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.