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Atera vs OpenText Service Management (SMAX) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

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
8.0
Atera boosts efficiency and cuts costs with remote management, software integration, fixed pricing, and automation, enhancing business value.
Sentiment score
3.7
OpenText SMAX aids IT operations with automation; ROI measurement varies, with users valuing customizability and operational impact.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.5
Atera's support team offers quick resolution, accessible help, valued security measures, and improves through user feedback.
Sentiment score
4.7
OpenText SMAX receives mixed feedback with varying support experiences, generally rated between seven and eight for effectiveness.
Support for OpenText Service Management (SMAX) is better.
Technical Lead at Bharti AXA Life Insurance
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Atera is scalable for small to large companies, with intuitive setup and robust API integration, ideal for growth.
Sentiment score
6.9
OpenText SMAX is highly adaptable for medium to large businesses but may be costly for small enterprises.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Atera is highly stable and reliable, with minor issues quickly addressed and regular updates enhancing functionality.
Sentiment score
6.9
OpenText SMAX is stable but some users face Kubernetes-related downtime and ongoing stability concerns despite resolved issues.
OpenText Service Management (SMAX) has some stability challenges that are crashable and not stable at times.
Technical Lead at Bharti AXA Life Insurance
 

Room For Improvement

Atera needs improved integration, support, and customization across identity management, mobile, network monitoring, and technician control features.
OpenText SMAX faces challenges in integration, customization, and user satisfaction, requiring improvements in AI, reporting, and connectivity.
The module shouldn't just report on the components of OpenText Service Management (SMAX) but also track how the tool is used by end users.
Head Of Delivery at Timestamp ITM
The custom reports that were already prepared work fine.
Information Security & IT Governance Manager at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
Different scenarios require different workflow configurations.
Technical Lead at Bharti AXA Life Insurance
 

Setup Cost

Atera's pricing model offers cost-effective scalability and predictability, with unlimited devices and savings compared to competitors, ideal for enterprises.
OpenText SMAX provides diverse licensing options, with costs influenced by configuration, operators, and features, offering flexible pricing.
OpenText Service Management (SMAX) is okay, not expensive and not the cheapest.
Technical Lead at Bharti AXA Life Insurance
 

Valuable Features

Atera provides robust remote access, automation, and monitoring tools, enhancing productivity and user satisfaction with its intuitive interface.
OpenText SMAX provides adaptable, user-friendly service management with AI, low-code configuration, and multilingual support for various business operations.
We can run commands such as PowerShell, batch scripts, and implement automation.
Owner at Sytex Ltd.
Our feedback is that because OpenText Service Management (SMAX) portal is very easy to use, we see customers abandoning their legacy ways of reporting like phone calls and emails, concentrating everything on a portal, which provides end users with more visibility of what's happening because they can control the status of their requests, allowing IT a faster way to intervene and solve issues.
Head Of Delivery at Timestamp ITM
Configuration is available for different scenarios including change request, incident management, and problem management.
Technical Lead at Bharti AXA Life Insurance
Reporting tools and sophisticated customization options are available with different capabilities.
Information Security & IT Governance Manager at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Atera
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
11th
Average Rating
9.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.8
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Help Desk Software (11th), Network Monitoring Software (34th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (38th), Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (5th), Patch Management (11th), AIOps (18th), Agentic Automation (8th)
OpenText Service Management...
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
10th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category, the mindshare of Atera is 2.2%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Service Management (SMAX) is 2.0%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Service Management (ITSM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
OpenText Service Management (SMAX)2.0%
Atera2.2%
Other95.8%
IT Service Management (ITSM)
 

Featured Reviews

AV
Owner at Sytex Ltd.
Quick setup and efficient automation boost IT consulting services
It would be beneficial if Atera implemented telephone support for general questions. When onboarding new clients and creating their portal, it would be helpful if presidents or company owners could see the current configuration progress step-by-step, rather than relying solely on email and ticket systems. The task system for technicians could be improved by adding recurring task capabilities. This would allow technicians to have checkmarks and task lists they can mark off as completed. While scalability meets growing needs, there haven't been many additions in the last two years. They are adding new features gradually, but there is always room for improvement.
HugoAlmeida - PeerSpot reviewer
Head Of Delivery at Timestamp ITM
Centralized service processes have improved cross‑department visibility but reporting still needs work
The machine learning capabilities in OpenText Service Management (SMAX) are somewhat not published the way they should be. They work pretty well, but they are not used as much in the current experience of our customers. They have them; the solution has them, but they usually go a little bit below the radar in terms of visibility. I believe there is room for improvement when it comes to machine learning capabilities. OpenText Service Management (SMAX) has room to improve mainly on reporting components. The reporting components include dashboards, and while OpenText Service Management (SMAX) has a reporting module, it's somewhat limited, so I believe it has room to improve there, with more inclusion of artificial intelligence in the models and more in project management and portfolio management capabilities. We want to see better use and more functionalities enabled with the already existing capabilities such as AI and reporting in the next OpenText Service Management (SMAX) release, but one important thing we think should be included is a module for metrics, similar to Google Analytics, that focuses on the metrics of the tool usage. The module shouldn't just report on the components of OpenText Service Management (SMAX) but also track how the tool is used by end users, for example, what functionalities users utilize more frequently, the performance of those functionalities, and how long it takes them to open a ticket or log in, focusing on applicational monitoring metrics and performance management metrics.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Construction Company
7%
Performing Arts
7%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Atera?
The prices have increased over time. After expressing concerns about pricing to account managers, they offered a 30% discount option for annual commitments. The main benefit we see with this produc...
What needs improvement with Atera?
It would be beneficial if Atera implemented telephone support for general questions. When onboarding new clients and creating their portal, it would be helpful if presidents or company owners could...
What is your primary use case for Atera?
We use it for maintenance support, patch management, the ticket system, ticketing, and automation in general. Atera enables us to take control quickly with different options. We can perform registr...
What is your primary use case for Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)?
We mostly deal with OpenText Service Management (SMAX), Service Management, and UCMDB, the UD Discovery, Unified Discovery.
What advice do you have for others considering Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)?
We are still working with OpenText and Splunk. I remember that Splunk is now with what Cisco AppDynamics bought. We are implementers; we work with other partners for Splunk, and for OpenText, we ar...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)?
OpenText Service Management (SMAX) is okay, not expensive and not the cheapest. It is overall good.
 

Also Known As

No data available
OpenText Service Manager, Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

MSPs, IT consultants, and IT departments worldwide trust and use Atera. 
Zurich Airport, Envirosuite, Norsk Helsenett, Achmea, University of Milan, World Vision, Petroleum Development Oman, Court of Justice of the Federal District and Territories (TJDFT).
Find out what your peers are saying about Atera vs. OpenText Service Management (SMAX) and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.