No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

BMC Helix Discovery vs FireMon Asset Manager comparison

Sponsored
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Automation Anywhere
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
633
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (2nd), Robotic Process Automation (RPA) (2nd), Process Mining (1st), Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) (1st), Agentic Automation (1st), Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies (2nd), AI Legal & Compliance (1st), AI Finance & Accounting (1st), AI Procurement & Supply Chain (1st)
BMC Helix Discovery
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
IT Asset Management (6th)
FireMon Asset Manager
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (17th), IT Asset Management (11th), Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM) (7th)
 

Featured Reviews

Venkat Sivaprakash - PeerSpot reviewer
Management Consultant at Accenture
Has significantly improved document-driven workflows and reduced processing time across finance and HR functions
Automation Anywhere has evolved significantly and upgraded itself to provide agentic AI and AI-based automation solutions for document automation. The product has matured considerably over time. We can create workflows that can call an API. We can include prompts in particular workflows for ChatGPT-related functions, connecting to an LLM and RAG to perform tasks. For document automation, modern features are available to train documents, ensuring high accuracy and repeatability over time. The system is very easy to use. I recently completed a course in document automation, typically designed for people involved in coding and technical aspects. Though I understand coding comprehensively, I don't do actual coding. The course was very accessible. Currently, extensive coding isn't necessary due to the hybrid model incorporating GenAI aspects, low-code, no-code capabilities, APIs, and numerous pre-built objects in Automation Anywhere. The features include GenAI-driven prompting methods and workflow creation capabilities. In these workflows, we can create decision boxes and call APIs without coding. We simply pull objects, drop them, connect them, and add minimal coding when needed. The most crucial aspect isn't coding but rather sizing the automation and fleshing out the details. Automation Co-pilot takes notes and performs automated analysis. It can extract details from videos, summarize conversations, and provide detailed information. During calls, it identifies instructions and performs tasks such as preparing reports and reconciliation. Automation Anywhere can also connect with Microsoft Co-pilot. Through Co-pilot, real-time operations can be executed, allowing direct interaction between vendors and automation through this component.
JP
Presales Manager at HCLSoftware
Comprehensive discovery has populated our CMDB and provides deep insight into asset relationships
The applicability depends on the customer environment. Usually it is straightforward to apply the policies. BMC Helix Discovery is seamless and has many plugins available. It is a good feature that they offer. I have heard about it, but I am not currently using it, though I know that they have that feature available. BMC Helix Discovery provides a lot of information that can be obtained from discovery, including the relationship between the CIs and how many CIs are orphans. The analytics capabilities are strong.
JS
Senior Technical Consultant at Telstra
Continuous discovery has improved network asset visibility and reveals previously unknown devices
The biggest friction point or frustration I have encountered with FireMon Asset Manager is the support experience being inconsistent. Response times can be slow when I have a complex technical issue, and the custom compliance reporting is also fairly limited. If I could change one thing about FireMon Asset Manager, I would ask for faster response times. I would prefer not to be asked the same question repeatedly.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The features of Automation Anywhere improve my company by making deployment and maintenance of our automations a smoother process overall."
"They've now included the code so we can add some additional code, and that's good."
"Since we can register multiple bot runners in one control room, and we can easily monitor and re-run bots when necessary, it is convenient for me."
"The product has improved our organization cost-wise and bank savings in transactions. Everything has been changed for the better."
"Automation Anywhere is very simple to use; the features are very simple, the application is light, and overall I love it."
"We found that RPA with additional AI capabilities, such as machine learning and Computer Vision, can enable the organization to augment existing business operations by creating efficiencies and improving the accuracy of data to be processed, without changing too much of the existing system."
"With its user-friendly user interface, our developers are able to quickly pick it up."
"We are working with one of the bots where we send claims through WhatsApp. Any user could take a photo in WhatsApp, then send that data to the organization. Now, whenever a photo is takes, different phones have different primary resolutions, and the data being captured is not clear data. At that moment, the data is automated to a very power system which centralizes the process to one point. This is what we are using for the insurance provider. They fill out the claims form and send this information to the organization, then we use automation tools to automate the process and come to a conclusion."
"The solution is very stable and powerful."
"It improved efficiencies and saved money by replacing manual methods."
"BMC provides great support. As managed service support, they are gold."
"The ability of BMC Helix Discovery to save time and money for customers is all about resolution times and first fixes, linking heavily to the CMDB and ensuring that you have good clean data."
"The speed at which it's able to collect a wide-range of information, then make it useful for you, like asset management, knowledge management, and incident management."
"It immediately understands which component it is, and it provides the exact API details with all the components."
"It now comes with a very flexible deployment solution, whether you want to keep it inside your data center or want to have the cloud, depending on if you're cloud forward or not."
"The tool's accuracy of the results we receive looks promising in general. Its values are more than 95 percent accurate compared to other clients or different tools. I would say that Discovery offers a valuable mechanism to discover information."
"The most valuable feature is the change modules. Whenever there is a change in the firewall, it automatically reflects on FireMon."
"FireMon Asset Manager fills a genuine gap in network security visibility that many organizations underestimate."
"The most valuable aspects of FireMon Asset Manager are its integrations and its ability to passively monitor the network for unknown assets."
"It offers a single platform for managing firewalls of different brands and simplifies policy deployment and auditing. It helps push policies to different firewalls, and it also helps with policy auditing."
 

Cons

"They need to make the AA stable across all browsers and I hope to see it fixed in the next version."
"Many clients use the Citrix environment but AA has very low functionality to automate a Citrix environment."
"Automation Anywhere could assist in this transition."
"The workflow has a complex drag-and-drop interface that is not user-friendly and requires a good technical understanding, which can be challenging for users."
"It is good for standard procedures with an SOP. For those, it works well. But there are processes that are tricky and need human intervention and intelligence. In those cases, the process gets stuck."
"If I build a bot today and don't use it, however, in several months, someone tries to use it, there's a 30-40% change the bot will fail in one or two areas."
"We had initial hiccups, like any new process. It took us six to eight months to sort the product out."
"The Excel command has some limitations that they are working on."
"The improvement which we require is to delete the Internet service. Till some of the features are coming, like, internally side. If you are taking one server to model, there are a lot of usages like three structures per diagram is coming, and we have to do the man lot of manual work. Instead of that, whatever our requirement, we should be able to provide the servers and get the structure. So this is what we want to implement with such data."
"BMC Helix Discovery needs more customization options."
"The CMDB could be improved. Getting data from the CMDB is the greatest challenge."
"BMC is agentless discovery, followed by hybrid discovery, which performs discovery across clouds, on-premises, and then dynamic service modeling."
"What would make BMC Helix Discovery better is if it had more client-side discovery features, for example, printers and desktops."
"BMC Helix Discovery is a bit tough to use and administer."
"The interface is quite old and can be outdated."
"The product falls short compared to storage discovery mechanisms offered by Tenable or ServiceNow ITOM. In the market, there are various applications available that provide different sets of features. Its drawback is that it doesn't give the database configuration customers need out of the box. Additionally, the classification of storage virtualization is relatively lacking. Therefore, there is room for improvement, particularly in the database areas."
"The biggest friction point or frustration I have encountered with FireMon Asset Manager is the support experience being inconsistent."
"The discovery process could be improved. If incorrect credentials are entered, it should give an error message. That would make our work easy rather than having to troubleshoot why the issue is occurring."
"While passive discovery remains important, active retrieval of asset details would be valuable, and this functionality is starting to be implemented, as I've observed in recent updates but it is not fully there yet."
"It is not very good at monitoring the Check Point firewall, but it works very well with other firewalls such as Palo Alto, Fortinet, and Cisco ASA."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If I compare it with Blue Prism, Automation Anywhere is cheaper. Blue Prism is very costly. Automation Anywhere's pricing follows the market, not less and not more."
"We paid separately for the Runner and Creater components. The final cost depends on the structure of your environment."
"The product’s pricing is reasonable."
"The cost is high for small-scale businesses but it is fine for medium and large enterprises. Its high licensing cost may affect small-scale businesses. Reducing licensing costs would benefit many users."
"The pricing of AA is similar to UiPath."
"I have heard that Automation Anywhere is expensive."
"UiPath is exceptionally more expensive than Automation Anywhere. UiPath is far ahead of its competition, but in terms of finances, Automation Anywhere offers better value and is more effective for organizations seeking cost-effective solutions."
"Automation Anywhere falls within a mid-range price point when compared to other RPA tools on the market."
"BMC is available for a reasonable price compared to ServiceNow — it's half the price."
"The solution offers yearly licenses."
"I've heard that the solution was expensive earlier but is now much cheaper than its competitors."
"The licensing fee is very low."
"You need a license to use BMC Helix Discovery. The license is paid yearly, though I have no idea how much it costs."
"We have a perpetual license for the solution."
"It's not a cheap product. But the benefits it delivers is that it's a fair price."
"I rate the pricing an eight out of ten. All BMC products are expensive."
"FireMon Asset Manager's pricing has been reasonable and has worked well for us from a licensing standpoint."
"FireMon is more expensive than other brands but justified by its comprehensive feature set. It includes several functions that might require additional subscriptions in other solutions."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which IT Asset Management solutions are best for your needs.
896,467 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
20%
Construction Company
13%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Insurance Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business150
Midsize Enterprise82
Large Enterprise531
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?
It depends on your use case. Is it simply to automate a couple of processes? Is it to augment a human team? AA is ver...
How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?
From my experience using AA tool, it depends on the applications that you want to automate, because there some applic...
How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?
It is a highly preferred RPA tool. You can check my Automation Anywhere Review to know more.
What needs improvement with BMC Helix Discovery?
The interface is quite old and can be outdated.
What is your primary use case for BMC Helix Discovery?
BMC Helix Discovery is used for discovery of the assets and configuration items so that you can populate the CMDB.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FireMon Asset Manager?
FireMon is more expensive than other brands but justified by its comprehensive feature set. It includes several funct...
What needs improvement with FireMon Asset Manager?
We used FireMon Asset Manager only for the firewalls. It could not always discover, so we had to go in and add it man...
What is your primary use case for FireMon Asset Manager?
We used FireMon Asset Manager for 12 clients. We used it for firewall audits and rule changes.
 

Also Known As

Automation Anywhere, Testing Anywhere, Automation Anywhere Enterprise, Agentic Process Automation System (Now Certified for WorkSpaces)
Discovery, ADDM, Atrium Discovery & Dependency Mapping
No data available
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Google, Linkedin, Cisco, Juniper Networks, DellEMC, Comcast, Mastercard, Quest Diagnostics
Windstream Communications, News UK, Mercator Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR)
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about BMC Helix Discovery vs. FireMon Asset Manager and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
896,467 professionals have used our research since 2012.