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BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management vs ServiceNow comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025

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
4.7
BMC Helix boosts ROI through automation, reducing effort, team size, and MTTR while enhancing efficiency and test consistency.
Sentiment score
6.5
ServiceNow enhances efficiency and ROI through automation, with payback periods ranging from three months to five years.
Developing metrics to monitor disk capacity prevents potential disasters.
IT Systems & Support Engineer at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees
I have seen a return on investment with BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management by reducing the MTTR by up to 30%.
Senior Enterprise Cloud Architect at Blue Yonder
Automation and standardized workflows have reduced the amount of manual effort needed for validation and support activities, which has translated into a faster release cycle and fewer repeat issues.
Senior Quality Automation Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
They have removed the costs associated with on-prem infrastructure, including data center costs, power costs, and physical server costs.
General Manager at sPerception IT
The return on investment is good when implementing for ourselves and for other clients.
ServiceNow Developer at Bangmetric services pvt ltd
Manually, there are huge numbers that come up because these integrated tools help organizations make the right decisions with all the information in one place, while manual methods lack visibility.
Associate Vice President at Wissen infotech
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management offers reliable customer support with effective escalation and quick response times, rated highly by clients.
Sentiment score
7.0
ServiceNow's customer service is responsive but can lack in-depth support, with experience varying by issue complexity and account size.
When complex problems come up, the escalation path works effectively, and product teams are usually involved in resolving deeper technical issues.
Senior Quality Automation Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
The customer support for BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management is excellent.
Senior Enterprise Cloud Architect at Blue Yonder
we receive time-to-time responses, and we get responses within 24 hours.
Assistant VP, Intelligent Automation at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
The support is exemplary and deserves a perfect rating.
Team Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Obtaining support for maintenance is the current challenge because they don't have a presence in the local market.
General Manager at sPerception IT
Whenever we have had issues, they have provided good support, and those issues have never recurred.
Vice President Delivery & Operations at Rezilyens
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.7
BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management offers scalable, efficient support for large enterprises, handling extensive workloads and diverse integrations.
Sentiment score
7.4
ServiceNow offers excellent scalability, though custom setups may pose challenges; effective support ensures smooth integration and expansion.
They have scaled it up higher to finance and other modules already.
Manager, Information Technology Support & Service Delivery at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
The scalability of BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management is impressive; we run close to 22,000 workloads in Microsoft Azure and 10,000+ virtual machines in the VMware on-premise environment.
Senior Enterprise Cloud Architect at Blue Yonder
BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management is designed to handle large enterprise environments, making it very highly scalable with many users, workflows, and integrations without significant performance degradation.
Senior Quality Automation Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
There are no limitations or performance issues with ServiceNow; it is cloud-based, so it is highly scalable and performs well.
General Manager at sPerception IT
It is capable of vertical scaling with no issues.
Team Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
I rate the scalability of ServiceNow as an eight on a scale of one to ten.
IT infra Admin at synu
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
BMC Helix is stable and reliable, though minor improvements are needed in the Configuration Management Database for better efficiency.
Sentiment score
7.7
ServiceNow users enjoy excellent stability and high performance, with minimal downtime and minor issues tied to customizations.
The system experiences zero downtime most of the time, even in complex environments with heavy automation and integrations.
Senior Quality Automation Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
The stability of the solution could be improved, specifically in the area of the Configuration Management Database (CMDB).
Service Management Consultant at Tiberone
BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management is stable in my experience.
Senior Technical Specialist at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
It is cloud-based, so it is highly scalable and performs well.
General Manager at sPerception IT
I haven't faced any issues with stability; I've rarely seen any downtime.
Solution Engineer - Digital Platform | Mobile at British American Tobacco
ServiceNow is stable enough.
ServiceNow Developer at Bangmetric services pvt ltd
 

Room For Improvement

BMC Helix ESM needs improvements in usability, integration, dashboard tools, and licensing flexibility to enhance the user experience.
ServiceNow's customization flexibility leads to challenges with usability, cost, integration, and a need for improved interfaces and support.
Simplifying integrations and providing more readymade connectors or clearer API examples would make it easier for teams to onboard faster.
Senior Quality Automation Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
In BMC Helix, there are issues with the Configuration Management Database (CMDB), such as duplicate entries and problems with reconciliation.
Service Management Consultant at Tiberone
The main problem that I found is that once we receive the incident, we cannot change it to a work order. That is not possible at all in BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management.
Senior Technical Specialist at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
It makes no sense in my opinion, and they should offer the team at the front to help customize the product to fit each company's needs, as every company has different demands and forms of submitting a request that need adjustment over time.
Manager of Security Engineering & Architecture at a outsourcing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
My priority points for improvement are the UI glitches and modern AI technology integrations for faster incident management.
Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
There is a need for bug or error tracking in ServiceNow.
Team Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise users have mixed opinions on BMC Helix pricing, with lower licensing costs but varied views on setup expenses.
ServiceNow's premium pricing offers broad functionality for enterprises, with negotiable fees and high costs for setup and customization.
From what I heard from procurement and management, BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management overall is a costly setup.
Manager, Information Technology Support & Service Delivery at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing for BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management indicates that the pricing is high compared to competitors available in the market, such as ServiceNow or Jira.
Senior Enterprise Cloud Architect at Blue Yonder
It is not significant in terms of cost.
Assistant VP, Intelligent Automation at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
ServiceNow's pricing can be justified if more functionality is required.
ServiceNow Developer at Bangmetric services pvt ltd
ServiceNow does come with a price.
Associate Vice President at Wissen infotech
ServiceNow is expensive for all regions.
Security Architect at وزارة الثقافة Ministry of Culture
 

Valuable Features

BMC Helix ESM enhances IT efficiency with AI-driven ticketing, advanced reporting, automation, and integration for improved management and collaboration.
ServiceNow provides customizable, scalable IT management with automation and analytics, enhancing decision-making and adaptability across diverse business needs.
The best features BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management offers include their reporting module, which was excellent and the best feature about the product.
Manager, Information Technology Support & Service Delivery at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Now in BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management, we can define a lot of workflows. We can add approval workflows. Many features are available.
Senior Technical Specialist at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
For instance, if I monitor a server with disk thresholds, an email alert notifies the end user when storage is reaching its maximum capacity, which is extremely helpful.
IT Systems & Support Engineer at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees
ServiceNow provides a wide range of functionality, covering all the necessary modules, unlike Jira which is primarily for IT.
ServiceNow Developer at Bangmetric services pvt ltd
Automation capabilities are impressive, bolstered by a vast repository of out-of-the-box connectors and plugins that facilitate integration with various applications worldwide.
Security Architect at وزارة الثقافة Ministry of Culture
The features of ServiceNow that I find most valuable include its ability to easily access ticket details if you know the ticket number, monitor the timeline of when the ticket was created, and see the current status.
IT infra Admin at synu
 

Categories and Ranking

BMC Helix Enterprise Servic...
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
ServiceNow
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
224
Ranking in other categories
Help Desk Software (1st), IT Asset Management (1st), Rapid Application Development Software (2nd), No-Code Development Platforms (1st)
 

Featured Reviews

AK
Senior Quality Automation Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Automation workflows have improved validation speed and now support complex enterprise testing
Overall, BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management is a strong platform, but there are a few areas that could be improved. The user interface and overall usability could be more intuitive, especially for new users. We are working on creating a custom dashboard for the end customer. Some configurations and workflows take time to understand, so simplifying setup and improving documentation would help speed up adoption. From a testing and automation perspective, clearer visibility into configuration changes and better built-in validation or debugging tools would also make it easier to troubleshoot complex scenarios. Another area that could use improvement in BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management is performance consistency, especially in highly customized or large-scale environments. The platform is stable overall, but better out-of-the-box performance tuning guidance would help customers avoid trial and error. Additionally, simplifying integrations and providing more readymade connectors or clearer API examples would make it easier for teams to onboard faster. Improved observability, such as clear logs or diagnostics around workflow execution, would also help both customers and engineering teams troubleshoot issues more efficiently.
MT
Manager of Security Engineering & Architecture at a outsourcing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Seamless data integration and advanced automation improve service delivery efficiency
I think that nothing needs to be improved with the product; you just need the user to commit and spend appropriate time to overcome that learning curve. Once that is done, the product itself is pretty wonderful. I've seen a very nicely built interface with ServiceNow, and I've also seen the ugliest version that feels outdated. ServiceNow does allow that team to exist. They should modernize their fonts and their layout, the UI friendliness. They did introduce AI, chatbots, and AI on the back end, so that's wonderful and extremely useful if you train it. If you don't train it, it's pretty useless. Assessing the impact of ServiceNow's automation on service delivery times is complicated. The engineers who operate on ServiceNow find it isn't straightforward because the data set is accessible by everybody. The problem is that understanding how to manage that data set requires an enormous amount of engineering skill set to run the product. I would not hand the key to the customer; I would highly recommend that ServiceNow take control of that. Instead of offering support for the software, they should offer administrative support for the software. They should provide professional service or some kind of support system that allows us to use their product at a faster pace. I'm sure they offer something, but it's often outrageously expensive, or they rely on another company to resell their product and offer professional service. It makes no sense in my opinion, and they should offer the team at the front to help customize the product to fit each company's needs, as every company has different demands and forms of submitting a request that need adjustment over time.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business55
Midsize Enterprise35
Large Enterprise166
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management?
My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing for BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management indicates that the pricing is high compared to competitors available in the market, such as Servic...
What needs improvement with BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management?
Regarding my main use case or how BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management works with cloud environments, I believe it needs more interoperability and integration with data platforms such as Salesfo...
What is your primary use case for BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management?
For the past three years, I have been using BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management in my current organization, Blue Yonder, where I utilize BMC Discovery management solution for discovering the mu...
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.
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
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    
Find out what your peers are saying about BMC Helix Enterprise Service Management vs. ServiceNow and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,821 professionals have used our research since 2012.