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BMC Helix ITSM vs N-able MSP Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 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

BMC Helix ITSM
Ranking in Help Desk Software
8th
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
N-able MSP Manager
Ranking in Help Desk Software
23rd
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
22nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Help Desk Software category, the mindshare of BMC Helix ITSM is 4.9%, down from 10.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of N-able MSP Manager is 1.5%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Help Desk Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
BMC Helix ITSM4.9%
N-able MSP Manager1.5%
Other93.6%
Help Desk Software
 

Featured Reviews

KN
Senior Application Developer BMC at Balfour Beatty
Self-service portal significantly reduces resolution time and transforms service process with advanced features
We initially had a lot of tickets generated via the service desk through calls and emails. Now, we have almost moved out of email creations by introducing the DWP features on the Studio pages, with about 90% of the tickets coming in via our self-service portal. Recent upgrades offer different types of views for particular business lines, which was missing earlier. The new landing pages have allowed us to add banners, images, and internal videos, encouraging most customers to use these DWP self-service features. Resolution time has decreased significantly since implementing the self-service portal. Additionally, the availability of knowledge articles, chatbots, and the new Helix GPT feature has improved service processes.
GK
CTO at InTTrust SA
Ticketing has helped prioritize support tasks while contract and project management have required better integration and pricing flexibility
I don't know if N-able MSP Manager could have some additional features in the future to make it more competitive because it might already be available and I'm not aware of it.I cannot say that N-able MSP Manager dashboard is intuitive, but I don't see any big difference with ManageEngine. From the deployment perspective with N-able MSP Manager, I cannot have higher expectations because it is a SaaS solution, so it was deployed as is from the technical perspective. From the business perspective, the deployment is complex, but I cannot tell you that it is less complex than ManageEngine. The main reason that made me change my mind and proceed with ManageEngine is the availability of add-ons in combination with their pricing.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Improved our organization with better customer experience and reporting abilities."
"It's a very integrated solution."
"It tracks all trouble tickets and provides a ticket history."
"The most valuable features of BMC Helix ITSM are the service level management, configuration, and reporting tool."
"The versatility and customizability of the product is what I like most."
"If we consider major players like Ford or BMW, their core focus is manufacturing products like cars. To ensure smooth operations, any arising issues, be it security concerns or issues within departments like HR or finance, require a swift resolution. This is where the product comes into play. It provides a platform for raising tickets and obtaining quick solutions."
"In general, for incident management, it's okay."
"Service Request Management was the first big win for our company."
"The best advantage for us, since we use all N-able products, is that the MSP portal centralizes everything."
"At a significantly lower price, I managed to get project management modules, contract management, and CMDB, which were not all available in N-able MSP Manager."
"I like that you can do all the things with it. You can patch, and you can run the scheduled tasks. You can remote in, upload files, and download files. You can log onto a computer PowerShell, or command prompt, without having to log into RDP. I also like its ease of use."
"I am impressed with the tool's integration with our mail system."
"This is a premier product and it has been around for a long time."
 

Cons

"Log in process is unnecessarily complicated."
"It has created more layers of bureaucracy."
"It takes a long-time to plan and deploy the on-premise solution."
"Support could be better."
"SmartIT could include PR. This would help us greatly in bridging the gap between Remedy's views and SmartIT."
"Support could be more skilled. We are wasting too much of our time debugging.​"
"When BMC Helix ITSM did some upgrades it caused some issues. They have fixed some of the problems but more improvement is needed."
"BMC Helix ITSM should have an easy-to-use user interface."
"What I would like to see is a simplified solution that is packaged better, where you can easily implement or turn on the functionality that you need."
"I'd like to see a way to import contacts in bulk using an Excel sheet or another import method."
"Comparing the pricing of N-able MSP Manager to ManageEngine, it is a little bit too high."
"The tool needs to improve its customization of the user interface."
"Its reporting is lousy and bad. It is not as good as it should be. There is too much work involved to get what you want. Most times, you have to call them to customize some stuff. I just don't like that part. They need to work on their reporting. They have a way to go."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are licenses to use this solution."
"BMC Helix ITSM is a very cost-effective solution."
"The cost is relatively high, especially for the BMC Controller application. However, the expense is justified by the standard and reliable features it offers. This product's reputation in the market is strong, providing assurance in terms of data and other considerations."
"I am not sure the exact price we pay for the solution but I know it is in the high seven-figure amount annually."
"We did not compare the price of BMC Helix ITSM to other vendors. However, it has a mid-range price."
"It is costly, but it is well worth it."
"If you are looking for some kind of professional services form the OEM then you would have to purchase that."
"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."
"I don't know the exact cost, but I know it's reasonable. Its cost of entry is not bad. I've had other organizations sign up for it. I don't know how much they paid, but it wasn't bad. You charge for every object. You charge for AV, and you charge for servers. There is a charge for everything or every object in that. I know we make money from it, but I don't know what it is."
"I would rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten since it's not the cheapest one in the market."
"Don't get scared of the price tag because it's definitely worth it."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
5%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise55
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BMC Helix ITSM?
If we consider major players like Ford or BMW, their core focus is manufacturing products like cars. To ensure smooth operations, any arising issues, be it security concerns or issues within depart...
What needs improvement with BMC Helix ITSM?
Although BMC Helix ITSM is a strong enterprise platform, there are areas where it could be improved. One key area is usability and simplification of configuration, especially for new administrators...
What is your primary use case for BMC Helix ITSM?
My main use case for BMC Helix ITSM is validating and automating core ITSM workflows, such as incident, change, and service request management. I focus on ensuring that these workflows function cor...
What needs improvement with N-able MSP Manager?
I don't know if N-able MSP Manager could have some additional features in the future to make it more competitive because it might already be available and I'm not aware of it.I cannot say that N-ab...
What is your primary use case for N-able MSP Manager?
I am deploying it for my company.I inherited an implementation with N-able MSP Manager that was not quite good. I faced problems managing the contracts, translating them into technical topics, and ...
What advice do you have for others considering N-able MSP Manager?
I use N-able MSP Manager ticketing system.It has helped to prioritize tasks. At the level that I am aware of the product capabilities in N-able MSP Manager, I can't say that the centralized custome...
 

Also Known As

Remedy ITSM, Remedy, Helix Remedy, BMC Helix IT Service Management
SolarWinds LOGICnow, SolarWinds MSP Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Brookfield, HealthSouth Corporation, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Mercator, SAP, Stanford University
Longleaf Systems, ITproMedia, Choice Technology, Halski Systems, Allixo Technologies, Nettech, Concept Technology
Find out what your peers are saying about BMC Helix ITSM vs. N-able MSP Manager and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,933 professionals have used our research since 2012.