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BMC Helix ITSM vs OpenText Service Management (SMAX) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 19, 2025

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 IT Service Management (ITSM)
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
79
Ranking in other categories
Help Desk Software (5th)
OpenText Service Management...
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
14th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category, the mindshare of BMC Helix ITSM is 8.9%, down from 13.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Service Management (SMAX) is 2.3%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Service Management (ITSM)
 

Featured Reviews

Ameet Darole - PeerSpot reviewer
Used for user ticket management, incident management, and event management
We had a manual event management process and a separate monitoring tool called Dynatrace. The alerts generated did not flow to the ITSM tool. With BMC Helix ITSM, the alerts flow and auto-route to respective technical support. If the alerts are resolved, the ticket will be automatically closed. So, the workload and automation are much better now. BMC Helix ITSM is a fast platform, so it is quite manageable. I would recommend BMC Helix ITSM to other users because it is a good solution. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Evgeniy Kolotilov - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers a range of tools for sales and configuration that can be used in banks and telecom companies
The deployment takes three months. In this process, customers need to allocate resources like networks, data storage, and images. They then need to decide which business functions they intend to use in production and perform some basic configurations. Custom documentation is prepared and provided for user renewals and administration. I would rate the experience of the initial setup a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"In general, for incident management, it's okay."
"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."
"Reports have helped us to improve our IT processes. The main benefit is providing the right information to our decision makers."
"The standards and the framework that it follows are most valuable. It has an ITIL and out-of-the-box framework."
"The ease of use and integration made it a worthwhile investment, since we did some integrations with other tools making our lives easier."
"Helix is stable."
"Technical support has been fine."
"We use this tool for managing tickets, other employee related services, and reporting purposes."
"This is a cordless application that can be used throughout any organization."
"The most valuable features of Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX) are that it is user-friendly, easy to configure, and adaptable."
"OpenText Service Management Automation X provides valuable features such as topic analytics for incident and problem management. It also includes natural language processing for analyzing technical descriptions. Additionally, it features a virtual chatbot capable of processing natural language to interact effectively with end users. This service enhances customer support and is not subject to the limitations often found in offerings from other vendors."
"The tool is very easy to use."
"It offers a range of tools for sales and configuration. It's like a business process improvement platform, suitable for various lines of business operations."
"The product provides an interface for the end users to make requests."
 

Cons

"From time to time, we had issues with stability, but I think that is our fault due to extra processes that we implemented to fit our business needs."
"Smart Reporting was added, then was purchased from another vendor. We have little ability to customize and correct issues due to this."
"Support could be more skilled. We are wasting too much of our time debugging.​"
"There is a text editor that we use to enter our incident description or service request description, and it should be richer in terms of features."
"We found that there was numerous issues upgrading from 8.1 to 9.1 in that all our licenses were broken for almost a year and a half. We chased down a total of 14 hotfixes, patches, and service packs before things were finally resolved. During that time, said "fixes" also broke other things, so it was quite the sore spot with management for some time."
"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."
"Encountered issues with scalability and stability."
"I would also love to see consistency across all consoles."
"The tool has negatively impacted our productivity."
"The product's connectivity with third-party products is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"The solution lacks sufficient documentation."
"The initial setup of Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX) is complicated, but once it is set up the configuration is straightforward to adapt to the users' or customers' needs."
"The contract management feature can be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive. The solution is expensive."
"It's a yearly subscription but there are a couple of customers who go for the monthly subscription."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"Please always get the latest quote from a BMC partner or from BMC. Check for the latest offerings."
"The price of BMC Helix ITSM is expensive."
"The cost of the license for SMAX varies depending on the configuration, including the number of seats for users and the customer's specific requirements. It's not a fixed cost and can vary."
"The solution is somewhat cheaper than the competitors."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
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?
Currently, we are not utilizing the AI functionality in BMC Helix ITSM as we are still in the roadmap and development phase at this point in time. There isn't anything that I would suggest for impr...
What is your primary use case for BMC Helix ITSM?
We use BMC Helix ITSM for the complete end-to-end ITSM suite, mainly for ticketing and service management. BMC Helix ITSM supports our IT service management processes primarily for all incident, pr...
What is your primary use case for Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)?
The solution is used for the end-user portal. It is used for incident management, requests, and other informational purposes.
What advice do you have for others considering Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)?
The tool is appropriate if we don't have a complicated use case. It is the right tool for simple use cases. It's a lot cheaper than ServiceNow. It is an appropriate tool for a smaller business or m...
 

Also Known As

Remedy ITSM, Remedy, Helix Remedy
OpenText Service Manager, Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Brookfield, HealthSouth Corporation, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Mercator, SAP, Stanford University
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 BMC Helix ITSM vs. OpenText Service Management (SMAX) and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.