Clarity SM vs IBM SmartCloud Control Desk comparison

Broadcom and IBM are both solutions in the Help Desk Software category. Broadcom is ranked #17, while IBM is ranked #33. Additionally, 85% of Broadcom users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of IBM users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

Clarity SM and IBM SmartCloud Control Desk are leading solutions in the IT Service Management category. Clarity SM has an edge in customization and ease of use, while IBM excels in integration and asset management.

Features: Clarity SM offers robust flexibility with full SLM reporting, extensive customization, and integration options. Users appreciate its ticket management, scalability, and the unified portal. IBM SmartCloud Control Desk provides strong incident and service request management, IT asset tracking, and integration capabilities. It is praised for its cohesive integration features and asset management strengths.

Room for Improvement: Clarity SM struggles with scalability and stability. Its user experience and documentation need updates, and integration often requires significant investment. IBM SmartCloud Control Desk is criticized for an outdated user interface lacking modern design and ease of customization. Users report it being cumbersome, with technical support described as slow to respond, affecting user satisfaction.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Clarity SM offers on-premises and public cloud deployments, with mixed reviews on customer and technical support. Users report inconsistent support quality. IBM SmartCloud Control Desk is mainly on-premises, with dissatisfaction over customer service and technical support delays, with long resolution times unless issues are escalated.

Pricing and ROI: Clarity SM is seen as expensive, potentially prohibitive for small businesses, but its concurrent licensing model is cost-effective for larger firms. IBM SmartCloud Control Desk follows a per-user licensing model, which can be costly, but offers comprehensive features without extra fees for users reporting issues. It provides a solid ROI for medium to large enterprises despite higher upfront costs.

To learn more, read our detailed Clarity SM vs. IBM SmartCloud Control Desk Report (Updated: August 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Clarity SM vs. IBM SmartCloud Control Desk

August 2026

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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

Featured Reviews

Venkat Sivaprakash

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.

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Türker Kara

Application & Software Architect at Turkiye Finans Participation Bank

Quite good back-end architecture for end users but the API is very, very bad

Our company uses the solution for system, program, service request, change, and knowledge-based management. We perform CMD authorizations and use a lot of integrations for our in-house or third-party applications. We also use Salesforce automations and Microsoft orchestrations. We have about…

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Klemen Muhvič

Computer System Engineer at Informatika d.d.

Has centralization and asset management features, and a helpful and knowledgeable technical support team

What needs improvement in IBM SmartCloud Control Desk is its graphical interface because it needs to be more user-friendly. IBM is a big company, but this solution is a little bit outdated. The most common comment I get from customers is that IBM SmartCloud Control Desk looks old and needs a refresh. Its frontend needs a little bit of work. The solution needs to be more modern. In the programming world, you see a lot of new technologies, but this particular solution is still on Java. IBM SmartCloud Control Desk isn't like web-based service request tools, and that's an area for improvement. What I'd like to see in the next version of the solution is a more upscale technology. IBM SmartCloud Control Desk has small issues with document links and attachments, and those could bother you when you're using it for a long time. A more user-friendly GUI is also another improvement I'd like to see in the next version of the solution, plus a better user experience, and it would be great if IBM could resolve the current issues I've noticed in IBM SmartCloud Control Desk.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Automation Anywhere is a decent competitor and gives a better solution."

"Many tasks take a long time for a person to do them. Automation Anywhere enables us to do those jobs in less time."

"Automation is going to become a new area we will certainly encourage a lot of people to pursue because of the lasting dividends it provides, including saving time and manpower."

"A process that used to take seven to ten days has now been reduced to half an hour."

"As a solution, Automation Anywhere is complete for business users and developers."

"There have been a lot of challenges in terms of interfacing with the customer ERPs. So, we have been building tools and interfaces using bots to write back into these custom ERPs. Specifically, in the area where I work, this has been very helpful."

"AI governance is very important in my company, and we are implementing it now."

"Overall, I would rate Automation Anywhere a nine out of ten."

More Automation Anywhere pros

"It empowers me to be a lot more creative in doing things beyond the out-of-the-box scope of SDM."

"It keeps all of our changes in one spot, so it's easy for management to see any given changes that are happening, and how they cross pollinate with CMDB."

"That has been very good with the decision that we made because we've been able to upgrade the software versions in one month which is amazing."

"You can customize it and make it work to the client's needs."

"Some of workflows became centralised and the complexity of approval cycles decreased via this tool."

"Clarity is flexible to implement and integrate. It gives the developer or consultant a broad space to work and customize based on what the customers want."

"The most valuable feature are the time sheets, it's a very powerful tool."

"It has a lot of information, the way we have it set up, that you can use."

More Clarity SM pros

"The solution has been stable."

"The solution is very easy to work with."

"Overall, it has helped us continuously improve our business processes."

"In general, it's been pretty stable."

"What I like about the Control Desk is that everything is centralized, you have all the requests in one place, you know which ones are for whom and who is working on them, so you have one big package and nothing is lost."

"In the early stages of our company, all requests were done in notebooks, and none of it was centrally managed. But now we have a central tool which is an entry point for all requests that come in."

"The brand name is the most valuable aspect of this solution for me. It's IBM. It's a global company that supports this product, it's not something open source or something like that."

"A feature I found most valuable in IBM SmartCloud Control Desk is the service request. Another feature I like most about the solution is IT asset management, which tells you who owns a specific asset in the company and from which date."

More IBM SmartCloud Control Desk pros

Cons

"Regarding the UI, once you're on some of the screens there are fixed dialogues, they are a set size, so there's a lot of horizontal scrolls and vertical scrolls. If I want to do something that is purely business-related and is somewhat complex to write or is nuanced, I sometimes have trouble implementing that inside of the Automation Anywhere script."

"The bot creation process is tedious. The solution has a lot of features, but since you have to drag down a lot of the commands, it can get tedious to use it. You end up having to use the mouse a lot more."

"As far as stability is concerned, there have been some challenges."

"Automation Anywhere has to improve its technical features."

"The conversion time of invoices to JSON File should take less time using AA2019 IQBot, the report file creation feature should be added into IQ Bot A2019."

"As a developer or user, I feel that the performance of the overall package could be made a little better or reliable."

"The areas for room for improvement are always going to be around experience, making it even easier to get engaged, and get started. Because lowering that threshold to get started is what enables an additional set of problems to be solved."

"Automation tools have a lot of dependency on the environment, particularly on machines. Reducing this dependency could increase success."

More Automation Anywhere cons

"Support is a problem area for us. They take too long to respond to tickets logged."

"CMDB and the user interface, especially for extracting reports, could be improved."

"The UI is old school with a lot of windows opening and slowing down the process of ticket creation by the end users."

"When I stood it up, the documentation was not as straightforward as it could have been."

"I noticed more crashing for some strange reason, being that it's on our own servers and we don't know why."

"The technical support at CA is good at times, but it works very slowly. They are also at times not responsive, which is not good."

"If I had to choose, it would be more around the user interface than the mobile experience."

"Reporting is not the easiest."

More Clarity SM cons

"The reporting in relation to updating could be improved upon."

"Their technical support can also be improved in terms of response time."

"It could use more facility or flexibility for reporting, and business intelligence in the tool."

"The user interface is not very interesting. If you look at other products like JIRA and ServiceNow, they have made it much easier for the end-users. Maybe not ServiceNow, but JIRA is quite flexible. From a presentation point of view, IBM should make more user-friendly interfaces."

"Support has been the biggest problem for us."

"Technical support can be slow in terms of resolving issues."

"The user interface is not very interesting."

"What needs improvement in IBM SmartCloud Control Desk is its graphical interface because it needs to be more user-friendly. IBM is a big company, but this solution is a little bit outdated. The most common comment I get from customers is that IBM SmartCloud Control Desk looks old and needs a refresh. Its frontend needs a little bit of work. The solution needs to be more modern. In the programming world, you see a lot of new technologies, but this particular solution is still on Java. IBM SmartCloud Control Desk isn't like web-based service request tools, and that's an area for improvement. What I'd like to see in the next version of the solution is a more upscale technology. IBM SmartCloud Control Desk has small issues with document links and attachments, and those could bother you when you're using it for a long time. A more user-friendly GUI is also another improvement I'd like to see in the next version of the solution, plus a better user experience, and it would be great if IBM could resolve the current issues I've noticed in IBM SmartCloud Control Desk."

More IBM SmartCloud Control Desk cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The current pricing for Automation Anywhere seems a little higher compared to competitors Power Automate or UiPath. Automation Anywhere is perceived as pricey due to the support model charges ranging from 20% to 30% based on the plans."

"We're just starting to renew our license, and we were quoted $115,000 without the IQ Bot. The IQ Bot is another $30,000. This is with very limited pages, as we go through our first projects. The majority of the cost was for ten days of onsite training."

"When I started working on it, it was difficult to obtain a trial version (barrier to entry). Now, they have a Community Edition, which may make it easy to get started."

"The pricing model can be a bit more flexible."

"The price is a little bit high but the support is good."

"With the rebate processing automation that we did, it has provided us a savings of around an hour or two a person on a daily basis, which is quite a lot of savings."

"We save 34,000 hours of time per year and have recouped up to $6000 in lost revenue."

"The pricing for Automation Anywhere is reasonable."

More Automation Anywhere pricing and cost advice

"The pricing is based on a subscription model."

"I think pricing of this model is suitable for growing corporations."

"There is a subscripted needed to use Clarity SM. The price of the solution could be less expensive. ServiceNow is less expensive and BMC Helix is priced similar to Clarity SM."

"Pricing is simple, as it’s per concurrent analysts."

"The solution is quite reasonable compared to other solutions in the market."

"I don't see anyone other than large companies being able to afford this system."

"It is a bit expensive, but you definitely get what you pay for. It is worth it!"

"Clarity offers a perpetual license. Customers purchase the license once and then pay for maintenance. CA provides a subscription model as well. Both models are available for our customers."

"It's basically for a big company because of the costs. A small company can't afford the licensing cost. For medium and large companies, it's the best product. The price of the license is on the higher side compared to others."

"The license for IBM SmartCloud Control Desk is paid yearly and is on a per-user basis. You buy the product and pay for its license yearly. IBM is changing the licensing structure, but for now, it's a yearly license. There's no additional cost. It's just the license that you need to pay for to use IBM SmartCloud Control Desk."

"The licensing we have for IBM Control Desk is on a yearly basis. They have a concurrent license and an administrative license. And with these, you get all the products. There aren't any additional fees for extra add-ons or anything like that."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Construction Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Outsourcing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

22%

Construction Company

12%

Outsourcing Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Performing Arts

14%

Construction Company

13%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	157
Midsize Enterprise	81
Large Enterprise	558

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	20
Midsize Enterprise	15
Large Enterprise	66

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Large Enterprise	3

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...

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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...

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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.

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Comparisons

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Compared 12% of the time

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WorkFusion vs Automation Anywhere

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JIRA Service Management vs Clarity SM

Compared 11% of the time

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Compared 11% of the time

ServiceNow vs Clarity SM

Compared 10% of the time

BMC Helix ITSM vs Clarity SM

Compared 6% of the time

SCSM vs Clarity SM

Compared 4% of the time

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Compared 14% of the time

Ameyo Fusion CX vs IBM SmartCloud Control Desk

Compared 12% of the time

JIRA Service Management vs IBM SmartCloud Control Desk

Compared 11% of the time

SCSM vs IBM SmartCloud Control Desk

Compared 9% of the time

Ivanti Neurons for ITSM vs IBM SmartCloud Control Desk

Compared 8% of the time

More IBM SmartCloud Control Desk Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Automation Anywhere

August 2026

Download Automation Anywhere product report

Buyer's Guide

Clarity SM

August 2026

Download Clarity SM product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM SmartCloud Control Desk

July 2026

Download IBM SmartCloud Control Desk product report

Also Known As

Automation Anywhere, Testing Anywhere, Automation Anywhere Enterprise, Agentic Process Automation System (Now Certified for WorkSpaces)

CA Service Desk Manager, Clarity Service Management, CA Service Management, Unicenter Service Desk, CA SDM, CA Service Catalog, CA Business Service Insight

SmartCloud Control Desk

Interactive Demo

Automation Anywhere

Demo not available

Broadcom

Demo not available

IBM

Overview

Automation Anywhere offers ease of use, robust system connectivity, and GenAI-driven document automation through a cloud-native platform, significantly enhancing productivity across multiple industries with advanced AI features.

Delivering a comprehensive suite of tools designed for easy integration and rapid deployment, Automation Anywhere drives efficiency by reducing costs and automating repetitive tasks. Its cloud-native platform supports broad industry adoption, including advanced AI features like process automation and Co-Pilot, streamlining complex workflows with minimal technical skills required. Users benefit from robust integration capabilities, which facilitate seamless interaction with multiple systems. However, there is room for improvement in areas such as user-friendliness for beginners, stability, flexible licensing, and enhanced OCR functionality. Organizations in sectors such as banking, finance, manufacturing, and healthcare gain from the improved operational efficiency and ROI Automation Anywhere offers.

What are the important features of Automation Anywhere?

Ease of Use: Simplifies automation tasks with a user-centric interface.
Robust Connectivity: Provides seamless integration with multiple systems.
GenAI-Driven Document Automation: Leverages AI to automate document management.
Process Automation & Co-Pilot: Enhances workflow automation with advanced AI.
Cloud-Native Platform: Enables rapid deployment and integration.

What benefits should be evaluated in reviews?

Time Savings: Automation drastically reduces manual processing time.
Cost Efficiency: Decreases overall operational costs by automating tasks.
Productivity Enhancement: Streamlines workflows with AI-driven tools.
Improved Integration: Enhances ability to work with multiple systems.
Scalability: Supports growth with a flexible cloud-native architecture.

In the insurance industry, Automation Anywhere is utilized for automating processes such as enrollment management and compliance checks. Its applications extend to supply chain management, financial transactions, and business performance monitoring across sectors like banking, finance, manufacturing, and healthcare, helping organizations to automate routine tasks, improve efficiency, and reduce costs.

Automation Anywhere

Clarity SM stands out as a comprehensive IT service management solution, notable for its wide range of features including service catalog integration and robust change management capabilities, making it a valuable choice for enterprises seeking to streamline their IT operations.

Clarity SM is designed to enhance IT processes through its advanced availability architecture and seamless integration with CA platforms. It offers a powerful configuration management database and process automation, significantly improving IT efficiency. Despite its strengths, it faces challenges such as integration costs, scalability issues, complex workflows, and outdated documentation. Enterprises employ Clarity SM for incident and problem management, leveraging customization for knowledge management and CMDB applications in diverse environments.

What are the key features of Clarity SM?

Integrated Service Catalog: Smooth handling of service requests through a unified platform.
Flexibility and Customization: Tailors to specific enterprise needs while balancing control.
Advanced Availability Architecture: Ensures high uptime and reliability.
User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies operations with an intuitive design.
Strong Incident and Change Management: Streamlines processes to manage IT changes effectively.

What benefits and ROI can users expect from Clarity SM?

Enhanced Customer Service: Improved user interactions and service delivery.
Increased Efficiency: Automation and integration reduce time and effort in IT operations.
Customizable Solutions: Adaptability to meet unique business requirements.
Seamless Integration: Works well with other CA platforms to unify IT processes.

In healthcare, Clarity SM aids in managing patient data and ensuring service reliability. Retailers utilize it for IT incident management across multiple outlets, reducing downtime. Financial institutions benefit from its auditing and compliance features to maintain secure operations. Each industry tailors Clarity SM capabilities to meet specific IT challenges and goals.

Broadcom

IBM SmartCloud Control Desk offers robust integration capabilities, effective SLA integrations, automated workflows, and comprehensive reporting. Its flexibility and centralized request management enhance service efficiency, making it ideal for detailed issue tracking and resolution in IT environments.

IBM SmartCloud Control Desk is designed to streamline IT support, ticketing, and incident management. By integrating seamlessly with existing infrastructures, it centralizes service requests and IT asset management. Its automated processes ensure efficiency from initiation to resolution, reducing the chances of oversight. The platform's adaptability supports both on-premises and cloud deployments, making it suitable for industries like telecommunications and IT services. However, users often face challenges with support responsiveness, outdated interfaces, and difficulties with email integration, particularly affecting images and attachments.

What Are the Key Features of IBM SmartCloud Control Desk?

Integration Capabilities: Seamlessly integrates with various systems to enhance functionality.
SLA Integrations: Strong service level agreement management ensures SLAs are met.
Automated Workflow: Full automation of processes from start to resolution.
Robust Reporting: Comprehensive reporting tools for detailed insights.
Request Management: Centralized management of service requests and IT assets.

What Benefits and ROI Should Users Seek?

Efficiency: Streamlines operations with automated processes, increasing productivity.
Flexibility: Adapts to organizational changes for better service delivery.
Reliability: Backed by IBM's trusted brand reputation.
Scalability: Scales with demand for growing businesses.

IBM SmartCloud Control Desk is widely implemented in telecommunications and IT services industries. Organizations utilize it for managing IT support, incident resolution, and system monitoring. Its ability to handle both internal and external requests effectively helps businesses streamline client communications and improve service management across different deployment models.

IBM

Sample Customers

Google, Linkedin, Cisco, Juniper Networks, DellEMC, Comcast, Mastercard, Quest Diagnostics

Banco G&T Continental City of Perth, FEMSA, Fujitsu, Manpower, Muslim Commercial Bank - MCB, Punjab National Bank, Santa Clara County Social Services, Stefanini

St Vincent's Health Australia, Kalibrate Pty. Ltd., Cognizant Technology

Buyer's Guide

Clarity SM vs. IBM SmartCloud Control Desk

August 2026

Free Report: Clarity SM vs. IBM SmartCloud Control Desk

Find out what your peers are saying about Clarity SM vs. IBM SmartCloud Control Desk and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.

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