IBM SmartCloud Control Desk vs Ivanti ITSM comparison

Why PeerSpot?

IBM and Ivanti are both solutions in the Help Desk Software category. IBM is ranked #32, while Ivanti is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.2. Additionally, 88% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Ivanti users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 3, 2026

Ivanti ITSM and IBM SmartCloud Control Desk are competitors in the IT service management category. Ivanti appears to have the upper hand thanks to its automation capabilities, flexibility, and cost-effective pricing, appealing to businesses of various sizes.

Features: Ivanti ITSM offers comprehensive automation, self-service functionalities, and robust integration. It provides effective patch management and service request capabilities. IBM SmartCloud Control Desk stands out with its asset management, workflow capabilities, and integration options, although its automation is less robust than Ivanti's.

Room for Improvement: Ivanti ITSM could benefit from improved customization in its self-service portal and better integration support. IBM SmartCloud Control Desk users report dissatisfaction with its outdated interface and limited graphical features. Both could enhance technical support and response times.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Ivanti ITSM offers diverse deployment options, including hybrid and public cloud services, with generally positive customer support feedback, despite some concerns over initial costs. IBM SmartCloud Control Desk, primarily an on-premises solution, faces criticism for slower support response times.

Pricing and ROI: Ivanti ITSM is regarded as cost-efficient with a subscription-based model and lower fees, delivering significant ROI through operational efficiency. IBM SmartCloud Control Desk involves higher licensing costs but provides value to larger enterprises through manageable annual fees and robust enterprise-level features.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM SmartCloud Control Desk vs. Ivanti ITSM Report (Updated: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

IBM SmartCloud Control Desk vs. Ivanti ITSM

September 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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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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Rajat_Srivastava

Manager - Technical Support at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Has helped streamline ticketing and change management while offering clear documentation support

Documentation and learning materials are available for Ivanti Neurons for ITSM, and if you check the vendor sites, you will find documents for each feature. I believe that short videos should be created and uploaded for newcomers to learn quickly since time can be limited. If a user believes in Ivanti, they should also believe in all its products including Ivanti Neurons for ITSM and Neurons because they are genuinely putting in hard work. This is reflected in the documentation, though I suggest they work on creating more videos. Other than that, you will find everything you need in the community site and documentation site. On a scale of 1-10, I rate Ivanti Neurons for ITSM an 8 out of 10.

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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

"I appreciate that Automation Anywhere is so user-friendly, and currently, our team is learning Power Automate and migrating some of the processes as we go."

"IQ Bot is the most important feature and it has been extensively used by our clients."

"The OCR feature in Automation Anywhere is the best I have encountered, even better than Google."

"The AI Agent of Automation Anywhere is very powerful and very good, with accurate, reliable, and faster responses, and it is able to understand the context so that from the next time onwards it delivers exactly what I expect."

"We have automated a few processes, which take four to five hours to do manually, and when we automated these processes that time became less than one hour with RPA."

"The majority of Indian companies are showing a lot of interest in recruiting students who are trained in this Automation Anywhere RPA tool."

"The IQ Bot is very impressive to us, as we have tried several tools in the industry and we have not been able to automate to the same level as provided by this solution."

"Automation Anywhere can be considered as one of the most stable RPA tools in the industry, according to the perspective of the limited amount of tools that I've used."

More Automation Anywhere pros

"The workflow capability is useful. It's not a manual helpdesk operation. It's fully automated, even when an alarm has occurred. It covers the complete cycle of initiation to resolving the events. This is its most strong feature that is easily integrable with a monitoring solution. It creates tickets, and the workflow feature is the most important one."

"The solution is very easy to work with."

"The solution has been stable."

"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."

"Overall, it's a good product that I would recommend."

"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."

"The most valuable are its flexibility and agility. It's quick to change it, to adapt it to your needs. That's the most important for us."

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

More IBM SmartCloud Control Desk pros

"My advice to others considering Ivanti Neurons for ITSM is that it is a good platform to obtain comprehensive help in one location, and users can utilize this platform comfortably."

"It is relatively cost-effective compared to other options like ServiceNow. Additionally, it is highly stable."

"They allow us to automate ticketing processes and create requests more efficiently, improving our overall support operations."

"There is a very good approval hierarchy in place."

"Everything in Ivanti Neurons for ITSM is excellent, and they are doing their best."

"It's easy for the IT admins at the company to use. It isn't hard to understand and there are lots of features you can use out of the box. If a feature isn't available in Ivanti Automation, you can always script it."

"Primarily, I believe the focus lies on discovery, workflow configuration, and automation."

"Understand that this product is a great investment."

More Ivanti ITSM pros

Cons

"Having some more pre-mapping and pre-setup analysis of what you're going to be doing with it would be helpful."

"We don't have an ROI in any of our processes. We are just trying it out now to see if it works. We haven't had any savings yet. We have been putting more time in than saving time at this point."

"We have a new feature share in Automation Anywhere, but it does not migrate automatically from the previous version to the new one."

"We had several issues when trying to connect the different components, due to our firewalls. They were eventually solved by our internal IT and the AA technical team."

"There have been problems with scalability. It comes down to how we handle the code."

"If there were one thing I could ask for it would be a text-based language. Right now it's proprietary, so you always have to go through the tool, even for things like basic compares."

"One thing with the bot that we are always struggling with is the memory management."

"We have encountered some issues in the actions like Terminal Emulator-> Send Key -> Page Down/Up not working."

More Automation Anywhere cons

"The product is kind of clunky to use."

"What needs improvement in IBM SmartCloud Control Desk is its graphical interface because it needs to be more user-friendly."

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

"The user interface is not very interesting."

"Overall the user experience, as opposed to the system and databases, could be improved. It does work as it should and it's good, but they should invest more in the user interfaces to be less data oriented and more appealing for the user."

"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. I understand that because we use the product of a global company, some changes are not quick to deploy."

More IBM SmartCloud Control Desk cons

"There could be an improvement in the ability to easily integrate other systems without extensive development."

"Support needs improvement in terms of responsiveness and timeliness."

"Currently, the solution only supports SOAP web services, but a REST interface is on the roadmap and has been confirmed for mid-next year."

"The support that we're currently getting is just not there."

"I have had to open a few support tickets with the HEAT Service Management. They are very good but there are some areas that they could improve on."

"Configuration requirements are extensive, even in basic Service Desk processes."

"The patching for non-Windows OSes such as Linux is poor."

"Their cloud relay feature needs to improve to compete with other products in cloud solutions like Azure and AWS. It should be easier to deploy or provision images in the cloud with Ivanti Automation. Better Azure integration would also help."

More Ivanti ITSM cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The initial setup and licensing fees are high, and although it saves costs in the long run, reaching the break-even point can take at least six months."

"I advise others that even as of right now, the setup cost and licensing cost to automate bots on Automation Anywhere is steep but it is worth the investment!"

"They are already coming out with a community license, which is really good. That's something that I wish to have."

"I think it's $5,500 per license."

"Yearly, our licensing costs are about $90,000 to $100,000. There will be additional licensing costs when we add more Bot Runners to our infrastructure."

"The cost is anywhere between $10,000 and $100,000."

"It is not cheap, but we are able to get an ROI."

"It is subscription-based. They have different schemes. The price depends on how you negotiate with the local partner or local representative in your country."

More Automation Anywhere pricing and cost advice

"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 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."

"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."

"I came to know from my team members that my company used to operate ServiceNow but shifted to Ivanti Neurons for ITSM due to its low licensing prices."

"The product is affordable for small businesses."

"If you want to add more users who can handle support there will be additional fees. What we call our extensions, we need to pay more for. They tell us that we need to acquire more licenses or something like that. I think it's very expensive, because in terms the pula, our local currency, it's about 20,000 per license for each user. It is an annual fee."

"My customers do direct sales with Ivanti, and they complain that Ivanti Automation is more expensive than other solutions."

"The price is on the higher side. The support is included in the standard licensing fees."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Outsourcing Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Outsourcing Company

12%

Performing Arts

12%

Construction Company

11%

Outsourcing Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	161
Midsize Enterprise	82
Large Enterprise	558

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Large Enterprise	3

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	11
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	8

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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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Ivanti Neurons for ITSM?

I think the pricing aspect is cost-efficient.

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What needs improvement with Ivanti Neurons for ITSM?

Areas that have room for improvement with Ivanti Neurons for ITSM might include some of the reliability with Mac devi...

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What is your primary use case for Ivanti Neurons for ITSM?

I use this product for patch management, remote access, and endpoint control.

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Automation Anywhere

September 2026

Download Automation Anywhere product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM SmartCloud Control Desk

September 2026

Download IBM SmartCloud Control Desk product report

Buyer's Guide

Ivanti ITSM

September 2026

Download Ivanti ITSM product report

Also Known As

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

SmartCloud Control Desk

HEAT Service Management, Ivanti Automation

Interactive Demo

Automation Anywhere

Demo not available

IBM

Demo not available

Ivanti

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

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

Ivanti ITSM offers powerful automation with AI integration, featuring customizable service management solutions like self-service, Self Heal, service catalog, and ticketing systems, supporting incident, change, and asset management.

Ivanti ITSM combines stability, scalability, and cost-effectiveness, providing automation and AI-driven enhancements for handling incidents, changes, and assets. Users highlight its easy customization, user-friendly interface, and seamless integration with third-party tools. Notable for its patch management, endpoint visibility, and powerful workflows, Ivanti ITSM allows tailored service requests and comprehensive IT management, suitable for large and small enterprises. However, it requires enhancements for integration with non-Windows systems and some third-party tools, particularly improving self-service portal, UI, language localization, and support documentation. Configuration requirements, patching, and pricing models are also noted as areas needing refinement.

What are the standout features of Ivanti ITSM?

Self-Service Portal: Empowers users to resolve common issues independently.
Automation and AI: Drives efficiency with automated workflows and AI integration.
Service Catalog: Provides a structured offering of service requests and solutions.
Ticketing System: Streamlines incident tracking and resolution processes.
Patch Management: Ensures up-to-date and secure IT environments.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Customizability: Enables adaptation to specific IT needs.
Cost Efficiency: Offers scalable solutions without excessive costs.
Third-Party Integration: Facilitates seamless interaction with existing tools.
User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies adoption and day-to-day use.
Scalability: Supports growing and diverse IT requirements.

Ivanti ITSM is implemented widely in sectors like HR and finance for digital transformation, leveraging ITIL-certified processes and customizable workflows for comprehensive service desk operations. Its integration of intelligent chatbots and central support centers addresses IT needs efficiently, favored by organizations seeking ServiceNow alternatives.

Ivanti

Sample Customers

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

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

AFS Group, Auckland Airport, Baylor University, County of Maui, Dis-Chem Pharmacies, Elia, Essentia Health, Government Research Laboratory, Groupe Webhelp, HSBC Africa, Midwestern University

Buyer's Guide

IBM SmartCloud Control Desk vs. Ivanti ITSM

September 2026

Free Report: IBM SmartCloud Control Desk vs. Ivanti ITSM

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM SmartCloud Control Desk vs. Ivanti ITSM and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.

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