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OpenText Service Manager [EOL] vs ServiceNow comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

OpenText Service Manager [EOL]
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
ServiceNow
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
223
Ranking in other categories
Help Desk Software (1st), IT Asset Management (1st), IT Service Management (ITSM) (1st), Rapid Application Development Software (2nd), No-Code Development Platforms (1st)
 

Featured Reviews

MEKKAB Raouf - PeerSpot reviewer
Excellent pricing with great change management and service management capabilities
We started with version 9.3, and now we're on 9.6 with the full solution, including the CMS. They have lots of options. They propose a full solution for technology and IT service management. We are a telecom company. We are a leader in the market, and therefore, we need to have all details about our own environment and assets. So far, Micro Focus answers all our needs. I'd advise new users to go directly to the SMAX solution, the last, last version of Service Manager. If they are a technical company or information technology company with engineers and developers, they can use it on-premise. If they don't have such competence in the company, they can ask for the solution on the cloud. It is easily available on Microsoft, Amazon, or Google clouds. I'd rate the product nine out of ten.
Nikhil Gohil - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables effective incident management and seamless workflow automation with valuable mobile accessibility
I haven't thought deeply about improvements for ServiceNow or what might be missing right now. There are so many modules and features in ServiceNow that I haven't explored them all, so it's hard to say what might be missing or should be improved. I suggest making the cost more affordable for smaller companies.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution will streamline productivity and also improve automation. That would bring efficiency as well the ability to handle a big number of enterprise-wide service needs. Productivity and collaborative capabilities are some of the key benefits."
"Its flexibility and ease of customization are its most valuable features."
"The workflow engine that standardizes and globalizes the process steps. It drives people through the process by standardization and automation."
"Sometimes, customization is simple. The version we are using now has a nice interface."
"It helps to register things, to see the changing parts, and to correlate incidents."
"The design has been revamped in terms of GUI. The current interface is quite easy to read."
"It's mostly so reliable and has a lot of functionality. We're using a lot of HPE tools and we can do a lot with it. So, its functionality is the most valuable feature."
"We can have all our requests and incidents registered in one system."
"I don't have to look through a whole bunch of other incidents that aren't relevant to me. It's very useful in that sense."
"ServiceNow is very easy to set up."
"You can have it installed and up and running within hours if you know what you're doing. Time to market would be one of the main things to consider."
"Great that it's knowledge-based and you can use the flows in ServiceNow."
"Will give us better control over asset management and technical debt once we can centralize all contract information."
"I recommend ServiceNow due to its stability and good security."
"ServiceNow offers a range of ITSM, IT incident management, and PRCPs."
"Flexibility is the most valuable feature of ServiceNow, that is, being able to modify it to do what we need it to do."
 

Cons

"Service Manager would be improved with access to automation."
"It needs good integration with the configuration database, that's lacking at the moment, It's not that good."
"Customization can be difficult at times because scripting is often required."
"Service Manager is at the end of its life. The architecture, performance, and look are all way behind."
"With the new version moving toward the codeless configuration is good, but it's losing flexibility."
"The interface could be better."
"It needs to be easier to use for the end users because one problem we had was that we are handling different kinds of cases."
"I think one area which is the most painful from my point of view is if you need to integrate a lot of the tools, and being able to make that a lot more seamless."
"I suggest making the cost more affordable for smaller companies."
"Making a mobile version would be helpful."
"The customer service of the product right now isn't very good. It's an aspect they really need to improve."
"I have a problem with the way the solution's price is calculated."
"I find ServiceNow to be a little bit clunky. If I need to report an issue they have a number of different options. I can report an issue, I can ask a question, I can make a request and it has varying levels of importance or levels of attention required. I find that what's required to submit is not always clear."
"We would like to have an Asset Management and/or Project Management feature enabled in this version and in the IT Service Management edition."
"There is a need for bug or error tracking in ServiceNow."
"HR Service Management is one module that needs a lot of improvement because it's a pretty new module. It was introduced in the last two years. It's becoming more mature day by day, but there is a lot of scope for improvement in that module."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Micro Focus Service Manager is a little cheaper than other options. You have to pay a monthly subscription fee."
"HP Service Manager has moderate pricing."
"The license is not cheap."
"I would say that identify your requirements and pay for the support to implement and test those requirements, and then hope that you did a good job because the cost of their service is fairly expensive."
"I pay for Service Manager on a yearly basis, and the price is reasonable - I would rate it five out of ten."
"The price of this solution is expensive."
"ServiceNow pricing is an art, not a science. The deal depends on how commercially savvy you are, which does make it something that is quite difficult to get right. It is most definitely an opportunity area for ServiceNow to improve and have more visibility around pricing of the different products within the platform."
"Getting the solution up and running is expensive."
"For large-scale companies, the cost of ServiceNow is not expensive, but for small and mid-scale companies, it is higher."
"The licensing expenses are excessively high."
"This is a pretty expensive product, so the licensing could be better."
"There is an annual subscription to use this solution."
"The solution is priced for medium to enterprises sized businesses. However, it is expensive compared to competitors."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
25%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Performing Arts
10%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise38
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business54
Midsize Enterprise36
Large Enterprise163
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Micro Focus Service Manager?
The product's technical support services need improvement.
What is your primary use case for Micro Focus Service Manager?
We use the product for infrastructure, profile, and incident management.
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
 

Also Known As

Micro Focus Service Manager, HPE ITSM, HPE Service Manager
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

resultspositive, Globicon
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 ServiceNow, Atlassian, BMC Helix and others in IT Service Management (ITSM). Updated: September 2025.
869,089 professionals have used our research since 2012.