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OpenText Service Management (SMAX) vs OpenText Service Manager [EOL] comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 21, 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

OpenText Service Management...
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
IT Service Management (ITSM) (9th)
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
 

Featured Reviews

HiteshKumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Lead at Bharti AXA Life Insurance
Supports seamless ticket routing and team collaboration across departments
Maybe something in OpenText Service Management (SMAX) is not perfect. Some small changes could be done. There could be improvements in workflow changes. When a customer needs to change a workflow issue, we can change the workflow relationship accordingly. A customer might need a workflow where if I accept the permission, then close the ticket, and the escalated ticket is not directly assigned to anyone. Different scenarios require different workflow configurations.
MEKKAB Raouf - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Technology Service Manager & Technology Integration DevOps at Djezzy
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"OpenText Service Management (SMAX) is effective for all sectors, such as IT and HR."
"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 customization features are quite good, and we have a very good local vendor helping us in this regard."
"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 product provides an interface for the end users to make requests."
"This is a cordless application that can be used throughout any organization."
"The tool is very easy to use."
"It can adapt to any process in the organization."
"It's pretty well-structured in modules."
"Sometimes, customization is simple. The version we are using now has a nice interface."
"The solution is simple to set up."
"Service Manager does what it should, but it's quite outdated."
"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."
"It gives us better understanding and control of service management."
"A valuable feature for us is that we have an ordered way to handle all the cases that we can handle with the infrastructure."
 

Cons

"The solution lacks sufficient documentation."
"The contract management feature can be improved."
"The tool has negatively impacted our productivity."
"The reporting functionality is not the best as it is not easy to use."
"OpenText Service Management (SMAX) has some stability challenges that are crashable and not stable at times."
"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 product's connectivity with third-party products is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"There should be some front desk provided or some options to let our users serve themselves, because we have about 5000 servers and 400 applications."
"Their end-user interface and technical support features could be improved."
"Service Manager is at the end of its life. The architecture, performance, and look are all way behind."
"There's a lot of manual work, which is error prone and time consuming, in how the code gets transported from one system to the other."
"With the new version moving toward the codeless configuration is good, but it's losing flexibility."
"Pure cloud-based native functionality is lacking."
"I think the best recommendation to Micro Focus would be to increase awareness and the marketing for this product."
"We aren't able to take emails that come in and turn them into tickets, especially when it comes to attachments. When an email has an attachment, like a screenshot, it is a very cumbersome process, and it does not work very well. I shouldn't have been paying technicians to cut and paste attachments from an email into the ticketing system. It should do that automatically. Other solutions are able to do that. This is something that needs to be improved. Test manager and knowledge management areas are probably amongst the worst parts of this solution. We try to use this solution for knowledge management, but it is not user-friendly. Therefore, it has limited ROI as you need to spend time to try and fully capitalize on the knowledge management system."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"I pay for Service Manager on a yearly basis, and the price is reasonable - I would rate it five out of ten."
"HP Service Manager has moderate pricing."
"Micro Focus Service Manager is a little cheaper than other options. You have to pay a monthly subscription fee."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
Performing Arts
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Educational Organization
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise38
 

Questions from the Community

What is your primary use case for Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)?
OpenText Service Management (SMAX) is what I refer to when I say SMAX, and it is from OpenText. I work with OpenText Service Management (SMAX) and other tools. OpenText Service Management (SMAX) ca...
What advice do you have for others considering Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)?
OpenText Service Management (SMAX) is effective for all sectors, such as IT and HR. OpenText Service Management (SMAX) is good, and I do not see any negative side. It is possible to discuss some ot...
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Also Known As

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

Interactive Demo

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

Zurich Airport, Envirosuite, Norsk Helsenett, Achmea, University of Milan, World Vision, Petroleum Development Oman, Court of Justice of the Federal District and Territories (TJDFT).
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