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OpenText Universal Discovery and Universal CMDB vs ServiceNow CMDB 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 Universal Discover...
Ranking in Configuration Management Databases
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
ServiceNow CMDB
Ranking in Configuration Management Databases
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Configuration Management Databases category, the mindshare of OpenText Universal Discovery and Universal CMDB is 12.4%, down from 12.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow CMDB is 34.1%, down from 43.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Configuration Management Databases
 

Featured Reviews

Prajwal Kewat - PeerSpot reviewer
The UCMDB Tool is easy to manage IT assets and is auto-discovery features; But for ease of use the tool proper it needs to be documented in detailed fashion.
Based on my experience with the UCMDB tool, I have faced challenges while discovering servers (nodes). We need to define the IP list for discovery in RTSM and run jobs. However, over time, whenever new assets are added, we must manually add the new IPs in RTSM and run the jobs again. From the agent's perspective, we need to provide the Data Flow Probe IP. This can be done in one of two ways: we install the agent at the server (node) level, define the IP of the Data Flow Probe, and then our Data Flow Probe will capture the data from the agent and send it back to UCMDB. This method allows us to eliminate the step of manually adding the IPs in RTSM. In a dynamic production environment where changes are continuous, we need to stay updated on new servers (nodes). Ideally, the auto-discovery feature should automatically detect the new CIs (nodes/servers) in the environment and notify the IT personnel. This process could be achieved without the need for agents, or with a one-time agent setup.
Ravi Nidadavolu - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers a user-centric approach
My advice to new users is that choosing the right ITSM software, like ServiceNow CMDB, depends on your specific organizational requirements. It is similar to buying a car; there are numerous options, and the choice should be based on factors such as your budget, the effort you are willing to invest, and the level of support you need. Selecting the right software isn't a decision to rush; it involves researching available options and finding the best match based on your organization's needs. I would suggest researching both the advantages and disadvantages of ServiceNow online and considering it as an option. I have worked with BMC Remedy for years, and I have noticed that ServiceNow, especially its user interface, has improved significantly. However, keep in mind that when a tool is being updated to meet current market needs, it goes through stages of development, which may take time to reach its full potential. This is similar to how traditional automakers have entered the electric vehicle market. So, while ServiceNow could be a good choice, it is important to do your homework to ensure it suits your specific requirements. Overall, I would rate ServiceNow CMDB as a seven 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

"It scales easily with future expansion."
"The auto-discovery feature is great."
"It can discover almost everything and creates relationship among discovered CIs, along with creating topology modeling."
"The product is easy to set up."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the discovery."
"It can discover various pieces from hardware, software, custom applications, and tie them together to create a map using ASM."
"Precision, trustworthiness, reconciliation, and user-friendly presentation are the key features I value most."
"There is a lot of documentation online regarding CMDB."
"The CMDB for us is fed by our discovery tools, and it lets us be able to track the changes that we make to any incidents or escalation points that we have associated with a CI."
"The most valuable feature of ServiceNow is the user interface because you can customize or configure it directly from the user interface by using the mouse. It is easy to use even for non-IT people. You can also directly plug your ServiceNow instance within your Microsoft Active Directory and then retrieve all your users and groups. So, you can use the users and groups to put automation inside the application. When you have new hires, you can automate the group security and group attribution. It is very good in terms of performance. Its performance is almost 100%. Once, it took less than two minutes to back up and run an instance. It has very good reliability."
"It has helped in tracking hardware and software and reducing overall costs."
"ServiceNow is basically a go-to when it comes to Remedy and ticket management."
"One important element is automation. We can back up and manage multiple configurations. It also enables password self-service."
"The centralization in general is great. You get one version of the truth when you have a CMDB because it's all centralized."
"The initial setup isn't too complicated."
 

Cons

"Improve the GUI and documentation."
"The page loading is very slow."
"The implementation could be simplified."
"Making it simpler to set up and understand would be a big improvement."
"When we work in an environment, the production environment continuously changes and at that time we should have knowledge about the new server (node). However, the auto-discovery part should automatically discover the new CI (node/servers) in an environment and inform the IT person."
"There are some gaps in the technologies that can be solved. Operational technology isn't quite 100% there yet, but I hear it is on the roadmap. I would also like it to be cheaper."
"An area for improvement in ServiceNow is the reporting because there are reporting features that would be better when done within the platform, rather than having to buy the performance analytics model. There is so much difference between the dashboarding that you can do from the platform versus what's on the performance analytics model. Some of the features currently available within performance analytics would be good to have within the platform because sometimes, customers will say that the tool is okay, but it's not enough, so you'll need to go with the performance analytics model, and that's costly."
"We would like the solution to be made more easily scalable in future updates."
"There could be room for enhancing customization capabilities."
"You need to perform additional planning because their recommendation is not to add columns to the core tables."
"Definitely, the price needs to be lower because there are clients that I work with who cannot afford ServiceNow. I have to end up proposing alternate solutions to fit their budget."
"The initial setup can be very bad if the roadmap is not set up properly. You need a specialist to help you set up the roadmap."
"The discovery process and service mapping could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is competitive."
"Compared with other solutions, I would say that it's more expensive especially since we have an on-premise version and an older implementation."
"I would like it to be cheaper. If you've got a large environment, it can get quite expensive quite quickly. You still get a return on investment, but everybody has a tight budget. In terms of licensing, everything is pretty much known upfront. Being SaaS-based, there are no real additional gotchas that we came across."
"The product price falls on the higher side of the spectrum."
"The product is pricey."
"It is always fluctuating. It seems to change every six months. Every time they come out with a new iteration, it changes. It is pretty complicated, and they should improve it."
"It is really expensive. I don't know actually how much it costs, but in 2016, when a client decided to move from an old solution to ServiceNow and had to choose a supplier for ServiceNow, I had heard that it could cost $10 per hour, which is really expensive. I am not aware of any additional fees to the standard licensing fees. There is no standard ServiceNow solution. When a company wants to acquire ServiceNow, they already know which module they will choose. In a basic package, you would have Service Catalog, Incident Management, and Change Management. These modules are usually required in an IT company."
"In comparison to the cost of other solutions, you get value for your money with ServiceNow CMDB. It could definitely be cheaper though."
"The market sees ServiceNow as the Ferrari in terms of pricing. It's at the very top, and its cost is very, very high."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Wholesaler/Distributor
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Universal CMDB?
OpenText's pricing is fine. It is not too expensive. I would rate it a six out of ten in terms of costliness.
What needs improvement with Universal CMDB?
Based on my experience and what I have heard from clients, there are two main areas where Universal CMDB could get better. First, the way it shows results to users could be more user-friendly. Seco...
What is your primary use case for Universal CMDB?
I use Universal Discovery and Universal CMDB for two main tasks: first, to discover what is happening in our IT system, like finding out what devices and software we have. Then, we use Universal CM...
What do you like most about ServiceNow CMDB?
The product's initial setup phase was simple.
What needs improvement with ServiceNow CMDB?
I don't currently see any problems with ServiceNow CMDB since everything works fine. If I click on some particular CIs at the moment, all the information related to that CI appears by default. Righ...
What is your primary use case for ServiceNow CMDB?
I use ServiceNow CMDB in my company to deal with areas like incidents, problems, and change management. I use ServiceNow CMDB in my company to deal with all the equipment inventories and our infras...
 

Also Known As

Micro Focus Universal Discovery and Universal CMDB, Micro Focus Universal CMDB, UCMDB, HPE Universal CMDB
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

China Merchants Bank, NNIT, Alfa-Bank, Sprint
Wayfair, Siemens, Allianz, Experian, Vitas Healthcare
Find out what your peers are saying about OpenText Universal Discovery and Universal CMDB vs. ServiceNow CMDB and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.