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ServiceNow Discovery vs VMware vCenter comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.1
ServiceNow Discovery's ROI is inconsistent, with full benefits seen when combined with other services for operational efficiency.
Sentiment score
4.8
VMware vCenter provides cost savings and efficiency by centralizing management, reducing labor and energy costs, and enhancing scalability.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.0
ServiceNow Discovery's support varies, with mixed experiences on responsiveness and effectiveness, improving with advanced support tiers and partnerships.
Sentiment score
7.6
VMware vCenter support varies, with mixed responsiveness and expertise, praised resources, and cost concerns for non-premium users.
The 'follow the sun' model, where the time of raising the ticket and where it lands, plays a crucial role.
Manager, Solution/Service Delivery at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
This rating is because there are features on the tool that never worked and despite calling our support, there were no results.
IT Service Performance Manager at MTN
VMware vCenter manages high availability effectively.
IT Infrastructure and Architect Specialist at a transportation company with 201-500 employees
The technical support is good.
Manager Tech. & Support (Information Technology) at Texitech
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
ServiceNow Discovery is highly scalable, suited for large infrastructures, compatible with AWS and Azure, but requires careful cost management.
Sentiment score
8.5
VMware vCenter excels in scalability, suitable for all business sizes, with high ratings and efficient automated management capabilities.
I would rate it as a nine on a scale of one to ten, indicating it is highly scalable.
Software Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Small companies will not be able to afford ServiceNow Discovery from the pricing perspective.
Manager, Solution/Service Delivery at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
It receives this rating because it can be difficult to troubleshoot when the discovery is failing.
IT Service Performance Manager at MTN
On a scale of one to ten, I would rate its scalability as ten.
IT Manager at Synergy Computers
The solution is completely scalable as we can increase any host with great simplicity.
IT Infrastructure and Architect Specialist at a transportation company with 201-500 employees
The scalability is good in vCenter.
Manager Tech. & Support (Information Technology) at Texitech
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
ServiceNow Discovery is highly stable and reliable, with minor configuration issues not affecting its strong overall performance ratings.
Sentiment score
5.1
VMware vCenter is praised for stability, reliability, and ecosystem support, with minor issues quickly resolved by effective support.
I would rate the stability of ServiceNow Discovery as nine, as we never had downtime.
IT Service Performance Manager at MTN
That is not a mistake of the product. It is due to excessive security on the network.
Manager, Solution/Service Delivery at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
We have not faced any issues after upgrading VMware vCenter, whether on the vCenter or any host.
IT Infrastructure and Architect Specialist at a transportation company with 201-500 employees
 

Room For Improvement

ServiceNow Discovery struggles with service mapping and integration, necessitating enhancements for usability, cloud capabilities, and easier licensing.
VMware vCenter struggles with high costs, complex licensing, limited features, and demands for better scalability, automation, and integration.
ServiceNow ITOM is particularly not very strong in terms of monitoring capabilities. They do not have any monitoring tool.
Manager, Solution/Service Delivery at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Improvements could include implementing chatbots to simplify ticket creation.
Software Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
A CMDB debugging tool to give indication about the errors that appear would be appreciated.
Director, Information Technology at Gen™
The licensing model has shifted, leading to higher costs, particularly for smaller organizations.
IT Manager at Synergy Computers
The license cost has increased significantly, which is the primary negative aspect of VMware vCenter.
IT Infrastructure and Architect Specialist at a transportation company with 201-500 employees
Better redundancy options can be achieved by using multiple vCenter machines.
Manager Tech. & Support (Information Technology) at Texitech
 

Setup Cost

ServiceNow Discovery is pricey but valued for advanced features, with potential discounts though standalone costs are high.
VMware vCenter's high costs and complex licensing may increase with Broadcom's subscription model, impacting smaller businesses significantly.
I think the price of ServiceNow Discovery is cheaper than BMC.
IT Service Performance Manager at MTN
ServiceNow is considered more expensive compared to other products.
Software Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The licensing model now requires purchasing 96-core solutions, even if fewer cores are needed, adding to the cost burden.
IT Manager at Synergy Computers
 

Valuable Features

ServiceNow Discovery integrates seamlessly with ServiceNow suite, enhancing IT operations through automated mapping, security, and cloud discovery.
VMware vCenter provides centralized management, high availability, seamless migration, and efficient virtualization for improved infrastructure management and reduced costs.
ServiceNow Discovery has normal discovery of CIs, as well as horizontal discovery for understanding Service Mapping.
Manager, Solution/Service Delivery at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
The workflows are beneficial as they allow tasks to be assigned to respective teams without the need for coding.
Software Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
ServiceNow Discovery helps with operations, audits, and allows people to assess how a particular change in infrastructure impacts other components.
Director, Information Technology at Gen™
High availability is employed so if an ESXi server is down, the VM is supported on another ESXi on other servers.
System Engineer at TARGET Integrated Systems
The high availability feature is particularly valuable when a host goes down or experiences high usage, as it automatically migrates VMs to other hosts to balance performance.
IT Infrastructure and Architect Specialist at a transportation company with 201-500 employees
VMware vCenter is excellent for managing and monitoring hypervisors, specifically with features like live migration, storage vMotion, and host vMotion.
IT Manager at Synergy Computers
 

Categories and Ranking

ServiceNow Discovery
Ranking in Server Monitoring
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
44
Ranking in other categories
IT Asset Management (6th), Cloud Resource Discovery Services (1st)
VMware vCenter
Ranking in Server Monitoring
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Server Monitoring category, the mindshare of ServiceNow Discovery is 3.3%, down from 5.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware vCenter is 1.4%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Monitoring Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
VMware vCenter1.4%
ServiceNow Discovery3.3%
Other95.3%
Server Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2759271 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager, Solution/Service Delivery at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Has supported enterprise needs well and addresses discovery across environments
Small companies will not be able to afford ServiceNow Discovery from the pricing perspective. Hence, they will not opt for ServiceNow Discovery as a solution, either as an ITSM solution or ITOM solution. It will not be affordable. I am specifically talking about the Middle East and Africa region. ServiceNow ITOM is particularly not very strong in terms of monitoring capabilities. They do not have any monitoring tool. They use event management from getting events from other tools. In that front, they had a roadmap for going for an open-source solution, but I have not seen that materialize. There is a lack of tools perspective for monitoring. Perhaps they do not have a plan because there are hundreds of tools available, and they prefer to focus on integration and event management.
Hoang Long Nguyen - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Infrastructure and Architect Specialist at a transportation company with 201-500 employees
Automation and technical support impress with seamless migration and high availability management
We are in the process of implementing Zerto, which is currently in the purchase order phase. While we haven't fully implemented it yet, we have completed the POC. We use VMware vCenter and ESXi. The solution manages high availability effectively, with excellent automation for migration and patch management. The support is good, though the recent license change after the Broadcom acquisition has significantly increased costs. Patch management is controllable and can be managed individually, with automatic downloads available. We use it primarily for managing hosts and updates, without any integration. The performance is excellent, running very smoothly. I rate VMware vCenter a 9 out of 10.
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881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Outsourcing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise23
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise18
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ServiceNow Discovery?
The solution can prioritize the discovery of IP ranges. The product automatically places all Discovery CIs into the correct class within the CMDB.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ServiceNow Discovery?
The pricing information for ServiceNow Discovery was requested but not provided.
What needs improvement with ServiceNow Discovery?
A CMDB debugging tool to give indication about the errors that appear would be appreciated.
What do you like most about VMware vCenter?
The filtering capabilities also enhance scalability by optimizing resource allocation.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware vCenter?
The initial package for VMware vCenter is not less than $10,000, which can be prohibitive for smaller organizations. The licensing model now requires purchasing 96-core solutions, even if fewer cor...
What needs improvement with VMware vCenter?
The main concern is the license change following the sale to Broadcom. The license cost has increased significantly, which is the primary negative aspect of VMware vCenter. While technical support ...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

York, National Grid, DXC Technology, experian, BEACHBODY
1. Amazon 2. Apple 3. ATT 4. Bank of America 5. Cisco Systems 6. CocaCola 7. Dell 8. ebay 9. Facebook 10. Google 11. HP 12. IBM 13. Intel 14. JPMorgan Chase 15. LinkedIn 16. Microsoft 17. Netflix 18. Oracle 19. PayPal 20. SAP 21. Siemens 22. Tesla 23. Toyota 24. Twitter 25. Visa 26. Walmart 27. WeWork 28. World Bank
Find out what your peers are saying about ServiceNow Discovery vs. VMware vCenter and other solutions. Updated: January 2026.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.