BMC Helix ITSM (Remedy) vs. Zendesk Suite

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
BMC Helix ITSM (Remedy)
Score 7.0 out of 10
N/A
BMC Helix ITSM replaces Remedy. It is a broad suite of ITSM, tools with strong integrations to other BMC tools and in-built ITAM. The product is used mainly by global brands and is offered in on-premise and SaaS configurations.N/A
Zendesk Suite
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
The Zendesk Support suite is a cloud-based customer support software built for better customer relationships. Designed to improve customer satisfaction and to support customers on any channel: text SMS, web, mobile app, phone, email, social media. The vendor states more than 200,000 companies such as Uber, Groupon, Box, Airbnb, and Slack are using Zendesk to lower their support costs, raise productivity, and increase customer satisfaction. Zendesk offers a full suite of products to meet customer…
$55
per month agent
Pricing
BMC Helix ITSM (Remedy)Zendesk Suite
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Support Team (Foundational Support Only)
$19
per month agent
Suite Team
$55
per month agent
Support Professional
$55
per month agent
Suite Growth
$89
per month agent
Suite Professional
$115
per month agent
Support Enterprise
$115
per month agent
Suite Enterprise
$169
per month agent
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BMC Helix ITSM (Remedy)Zendesk Suite
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
BMC Helix ITSM (Remedy)Zendesk Suite
Considered Both Products
BMC Helix ITSM (Remedy)
Chose BMC Helix ITSM (Remedy)
Another business unit is using Salesforce for their IT management, and we were looking at switching over. However due to BMC Helix ITSM (Remedy)'s great support for ITIL implementation and the requirement for on-premise, we decided to stick with BMC Helix ITSM (Remedy).
Zendesk Suite
Chose Zendesk Suite
Zendesk is much cleaner, simpler, and the support staff is faster to respond with actual solutions than the larger solutions. It is also a lot cheaper, both in license cost and in cost to implement. There are also a number of additional support channels (which I am not …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
BMC Helix ITSM (Remedy)Zendesk Suite
Incident and problem management
Comparison of Incident and problem management features of Product A and Product B
BMC Helix ITSM (Remedy)
7.5
45 Ratings
8% below category average
Zendesk Suite
8.1
109 Ratings
3% above category average
Organize and prioritize service tickets7.544 Ratings8.4108 Ratings
Expert directory7.931 Ratings7.268 Ratings
Service restoration6.939 Ratings00 Ratings
Self-service tools9.043 Ratings00 Ratings
Subscription-based notifications7.034 Ratings7.374 Ratings
ITSM collaboration and documentation8.043 Ratings7.970 Ratings
ITSM reports and dashboards6.343 Ratings00 Ratings
Ticket creation and submission00 Ratings9.1109 Ratings
Ticket response00 Ratings8.8108 Ratings
ITSM asset management
Comparison of ITSM asset management features of Product A and Product B
BMC Helix ITSM (Remedy)
8.6
41 Ratings
5% above category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Configuration mangement9.138 Ratings00 Ratings
Asset management dashboard8.938 Ratings00 Ratings
Policy and contract enforcement7.731 Ratings00 Ratings
Change management
Comparison of Change management features of Product A and Product B
BMC Helix ITSM (Remedy)
7.7
42 Ratings
8% below category average
Zendesk Suite
-
Ratings
Change requests repository7.942 Ratings00 Ratings
Change calendar8.139 Ratings00 Ratings
Service-level management7.141 Ratings00 Ratings
Self Help Community
Comparison of Self Help Community features of Product A and Product B
BMC Helix ITSM (Remedy)
-
Ratings
Zendesk Suite
7.9
97 Ratings
2% above category average
External knowledge base00 Ratings7.893 Ratings
Internal knowledge base00 Ratings8.088 Ratings
Multi-Channel Help
Comparison of Multi-Channel Help features of Product A and Product B
BMC Helix ITSM (Remedy)
-
Ratings
Zendesk Suite
7.9
107 Ratings
3% above category average
Customer portal00 Ratings7.484 Ratings
IVR00 Ratings7.835 Ratings
Social integration00 Ratings7.366 Ratings
Email support00 Ratings8.5105 Ratings
Help Desk CRM integration00 Ratings8.579 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BMC Helix ITSM (Remedy)Zendesk Suite
Small Businesses
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Agiloft Flexible Service Desk Suite
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Ivanti Neurons for ITSM
Ivanti Neurons for ITSM
Score 9.1 out of 10
SAP Service Cloud
SAP Service Cloud
Score 8.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BMC Helix ITSM (Remedy)Zendesk Suite
Likelihood to Recommend
7.3
(50 ratings)
8.3
(147 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(6 ratings)
10.0
(40 ratings)
Usability
6.5
(3 ratings)
6.9
(20 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
8.6
(13 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(10 ratings)
Support Rating
8.1
(9 ratings)
9.0
(29 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
7.9
(9 ratings)
Implementation Rating
6.6
(2 ratings)
9.0
(18 ratings)
Configurability
5.0
(1 ratings)
9.3
(3 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
BMC Helix ITSM (Remedy)Zendesk Suite
Likelihood to Recommend
BMC Software Inc.
Large complex organisation, with complex technology that needs to manage Technology Services. It is very flexible and able to manage a large complex environment but the knowledge required to set this up correctly (foundation data and configuration) is the key factor for success. It can integrate with many other systems and tools and integrate data from many sources - whether that be AWS cloud, or an on premises bespoke system. I would not recommend for a Small Organisation without the resources to set up and maintain the underlying foundation data and configuration.
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Zendesk
The ability to Merge tickets is a good to have feature. Navigation is easy from one ticket to another ticket without having to go back to the list. Admin options should be more clear, internal menu navigation is complex and creates more confusion while arranging the sections and articles. Channel Management is good but Forum management can be brought in with more flexibility. More Apps integration or flexibility in APIs so that a newbie can also integrate the application into the software. A redundant software that brings in 360-degree communication of support/service concepts into practicality however if the option to compile texting with platforms like ringcentral, Twilio or Dialpad will be an awesome thing to share ticket updates with custom templates.
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Pros
BMC Software Inc.
  • Integration with monitoring software like SolarWinds. where Remedy can transform notifications to work orders and assign to respective teams.
  • Detailed Customization capability to fit the exact needs of the organization.
  • Change management calendar, which integrates change orders from all organization departments and facilitates the scheduling process of project managers.
  • It can be offered as a cloud-based service, where you don't need to worry about server maintenance or database backup.
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Zendesk
  • Reporting and Analytics
  • Ease of Agent Training and Use
  • Able to add multiple brands with related custom reports and dashboards
  • Adding a new brand and basic help center is easy to do without the need of an expert or web team
  • Ability of agents and supervisors to see customer history across multiple channels
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Cons
BMC Software Inc.
  • The interface (ironically). My company has made an attempt to replace the "classic" Remedy interface with some more functional, modern, but Remedy set to a particular look and feel (and consequently, functionality)
  • The API is hidden from the user: There exists an API for Remedy, that would make my job TONS easier, as I like to perform actions on Remedy in bulk (and therefore - programmatically). Exposing a user API is very much mainstream these days, so Remedy relying on its interface to perform ITIL is very limiting
  • By extension- the result of Remedy's interface is that it becomes very "click-happy": little buttons, and links stuffed into every corner of the screen, with options API logically together. API is old, but it still feels very rushed.
  • The primary tool for most of my ITIL operations is: searching. API of searching goes into finding assets, checking in equipment, finding users, tickets, etc. What Remedy could very much benefit from a "Google" -like interface
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Zendesk
  • I think the Graphical User Interface could use a facelift. It not the most aesthetically pleasing platform in my experience.
  • Particular things like where the default is when you click on each and every dropdown menu.
  • The macro integration could be a little more simplified.
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Likelihood to Renew
BMC Software Inc.
We have been customers of BMC for well over 7 years now and our corporation is tightly integrated with BMC and multiple solutions they offer us.
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Zendesk
Zendesk is super easy to use and navigate. I really enjoy the sleek layout, the ability to tailor tickets, the macro option, and the quick key guide they have to make your use of time even more effective. My whole team loves working with Zendesk and rarely ever has problems.
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Usability
BMC Software Inc.
At least Remedy is all contained in a single platform, so the interface is consistent. Also, the most heavily performed functions are generally usable. However, to use some of the more advanced modules can be a bit more cumbersome (such as Change Management and CMDB (Not Including ADDM)). So, overall BMC Remedy ITSM is better than some applications like CA SDM or HP SM, but not quite on par with ServiceNow.
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Zendesk
As an agent it's very simple to use. As an admin it's also easy to use, but sometimes lacks some functionality that would be nice to have such as expanded native 2 way sync functionality for many major apps that are commonly used today like HubSpot and Salesforce. The ability to add followers to tickets to they get updates and are in the know without the customer seeing this agent cc'd is a nice touch. This ensures additional visibility and easily following the communication without having to appear as a CC to the customer, who could accidentally remove that person in a response, thus breaking the visibility
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Reliability and Availability
BMC Software Inc.
No answers on this topic
Zendesk
In the past year, I'd say I have only noticed maybe two hours total of downtime in my own usage. Very minimal.
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Performance
BMC Software Inc.
No answers on this topic
Zendesk
There has been minor performance degradation on a very few days out of the two years I have been using the product.
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Support Rating
BMC Software Inc.
The support is good in overall resolving the issues and even in the deployment phase. We are able to use it in production without any trained in-house engineer as the support team gets the job done. We can say that experts completed the deployment for us, and now it is functional.
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Zendesk
Every time I contacted them they were not only very responsive and knowledgable, but always seemed to have a positive upbeat attitude. It probably helps that we did not have significant service outages or sev 1 level issues, but even my lower severity issues were quickly answered. And the positive and upbeat attitude really made things feel comfortable.
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Online Training
BMC Software Inc.
No answers on this topic
Zendesk
Zendesk has tons of available material for training - videos, webinars, articles, etc. The only reason this is not a 10 is because it can be hard to figure out how to navigate to these things and find what you are looking for.
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Implementation Rating
BMC Software Inc.
Satisfied because I didn't have to do it!
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Zendesk
I was very satisfied. They have a free trial for 30 days and I recommend you do that and use it. It is very easy to get started with the basics and the build on over time.

The only thing technically complex was single sign-on and integration to Salesforce.com required some tweaks – otherwise setting up system was very easy
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Alternatives Considered
BMC Software Inc.
The decision to select BMC Remedy was made prior to my employment. We did conduct an RFC process for a new ITSM platform and BMC was considered but not selected. We looked at several platforms and ended up choosing Ivanti Service Desk (previously LANDESK) due to the features, ease of customization and price.
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Zendesk
Although a bit pricey, it does the job well. We are happy with the results it provides; our team is also quite satisfied on how easy it is to use, login and start working. Compared to the other two we have tried, Zendesk takes the cake. It makes Customer Management much easier, more efficient, and more effective.
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Scalability
BMC Software Inc.
Again, always room for improvement, but a very stable product none-the-less.
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Zendesk
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
BMC Software Inc.
  • When I was in Management discussion calls, and all the team is happy while using BMC Remedy so I don't find any specific negative impact on our organization.
  • I really enjoy Smart IT as the tool of choice for our incident management team.
  • Visibility of tickets is key. All support staff users can see tickets in consoles they have access to.
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Zendesk
  • The positives weigh more than the negatives here, as it gives us a one-stop portal where we can tend to customer needs using one web app
  • It has also helped us identify areas of improvement based on the reporting feature
  • The value it provides outweighs any missing or lacking features that I'm sure will be available in the future
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ScreenShots

Zendesk Suite Screenshots

Screenshot of Zendesk Agent WorkspaceScreenshot of Omnichannel MessagingScreenshot of Zendesk TicketingScreenshot of Bots powered by Zendesk AIScreenshot of Tone shift with Zendesk AIScreenshot of Zendesk ticketing side conversations