IFS Assyst vs. Microsoft System Center Service Manager

I would suggest that in this product class, you get what you pay for. Although it is was sold as SAAS with a nearly 'plug and play' implementation, at least one full time highly trained admin is needed for ongoing support. I would advise a team implementation strategy.

Incentivized

We use Microsoft System Center Service Manager in the education sector. We believe this is the only real way to manage our IT systems and ensure compliance for not only today but tomorrow as well (what ever that brings!) Our IT management team significantly streamlined our working practices to mold a slick IT support service which serves our end users efficiently. Microsoft System Center Service Manager brought added automation and clarity for all major stakeholders in our organization through detailed reporting and scheduling, ensuring a complete realtime picture of the IT estate.

Incentivized

• IT Asset Management and IT Service Management in one product
• ITIL framework
• Highly customisable service catalogue and processes
• Mature mobility product

• This tool is used to track support requests among our IT staff.
• We use this tool to automate some more routine tasks.

Incentivized

• Service requests, incident, problem, and change management
• Knowledge mgmt is not-existent - the product uses a WIKI for it's own knowledge base.
• Axios help desk does is not knowledgable and does not follow up on reported incidents
• Training is incomplete - no real resources available except billable by the hour.

Incentivized

• The software requires a lot of memory to run smoothly, otherwise it will be slow.
• It takes some time to learn, and training prices are a bit high.
• The price is a bit high; System Center is not a cheap solution.

Incentivized

At this point, we are stuck with it. We can't afford a change at this point.

Incentivized

As with all software, Microsoft System Center Service Manager has its quirks but it has more than made up for them with the sheer amount of functions the system brings to the table. Being based on the ITIL framework really shows with its design/terminology and, generally, we have found it 'just clicks' with our ITIL trained staff which makes operating our system straightforward and enables us to report to end users and all stakeholders consistently with ease.

Incentivized

The customer support service is excellent. They help from start/deployment through to any time later on. They responded quickly and resolved our issues professionally and in no time.

Incentivized

Axios assyst outperforms JIRA in every aspect, JIRA is a good job system but when it comes to complex processes and configuration management then JIRA is simply not the right system.

I can't really compare them as we haven't used an "all in one" tool like SCCM. There are other patch management software, other remote control applications, and to be honest, I find those work better when compared to SCCM. However, there hasn't been an application yet that does it all, so I feel it's unfair to compare. All of these tools that SCCM offers could/should be fine-tuned and made to be a bit more user-friendly.

Incentivized

• Replacement of 3 systems with Axios assyst
• Integration with other enterprise systems

• The tool has saved money in a transition from another 3rd party tool
• It simplifies the ease of use for users. This is similar to other Microsoft tools
• We are able to provide reports of system performance when questions arise about availability.

Incentivized