InvGate Service Desk vs. Microsoft System Center Service Manager

This is well suited for someone who is looking for a basic help desk system (like we were). This product will get you out the door, but after owning it for several years now we have begun to look for more. The hardest part is that you cant get to raw data to use with other BI tools. If you want major customizations you will be limited

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

• Set-up of system.
• GUI is user-friendly.

Incentivized

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

Incentivized

• The database for back-end is clunky and cryptic, and it is very hard to access data.
• The reporting functions are really lacking.

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

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

This is one area where they need a lot of help, especially for being selling an ITSM. The service desk is located in Brazil, and they have very few individuals that speak English. Multiple updates over the year have broken the language of the system and tickets have come out in a foreign language. Support is unable to fix issues that occur where downtime occurs. Updates are too fast. Revisions happen 3-4 a week.

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

At the time of comparison, InvGate had a better price and way quicker set-up time to get it up and running

Incentivized

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

• Upfront, it had a very good ROI compared to a homegrown system that was being used.
• Allows users to submit issues to get MFG back up and running.

Incentivized

• 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