Microsoft System Center Service Manager vs. ServiceNow Customer Service Management

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft System Center Service Manager
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft System Center Service Manager is an integrated platform that is designed for automating and adapting IT Service Management best practices to an organization’s requirements. The platform includes built-in processes for incident and problem resolution, change control and asset lifecycle management.N/A
ServiceNow Customer Service Management
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Built on the Now Platform, ServiceNow offers their Customer Service Management solution through the Standard and Professional Customer Service Management bundles. Both include agent workspace, knowledge management, survey and assessment module, and the community module, oriented in this edition to support customers rather than internal employees. The Professional bundle also includes performance analytics, predictive intelligence, and related tools to support customer support agents improvement…N/A
Pricing
Microsoft System Center Service ManagerServiceNow Customer Service Management
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft System Center Service ManagerServiceNow Customer Service Management
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft System Center Service ManagerServiceNow Customer Service Management
Features
Microsoft System Center Service ManagerServiceNow Customer Service Management
Incident and problem management
Comparison of Incident and problem management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft System Center Service Manager
9.7
8 Ratings
16% above category average
ServiceNow Customer Service Management
9.2
10 Ratings
11% above category average
Organize and prioritize service tickets10.05 Ratings9.010 Ratings
Expert directory10.04 Ratings8.78 Ratings
Service restoration9.05 Ratings00 Ratings
Self-service tools9.06 Ratings00 Ratings
Subscription-based notifications10.05 Ratings9.09 Ratings
ITSM collaboration and documentation10.07 Ratings9.39 Ratings
ITSM reports and dashboards10.07 Ratings00 Ratings
Ticket creation and submission00 Ratings9.810 Ratings
Ticket response00 Ratings9.310 Ratings
ITSM asset management
Comparison of ITSM asset management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft System Center Service Manager
9.7
8 Ratings
16% above category average
ServiceNow Customer Service Management
-
Ratings
Configuration mangement10.07 Ratings00 Ratings
Asset management dashboard9.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Policy and contract enforcement10.06 Ratings00 Ratings
Change management
Comparison of Change management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft System Center Service Manager
9.7
7 Ratings
12% above category average
ServiceNow Customer Service Management
-
Ratings
Change requests repository9.07 Ratings00 Ratings
Change calendar10.06 Ratings00 Ratings
Service-level management10.06 Ratings00 Ratings
Self Help Community
Comparison of Self Help Community features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft System Center Service Manager
-
Ratings
ServiceNow Customer Service Management
9.5
9 Ratings
17% above category average
External knowledge base00 Ratings9.58 Ratings
Internal knowledge base00 Ratings9.59 Ratings
Multi-Channel Help
Comparison of Multi-Channel Help features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft System Center Service Manager
-
Ratings
ServiceNow Customer Service Management
9.4
10 Ratings
16% above category average
Customer portal00 Ratings9.08 Ratings
IVR00 Ratings9.77 Ratings
Social integration00 Ratings8.88 Ratings
Email support00 Ratings9.89 Ratings
Help Desk CRM integration00 Ratings9.59 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Microsoft System Center Service ManagerServiceNow Customer Service Management
Small Businesses
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Score 9.0 out of 10
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Score 9.0 out of 10
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
Score 9.3 out of 10
SysAid
SysAid
Score 8.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Microsoft System Center Service ManagerServiceNow Customer Service Management
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(7 ratings)
9.0
(9 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.5
(5 ratings)
Support Rating
8.9
(2 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft System Center Service ManagerServiceNow Customer Service Management
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
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.
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ServiceNow
It is well suited for medium to large companies that manage different teams and need to communicate constantly and track progress in a timely manner. It is less suited for small enterprises as it will overwhelm users with the features and functionalities embedded.
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Pros
Microsoft
  • This tool is used to track support requests among our IT staff.
  • We use this tool to automate some more routine tasks.
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ServiceNow
  • We manage internal tickets through ServiceNow Customer Service Management. We raise tickets with IT and other team
  • We manage our datapipe customers through ServiceNow Customer Service Management and it efficiently manages our customer interactions
  • ServiceNow Customer Service Management helps us manage projects and tasks and keep a log of all our migration customers
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Cons
Microsoft
  • 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.
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ServiceNow
  • Adding in additional chat features would be nice
  • Viewing where you stand in priority
  • Having a way to automate more of the processes
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Usability
Microsoft
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.
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ServiceNow
Bottom line is that it does what you need it to do. We've been using Service Now as a ticket managing tool for a few years now. There's really not much it can't do when it comes to recording interactions. It has been nice using inventory tracking for software licenses and hardware as well.
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Support Rating
Microsoft
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.
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ServiceNow
Support has been very good. Any time there has been a real issue, the team has responded very quickly and identified the issue without a lot of repetitive questions that I've seen from other services. There is a great external community and internal knowledge base that covers pretty much anything you need.
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Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
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.
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ServiceNow
Atlassian Jira lacks certain features and process which was delivered by ServiceNow Customer Service Management. Also, flexibility to customise was a point to select ServiceNow Customer Service Management tool. Cost which was high than Atlassian Jira compensated as it improved overall customer satisfaction and reduced resolution time by taking help of Knowledge base integration
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Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • 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.
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ServiceNow
  • The negative impact for my team is the delay in team completing tickets but not a system issue.
  • A positive impact for my team is we can easily view the status of tickets and the follow-up emails are beneficial to maintain records of tickets.
  • Negative impact is that there is no user job aid or helpful tools for new users.
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ScreenShots