Best ITSM tools
We feature the best ITSM tools, to make it simpler and easier to manage IT hardware assets across your business or organisation
The best ITSM tools, or information technology service management tools, make the management of IT hardware assets simpler and easier across your business or organisation.
ITSM tools simplify the tracking and resolution of issues across multiple assets, making it simpler to manage a wide range of devices connected to your IT infrastructure.
One of the key issues faced is the variety of devices that might be used, as network connections can involve desktop PCs, laptops, as well as smartphones, all of which need to be kept up to date with security upgrades, as well as software patch management.
Additionally, ITSM isn't just focused on the technology but also caters for users, meaning that it covers proper error reporting and logging, technical helpdesk assistance, as well as other ticketing support.
This is all organised to make it easy for IT managers to find what they need in order to resolve problems as quickly as possible, and ensure others are solved before they become an issue.
We've put together a list of five of the best ITSM tools currently available on the market below.
The best ITSM tools available
1. ServiceNow
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Integration of legacy apps | No free trial |
Benchmark performance against peers |
ServiceNow offers ITSM among its family of support products. IT Service Management endeavors to aggregate IT services into a single cloud-based platform, and has plenty of heavyweight customers including GE Digital, Broadcom, and Overstock.com.
It features the ability to aggregate those essential, but often difficult to work with legacy applications into a single cloud location, with manual processes becoming automated along the way. The firm also claims IT productivity increases via implementation of features such as incident management with automated routing, asset and cost management which can track costs and contracts for assets, and a modern, self-service portal for consumers to access.
ServiceNow IT Service Management can also be integrated into real-time performance analytic dashboards, with the proficiency to benchmark how you are performing among peer industry averages.
While the website provides plenty of information on how this can benefit your business, the company is unfortunately rather opaque on pricing. With no offer of a free trial, there are two plans with descriptive names, the lower being IT Service Management, and the higher IT Service Management and Performance Analytics, which adds features, true to its name, for performance analysis.
2. Freshservice
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Free 21-day trial | |
Availability of mobile apps | |
Features for root cause analysis of incidents |
The folks at Freshworks bring us Freshservice, a cloud-based ITSM which promises to standardise processes in a “slick, modern and efficient manner.” This ITSM software package offers an array of features including opportunities for collaboration between agents, proactive problem management that can reduce service desk incidents by 40%, support for root cause analysis of incidents via a visual timeline and coordination for new releases with standardised start and end dates. There are also available mobile apps for iOS and Android.
All tiers offer a 21-day free trial to see if Freshservice fulfills your organisation's needs. Plans start at the Blossom plan for the basic feature set. Stepping up to the most popular Estate plan adds additional features including software license management, analytics and customisable agent roles.
3. Jira Service Management
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Service Desk apps to connect other platforms | |
Streamlined modern interface | |
Annual plan discounts |
Jira Service Management, from Atlassian, takes a modern approach to helpdesk software, with an uncluttered, and simple to use interface. Standout features include integration with over 600 other platforms such as Slack via available Service Desk apps. Jira Service Management can be used via mobile platform apps, and notable customers include Twitter, Sotheby’s and Spotify.
On the one hand, Jira Service Management has the shortest trial of our offerings here, only seven days. However, it does offer a free tier for up to three agents with no time limit. Additionally, the free tier comes packed with features, but limitations such as 2GB for using it.
The next step up covers all of the features of the free plan with supporting up to 5,000 agents as well as offering audit logs.
4. InvGate Service Desk
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Free trial offer | Additional expense for asset management |
Available as software or SaaS |
InvGate Service Desk is a comprehensive ITSM tool to support IT; it is available as either on-premise software. The list of organisations that use this solution includes Burger King, Nike, Toyota and Starbucks.
The features include ticket management with assessment of customer satisfaction, self-service capabilities with a predictive knowledge base and news broadcast capabilities, and ‘gamification‘, which refers to the use of game-style mechanics to support and motivate employees with a positive reinforcement model. There is also multi-department support, and integration for asset management with InvGate Assets.
As with some other ITSMs, unfortunately the pricing is opaque, but the firm does offer a 30-day trial.
5. Cherwell
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Drag and drop interface | |
Easy automation | |
Competitive pricing |
Cherwell ITSM provides a cloud-based SaaS platform that aims to simplify overall IT management by allowing easy drag and drop management of configurations, visualisations, dashboards, reports, and other monitoring tasks. The software is verified for use with a wide range of commonly used ITIL processes, and is both flexible and scaleable.
There are a number of options for automating workflows and routine administrative duties, in order to improve productivity and efficiency across all IT staff and users, plus there are a number of extensions and integrations available.
Although no pricing is directly advertised, Cherwell state that they aim to make costs as inexpensive as possible by requiring the least number of users to be licensed, and a free demo is available.
ITSM is just one of a number of SaaS platforms offered by Cherwell, with others including IT asset management, HR and facilities management, as well as security, enterprise, and project management.
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