How difficult is it to keep employee laptops up-to-date, respond immediately to operational disruptions, ensure security patches happen on time, or create troubleshooting guides?

Turns out—very!

Which is why IT service management (ITSM) tools have become a non-negotiable part of today’s business landscape.

From ensuring minimal service disruptions to being your customers’ 24/7 concierge, your IT support team is constantly on their feet, handling tickets and technical escalations, making sure SLAs are met.

And what they need to do their jobs perfectly is the right ITSM tool, catered to their unique business and service requirements.

As Atlassian’s trusted Gold Solution Partner in Australia and the United States, Corptec Technology Partners recommends Atlassian’s superior IT Service Management (ITSM) solution, Jira Service Management (JSM), for quicker incident resolution, automated IT support, and smarter triaging. Having been recently integrated with Atlassian Intelligence, Jira Service Management offers virtual service agents, powered by Atlassian Rovo, as well as other Generative AI features to enhance IT service management (ITSM) implementation and delivery.

However, there are other ITSM solutions in the market that have (at one point or another) been very popular among their users. So, in order to ensure that our customers make the most informed choice, we break down the key features and benefits of JSM and stack these against major ITSM players such as ServiceNow, Zendesk, BMC Helix, & Freshservice.

Disclaimer: The information about the competing ITSM tools for Jira Service Management listed here is based solely on the information sourced from their company websites, as well as publicly available sources and review sites. The information is not to be construed as an expressed opinion of Corptec Technology Partners.

An Overview Of Jira Service Management for ITSM

Jira Service Management (JSM) is Atlassian’s service management solution designed to empower IT, DevOps, and business teams in delivering high-velocity service experiences to their customers.

Built on Jira, JSM encompasses deeper service management practices across service request, incident, problem, change, knowledge, asset, and configuration management. It helps companies bring more visibility and accelerate the flow of work between different service delivery teams.

As a comprehensive AI-powered ITSM tool, Jira Service Management helps companies deliver IT as a service by enabling the end-to-end delivery of IT services to customers. JSM supports all the processes and activities that contribute to designing, creating, delivering, and supporting IT services. 

Jira Service Management offers both cloud and self-managed hosting options for Atlassian customers.

Jira Service Management – Key Features

1. Unified Service Desk:

As an advanced ITSM tool, Jira Service Management offers an intuitive, customisable service desk where employees and customers can submit requests, report issues, and track their status. The self-service portal and knowledge base integration reduce ticket volume by empowering users to find solutions independently.

2. Robust Incident and Problem Management:

Jira Service Management enables quick incident triaging and prioritisation with built-in automation and SLAs. Teams can link related incidents to problems, perform root cause analysis, and implement permanent fixes to minimise future disruptions.

3. Change Management with Risk Assessment:

Integrated with Jira software and CI/CD tools, Jira Service Management simplifies change management by allowing teams to assess risk, get automated approvals, and deploy changes with greater confidence. Its native risk assessment engine helps teams evaluate the impact of change before execution.

4. Asset and Configuration Management:

With Assets (JSM’s asset and configuration management capabilities, formerly known as Insight), Jira Service Management allows teams to manage their IT infrastructure by tracking hardware, software, and other critical assets. The solution’s Configuration Management Database (CMDB) capabilities enable better visibility into dependencies, helping IT teams reduce downtime and improve incident resolution.

5. Automated Workflows:

Jira Service Management’s no-code/low-code automation engine helps IT support desks streamline repetitive tasks, notify stakeholders, and ensure workflows are followed. This boosts team efficiency and reduces manual errors.

6. Powerful Reporting:

Jira Service Management offers out-of-the-box and custom reports to track key metrics, such as SLA compliance, mean time to resolution (MTTR), and ticket volume. These insights help IT leaders continuously improve service quality and performance.

7. Collaboration and Integration:

Jira Service Management integrates seamlessly with Confluence, Opsgenie, and a wide range of third-party tools. Its tight integration with DevOps tools bridges the gap between development and IT operations for faster incident resolution and improved service delivery.

8. Intelligent ITSM Powered by AI:

With the added advantage of Atlassian Intelligence, Jira Service Management now offers smart summarisation, automated virtual service agents, AI-generated content, intelligent incident management capabilities, a self-service knowledge base, and much more for future-proof service delivery. (Read our blog for full details)

Jira Service Management — Strengths

• Seamless integration with popular tools in the Atlassian Suite (such as Jira and Confluence)
• DevOps-friendly features (including incident management, change control, & CI/CD integrations)
• Quick to implement and user-friendly configuration options
• Powerful automation with drag-and-drop, no-code rules
• Affordable pricing with high scalability
• Built-in ITIL-certified processes (incident, problem, change, and asset management)
• Easy access to Atlassian’s wide ecosystem that offers thousands of Marketplace apps
• Intelligent, self-service, Atlassian AI-powered functionalities (along with ROVO AI agents)
• Enterprise-grade cloud/SaaS backup, data security, and compliance (offered by our mutual partner, HYCU)
• One, unified platform for business-wide Enterprise Service Management (ESM)

Jira Service Management — Limitations

• Fewer native enterprise-level features
• Advanced reporting and dashboards may require third-party tools or add-ons
• Customisation at scale may need admin expertise or scripting
• Insight CMDB may lack the complexity required for legacy-heavy environments
• Heavily reliant on Atlassian Marketplace for extending core capabilities

Who Is Jira Service Management Best Suited for?

Jira Service Management (JSM) is ideal for:

• Mid-sized to large businesses seeking a fast, cost-effective ITSM solution
• Organisations already using Jira Software or other Atlassian tools
• Agile and DevOps-oriented IT teams
• Companies aiming for Enterprise Service Management beyond IT (e.g., HR, Finance, Facilities, etc.)
• Businesses with strict compliance, security, and reporting requirements

An Overview Of ServiceNow

ServiceNow ITSM is a comprehensive, cloud-based platform designed to streamline and automate IT service delivery for IT teams. The software provides a centralised system to help support teams manage the entire lifecycle of IT services, from initial request to resolution and beyond. By consolidating various IT tools and processes into a single platform, ServiceNow ITSM aims to enhance efficiency, improve user satisfaction, and enable IT operations to be aligned with the larger business goals.

ServiceNow also offers business-ready AI to help their customers work smarter. Their Now Platform has been purpose-built with native AI for quick deployment into workflows. The ITSM tool also offers custom AI tools for every department and industry to bring actionable AI to every corner of their customers’ business. 

Service Now – Key Features

1. Modern Service Desk and Self-Service Portal:

ServiceNow offers a unified service portal where users can raise tickets, track requests, and access knowledge base articles. Its AI-powered virtual agent helps your teams handle common queries, reducing manual workloads and improving the employee experience.

2. Incident, Problem, and Change Management:

ServiceNow provides a robust framework to manage the full lifecycle of IT incidents, problems, and changes. It enables teams to detect, diagnose, and resolve incidents quickly, track root causes, and implement changes with minimal risk using standardised workflows and approvals.

3. Configuration Management Database (CMDB):

The CMDB in ServiceNow gives IT teams a comprehensive view of infrastructure and service relationships. This visibility supports better impact analysis, root cause identification, and faster resolution of service issues.

4. Change Management with DevOps Integration:

ServiceNow simplifies change management through automation, built-in risk assessments, and seamless integration with DevOps tools. Teams can implement changes faster while maintaining compliance and minimising disruption.

5. Service Level Management (SLM):

With configurable SLAs, OLAs, and automated tracking, ServiceNow ensures accountability and timely resolution. The platform alerts teams to SLA breaches in real time, enabling proactive intervention.

6. Performance Analytics and Reporting:

ServiceNow offers real-time dashboards and custom reports to help IT leaders gain visibility into service performance, monitor KPIs, spot trends, and drive continual service improvement.

Service Now – Strengths

• Highly customisable workflows for complex, enterprise-level needs
• Extensive ITIL support across all major service management processes
• AI and virtual agent capabilities
• Built-in modules for HR, Finance, etc. offered on the purchase of the full platform
• Robust CMDB and asset management capabilities
• Advanced automation and orchestration tools

Service Now – Limitations

• High cost of ownership (licensing, implementation, and admin resources)
• Long implementation cycle (can take months to be fully deployed) and complex onboarding
• Requires dedicated admins or certified developers for configuration and customisation
• Overkill for small- to mid-sized businesses or teams with simple ITSM needs
• Less agile out-of-the-box for DevOps teams
• Steeper learning curve compared to lightweight ITSM tools

Who Is ServiceNow Best Suited for?

ServiceNow is ideal for:

• Large enterprises with complex IT environments
• Organisations needing highly customisable and scalable ITSM solutions
• Businesses with high customisation, automation, and governance requirements

An Overview Of Zendesk

Primarily known for its customer service capabilities, Zendesk ITSM is a versatile, cloud-based platform that also extends its capabilities to IT Service Management (ITSM). It provides a user-friendly interface as well as a robust ticketing system to help you manage and resolve IT-related issues reported by employees. The solution also enables you to centralise IT support requests from various channels like email, chat, and phone into a unified workspace—this facilitates efficient issue tracking and timely prioritisation and assignment of tickets.

Zendesk offers Copilot features, coupled with AI agents, that work together to provide insights, suggest responses, and execute agent-approved actions.

Zendesk – Key Features

1. Unified Ticketing System:

Zendesk provides a centralised ticketing system that helps IT teams track, manage, and prioritise employee requests across multiple channels—including email, chat, and web forms. It ensures that no request falls through the cracks and that responses are timely and well-documented.

2. Customisable Workflows and Automations:

With powerful automation tools, Zendesk allows IT teams to create rules that auto-assign tickets, escalate issues, and notify users at key touchpoints. Custom workflows can be tailored to align with ITIL processes and business-specific service requirements.

3. Self-Service and Knowledge Base:

Zendesk’s self-service portal enables users to find answers quickly through a searchable knowledge base, FAQs, and community forums. This reduces ticket volume and empowers users to resolve common issues on their own.

4. Incident and Problem Management:

Zendesk supports the tracking and linking of incidents to larger problems, thereby allowing IT teams to identify trends and prevent recurring issues. Teams can monitor issue clusters and coordinate resolution efforts more effectively.

5. Asset and Configuration Management (via integrations):

While Zendesk doesn’t offer a native CMDB or asset management system, it integrates well with third-party tools to track IT assets and configurations. This allows IT teams to manage infrastructure and gain context for faster incident resolution.

6. Analytics and Reporting:

Zendesk offers robust reporting features that allow IT teams to monitor key metrics like ticket volume, resolution time, SLA adherence, and customer satisfaction. Dashboards can be customised for various stakeholders to support continuous improvement.

7. Scalability and Integrations:

Zendesk scales easily with growing teams and integrates with popular IT and project management tools like Jira, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and other asset management platforms. This makes it a flexible solution for both small IT teams and large enterprises.

Zendesk – Strengths

• Multichannel support (email, chat, social media, phone, and web)
• Customisable workflows and ticketing automation
• Extensive integrations (including CRM, analytics, and collaboration tools)
• Powerful reporting and analytics
• AI and chatbot capabilities (via Zendesk AI)
• Scalable platform that grows with business needs
• Self-service options (help centre and community forums)

Zendesk – Limitations

• Can become expensive as your company scales or needs advanced features
• Steep learning curve for full customisation and advanced reporting
• Limited flexibility offered in lower-tier plans
• Not ideal for complex IT processes or DevOps collaboration
• Some add-ons (like Zendesk AI) are not included in base pricing

Who Is Zendesk Best Suited for?

Zendesk is ideal for:

• Mid-sized to large businesses, as well as companies already using Zendesk for customer service
• Organisations with complex automation and integration requirements
• Customer service teams looking for a scalable, multichannel support platform

An Overview Of BMC Remedy/Helix

Originally known as BMC Remedy, BMC Helix ITSM is a scalable ITSM platform, offering both on-premises and cloud-based deployment options. This comprehensive toolset provides a wide array of capabilities to help their customers manage the complexities of enterprise IT, while also offering agentic AI to help deliver better support outcomes for their customers.

BMC Helix ITSM – Key Features

1. Incident and Problem Management:

BMC Helix ITSM helps IT teams quickly log, categorise, and resolve incidents and problems. It offers AI-driven ticket routing and prioritisation features to help reduce response and resolution times, leading to better service continuity.

2. Change and Release Management:

BMC Helix offers a structured change and release management process, enabling its customers to plan, test, and deploy changes efficiently while minimising risks and downtime. The ITSM tool’s built-in automation ensures smoother transitions and reduced manual intervention.

3. Asset and Configuration Management (CMDB):

BMC Helix includes a comprehensive Configuration Management Database (CMDB) that provides real-time visibility into IT assets and their relationships. This helps with impact analysis, change planning, and root cause identification.

4. Knowledge Management:

BMC Helix supports a robust knowledge base that empowers users and agents with self-service capabilities. Its integrated AI/ML algorithms provide relevant solutions based on historical data and context.

5. Service Request Management:

BMC Helix offers an intuitive service catalogue that allows users to request services, track issue status, and get timely updates. This enhances the end-user experience while reducing ticket volumes.

6. AI and Automation:

This ITSM solution also leverages AI/ML for predictive analytics, auto-classification of tickets, and anomaly detection. Its automation engine integrates with IT operations to resolve routine issues without human intervention.

7. Modern, Persona-based UX:

With a user-centric design, BMC Helix provides role-based dashboards and mobile accessibility. This enables users, agents, and managers to get relevant information and perform tasks efficiently.

8. Cloud-Native and Scalable:

As a SaaS solution, BMC Helix is cloud-native, offering scalability, high availability, and reduced infrastructure costs. It supports multi-cloud environments and hybrid IT infrastructures.

9. Reporting and Dashboards:

BMC Helix offers advanced analytics, customisable dashboards, and real-time reporting for better visibility into IT performance and SLA adherence.

BMC Helix ITSM – Strengths

• AI-powered service management (AIOps, predictive service, anomaly detection)
• Comprehensive ITIL-4 support across incident, change, problem, and asset management
• Multi-cloud and hybrid IT support
• Codeless configuration and automation (low-code/no-code features)
• Strong CMDB and discovery tools
• Integrated with IT operations management (ITOM)
• Self-service portals and virtual agents

BMC Helix ITSM – Limitations

• Priced higher, compared to mid-market alternatives – upgrades are also costlier
• Steep learning curve required for setup and customisations
• Requires expert resources for full deployment and configuration
• Offers way too many features for smaller teams or companies without complex IT requirements

Who Is BMC Helix Best Suited for?

BMC Helix is ideal for:

• Large organisations that use legacy systems and belong to highly regulated or complex industries
• Enterprises requiring robust, ITIL-compliant IT service management solutions
• Businesses with automation, AIOps, and hybrid environment needs

An Overview Of Freshservice

Offering enterprise-grade ITAM for efficient service operations, Freshservice ITSM (a flagship ITSM tool owned by Freshworks) offers cloud-based IT service management capabilities as well as advanced discovery, automated dependency mapping, and a modern CMDB, powered by AI. Known for its user-friendly interface and comprehensive feature set, Freshservice enables organisations to efficiently manage incidents, problems, changes, and assets through one powerful, easy-to-use, centralised platform.

Freshservice – Key Features

1. Incident Management:

Freshservice provides an intuitive interface for logging, tracking, and resolving incidents. It automates ticket assignment using AI and helps IT teams respond faster with pre-configured workflows and SLA management.

2. Service Request Management:

This ITSM platform offers a customisable service catalogue for users to submit and track service requests. Approval workflows and status updates ensure a seamless end-user experience.

3. Problem and Change Management:

Freshservice helps IT teams identify and manage root causes of incidents, while change management tools enable teams to plan, assess, and implement changes with minimal risk. This ITSM platform offers a Change Advisory Board (CAB) to ensure collaboration on changes and offers calendar views to make change planning easy.

4. Integrated Asset Management:

With integrated asset management, Freshservice provides visibility into hardware, software, and other IT assets throughout their lifecycle. It supports auto-discovery, contract management, and license tracking.

5. Knowledge Base:

Freshservice includes a built-in knowledge base that allows IT teams to document and share solutions. Users can access articles via self-service, reducing repetitive queries and ticket volumes.

6. Automation and Orchestration:

The platform supports powerful workflow automation with drag-and-drop capabilities. From ticket triaging to multi-step approvals, Freshservice helps automate repetitive tasks, improving efficiency and accuracy.

7. AI and Virtual Agent:

Freshservice Freddy AI offers features like ticket categorisation, field suggestions, and a conversational virtual agent that helps users resolve issues via chat and reduce the load on service desk agents.

8. Multi-Channel Support:

Freshservice supports ticket creation through email, chat, portal, phone, and even Microsoft Teams or Slack, ensuring employees can reach support through their preferred channels.

9. Reporting and Analytics:

Customisable dashboards and real-time reports give IT teams deep insights into performance, ticket trends, SLA compliance, and user satisfaction, helping in data-driven decision-making.

10. Cloud-Native and Scalable:

As a SaaS product, Freshservice is quick to deploy, requires minimal maintenance, and scales easily with organisational growth. It also integrates with a wide range of third-party tools for a connected IT ecosystem.

Freshservice – Strengths

• User-friendly interface with minimal learning curve
• Out-of-the-box ITIL modules (incident, problem, change, release, and asset management)
• Built-in automation for repetitive tasks and workflows
• Fast deployment and easy to scale
• Integration with the Freshworks Suite as well as third-party tools like Slack, Jira, and Microsoft Teams

Freshservice – Limitations

• AI and virtual agents included only in the higher-tier plans
• Limited customisation capabilities compared to the other enterprise ITSM tools listed here
• Reporting and analytics can be basic in lower-tier plans
• Advanced features (like Sandbox, IP whitelisting, or audit logs) are only offered in the higher-tier plans
• Not ideal for highly regulated or extremely complex IT environments
• Limited scalability for large enterprises

Who Is Freshservice Best Suited for?

Freshservice is ideal for:

• Mid-sized enterprises seeking a modern, user-friendly interface
• Companies wanting quick deployment with low-code/no-code customisation
• Businesses that want ITIL-ready features without enterprise-level complexity

Factors to Consider Before Considering An ITSM Tool

Despite the versatile capabilities each and every ITSM tool has to offer, decision-makers should bear in mind the following factors to ensure the chosen solution aligns with the organisation’s needs and goals. Some important considerations include:

• Maturity of existing IT processes in your company
• Core ITSM capabilities that are a must-have and secondary functionalities that are good-to-have
• Number of business applications in use and the level of integration required
• ITSM tool adoption speed (including implementation and training time)
• Level and scale of AI adoption within the company
• Self-service and low-code options offered by the ITSM tool
• Total cost of ownership, contract period, solution support costs, and pricing plans
• Reliant technology solution partner who can assist with consultation and implementation
• Data security, backup, cloud, and compliance support

A Note About ITSM Tool Pricing

The ITSM tools featured in this blog often offer customised pricing, based on the customer’s business-specific needs, region, hosting preferences (i.e. host cloud, customer cloud, or on-premise), and modules (such as ITSM, ITOM, AIOps, etc.). Each tool offers different pricing tiers with varying features, and charges higher for additional features, AI agents, level of customisation required, deployment scale, and for higher grade support. Prices also typically increase year-over-year and may require you to commit to a lock-in period to guard against fluctuating software costs. We, therefore, recommend that you get direct quotes from each vendor for an accurate comparison based on your specific requirements.

Boost Your IT Service Management (ITSM) Processes With Corptec

Choosing the right ITSM tool comes down to your team’s size, complexity, and how closely your IT and development teams collaborate. For agile, fast-growing businesses, Jira Service Management delivers a compelling mix of AI capabilities, futuristic features, deployment speed, and cost-effectiveness.

To help ensure that Jira Service Management offers ground-breaking opportunities for your ITSM processes, Corptec Technology Partners offers you a free discovery session to help you assess your IT landscape, in-house expertise, integration requirements, and level of AI adoption. Our team of experienced Atlassian consultants will help you evaluate your team’s unique IT service implementation and delivery challenges. The session would be entirely free, with no commitment required. It’s an opportunity for you to explore the potential of Jira Service Management for your IT, DevOps, and business development teams at no cost.

Eager to explore how you can achieve best-in-class ITSM with Corptec? Book a meeting with us today!