Best ITSM tools of 2019
Information Technology (IT) has become a necessary and ordinary part of the modern business landscape. However, being able to track and resolve issues across many devices can be a difficult challenge. Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) software aims to make it manageable.
One of the key issues faced by ITSM is the variety of devices that might be used. There could be a mix of desktops, laptops, and cell phones, all of which will need to be kept up to date with security updates, as well as any software issues with them corrected.
Additionally, ITSM cannot be focused only on the technology but must also manage the users of that technology. That means there is a need for proper error reporting and logging, technical helpdesk assistance, and other ticketing support.
This must all be organized so its easy for IT managers to find what they want and need to find to resolve problems as quickly as possible, and ensure others are solved before they become an issue.
Here at Techradar we’ve put together a list of five of the major ITSM platforms you might want to consider if you find yourself needing an ITSM solution.
- We’ve also highlighted the
ServiceNow IT Service Management is the ITSM offering from the ServiceNow family of support products. This product 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.
Image Credit: Freshworks
The folks at Freshworks bring us Freshservice, a cloud-based ITSM which promises to standardize 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 standardized 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 organizations needs. Plans start at the Blossom plan, which costs $19 per agent monthly for the basic feature set. Stepping up to the most popular Estate plan adds additional features including software license management, analytics and customizable agent roles.
Image Credit: LogMeIn
RescueAssist is remote support software that offers a robust support platform to cover the gamut of ITSM needs. With such a mature product, the features are well developed, and include two-way screen share so technicians can take over a system remotely including keyboard and mouse control.
There’s also the ability to use file transfer to send updates to remote systems, support for customers using multi-monitors, annotation tools for technicians to draw on a customer’s screen, and multi-session support for techs to be able to handle up to eight customers simultaneously.
The cost of RescueAssist depends on whether you would prefer to pay monthly or yearly. The monthly charge is $69 per month per technician, but if you pay on a yearly subscription this comes down to $55 per technician.
Image Credit: Samanage
Samanage is a cloud-based ITSM solution which is Information Technology Information Library (ITIL) ready. Users can submit their tickets through either email or the self-service portal, and Samanage helps to move the ticket requests through the “Lifecycle of problems, changes and releases.” The feature set is rounded out with a service level management, automations, benchmarking, automations and IT asset management.
There is also a tool for risk detection. It is OS agnostic as it works from any device – desktop, laptop or mobile – with a web browser offering flexibility in use. There is a 30-day free trial, which is longer than competitors. After that, the pricing is opaque, although it is based around an annual subscription.
Image Credit: InvGate
InvGate Service Desk is a comprehensive ITSM tool to support IT; it is available as either on-premise software, or SaaS. The list of organizations 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.
Image credit: Cherwell
Cherwell ITSM provides a cloud-based SaaS platform that aims to simplify overall IT management by allowing easy drag and drop management of configurations, visualizations, 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.