BMC Remedy vs. Jira Service Management: The ultimate ITSM tools showdown

Many organizations want to focus on innovation over firefighting but mounting roadblocks prevent them from achieving smoother IT operations. Why is this happening?

The reason might be the lack of IT service management software or outdated one that slows things down.

But on the other hand, choosing the right tool feels like navigating a maze. 

If this is also your problem, you’re heard. In this article, we compare two popular ITSM platforms: BMC Remedy vs. Jira Service Management—exploring key features, pricing, scalability, and more—to help you find your perfect match.

According to the report by Allied Market Research the ITSM market is expected to reach $28.7 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 12.4% from 2023 to 2032. The trend is driven by increasing demand for comprehensive tools to improve IT service delivery and digital transformation initiatives.

Nowadays, IT managers seek the one platform to rule them all—a centralized hub that meets current business needs and adapts to future demands. Selecting and implementing such a powerful tool is a major investment but brings many benefits. 

The right ITSM can

For example, media company The Telegraph has seen a 66% decrease in resolution times after implementing an ITSM tool (Jira Service Management). 

BMC Remedy and Jira Service Management offer robust ITSM features but cater to different organizational requirements. 

So let’s compare their offerings, highlighting similarities and differences. 

Originally launched in 1991, BMC Remedy is a long-established player in the ITSM market. Over the last few years, it has evolved into BMC Helix ITSM, the modern cloud-based version of BMC’s service management tools. In this article, we’ll discuss mostly BMC Helix ITSM’s features.

Jira Service Management, formerly Jira Service Desk, is part of the Atlassian suite. It provides a user-friendly interface and integrates seamlessly with other Atlassian products like Jira and Confluence.

BMC Remedy serves a variety of industries including finance, healthcare, and government sectors. Among its clients are large corporations such as ING, Carrefour and SAP that require comprehensive IT management solutions. 

Jira Service Management attracts a wide array of clients from startups to established enterprises like Yale School of Management, Canva and Nextiva.

In terms of market share and growth trends, BMC Remedy has maintained a strong presence in traditional ITSM markets but faces increasing competition from more agile solutions like Jira Service Management. The latter has grown rapidly due to its flexibility and ease of use.

BMC Remedy vs Jira Service Management – general comparison table

While both tools offer essential ITSM functionalities, they differ significantly in their approach to service management:

Below, we’ll unpack these functionalities in detail.

Both BMC Remedy and Jira Service Management offer effective systems designed to quickly log, prioritize, and resolve incidents with features like ticket routing and incident resolution workflows.

In BMC Remedy incidents are prioritized based on impact and urgency, ensuring critical issues are addressed first. Stakeholders are informed about incidents and escalations through automated notifications. Additionally, BMC Remedy offers advanced problem management features such as root cause analysis, problem prioritization, and problem resolution workflows.

Incident and problem management in JSM is highly collaborative. Teams can create workflows tailored to their incident response processes, as well as link incidents to knowledge articles or conference calls for faster resolution. They can also generate reports on recurring problems to identify trends over time.

BMC Remedy offers enterprise-grade depth, while Jira Service Management is more accessible, extensible, and collaborative.

Below you will find a comparison of the main features.

BMC Helix ITSM and Jira Service Management offer robust request management capabilities. The platforms enable internal and external customers to submit requests through the service desks which then are assigned to the right agents. 

BMC provides a comprehensive service catalog that reflects the selection of services. Users can define, track, and report service levels, ensuring efficient delivery and support of IT services. 

With Jira Service Management you can configure queues to track, triage, and assign incoming requests and tailor workflows to the complex IT processes. Jira presents services through a simple, intuitive service portal. The portal’s look and request forms’ structure can be customized via extensions such as Theme Extension for JSM and Extension for JSM.

A change management module in ITSM systems is designed for planning, scheduling, implementing, and tracking changes in IT services. Both Remedy and JSM offer features like a multi-step approval workflow that ensures that all changes are reviewed before implementation. 

With BMC Helix ITSM’s Change Management, in conjunction with the Approval Server and other internal applications, you can assess the scope of the change, analyze the costs, and schedule the resources required to complete the change.

Jira Service Management, on the other hand, provides a flexible change management solution with detailed change request forms and change tracking that integrate closely with other Atlassian products like Jira.

BMC Remedy offers a comprehensive Asset Management solution that helps organizations track and manage their IT assets effectively. It provides features like automatic tracking, contract management and lifecycle management. 

In contrast, in Jira Service Management you can create object schemas to organize asset databases, use agentless scanners (Asset Discovery) and automations to track assets. More asset management capabilities are provided through integrations with various plugins.

Both BMC Remedy and JSM include features like a centralized knowledge base for support teams and end-users and article creation. They help organizations capture and share knowledge effectively.

Jira Service Management’s knowledge base, built on Atlassian’s Confluence, is integrated into self-service and ticket workflows. Teams can collaboratively create and edit articles to ensure up-to-date information is available. JSM auto-suggests relevant articles during ticket creation to help users solve the problem without involving an agent.

Both BMC Remedy and Jira Service Management offer vast self-service capabilities. They enable users to submit service requests, access a comprehensive knowledge base, and track the status of their requests. 

Some features such as customization and mobile access are provided via integration with third-party apps.

In both BMC Remedy and Jira Service Management you will find comprehensive SLA management features to define SLAs, monitor compliance in real-time, and automate escalation processes for breached SLAs. 

BMC Remedy provides more advanced reporting capabilities and extensive customization options for SLA parameters so organizations can tailor SLAs to specific business needs. 

Jira Service Management, on the other hand, offers a more user-friendly interface with basic SLA reporting and fewer customization options. This makes it easier for teams to implement but potentially can be less flexible for complex requirements.

BMC Helix ITSM and Jira Service Management both integrate artificial intelligence to streamline service delivery, yet they emphasize different capabilities. 

BMC employs AI-driven clustering algorithms to detect recurring incident patterns to facilitate proactive problem management and swift resolution. 

Jira Service Management features a virtual service agent powered by Atlassian Intelligence, which automates support interactions using generative AI to provide instant assistance.

Moreover, organizations can integrate JSM with one of the newest products by Atlassian, Atlassian Rovo. 

Rovo is an AI-powered assistant designed to help teams easily find, understand, and act on information across various tools and platforms. It includes features like Rovo Search for comprehensive data search, Rovo Chat for interactive learning, and Rovo Agents to automate tasks and streamline workflows. 

BMC Remedy and Jira Service Management both offer robust reporting and analytics features, but they differ in scope and functionality. BMC Remedy provides over 90 out-of-the-box reports and advanced analytics capabilities.

While Jira Service Management has a more limited selection of default reports and customizable options. Yet, additional reporting capabilities are available through third-party apps from the Atlassian Marketplace.

BMC Remedy Helix has a sleek, customizable interface designed for IT professionals. It offers dashboards that display advanced analytics and predictive insights. However, its feature-rich look can feel overwhelming for new users without proper training.

Jira Service Management, on the other hand, focuses on simplicity and accessibility, which makes it a great choice for teams of all technical levels. Its integration with other Atlassian tools (like Jira Software and Confluence) allows for intuitive navigation and smooth collaboration. For example, agents can view linked development tasks directly in service tickets.

While BMC Remedy Helix excels in advanced functionality for large enterprises, Jira Service Management wins on ease of use and adaptability, making it ideal for agile teams and organizations looking for quick onboarding.

While BMC Remedy Helix excels in advanced functionality for large enterprises, Jira Service Management wins on ease of use and adaptability, making it ideal for agile teams and organizations looking for quick onboarding.

BMC Helix ITSM allows organizations to tailor workflows, forms, and user interfaces to their specific requirements. For instance, administrators can create overlays to modify out-of-the-box workflows that won’t affect the original configurations. However, customization may require complex configurations that can be time-consuming and cumbersome for non-technical teams.

Jira Service Management, on the other hand, provides user-friendly customization. Teams can easily configure request types, workflows, and customer portals to align with their processes. For example, administrators can customize the look and feel of help centers and portals, including branding elements like logos and welcome messages.

Organizations who migrated from BMC Remedy to JSM report improved operational efficiency and user satisfaction due to JSM’s flexible and user-friendly design. 

Depending on the organization’s needs, BMC Helix ITSM and Jira Service Management offer different pricing models.

Pricing is typically customized based on specific requirements such as the number of users and desired features. This tailored approach ensures that enterprises receive a solution aligned with their unique needs. 

Pricing details are not available on the website, it’s recommended to contact BMC through the form.

BMC does not offer a free plan for small teams. However, they provide a free trial that lets potential users experience the platform’s capabilities.

Atlassian offers transparent pricing in four tiers. 

BMC Helix ITSM offers extensive scalability through a containerized architecture, allowing deployment across on-premises, public, or private clouds. This flexibility enables organizations to scale resources up or down based on demand. 

For instance, BMC provides detailed guidelines on hardware requirements and Kubernetes cluster sizing. 

Jira Service Management supports scalability by allowing up to 10,000 agents on a single cloud instance. It accommodates growing teams efficiently. 

For example, organizations like Dominos have replaced multiple disjointed systems with Jira Service Management to support thousands of stores, streamlining operations and improving service delivery. 

Both tools provide comprehensive user support and active community engagement. The first focuses on structured documentation, the second leverages a dynamic user community.

BMC Helix ITSM’s users have access to detailed documentation, including release notes and user guides, through the BMC Documentation portal, while The BMC Community, a platform for discussions, knowledge articles, and blogs facilitates peer support and knowledge sharing. 

Jira Service Management also provides extensive support resources, including comprehensive documentation and a dedicated support portal. The Atlassian Community is a vibrant forum where users can ask questions, share best practices, and read useful articles. 

BMC Helix ITSM provides extensive integration options through its Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) and REST APIs. This enables seamless connections with various third-party applications and homegrown systems. 

Jira Service Management offers out-of-the-box integrations with a variety of tools, including development platforms like Jira Software, CI/CD tools such as Jenkins and third-party applications via Atlassian Marketplace. 

It’s time to wrap up our comparison, but instead of declaring a winner, we leave the choice to you—your perfect match depends entirely on your organization’s needs and priorities. Before scheduling a demo, take some time to consider key factors such as team size, budget, and integration requirements.

Drawing from our testing, analysis, and user reviews on platforms like Capterra and G2, we’ve outlined recommendations for which types of teams might benefit most from JSM or BMC solutions.

Due to its great flexibility, Jira Service Management would be a great fit for:

Solution by BMC would be a great choice for: