Best ServiceNow alternatives for mid-size businesses

Why businesses look for a ServiceNow alternative

ServiceNow is an enterprise platform. It started in IT service management (incidents, problems, changes, assets) and now covers HR, customer service, security operations and custom workflow apps on one platform. For large organizations with dedicated platform teams, it is often the standard choice.

Smaller and mid-size companies tend to raise the same concerns:

• Licensing and implementation cost a lot relative to the size of the team using it.
• Getting value usually needs certified admins, developers or an implementation partner.
• Upgrades and customizations need ongoing care so they do not break each other.
• The company uses a small part of the platform, often just an IT help desk and a request catalog.
• Non-IT teams find the interface and process heavier than their requests deserve.

The main ServiceNow alternatives

These are established service management products, all sold today. Most are faster to set up than ServiceNow, with less depth at the top end.

• Jira Service Management: IT and business service desk from Atlassian, closely tied to Jira. It suits companies whose engineering teams already use Jira, with the trade-off that non-technical users may find it less friendly.
• Freshservice: IT service management from Freshworks, with incidents, changes, assets and a service catalog. It suits mid-size IT teams that want ITIL-style processes without a long rollout.
• ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus: a long-standing IT help desk with asset management and on-premises or cloud options. It suits teams that want broad features at a lower cost, with the trade-off of a more traditional interface.
• Zendesk: best known for customer support, but also used for internal help desks. It suits companies that want one simple tool for employee and customer requests, with lighter IT-specific features.
• BMC Helix: an enterprise ITSM suite. It suits large organizations comparing ServiceNow like for like rather than looking for something lighter.

When custom service software makes more sense

For classic IT service management, buying an established tool is usually right. Custom software makes more sense for the requests around the edges: facilities requests, purchasing approvals, onboarding and offboarding checklists, vendor requests, field equipment issues or compliance sign-offs. These often end up in ServiceNow because it can be bent to fit, at a high cost to build and maintain. A focused custom app for those requests is often simpler for employees and cheaper to change.

A custom service request system typically includes:

• A simple request portal with forms for each request type.
• Approval chains that follow your org chart, spending limits and exceptions.
• Queues, assignment rules and service targets for each team.
• An audit trail of who requested, approved and completed what, and when.
• Integrations with your HR, accounting, identity or asset systems.
• Dashboards for backlog, turnaround time and bottlenecks.

How to plan a move off ServiceNow

1. List what you really useInventory every module, catalog item, workflow, integration and report, and note which ones people use each week.
2. Check your contractNote renewal dates and terms so the move lines up with your license period.
3. Export recordsExport tickets, assets, users and knowledge articles, and decide how much history needs to move versus be archived.
4. Split the workMove core IT requests to an ITSM tool and decide which business workflows go to custom software or simpler tools.
5. Cut over by teamMove one team or request type at a time, with a short overlap and clear instructions for employees.

How to choose

• Do you need full ITSM (changes, problems, configuration items) or mainly a help desk and request catalog?
• Who will run the tool day to day, and what skills do they have?
• Which systems must integrate, such as identity, HR, chat and monitoring?
• How many requests are IT, and how many are other teams using the same tool?
• Are there audit or compliance requirements for approvals and changes?
• What is the total cost over three years, including setup and admin time?