Service desk systems are essential to modern enterprise help desk operations — without them, service requests and issues would end up lost in a barrage of emails and handwritten notes.
Both Jira Service Management and ServiceNow are leading solutions in this category; the latter's share of the IT service management (ITSM) market is 25%, while JSM is more geared towards software developers and is a household name when it comes to project management and collaboration tools.
So, why not check our ServiceNow vs Jira Service Management comparison for more details?
Main criteria
Both solutions are powerful offerings when it comes to integration - perhaps the hallmark of a well-positioned enterprise software provider these days. But let's see which one is better and in what aspects.
Tool
Atlassian Inc. Jira Service Management was supposed to track issues and troubles across software and mobile apps. But now, it has evolved into a strong, flexible solution. Thus, now it can be used for firms of all kinds.
ServiceNow is a cloud-based ITSM platform. Thus, it helps businesses to manage, organize and automate their operations. It's a platform as a service. It offers ITSM applications. Moreover, it helps in automating the tasks of the corporate process.
Feature set
Both are competent platforms for enterprise IT help desk management. However, JSM works well as part of an ecosystem of other Atlassian products. ServiceNow was designed as a platform with integration as its focus, and many of its features are derived from working with other tools.
User experience
The Jira Service Management web interface is intuitive and easy to understand - again, Atlassian customers will feel right at home with its admin console. ServiceNow's web interface is also very user-friendly, but unlike JSM, it's more enterprise/ITIL oriented, making it less accessible to smaller organizations and IT departments.
Pricing and support
Jira Service Management pricing is simple and affordable for even the tightest of budgets. $10/month for 3 agents and $20/agent/month for 4+ agents. Local versions are also available for the price of one agent.
ServiceNow starts at $10,200/year for the Express version, which is more in line with a corporate budget than small IT shops.
In terms of support, Atlassian offers a range of standard and premium support options that include weekday and weekend service, dedicated support staff, reduced response windows, and more. ServiceNow offers web/email support and 24/7/365 phone support for US customers.
API and extensibility
Jira Service Management provides a powerful REST API for building add-ons and integrating with other applications. ServiceNow also comes with a well-documented REST API for interacting with service instances of its platform.
Third-party integrations
JSM's third-party integrations are second to none. Its Marketplace offers over 2,400 add-ons to extend the platform's capabilities. ServiceNow also offers many integrations - both built-in and custom-built.
Companies that use it
Jira Service Management is used by many of the world's leading companies:
- Twitter;
- Sotheby's;
- Spotify;
- BlackRock.
Equally popular with the corporate elite, ServiceNow counts AstraZeneca, Envision Healthcare, Equinix, GE Capital, and Standard Life among its top clients.
Learning curve
ServiceNow is more enterprise-focused and ITIL-focused, whereas Jira Service Management has been designed to be accessible to IT professionals from all types of organizations. Consequently, JSM offers a more moderate learning curve for the average IT professional compared to ServiceNow.
Summary
For small IT departments with limited needs/requirements, Jira Service Management is a win-win choice, especially since the platform can be easily scaled and extended to support more users and features.
Organizations looking for a more structured solution focused on ITSM and ITIL can choose the ServiceNow enterprise service management platform instead.
Both platforms excel in their integration capabilities, so either solution can easily fit into an environment that uses disparate tools.