No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

SCSM vs SolarWinds Web Help Desk comparison

Why PeerSpot?
Sponsored
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Automation Anywhere
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
665
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (2nd), Robotic Process Automation (RPA) (2nd), Process Mining (1st), Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) (1st), Agentic Automation (1st), Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies (2nd), AI Legal & Compliance (1st), AI Finance & Accounting (2nd), AI Procurement & Supply Chain (1st)
SCSM
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Help Desk Software (14th), IT Service Management (ITSM) (16th)
SolarWinds Web Help Desk
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
Help Desk Software (30th)
 

Featured Reviews

Venkat Sivaprakash - PeerSpot reviewer
Management Consultant at Accenture
Has significantly improved document-driven workflows and reduced processing time across finance and HR functions
Automation Anywhere has evolved significantly and upgraded itself to provide agentic AI and AI-based automation solutions for document automation. The product has matured considerably over time. We can create workflows that can call an API. We can include prompts in particular workflows for ChatGPT-related functions, connecting to an LLM and RAG to perform tasks. For document automation, modern features are available to train documents, ensuring high accuracy and repeatability over time. The system is very easy to use. I recently completed a course in document automation, typically designed for people involved in coding and technical aspects. Though I understand coding comprehensively, I don't do actual coding. The course was very accessible. Currently, extensive coding isn't necessary due to the hybrid model incorporating GenAI aspects, low-code, no-code capabilities, APIs, and numerous pre-built objects in Automation Anywhere. The features include GenAI-driven prompting methods and workflow creation capabilities. In these workflows, we can create decision boxes and call APIs without coding. We simply pull objects, drop them, connect them, and add minimal coding when needed. The most crucial aspect isn't coding but rather sizing the automation and fleshing out the details. Automation Co-pilot takes notes and performs automated analysis. It can extract details from videos, summarize conversations, and provide detailed information. During calls, it identifies instructions and performs tasks such as preparing reports and reconciliation. Automation Anywhere can also connect with Microsoft Co-pilot. Through Co-pilot, real-time operations can be executed, allowing direct interaction between vendors and automation through this component.
LuisSanchez3 - PeerSpot reviewer
Director Metropolitano de Gobierno Digital at a government with 10,001+ employees
Current setup enables smooth problem-solving but lacks comprehensive guidance and local support
More information about setup procedures and a more user-friendly front end would be beneficial. We need more information for setup processes. It is difficult to do the work independently, requiring us to hire external companies for maintenance hours to fix small issues that could be resolved faster in-house if we had better information. We have been looking for an upgrade version, but finding local service has been difficult. It has been challenging trying to get things done. Speaking with the Microsoft office, we found there are no local companies with substantial experience with SCSM. What we have now was installed five or six years ago. It has been difficult to change configurations and look for upgrades, even with all the manuals. Our office is considering moving away from SCSM and getting a service desk solution outside of Microsoft. For me, it has been a good tool to get help and solve internal problems in the office. It is a very good tool, but the difficulty in getting local service or more information is pushing us to look for another tool.
GANESAN K - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Technical Engineer at Safezone Secure Solutions Private Limited
Has supported daily operational workflows and improved approval management across departments
We actually do the reselling. We created a self-service portal for the customers, and this particular function does impact reducing IT staff workload overall. From technical standpoints, comparing SolarWinds Web Help Desk with TeamViewer, we need ease of configuration and ease of allocating, creating new fields or creating new layouts for many specific use cases. An organization can have a number of use cases when it comes to a ticketing tool. It's not a security solution; it's more of a service solution where you will be configuring the needed categories and needed fields for each department. On a scale of 1-10, I rate SolarWinds Web Help Desk an 8.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Before, there was about four to five resources to extract it, now, with automation, this has helped us reduce the time to two to three minutes, then the work will be done."
"We do plenty of manual processing every day. This is repetitive work where an employee will come and do the same task. The tool helps us to avoid those repetitive tasks and save dollars."
"Many of our tasks are automated using AA and due to ease in handling, it becomes the first choice in terms of RPA tool."
"In some cases, we see savings on the order of $100,000 and, in the newer processes that we are trying to do, it may be up to $1,000,000."
"Efficiency is something that has increased a lot. Productivity has increased a lot too."
"The primary use case is automation of processes for people services, such as data management of the employees, and financial processes, like reporting, financial reporting, and month-end closing activities."
"We have hundreds of cases a day. There were around two to three employees who were just moving a case from one state to another. This was a repetitive, tedious job, which was frustrating for the employees. It helps to have the bot doing this work now. We have immediately seen effects, so this is a good use for it."
"It is easy to understand how to use the tool. For a developer, it is very easy to understand the opportunities and how to use and learn these features. It is very business-oriented."
"SCSM helps us keep organized by tracking all user demands and change requests. However, the reporting is not sufficient to provide a clear view of ongoing projects. It helps with daily operations and change request management."
"If it is correctly configured, you can access and give service quickly to all the end users."
"I've used SCSM a lot, and its features are valuable."
"Improved time management, all the details logged (nothing missed), roles and responsibilities in tool are set according to policy/procedure."
"Microsoft System Center Service Manager is a good product; it seems very easy and is better than most of the other solutions, which often have only a few features and cannot do what Microsoft can do."
"The reporting is very good."
"For our cloud-based deployment of SCSM, the Autopilot is the best feature."
"The call logging is the solution's most valuable feature; it's very easy to use and isn't too resource-intensive."
"It has a pretty good search function. If you do the advanced search, you can basically search for anything in any field. If I do a search on the request field and just put in some terms I'm searching for, I can usually find the ticket that I'm looking for."
"SolarWinds is a very good application that provides you with a detailed monitoring capability of your network and assets."
"It is easy to use."
"SolarWinds supports case and incident reporting. This includes logging incidents and tracking them efficiently. Additionally, it is compatible and approved by the ITIL foundation and standards, meeting world-class standards."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the assets management module."
"The biggest advantage for SolarWinds Web Help Desk is the user interface; we were able to configure a different UI for administrators, employees, and HODs based on their hierarchy level."
"A person who is not in IT, but has some good ITSM knowledge will be able to configure it directly on SolarWinds, and Manage Engine."
"SolarWinds is scalable as far as adding devices and servers."
 

Cons

"It's somewhat pricier than some of the other tools that we've used, and the breakout between the different applications is also somewhat costly."
"The marketing for Automation Anywhere has room for improvement."
"One way Automation Anywhere can be improved is in ticketing; I have a couple of tickets that have been outstanding for a while, and the support staff have closed tickets without checking with me first, which has been a sore spot."
"They have a ridiculously expensive bot licensing structure, especially for the Asian region."
"The setup process is not easy compared to the competition, and this can be a barrier to entry."
"I would like better support. The technical support is mediocre. The support is sometimes really good, and sometimes it is really bad."
"Automation Anywhere has to be integrated with machine learning and AI systems to read images and videos, then put the information into another format."
"Most clients use systems which use old Java versions, trying to automate on these systems is really difficult since most features/commands are not supported."
"I have found SCSM not adequate enough to carry out some functions."
"It crashes our client's computers. Sometimes they get blue screens. It would be useful if SCSM could check the upgrades or patches before we implemented them to see if they are going to crash a client's system. Or, if it does install, and the client's system crashes, it would be good if the solution could revert back somehow."
"Look around as there are a lot of better solutions!"
"Better integration with other services in Azure is needed because everything is moving from on-premises to the cloud, and as an integrator, we have to help our clients with the migration."
"On a scale from one to ten where one is the worst and ten is the best, I rate this product as a seven, maybe even between six and seven, because there are a few things they need to improve, especially in the interface."
"Our office is looking for maybe getting out of SCSM and getting a service desk solution outside of Microsoft."
"This is not a product that I recommend."
"The user interface needs to be improved."
"This is a good solution, but the GUI is really old-fashion and needs to be updated."
"We would like to see automation included in the next release. We would like to eliminate the L1, and L2 support, by at least 80%. To do this, we need automation with AI (Artificial Intelligence) in combination with ML (Machine Learning)."
"It would be good if there were training and tutorial videos on the Web Help Desk."
"The working part, the deployment part, and the configuration part was a little bit complex."
"The interface feels clunky to me compared to some other systems that I've used. I used ManageEngine Service Desk prior to this at my previous job and that had stuff like categories that we use that I don't see in SolarWinds."
"Dashboards need some amount of work to be done. Ease of customization is desired."
"However, it's a little outdated compared to newer products that include protection and detection."
"The program seems buggy to me. Not infrequently, when I click to add a Note, the Notes section disappears instead of opening a box to add a Note."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I am not sure about the costs, but two Bot Runners and four Bot Creators may cost approximately 1CR."
"We have saved time and money using this solution."
"We have purchased licenses, but are trying to obtain more bot programmer licenses."
"Our advice is that anybody interested in this product should negotiate product bundles in order to reduce the cost of installation and setup."
"Additional costs will be for the machines and the number of machines that you are using. You can deploy virtually as well as on physical machines. In both the situations, you do need to allocate a certain budget for securing the machines and where the software will be installed and running. The machines cannot be used for anything else, because only a certain bot can run at a certain time. You need to be very particular about your scheduling of running the bots, and while the bot is running nobody can use the machine. You cannot have an agent working on a machine and the bot running in the background. It has to be completely dedicated. Then there are the network bandwidth requirements and space requirements, which are additional costs apart from the licensing and software costs. The developer is also going to charge you for their coding time too."
"Cost-wise, it is fine. A lot of medium businesses prefer Automation Anywhere. The development cost is also lower."
"It looks like it will be right around $115,000, not counting IQ Bot, which we won't renew until later."
"The licensing cost is approximately $4,000 USD, which is a seed license."
"The price should be lower."
"The platform is competitively priced."
"It is an expensive solution."
"It comes free with the enterprise agreement that we have, but the expense really is in having to buy another product to sit on top of it to make it work properly. You wind up having to buy additional support and additional product with their own support and maintenance costs on top of that."
"Licensing can be complex and confusing."
"It is a lower price vs. other things on the market."
"I would rate the pricing as two out of five."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"When you compare with ManageEngine and ServiceNow, SolarWinds is reasonable."
"They charge by the technician. It costs $117 per technician per year."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Help Desk Software solutions are best for your needs.
917,433 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
13%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Outsourcing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Construction Company
9%
Performing Arts
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business161
Midsize Enterprise86
Large Enterprise562
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?
It depends on your use case. Is it simply to automate a couple of processes? Is it to augment a human team? AA is ver...
How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?
From my experience using AA tool, it depends on the applications that you want to automate, because there some applic...
How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?
It is a highly preferred RPA tool. You can check my Automation Anywhere Review to know more.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SCSM?
I am not sure about the pricing as I do not have experience with it.
What needs improvement with SCSM?
More information about setup procedures and a more user-friendly front end would be beneficial. We need more informat...
What is your primary use case for SCSM?
In my job, I work for the city where we have an enterprise agreement with Microsoft. We have Office, Word, PowerPoint...
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Web Help Desk?
Areas of improvement can be enhanced regarding configuration. We had the deployment metrics and usability, ease of us...
What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Web Help Desk?
For Zoho, we did OP Manager, Audit Security, AD Security and Asset Management, Patch Management. These things we are ...
What advice do you have for others considering SolarWinds Web Help Desk?
We actually do the reselling. We created a self-service portal for the customers, and this particular function does i...
 

Also Known As

Automation Anywhere, Testing Anywhere, Automation Anywhere Enterprise, Agentic Process Automation System (Now Certified for WorkSpaces)
System Center Service Manager
No data available
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Google, Linkedin, Cisco, Juniper Networks, DellEMC, Comcast, Mastercard, Quest Diagnostics
Fibabanka, UMC Health System
Instacart
Find out what your peers are saying about SCSM vs. SolarWinds Web Help Desk and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
917,433 professionals have used our research since 2012.