IT leaders today face a management paradigm more complicated than ever. Digital transformation initiatives, explosive growth in connected devices, and distributed work across multiple clouds push operations teams to their limit. Delivering excellent internal support and services despite unrelenting complexity becomes a competitive advantage.
This is why Gartner forecasts a nearly 13% CAGR for the IT service management (ITSM) software market through 2025, predicting an $18 billion market.
Yet one vendor dominates, as ServiceNow cements itself as the enterprise ITSM solution of choice:
- Holds over 30% market share in ITSM software
- Trusted by over 80% of Fortune 500 companies globally
- Manages nearly 100 million service tickets each year on the Now Platform
While ServiceNow offers incredibly deep capabilities, it brings unparalleled complexity requiring extensive investments of time and resources to configure and manage. Many IT executives question whether ServiceNow overserves the needs of small- and midsized organizations.
Others find ServiceNowʼs total cost of ownership makes the ROI case difficult as functionality often goes unused. These sentiments open the door for viable competitors as alternatives emerge.
Why Should Businesses Consider ServiceNow Alternatives?
Here are the most common factors driving interest in competitors:
Ease of Use – Alternatives like Freshservice shine where ServiceNow falls short — intuitive navigation, guided setup, configurable dashboards that don’t require developer-level skills.
Speed of Deployment – Midsize IT shops often lack the expertise needed to unleash ServiceNow’s full potential. Competitors promote faster time-to-value with prebuilt workflows and templates.
Flexibility & Control – Alternatives give users more low-code customization and configuration options allowing platforms to better conform to existing processes and preferences.
Cost Constraints – Many balk at ServiceNow’s complex pricing model at 6-7X the cost of functional competitors that get the job done.
Focus on Core Features – Alternative vendors avoid “featuritis,” keeping their platforms simple and centered on just the must-have capabilities for most buyers.
Let‘s evaluate eight compelling ServiceNow alternatives on the market.
1. Freshservice — The Intuitive Game-Changer
Freshservice shakes up the ITSM market by proving robust functionality and consumer-grade usability need not be mutually exclusive. It makes managing IT infrastructure and services a delight rather than a burden.
With the option of cloud or on-premises deployment, Freshservice brings all essential ITSM capabilities from user-friendly service desk software to change management and outage prevention. But where the tool really differentiates is ease of use. Features like:
- Visual workflow builder for drag-and-drop process creation
- Contextual previews during ticket capture prevent miscategorization
- Friendly and configurable agent interface lowers training time
- One-click integrations with 100+ workplace apps via Zapier
These capabilities helped Freshservice earn the distinction as a strong performer in The Forrester Wave evaluation with top scores for UI, integration capabilities, and time-to-value.
Jared Richardson, Service Delivery Manager at tech firm BIS, shared why his organization switched from ServiceNow to Freshservice:
“We wanted something simpler that would have rapid time to value. Syncing workflows from ServiceNow to Freshservice made the migration easy. And the support team has been with us every step of the way.”
Get Started with Freshservice with a 30-Day Free Trial »
2. Jira Service Management — Built for Agile IT Teams
As Atlassian’s popular project management platform tailored for agile software teams, Jira Service Management makes perfect sense as an ITSM contender by bringing dev and ops functions into closer harmony.
Jira SM offers the same user experience engineers rely on for sprint planning and issue tracking, while IT support squads benefit from improved visibility and collaboration with development. This proves especially valuable for organizations with mature DevOps practices.
Powerful automation handles the heavy lifting across processes like:
- Automated ticket classification and routing
- Event-driven issue creation and escalation
- Predefined workflows for faster process design
- Hundreds of 3rd party tool integrations
According to Nick Kaye, Head of Service Delivery at WiFi analytics provider Skyfii, Jira Service Management helped transform IT and engineering collaboration:
“Jira SM opened up new possibilities for us in ITSM. Easy automation for ticket management and seamless visibility between our service desk and R&D teams in Jira takes collaboration to another level.”
Get Started Free with Jira Service Management »
Evaluating the Best Alternative For You
There are great reasons so many enterprises now evaluate alternatives as they reassess ITSM solutions. Each option covered has earned strong marks from analysts and customers alike for capabilities, support, and total value.
As you compare ServiceNow replacements like Freshservice and Jira Service Management, keep the following high-level considerations in mind:
Available Integrations – Your new ITSM platform should plug seamlessly into your existing stack supporting monitoring tools, identity access management, productivity software, etc.
Deployment Flexibility – Whether opting for on-premise, pure SaaS, or hybrid delivery, you want deployment options aligned to your preferences and constraints. Be sure solution candidates support your environment.
Ease of Use & Adoption – If agents struggle with convoluted interfaces, or users fail to leverage self-service features, low adoption renders tools ineffective. Prioritize intuitive navigation and configuration.
Custom Reporting & Data Analysis – The platform should readily transform raw ticket, chang, incident dataset into digestible dashboards and visibility needed to spot trends and make improvements.
Scalability & Growth – Even smaller IT organizations experience spikes in complexity and headcounts. Ensure your provider offers clear pricing models and expansion options aligned to different stages of maturity.
Reliable Support – Complex software invariably hits snags during implementation and ongoing use. Lean on providers with transparent support engagement models and a track record of customer satisfaction.
Taking time to evaluate competitors on criteria like these pays dividends. The more confidently you can match solutions to your present and future support requirements, the greater the long-term return on investment.
If ready to explore ServiceNow alternatives first-hand, take advantage of free trial links included above to see which option best fits your needs. Just don‘t settle for ITSM software that overcomplicates service delivery for your organization. Prioritize tools purpose-built around user experience and scaled to your environment.
Have you used or evaluated any ServiceNow competitor solutions? Share your experiences in the comments below!
