# Best IT Service Management Tools - Page 3 ## How Many IT Service Management Tools Products Does G2 Track? **Total Products under this Category:** 173 ### Category Stats (Jul 2026) - **Average Rating:** 4.36/5 The average rating of products in this category, based on all submitted ratings - **Top Trending Product:** Wavity Help and Service Desk (+2.93%) - Among all products in this category, Wavity Help and Service Desk recorded the largest rating increase compared to last month _Last updated: July 26, 2026_ ## How Does G2 Rank IT Service Management Tools Products? **Why You Can Trust G2's Software Rankings:** - 30 Analysts and Data Experts - 36,600+ Authentic Reviews - 173+ Products - Unbiased Rankings G2's software rankings are built on verified user reviews, rigorous moderation, and a consistent research methodology maintained by a team of analysts and data experts. Each product is measured using the same transparent criteria, with no paid placement or vendor influence. While reviews reflect real user experiences, which can be subjective, they offer valuable insight into how software performs in the hands of professionals. Together, these inputs power the G2 Score, a standardized way to compare tools within every category. ## G2 Grid® for IT Service Management Tools ![G2 Grid® for IT Service Management Tools plotting products by satisfaction and market presence](https://www.g2.com/categories/it-service-management-itsm-tools/grids.png?focus%5B%5D=71310&focus%5B%5D=25671&focus%5B%5D=5231&focus%5B%5D=2864&focus%5B%5D=16222&focus%5B%5D=25675&focus%5B%5D=929&focus%5B%5D=1404685) Highlighted products: ServiceNow IT Service Management, NinjaOne, Jira Service Management, Freshservice, Atera, ClickUp, Autotask, and monday service. Underlying data: [Grid® JSON](https://www.g2.com/categories/it-service-management-itsm-tools/grids.json?focus%5B%5D=servicenow-it-service-management&focus%5B%5D=ninjaone&focus%5B%5D=jira-service-management&focus%5B%5D=freshservice&focus%5B%5D=atera&focus%5B%5D=clickup&focus%5B%5D=autotask&focus%5B%5D=monday-service) **Sponsored** ### ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus ServiceDesk Plus is ITIL-ready help desk software with integrated Asset and Project Management capabilities. With advanced ITSM functionality and easy-to-use capability, ServiceDesk Plus helps IT support teams deliver world-class service to end users with reduced costs and complexity. It comes in three editions and is available in 29 different languages. Over 100,000 organizations and 750,000 technicians, across 185 countries, trust ServiceDesk Plus to optimize IT service desk performance. It is fully integrated and easy to set up - without extensive customization or integrations. It has rich automation that helps eliminate pesky manual processes for quicker ticket resolution and higher end user satisfaction. Furthermore, the Standard Edition is FREE forever for both the on-premise and on-demand models upto 5 technicians! Don't take our word for it. Try the 30-day free trial and watch ServiceDesk Plus simplify your IT operations. https://www.manageengine.com/products/service-desk/download.html Features ServiceDesk Plus comes with a great balance of features to suit your business needs. The features available are listed below. Incident management: Gain control of your help desk With incident management you can pin incidents to the right technicians to ensure accountability and automate ticket workflows with automatic ticket dispatch, business rules, escalation, service level agreement, notification rules or alerts, preventive maintenance for timely ticket resolution. In other words, you can manage the entire lifecycle of an incident! Problem management: Go beyond firefighting Problem management helps you analyze the root cause and reduce recurring incidents in your IT, raise a new problem from within an incident, link related incidents to a problem and close them all at once! Further, you can provide temporary workarounds till you find a permanent fix to the problem. Change management: Manage changes with precision Manage your changes with precision. Streamline planning with roll out and back out plans, take informed decisions in the assessment, prioritization, and scheduling of changes with inputs from the Change Advisory Board (CAB), automated workflows to ensure that there are no more unauthorized or failed changes. Asset management: Track and manage assets with ease Discover, track, and manage your IT hardware and software assets in one place. Optimize asset utilization, avoid vulnerabilities, and ensure license compliance. IT project management: Deliver IT projects on time You can now manage multiple IT projects and requirements, plan releases, track progress, collaborate with team, and measure results, or in other words, manage all your IT projects efficiently. Break a full-blown project into milestones and tasks, set roles and provide access permissions, track the utilization of your resources, monitor the overall progress of your IT projects using colored Gantt charts, and do more to steer your IT projects to success! Purchases and contracts management: Track IT purchases and contracts Automate your supplier interactions and IT purchasing functions with full traceability and visibility, maintain master records for various vendors and track purchases from ordering to receipt and invoicing, reduce delays and cut unnecessary spending, track IT hardware and software contracts to improve compliance, associate assets and get proactively notified of contract expiry. Self service portal: Deflect tickets from your service desk Help users solve repeat incidents using a knowledge base and deflect tickets from your service desk, keep end users informed on ticket progress/approvals through automated notifications or make company-wide announcements of any outage or unplanned maintenance, auto suggest solutions during ticket creation and provide easy templates to create tickets. Service catalog: Showcase your IT services Showcase the offered IT services to your end user and give a new face to your IT. You can customize your workflow of delivering the service request specific to each service category. You can also setup approval process and service level agreements for each service request. CMDB: Get the bigger picture ServiceDesk Plus CMDB ensures effortless management of your entire IT infrastructure. Track and manage all configuration items and map their relationships and dependencies. Visually analyze the impact of changes and outages for informed decision-making. Service level agreement: Ensure timely service delivery Create SLAs and provide quality services on time to your end users. With the intuitive SLA management in ServiceDesk Plus, escalate proactively to four levels of hierarchy to ensure that your SLAs are met. Reports: Derive decisions with the right data Generate over 150+ inbuilt reports, custom reports, query reports and flash reports pertaining to various service desk modules like requests, problems, changes, assets, surveys, contracts, and purchase. Use real time dashboards to accurately reflect health of the service desk, create relevant custom reports and add them to your dashboard and take strategic decisions based on the current trend of your help desk performance! Extensions and integrations: Collaborate easily with other IT systems Enjoy tight integration with software that monitors and manages your networks, applications, desktops, and Active Directory. Get what you always wanted - 360 degree visibility of your IT! [Visit website](https://www.g2.com/external_clickthroughs/record?secure%5Bad_program%5D=ppc&secure%5Bad_slot%5D=category_product_list&secure%5Bcategory_id%5D=1482&secure%5Bchosen_at%5D=2026-07-28T11%3A04%3A33Z&secure%5Bdisplayable_resource_id%5D=1482&secure%5Bdisplayable_resource_type%5D=Category&secure%5Bmedium%5D=sponsored&secure%5Bplacement_reason%5D=page_category&secure%5Bplacement_resource_ids%5D%5B%5D=1482&secure%5Bprioritized%5D=false&secure%5Bproduct_id%5D=2867&secure%5Bresource_id%5D=1482&secure%5Bresource_type%5D=Category&secure%5Bsource_type%5D=category_page&secure%5Bsource_url%5D=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.g2.com%2Fcategories%2Fit-service-management-itsm-tools%3Fpage%3D3&secure%5Btoken%5D=a413ab30d5c5807585adfe18c24a34a727a6339588138ce4fb49e69f1d909db8&secure%5Burl%5D=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.manageengine.com%2Fproducts%2Fservice-desk%2F%3Futm_source%3DG2%26utm_medium%3DCPC&secure%5Burl_type%5D=custom_url) [ Serviceaide ChangeGear ](https://www.g2.com/products/serviceaide-changegear/reviews) By [Serviceaide](https://www.g2.com/sellers/serviceaide) [ 3.9/5(105) ](https://www.g2.com/products/serviceaide-changegear/reviews) What do users say? Users consistently praise the customization options and ease of use of Serviceaide ChangeGear, noting that it effectively adapts to various workflows and integrates well with existing systems. Many ap Pros and Cons [ Incident Management (5) ](https://www.g2.com/products/serviceaide-changegear/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons)[ Outdated Interface (4) ](https://www.g2.com/products/serviceaide-changegear/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons) [ Clarity SM ](https://www.g2.com/products/ca-service-desk-manager/reviews) By [Broadcom](https://www.g2.com/sellers/broadcom-ab3091cd-4724-46a8-ac89-219d6bc8e166) [ 4.2/5(20) ](https://www.g2.com/products/ca-service-desk-manager/reviews) What do users say? Users consistently praise the software for its user-friendly interface and ease of navigation, making it simple to manage tickets and incidents. Many appreciate its integration with other CA products, [ SolarWinds IT Incident... ](https://www.g2.com/products/solarwinds-it-incident-response-squadcast/reviews) By [SolarWinds Worldwide LLC](https://www.g2.com/sellers/solarwinds-worldwide-llc) [ 4.4/5(310) ](https://www.g2.com/products/solarwinds-it-incident-response-squadcast/reviews) What do users say? Users consistently praise the ease of use and reliable alerting features of Squadcast, highlighting its intuitive interface that simplifies incident management. Many appreciate its seamless integratio Pros and Cons [ Alert Management (50) ](https://www.g2.com/products/solarwinds-it-incident-response-squadcast/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons)[ Notification Issues (28) ](https://www.g2.com/products/solarwinds-it-incident-response-squadcast/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons) [ Hornbill Service Manager ](https://www.g2.com/products/hornbill-hornbill-service-manager/reviews) By [Hornbill](https://www.g2.com/sellers/hornbill) [ 4.5/5(137) ](https://www.g2.com/products/hornbill-hornbill-service-manager/reviews) What do users say? Users consistently praise the ease of use and customization options of Hornbill Service Manager, highlighting how it simplifies ticket management and enhances workflow efficiency. Many appreciate its [ ScriptRunner for Jira ](https://www.g2.com/products/scriptrunner-for-jira/reviews) By [Adaptavist](https://www.g2.com/sellers/adaptavist) [ 4.4/5(26) ](https://www.g2.com/products/scriptrunner-for-jira/reviews) What do users say? Users consistently praise the product for its automation capabilities and ease of use, which significantly enhance their workflow efficiency. Many appreciate the ability to create custom scripts and a Pros and Cons [ Automation (11) ](https://www.g2.com/products/scriptrunner-for-jira/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons)[ Complexity (3) ](https://www.g2.com/products/scriptrunner-for-jira/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons) [ Zendesk for Employee Service ](https://www.g2.com/products/zendesk-for-employee-service/reviews) By [Zendesk](https://www.g2.com/sellers/zendesk) [ 4.5/5(106) ](https://www.g2.com/products/zendesk-for-employee-service/reviews) What do users say? Users consistently praise the ease of use and quick access to information provided by the software, which significantly enhances team collaboration and efficiency. The intuitive interface and responsi Pros and Cons [ Useful (10) ](https://www.g2.com/products/zendesk-for-employee-service/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons)[ AI Limitations (3) ](https://www.g2.com/products/zendesk-for-employee-service/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons) [ ALVAO Service Desk ](https://www.g2.com/products/alvao-service-desk/reviews) By [ALVAO](https://www.g2.com/sellers/alvao) [ 4.6/5(52) ](https://www.g2.com/products/alvao-service-desk/reviews) What do users say? Users consistently praise the intuitive user interface and ease of use of the software, which allows for quick adoption across various departments without extensive training. The ability to customize Pros and Cons [ Automation (4) ](https://www.g2.com/products/alvao-service-desk/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons)[ Insufficient Information (2) ](https://www.g2.com/products/alvao-service-desk/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons) [ Kaseya BMS ](https://www.g2.com/products/kaseya-bms/reviews) By [Kaseya](https://www.g2.com/sellers/kaseya) [ 4.3/5(41) ](https://www.g2.com/products/kaseya-bms/reviews) What do users say? Users consistently praise the ease of use and integration with other Kaseya products, highlighting how these features streamline operations and enhance productivity. Many appreciate the software's abi Pros and Cons [ Efficiency (3) ](https://www.g2.com/products/kaseya-bms/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons)[ Integration Issues (1) ](https://www.g2.com/products/kaseya-bms/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons) [ BMC Helix ITSM ](https://www.g2.com/products/bmc-software-bmc-helix-itsm/reviews) By [BMC Helix](https://www.g2.com/sellers/bmc-helix) [ 3.7/5(296) ](https://www.g2.com/products/bmc-software-bmc-helix-itsm/reviews) What do users say? Users consistently praise the product for its ease of use and robust ticket management capabilities, which streamline incident tracking and reporting. Many appreciate the intuitive interface that simp Pros and Cons [ Ease of Use (5) ](https://www.g2.com/products/bmc-software-bmc-helix-itsm/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons)[ Bugs (1) ](https://www.g2.com/products/bmc-software-bmc-helix-itsm/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons) [ OpenText Service Management... ](https://www.g2.com/products/opentext-service-management-automation-x-smax/reviews) By [OpenText](https://www.g2.com/sellers/opentext) [ 4.2/5(72) ](https://www.g2.com/products/opentext-service-management-automation-x-smax/reviews) What do users say? Users consistently praise the product for its ease of use and flexibility, allowing for extensive customization to fit various organizational needs. Many appreciate the robust features that streamline Pros and Cons [ Ease of Use (2) ](https://www.g2.com/products/opentext-service-management-automation-x-smax/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons)[ Integration Issues (1) ](https://www.g2.com/products/opentext-service-management-automation-x-smax/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons) [ Pandora FMS ](https://www.g2.com/products/pandora-fms/reviews) By [Pandora FMS](https://www.g2.com/sellers/pandora-fms) [ 4.6/5(217) ](https://www.g2.com/products/pandora-fms/reviews) What do users say? Users consistently praise Pandora FMS for its comprehensive monitoring capabilities and user-friendly interface, which allow for effective management of servers, networks, and applications. The softwa Pros and Cons [ Monitoring (138) ](https://www.g2.com/products/pandora-fms/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons)[ Learning Curve (44) ](https://www.g2.com/products/pandora-fms/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons) [ BMC Helix Remedyforce ](https://www.g2.com/products/bmc-helix-remedyforce/reviews) By [BMC Helix](https://www.g2.com/sellers/bmc-helix) [ 3.9/5(49) ](https://www.g2.com/products/bmc-helix-remedyforce/reviews) What do users say? Users consistently praise the ease of use and customization options of BMC Helix Remedyforce, highlighting its intuitive interface that simplifies ticket management and reporting. Many appreciate its [ TOPdesk ](https://www.g2.com/products/topdesk/reviews) By [TOPdesk](https://www.g2.com/sellers/topdesk) [ 4.1/5(30) ](https://www.g2.com/products/topdesk/reviews) What do users say? Users consistently praise the software for its ease of use and intuitive interface, which simplifies ticket management and enhances productivity. Many appreciate the effective self-service portal that Pros and Cons [ Features (2) ](https://www.g2.com/products/topdesk/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons)[ Ticketing Issues (2) ](https://www.g2.com/products/topdesk/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons) [ Halo Service Desk ](https://www.g2.com/products/halo-service-desk/reviews) By [Halo Service Solutions](https://www.g2.com/sellers/halo-service-solutions) [ 4.5/5(17) ](https://www.g2.com/products/halo-service-desk/reviews) What do users say? Users consistently praise the software for its ease of use and high configurability, allowing teams to tailor it to their specific needs. The intuitive interface and responsive support contribute to a [ SAP Solution Manager ](https://www.g2.com/products/sap-solution-manager/reviews) By [SAP](https://www.g2.com/sellers/sap) [ 3.9/5(15) ](https://www.g2.com/products/sap-solution-manager/reviews) What do users say? Users consistently praise the product for its core functionality in managing SAP solutions and processes, highlighting its ability to streamline operations and provide valuable documentation managemen - [‹ Prev‹ Prev](/categories/it-service-management-itsm-tools?order=g2_score&page=2#product-list) - [1](/categories/it-service-management-itsm-tools?order=g2_score#product-list) - [2](/categories/it-service-management-itsm-tools?order=g2_score&page=2#product-list) - 3 - [4](/categories/it-service-management-itsm-tools?order=g2_score&page=4#product-list) - [5](/categories/it-service-management-itsm-tools?order=g2_score&page=5#product-list) - [6](/categories/it-service-management-itsm-tools?order=g2_score&page=6#product-list) - [7](/categories/it-service-management-itsm-tools?order=g2_score&page=7#product-list) - … - [11](/categories/it-service-management-itsm-tools?order=g2_score&page=11#product-list) - [12](/categories/it-service-management-itsm-tools?order=g2_score&page=12#product-list) - [Next ›Next ›](/categories/it-service-management-itsm-tools?order=g2_score&page=4#product-list) Spotlight Categories [Affiliate Marketing Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/affiliate-marketing) [Identity Verification Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/identity-verification) [Digital Experience Platforms (DXP)](https://www.g2.com/categories/digital-experience-platforms-dxp) [Payroll Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/payroll) [Survey Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/survey) Similar Categories - [Application Portfolio Management](/categories/application-portfolio-management) - [Auto Scaling](/categories/auto-scaling) - [Cloud Cost Management](/categories/cloud-cost-management) - [Cloud Management Platforms](/categories/cloud-management-platforms) - [Cloud Migration Assessment Tools](/categories/cloud-migration-assessment-tools) - [Columnar Databases](/categories/columnar-databases) - [Data as a Service (DaaS)](/categories/data-as-a-service-daas) - [Data Destruction](/categories/data-destruction) - [Data Extraction](/categories/data-extraction-tools) - [Data Governance](/categories/data-governance-tools) - [Data Observability](/categories/data-observability) - [Data Recovery](/categories/data-recovery) - [Digital Employee Experience (DEX) Management](/categories/digital-employee-experience-dex-management) - [Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM)](/categories/digital-experience-monitoring-dem) - [Digital Governance](/categories/digital-governance) [Browse IT Service Management (ITSM) Tools Themes](/categories/it-service-management-itsm-tools/themes) ![Tian Lin](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Tian Lin") TL Researched and written by [Tian Lin](https://research.g2.com/insights/author/tian-lin) Updated October 3, 2024 IT service management (ITSM) tools encompass the policies, planning, execution, and management surrounding IT service delivery. ITSM solutions help enable businesses to design and provide more efficient, standardized, and effective IT services. Typically following an ITSM framework, these solutions provide a wealth of features to users, including service desk elements, asset management, incident management, change management, and knowledge bases. They also create consistent, repeatable workflows for different IT activities. On top of helping to increase IT efficiency and standardization, ITSM tools benefit businesses significantly by increasing transparency around IT service delivery. IT interactions can be followed easily from beginning to end, audited with improved clarity, and tracked more manageably. Teams across the IT organization use ITSM tools as part of their daily workflow, but end users across a business might utilize this software’s user-facing features like ticket submission, user-facing knowledge bases, and self-help troubleshooting tips. ITSM solutions fall into a larger portfolio of IT management software, joined usually by the likes of [help desk software](https://g2.com/categories/help-desk) to manage external-facing issues, [enterprise IT management suites](https://g2.com/categories/enterprise-it-management-suites) to handle larger infrastructure needs and requirements, and similar solutions. To qualify for inclusion in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category, a product must: - Formalize IT processes and practices according to an ITSM framework - Offer an internal service request and incident ticketing system - Track internal service requests and incidents at micro and macro levels - Organize and manage IT assets - Centralize a business’ IT service knowledge Show More * * * ## How Do You Choose the Right IT Service Management Tools? ### What You Should Know About IT Service Management (ITSM) Software ### What are IT Service Management (ITSM) Tools? IT service management, or ITSM, describes the procedures and policies created and followed by organizations to implement IT services design, provision, and maintenance. ITSM aims to bring a more end user-oriented approach to IT. Most commonly, ITSM is thought of in the context of service desks, but the practices and procedures emphasized in ITSM apply more broadly to IT organizations as a whole. It can help provide structure and order in what is typically a constantly evolving organization. Companies implementing ITSM principles will typically utilize one or more of the following frameworks to provide guidelines to IT actions. - Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) - Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies (COBIT) - International Organization for Standardization (ISO) - Business Process Framework (eTOM—telecom-specific) - Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) ITIL tends to be the most commonly referred to or thought of ITSM framework, due to its strong adoption rate amongst services providers. The most recent iteration of ITIL, ITIL 4, is composed of two parts; the service value system (SVS, with 34 individual standards) and the four dimensions model (aligned with the four Ps of ITIL: people, products, partners, processes). ### What are the Common Features of IT Service Management (ITSM) Tools? The following are some core features within ITSM tools: **Standards alignment:** ITSM solutions help organizations align their processes and policies with a standards framework. ITSM tools will typically denote which framework(s) they are built to enable. If there is a particular framework an organization is already using, users should select an ITSM tool that aligns with that framework. **Service desk:** As the name might suggest, a core element of ITSM solutions is a service desk element. Businesses can organize internal requests through a ticketing system. Internal users can find help on a variety of issues using a service catalog, which outlines different types of issues or requests and helps organize addressing various issues. **Asset management:** ITSM tools help businesses track their internal IT assets. Using these tools, IT teams can track company-owned user devices and hardware, as well as any hardware infrastructure, enabling them to keep tabs on when these items were provisioned and when they would need upkeep. **Knowledge base:** Knowledge bases are central repositories of information. By providing a knowledge base functionality, businesses can centralize their IT knowledge to a single source that’s accessible by anyone who might need it. **Incident management:** Addressing the development side of the house, ITSM tools provide incident management features that help product teams track issues related to product development and functions, namely those related to IT systems. Using these active tracking capabilities, businesses stay on top of development incidents by creating visibility around repeat issues that might point to a larger problem. **Change management:** Changing policies, procedures, or structures is a difficult process for businesses. Change management functionalities offered by ITSM tools allow businesses to more thoroughly track changes from the individual to the organizational level, increasing transparency, and assisting in finding pain points in recent changes. **Reporting and dashboards:** As with any other solution, transparency is key to the efficient and effective delivery of services. ITSM tools are equipped with reporting and dashboard functions to provide increased visibility into service provisions across the IT organization. These reports may come prebuilt, but most solutions will also offer customization so that businesses get the exact information they need at any point. **Solution integration:** Considering the huge array of tools and infrastructure involved in IT service delivery, ITSM tools need to be able to integrate appropriately to be effective. Users must check a tool’s integration capabilities before purchasing to verify it will integrate with the systems already in use. **Automation:** Many ITSM vendors are implementing automation functionality as a standard part of the offering. Many tools will offer automation to reduce the amount of time going into repeat tasks and actions, which can save both IT associates and end users significant time. **Configuration management database (CMDB):** Some ITSM solutions will include a CMDB feature where businesses can track how different hardware and software systems relate to each other. This provides increased clarity in how a business’s systems work together, and can also offer an excellent starting point when troubleshooting for root causes. **Release management:** ITSM tools that dive deep into development features may offer release management capabilities where product teams can track software build releases over time including what stage of production releases are in, any rollbacks that took place, etc. Other Features of IT Service Management Tools: [Performance logging](https://www.g2.com/categories/it-service-management-itsm-tools/f/performance-logging), [Policy dictation](https://www.g2.com/categories/it-service-management-itsm-tools/f/policy-dictation) ### What are the Benefits of IT Service Management (ITSM) Tools? **Formalize IT processes and practices:** ITSM tools help businesses organize and standardize their IT service processes, thereby improving service efficacy. By accessing a central repository of IT knowledge, users can more quickly address their needs and concerns. With more public knowledge available, IT teams can reduce the number of basic or low-level inquiries coming through to the help desk. This saves IT teams time for more complex or important tasks. **Transparency:** Arguably, the greatest benefits of implementing an ITSM tool are transparency and uniformity. The typical bane of IT teams is a lack of transparency and consistency in processes, practices, and actions, especially when there are multiple teams within the IT organization. By making clear and consistent policies and procedures that teams ought to be following, every team within an IT organization can identify exactly where information should live. This also highlights what procedures are being followed in different activities and how to interact with end users properly, leading to a smoother overall IT service delivery. ### Who Uses IT Service Management (ITSM) Tools? **Administration:** On implementation, IT organizations will typically have an administrator or administrative team for ITSM tools. They control the solution’s configuration, permissions, and provisioning. From there, employees across the IT organization could make use of an ITSM tool as a part of their daily workflow, including incident and ticket tracking, finding knowledge resources, tracking changes, and managing assets, among other functions. **Managed services providers (MSP):** MSPs make particularly effective use of ITSM tools. Since some MSPs provide IT services for other businesses, ITSM tools serve as the central portal for IT service provision and interaction between the MSP and their customers. End users can find IT knowledge and submit tickets or inquiries and the MSP can provide IT services while tracking end-user inquiries and issues. #### Software Related to IT Service Management (ITSM) Tools Related solutions that can be used together with ITSM tools include: [Help desk software](https://www.g2.com/categories/help-desk) **:** Help desk solutions allow companies to manage customer or external end user-facing requests or issues. These act as complements to the more internally oriented ITSM software. [Service desk software](https://www.g2.com/categories/service-desk) **:** Service desk solutions allow companies to manage internal end user-facing requests or issues as well as track IT assets. These are, in essence, scaled-down versions of ITSM solutions. [IT asset management software](https://www.g2.com/categories/it-asset-management) **:** IT asset management solutions help businesses track their hardware and software assets across the company. While not as broad as an ITSM solution, IT asset management software is hugely helpful in tracking the finer points on hardware, such as attrition rates, licenses, contracts, and more. [Enterprise IT management suites:](https://www.g2.com/categories/enterprise-it-management-suites) Enterprise IT management suites help businesses take control of all of their IT assets, environments, processes, and practices in one place. These suites have a much more extensive reach than ITSM tools but could complement each other well operationally. [Knowledge management software](https://www.g2.com/categories/knowledge-management) **:** Knowledge management solutions help businesses consolidate information in an easily accessible way, which prevents knowledge silos from forming in individual employees or teams. While ITSM tools offer knowledge bases for end users to utilize regarding their tech, knowledge management software offers information serving all aspects of the business. ### Challenges with IT Service Management (ITSM) Tools Software solutions can come with their own set of challenges.  **Time to implementation:** If a business is starting fresh with ITSM, it may take longer to implement than expected. Implementing an ITSM tool has to be joined by implementing the ITSM mindset, practices, and policies for it to be most effective. It is important to take some extra time to understand what these new policies are and why they matter. **Full system integration:** While many ITSM solutions have a vast array of integration capabilities, businesses still may find a few systems that will need custom integrations. The business should be able to handle building that integration capability with the ITSM tool vendor offering guidance on how to proceed. Online communities around ITSM solutions can also be a strong source of help. ### How to Buy IT Service Management (ITSM) Tools Companies looking to implement their first ITSM solution, or switching from an existing solution, can use G2 reviews from authentic software buyers to supplement their search. With that in mind, there are a few important criteria to consider when looking for the right tool. **Features:** Different ITSM tools can have different feature sets. One solution might automate a wide variety of standard IT tasks while another may feature more manual interaction. The best fit solution will vary depending on the functionality that an organization finds most valuable. Authentic G2 reviews made by peers from similar companies can shed light on these factors. A prioritized list of the business’s most desired features enables the software selection team to move forward with a clear idea of what to look for. **Security:** ITSM is a highly sensitive undertaking that requires constantly up-to-date security and compliance. When searching for an ITSM solution, companies should ensure that the software they’d like to use has a verified history of compliance and high-security standards to protect company data. In some cases, supplementary security solutions are preferred to help ensure security compliance. ### IT Service Management (ITSM) Tools Trends **Site reliability engineering (SRE)** SRE may be the next set of principles to join ITSM’s framework ranks. Typically more associated with software engineering, SRE applies DevOps-esque thinking to addressing development, IT service, and IT infrastructure problems and procedures. The goal of SRE is to deliver solutions resiliently, reliably, and at a flexible scale. Though currently more popular within the DevOps world, SRE might see an increase in popularity in the ITSM space as IT and development become more closely integrated. **Automation ** Automation is a hot topic across industries and software solutions. Utilizing automation, businesses can improve efficiency on repeated processes and devote employee time to more complex or involved work. ITSM is no exception. Vendors are increasingly building task automation into ITSM tools to reduce time wasted on repetitive tasks and help companies deliver more efficient IT services. AIOps platforms can help pick up the slack where automation isn’t immediately included.