ServiceNow vs. ManageEngine: Which One to Choose?

Choosing the right IT Service Management (ITSM) platform can be challenging, especially when comparing industry leaders: ServiceNow and ManageEngine. Both platforms offer robust features and functionalities, but cater to different organizational requirements.

This blog will break down their core functionalities, similarities, and core differences across features, pricing, and more. It will help you make an informed decision based on your organization’s unique requirements.

Brief Overview of ServiceNow & ManageEngine

ServiceNow

The ServiceNow platform is built upon a single cloud infrastructure, the Now Platform, underpinned by a common data model, the Common Service Data Model (CSDM). It initially focused on IT Service Management (ITSM) but strategically evolved its scope to encompass various business functions, including Customer Service, Human Resources, Security Operations, and more. This evolution positions ServiceNow as a comprehensive platform capable of handling diverse organizational needs.

ServiceNow is appealing to enterprises (For example, Fortune 500 companies use this platform) seeking a unified solution to break down operational silos to gain a holistic view of processes. Its key strength is its architecture of a single data model, enabling seamless data sharing and workflow automation across diverse functional areas.

ManageEngine

ManageEngine is Zoho Corporation’s enterprise IT management solution, providing a broad suite of IT management solutions. It is designed to empower organizations with control over the entire IT infrastructure, including networks, security, servers, applications, service desk operations, and endpoint devices.

ManageEngine offers an extensive portfolio of over 80 enterprise IT management products, catering to a wide range of IT requirements. Its key emphasis is on providing simplified control, feature-rich software that is easy to use, straightforward download and installation, configuration, and deployment processes.

Key Similarities Between ServiceNow & ManageEngine

ServiceNow and ManageEngine share core ITSM functionality along with:

ITIL Compliance: Both ManageEngine Servicedesk Plus vs. ServiceNow align with ITIL best practices for incident, problem, and change management.

Self-Service Portals: Both platforms offer employee-facing portals to log tickets, track status, and access the knowledge base.

Basic Automation: ServiceNow and ManageEngine provide workflow automation for ticket routing, approvals, and notifications.

On-Premises and Cloud Support: Both platforms support hybrid deployment (though ServiceNow is primarily a cloud-first platform).

Asset Tracking: ManageEngine and ServiceNow both offer ITAM (IT Asset Management) capabilities for hardware and software inventory.

Multi-Channel Support: Both platforms allow ticket creation through email, chat, web forums, and mobile apps.

ServiceNow vs. ManageEngine: Key Comparision Factors

Incident Management

ServiceNow’s incident management helps businesses automate ticket routing, categorize issues, and suggest resolutions using machine learning and natural language processing (NLP). It allows users to deploy incident management in days with simple steps, with embedded help and visual status checks. It offers key features:

• Major Incident Management: Quickly escalate critical outages, triggering war rooms and collaboration tools to track and resolve high-impact incidents.
• Native Mobile App: Give IT agents an on-the-go mobile interface to address and resolve incidents.
• AI-Powered Insights: Businesses can accelerate incident resolutions with built-in ML and contextual help to eliminate bottlenecks.

ManageEngine incident management offers businesses basic auto-assignment (rule-based routing) and SLA management (fixed escalation paths but no predictive capabilities). It also offers a native mobile app and includes a web-based mobile interface. While it lacks predictive capabilities, it offers straightforward configuration through a visual rule builder.

AI and Automation

ServiceNow’s AI is built on its proprietary Now Intelligence platform, offering predictive analytics (to forecast ticket volumes) and generative AI for resolution suggestions. The system uses deep learning models trained on over 1.5 billion weekly workflow transactions. ServiceNow’s Now intelligence helps automate root cause analysis.

ManageEngine’s Zia AI focuses on practical, rule-based automation with machine learning capabilities for:

• Keyword-based Routing: Analyzes ticket text for keywords like “printer” or “outlook” to assign groups.
• Basic Anomaly Detection: Flags unusual ticket volumes based on historical averages.
• Visual Rule Editor: Flow Designer for non-technical users, enabling them to build automations and processes using a drag-and-drop interface.
• Pre-built Automation: Comes with 50+ ready-made rules for common scenarios.

Integration Capabilities

ServiceNow offers enterprise-grade integration through:

• REST API with OAuth 2.0 support
• GraphQL API for complex data queries
• IntegrationHub with pre-built connectors

A standout feature is its “Integration Center of Excellence” framework that provides

• Data transformation pipelines
• Built-in error handling workflows
• Performance monitoring dashboards

ManageEngine provides more lightweight integration options:

• REST API
• Desktop Central integration for endpoint management
• Native plugins for Jira, Zoom, and Microsoft 365

Its “Quick Connect” feature allows basic integrations through:

• Webhook configurations
• CSV file imports/exports
• PowerShell script execution
• A practical example is its Microsoft Teams integration that can:
  • Create tickets from channel messages
  • Post ticket updates to Teams

Change Management

ServiceNow provides ITIL 4-certified change management with risk assessment algorithms that analyze 15+ factors, including:

• CI relationships
• Change history
• Maintenance windows

ManageEngine offers ITIL-certified change management, a templates library of over 30 workflows, basic risk scoring (high/medium/low), and a visual change calendar.

Cost and Licensing

ServiceNow does not offer fixed pricing models, it operates exclusively on a subscription-based model. Businesses can get customized quotes based on their unique business requirements. It allows for add-ons such as AI features and includes ongoing customization needs.

Licensing:

• Subscription-only (no perpetual licenses)
• Module-based pricing

Hidden Costs:

• Implementation cost
• Customization (a significant amount to hire a ServiceNow partner)
• AI/ML add-ons (Predictive AI starts at $50K/year)

ManageEngine platform offers both subscription and perpetual licensing options. It has a range of pricing plans as follows:

Licensing:

• Two types: Standard and Professional, On-premises and Cloud
• Pricing: A free version, and pricing starts from $64 monthly for the cloud version and $495 annually for on-premises.
• Cloud services are available only on a subscription basis with an on-premises version.

Hidden Costs:

• On-premise hardware (for self-hosted)
• Advanced reporting

User Reviews and Ratings

According to Gartner Peer Insights, ServiceNow has 4.3/5⭐from 1943 reviews, and ManageEngine has 4.4/5⭐from 1131 reviews. While users gave 4.4/5⭐in ease of integration & deployment to ManageEngine, and ServiceNow gets 4.1/5⭐.

Apart from that, users liked ServiceNow’s visualization of data through dashboards that include customization options, while users like ManageEngine’s feature for incident management, which allows IT teams to track, manage, and resolve IT issues. Additionally, ManageEngine gets 4.2 ⭐in pricing flexibility, while ServiceNow gets only 3.8⭐ in this pricing flexibility according to the users.

ServiceNow or ManageEngine: Which One to Choose?

The choice ultimately comes down to the organizational DNA. ServiceNow is suitable for enterprises with complex functional and operational needs.

Similarly, ManageEngine Service Desk is the preferred choice if you need straightforward tools easy to implement. It also offers availability for on-premise and cloud with different pricing.

AUTHOR

Shruti

ServiceNow, Sales Cloud

Shruti is a ServiceNow Consultant with 5+ years of experience across ServiceNow ITSM, AWS, Salesforce Loyalty Management, and managed services. She blends technical expertise with strategic insights to deliver transformative IT services and CRM solutions that enhance efficiency and customer satisfaction.