BMC Helix ITSM replaces Remedy. It is a broad suite of ITSM, tools with strong integrations to other BMC tools and in-built ITAM. The product is used mainly by global brands and is offered in on-premise and SaaS configurations.
N/A
TOPdesk
Score 8.8 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
TOPdesk is the flagship highly-modular cloud-based or installed ITSM service desk and asset management solution from the Dutch company of the same name, for enterprise companies.
$76
per month Per agent
Pricing
BMC Helix ITSM
TOPdesk
Editions & Modules
BMC Helix ITSM
Contact Sales
Essential
$76
per month Per agent
Engaged
$109
per month Per agent
Excellent
$155
per month Per agent
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BMC Helix ITSM
TOPdesk
Free Trial
No
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
No
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
No
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
Optional
Additional Details
—
The TOPdesk license model:
- Modular: Organizations purchase only the modules needed
- Saas or On premise
- Supports unlimited number of assets.
- Service agents based.
- Discount available for annual pricing.
BMC is the obvious choice for medium—to large companies. With all the functionality included, most of it will be used by more prominent companies. The cost vs. use makes sense for them. For smaller companies, the high cost of license implementation and running costs usually make BMC too expensive. Having a light version for them could increase BMC's market share.
As TOPdesk is pretty intuitive it is often not needed to instruct colleagues on how to use TOPdesk. Most modules and fields do explain themselves. This means there aren't many additional instructions needed for the applications itself. Most information we do need to support our colleagues on based on organizational processes, not our ITSM tool of choice. And if there is more information needed, the knowledge base system can be used for this. On the other hand this could create the idea that no additional instructions are needed. Which might be true for the application itself, but not for how it is being used within your organisation
Remedy is great for housing much of the ITIL process in one System: if you want a complete package with every bell and every whistle, Remedy is for you
Remedy breaks down the functions of ITIL into "consoles": separate areas of the System, that allow one to focus on Changes, Incidents, Assets, etc
The interface is VERY compatible with legacy web browser tech: The last surviving member of the browser wars is still the favorite for remedy users: IE 11
TOPdesk provides a clean and modern interface for all of its modules. Many of the modules have a similar look and feel, which makes it easy for users to utilize each one.
Its workflow system allows administrators and developers to define what needs to occur when certain events happen. This can ensure that processes happen in the correct sequence.
TOPdesk includes a vast API system to allow for external systems to integrate with it, and for TOPdesk to communicate with external systems.
We are very content with the application. We use it now for 1 year and we are still learning. We still discover new features withing the application that help improve our efficiency and customer-friendliness and reduce costs. We feel like we can still improve the use of TOPdesk within our organisation and make more use of more modules.
At least Remedy is all contained in a single platform, so the interface is consistent. Also, the most heavily performed functions are generally usable. However, to use some of the more advanced modules can be a bit more cumbersome (such as Change Management and CMDB (Not Including ADDM)). So, overall BMC Remedy ITSM is better than some applications like CA SDM or HP SM, but not quite on par with ServiceNow.
Sometimes I think some things are hard to find. I often do not know if I have to search in Settings or in Modules. In some cases the user has to do a lot of clicks for example to link a key to a user. Something could work a little smarter.
Like I said somewhere else in this review: the helpdesk of TOPdesk is top of the bill! In the Netherlands, that is. I can not plea for the helpdesks in other countries, but I guess the TOPdesk organization will make sure the quality of the helpdesk is the same in every country.
Although being a SAAS solution, TOPdesk performs pretty fast. One can imagine that any SAAS solution is slow or has hiccups, but we have not experienced such with TOPdesk. Pages load quickly, logging in goes smoothly. We have made reports on premise in the past - that always took some time, as you might expect with such complex tasks. It seems that in the SAAS solution TOPdesk somehow has managed to make it even faster!
Their tech support is top notch. They respond and get back to us, even on lower level incidents and issues, very quickly. It is rare that we deal with a support technician who does not know what they are doing.
Most if not nearly all questions are answered within the same or a few days. The helpdesk is very knowledgable about their product and are always willing to help. The only downside is that for more difficult questions it can take a while due to the experts being further removed from the helpdesk. But they are always willing to answer questions, even if they are not directly related to a problem with the service.
We had Topdesk in-house here training staff for almost a month (2-3 hour meetings 3x a week.) It was invaluable and we were able to take that training and share with the rest of our IT staff. Once implemented we were able to fly from there. The challenges we found were in how to get started. Once started the knowledge base offered from Topdesk has been invaluable.
the trainers dont have so much practical experiences. its mostly follow up and reading existing documentation withou own input. of course experiences people are on shore or have no free time. sad truth
Online training documentation is easy to access and consume. There is no real challenges with finding information on how to use the product and some really helpful knowledge base items that show us how valuable these options are in our own implementation of it. The online training we've used has been self driven
It was a challenge to port over years of the same thing and we ended up keeping old ideas in Topdesk that we will eventually weed out as time passes and we learn how users view categories and flows of tickets. Planning is key but bear in mind that just because you used to do it this way doesn't mean you still have to
As I mentioned, as an MSP we are exposed to most ITSM products on the marketplace. On completeness of offering, we find BMC ahead of the rest. The only other comparable product is ServiceNow, and functionality is neck and neck with BMC ahead in ITOM, and with ServiceNow pricing is premium for the branding and marketing
Spiceworks is an easier-to-use Help Desk solution but it lacks all other features that Topdesk has. Freshdesk was just too much for our environment. It was cost-prohibitive for our intended use. TOPdesk fit our org size and budget better than the others.
Topdesk is a saas solution. As far as we can notice, there are no scalability problems. We are a small organization, so performance issues are for now not an issue
