ITSM ticketing Platforms: ServiceNow vs JIRA Service Desk

In this article I would like to compare two different ITSM Tools and list out all major pros and cons for each solution. I cannot promise that after reading this you'll find the answer for the question that you probably ask yourself - Is ServiceNow a better solution for me and why? Whenever anyone asks me such a question my only replay can be: it depends.

Before we'll begin to compare ServiceNow and Service Desk it is worth mentioning that we are just focusing purely on ITSM ticketing Part. Ticketing tools are crucial for IT Operation Teams of medium and large enterprises. Smaller companies can survive without professional systems and build support based on emails/communicators/phones but large ones would simply drawn in the flood of incidents and requests. Both ServiceNow and Jira Service Desk are currently top-rated systems on the market and, most importantly, they both offer powerful integration capabilities.

With ServiceNow platform you can connect your enterprise instance like Salesforce.com, Azure DevOps or build an integration with Microsoft SharePoint solution. It is also possible to integrate them all together! At Directpl we have built an integration for one of our clients which simplifies and reduces the overhead and complexity related with duplication of incidents between solutions. Should it be the best for you too? We don’t know, but our client and users are very happy about what we have delivered.

Jira Service Desk is built on top of JIRA – one of the most popular projects and issue tracking platforms. It offers close to 2000 add-ons that are ready to use. It also enables building in custom solutions i.e. move your existing historical data from other tool. At Directpl we have build dedicated tool and method to migrate data from RallyDev to JIRA so it's possible now to move to JIRA from your current system without losing any data.

ServiceNow is a SaaS platform which offers some practical, ready-to-use modules that are available immediately as the ITIL standard of ServiceNow IT workflow. One of these modules that we're focusing right now on is Service Management (ITSM) that includes all activities and processes planned by an organization to enhance the customer experience, from increasing productivity with the automation of routine tasks to getting full visibility with real-time analytics and built-in dashboards.

ServiceNow. Source: servicenow.com.

JIRA on the other hand is currently a mature issue tracking system dedicated for scrum/agile teams. JIRA Service Desk sits on top of JIRA and is intended to assist IT support as well as DevOps or Service Operations.

JIRA Service Desk. Source: atlassian.com.

System-2-System comparison

• Pricing

JIRA Service Desk's pricing: $10 per month for up to 3 agents and $20 per agent/month for 4+ agents. ServiceNow starts at $10,200 per year for the Express version.

Winner: JIRA Service Desk

• 3rd party integrations and REST API integrations

Both platforms offer powerful REST API Integrations (ServiceNow with its own instances, JIRA with other solutions). 3rd party Integration capabilities are extensive for both systems.

Winner: draw

• Ease of use

Due to the fact that ServiceNow ITSM is based on ITIL it is a bit less intuitive for an average user. Jira Service Desk with its unique UX and simple web interface is much easier to follow and understand.

Winner: JIRA Service Desk

• Capabilities

Jira Service Desk has been built on top of Atlassian, ServiceNow ITMS is a stand-alone module. ServiceNow has a noticeable advantage being in centric position when it comes to integrations with other modules or 3rd party solutions.

Winner: ServiceNow

• Summary:

Both JIRA Service Desk and ServiceNow ITSM are currently one of the best solutions that are available on the market. If you are managing smaller IT Department with balanced number of solutions JIRA Service Desk can be a better fit for you. Large corporations can on the other hand look for more ITIL based alternative and go for ServiceNow instead. Everything depends on your unique requirements and needs.