Service Desk Solutions: ServiceNow vs Jira

As top industry leaders in the Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) field, ServiceNow and Atlassian’s Jira Service Desk both focus on aligning IT services with the needs of businesses. Each platform offers a vast number of features, capabilities, and options to help organizations find what fits best for their specific business needs. Take a look at how these two service desk solutions compare as a fit for different organizational needs.

ServiceNow is a software platform that helps organizations automate IT Business Management (ITBM) while helping to reduce ITSM costs up to 60%. It has been delivering digital workflows to create great experiences and unlock productivity since it was first established in 2004 [1]. Since then, the company has helped over 6,200 customers; of which 80% are from the Fortune 500. This cloud-based IT solution is designed specifically for large enterprises and can easily scale across multiple networks because it has the endurance to withstand the pressures of the IT industry, scalability, and customer requirements [2]. The solutions offer a pre-built set of ITIL processes focusing on three main concepts: design, transition, and operation for an IT service delivery environment [3]. 

ServiceNow offers a number of services and management software across industries with several customizable tools including application development, field service management, finance service management, HR service management, IT service management, and security operations. The wide range of tools the product offers enable it to support most workflows and specifically beneficial for automating routine processes, assigning and prioritizing work automatically, maintaining clear visibility to stakeholders, and consolidating systems into a single architecture [4]. While it is consistently praised for its speed, efficiency, and ability to integrate well with third parties, critics note that the product can be expensive and the configuration management database (CMDB) data can be overwhelming at times due to its massive size. Overall, ServiceNow is a very powerful system with a strong customer base and 97% return rate because of its automation abilities, full ITIL coverage, and wide variety of options available.

Jira Service Desk, first introduced by Atlassian in 2015, was remodeled from a popular add-on into a separate Jira Application and is ITIL compliant for Request, Incident, Problem, and Change management. This makes it extensible via 1,800+ add-ons available on the Atlassian Marketplace. As a standalone application, it runs on Cloud, Server, and Data Center and is a great price for a small number of agents, even on a large Jira instance. Jira Service Desk specializes in helping midsize to large businesses manage software bugs and automate request processing. This application was specifically designed to help teams that struggle with insufficient levels of user support or lack of cooperation and measurement between teams[5]. Jira Service Desk is growing in popularity across teams like legal, finance, HR, and marketing in addition to IT and support teams.  

There are many key factors that make Jira Service Desk stand out among other service management systems. These include the automation of repetitive tasks, continuous building of a knowledge base, ITIL-certified service desk, real-time collaboration, Jira Software integration and SLA deliveries. Jira Service Desk’s main features include issue tracking, asset management, service desk, content management, monitoring, and automation [6].

The company is often praised for their customer service and technology-enabled practices that allow customers to get assistance from the community or answers to their questions even if live support is not available. This option offers a relatively affordable solution that starts at $20/month per agent. This is a very popular platform because Jira Service Desk helps bring support, operations, and development teams together for seamless collaboration experiences and also allows IT teams to deliver end-to-end services to their customers, although some users may find the variety of features and customizations challenging without the support of a services or implementation team [7].

Choosing a platform for service and support can be a complicated task when taking into consideration each unique business needs. ServiceNow may be better suited for organizations looking for a more structured ITSM and ITIL-focused solution, whereas smaller companies and IT teams can utilize the seemingly endless customizable options with Jira Service Desk to help them grow and expand. Both platforms are industry leaders in terms of functionality and integration capabilities, so it is important to focus on what specific problems within your organization needs to be fixed.

As a strategic services partner, STAND 8 can provide the consultation and team to implement any solution for your business with certified associates who understand the full lifecycle and integration of these platforms. Reach out today to discuss the best approach for your organization!

By Meghan Pickett and Jessica Delaney

References

1) ServiceNow. “ServiceNow Factsheet” https://www.servicenow.com/company.html

2) V-Soft Consulting. “5 Reasons Why Your Company Should Use ServiceNow” https://blog.vsoftconsulting.com/blog/5-reasons-your-company-should-use-servicenow

3) Savelieva, Anastasia (Jan. 24, 2019). “ServiceNow vs Jira Service Desk: Digging into Similarities and Differences” https://help-desk-migration.com/servicenow-vs-jira-service-desk-digging-into-similarities-and-differences/

4) Ryan, John. “What is ServiceNow?” https://crossfuze.com/servicenow/what-is-servicenow/

5) Deviniti. “Jira Service Desk” https://deviniti.com/atlassian/jira-service-desk/

6) CompareCamp “Jira Service Desk Review” https://comparecamp.com/jira-service-desk-review-pricing-pros-cons-features/

7) Chang, Jenny (June 6, 2020). “Jira Service Desk Review” https://reviews.financesonline.com/p/jira-service-desk/

8) Ormston, Steven and Tes, Kinga (April 4, 2019). “What is ServiceNow?” https://www.spoc.eu/blog-podcasts-news/what-is-servicenow/