When organizations operate multiple IT service management systems, compatibility and integration become crucial concerns. Many enterprises find themselves using both BMC Helix ITSM and ServiceNow simultaneously, often due to mergers, acquisitions, or departmental preferences. The good news is that these competing platforms can indeed work together effectively through proper integration.
BMC Helix ITSM offers bidirectional synchronization with ServiceNow, enabling automatic creation of corresponding incidents in both systems. This synchronization extends beyond basic ticket creation to include comments, status updates, and resolution notes, ensuring teams have access to real-time information regardless of their platform choice. BMC Helix leverages its AI-driven features to enhance the integration experience, analyzing patterns across both platforms. The integration facilitates comprehensive CMDB data synchronization from Planet IRMAI to both ServiceNow and BMC Helix/Remedy systems.
Integration tools like ZigiOps and BMC Helix Intelligent Integrations provide pre-built templates that can establish connections within minutes rather than weeks. The low-code tools enable business users to create and modify integrations without extensive programming knowledge.
The integration capabilities extend to multiple record types, including:
- Incident tickets
- Change requests
- Configuration items
- Custom record types
However, technical challenges exist due to the competitive nature of these platforms. Data model differences, particularly in CMDB elements, require careful mapping during implementation. Organizations must conduct extensive planning and testing to ensure workflows function correctly across systems.
Language differences present another hurdle, as synchronizing tickets between different languages (such as Spanish in one system and English in another) requires additional customization.
Cost considerations play a significant role in integration decisions. ServiceNow typically commands higher licensing fees with less flexible terms compared to BMC Helix. The total cost of ownership must include integration tools, ongoing maintenance, and staff training for both platforms.
Integration tools like BMC Helix iPaaS provide out-of-the-box templates that simplify connections between systems. These solutions enable ticket visibility across platforms and facilitate collaboration between teams using different systems.
For enterprises committed to maintaining both platforms, these integration capabilities ensure that service management processes remain aligned, efficient, and transparent—ultimately delivering better service experiences despite the complexity of running dual ITSM environments.
