The best ITSM tools

The best ITSM tools, or information technology service management tools, make the management of IT hardware assets simpler and easier across your business or organisation.

ITSM tools simplify the tracking and resolution of issues across multiple assets, making it simpler to manage a wide range of devices connected to your IT infrastructure.

One of the key issues faced is the variety of devices that might be used, as network connections can involve desktop PCs, laptops, as well as smartphones, all of which need to be kept up to date with security upgrades, as well as software patch management.

Additionally, ITSM isn't just focused on the technology but also caters for users, meaning that it covers proper error reporting and logging, technical helpdesk assistance, as well as other ticketing support.

This is all organised to make it easy for IT managers to find what they need in order to resolve problems as quickly as possible, and ensure others are solved before they become an issue.

We've put together a list of five of the best ITSM tools currently available on the market below.

The best ITSM tools available

1. ServiceNow

Reasons to buy

• Integration of legacy apps
• Benchmark performance against peers

Important notes

• No free trial available

ServiceNow offers ITSM among its family of support products. IT Service Management endeavors to aggregate IT services into a single cloud-based platform, and has plenty of heavyweight customers including GE Digital, Broadcom, and Overstock.com.

It features the ability to aggregate those essential, but often difficult to work with legacy applications into a single cloud location, with manual processes becoming automated along the way. The firm also claims IT productivity can be increased using features such as incident management with automated routing, asset, and cost management, which can track costs and contracts for assets, and a modern, self-service portal for consumers to access.

ServiceNow IT Service Management can also be integrated into real-time performance analytic dashboards, with the ability to benchmark how you are performing among peer industry averages.

While the website provides plenty of information on how this can benefit your business, the company is unfortunately rather opaque on pricing. With no offer of a free trial, there are two plans with descriptive names, the lower being IT Service Management, and the higher IT Service Management and Performance Analytics. The latter adds features, true to its name, for performance analysis.

2. Freshservice

Reasons to buy

• Free 21-day trial
• Availability of mobile apps
• Features for root cause analysis of incidents

The folks at Freshworks bring us Freshservice, a cloud-based ITSM which promises to standardise processes in a “slick, modern and efficient manner”. 

This ITSM software package offers an array of features including opportunities for collaboration between agents, proactive problem management that can reduce service desk incidents by 40%, support for root cause analysis of incidents via a visual timeline, and coordination for new releases with standardised start and end dates. There are also available mobile apps for iOS and Android.

All tiers offer a 21-day free trial to see if Freshservice fulfills your organisation's needs. Plans start at the Starter plan for the basic feature set, at £15 per agent per month. 

The Enterprise plan, at £95 per month, adds additional features including software license management, analytics, customisable agent roles, sandboxing, and audit logs.

3. Jira Service Management

Reasons to buy

• Features Service Desk apps to connect to hundreds of other platforms
• Streamlined modern interface
• Annual plan discounts

Jira Service Management, from Atlassian, takes a modern approach to helpdesk software, with an uncluttered, and simple to use interface. Standout features include integration with over 600 other platforms such as Slack via available Service Desk apps. Jira Service Management can be used via mobile platform apps, and notable customers include X, Sotheby’s, and Spotify.

On the one hand, Jira Service Management has the shortest trial of our offerings here, only seven days. However, it does offer a free tier for up to three agents with no time limit. Additionally, the free tier comes packed with features, but limitations such as 2GB for using it.

The next step up covers all of the features of the free plan with supporting up to 5,000 agents as well as offering audit logs.

4. InvGate Service Desk

Reasons to buy

• Free trial available
• Available as software or as SaaS

Important notes

• Additional cost for asset management

InvGate Service Desk is a comprehensive ITSM tool to support IT. The list of organisations that use this solution includes Burger King, Nike, Toyota and Starbucks.

Features include ticket management with assessment of customer satisfaction, self-service capabilities with a predictive knowledge base and news broadcast capabilities, and ‘gamification‘, which refers to the use of game-style mechanics to support and motivate employees with a positive reinforcement model. There is also multi-department support, and integration for asset management with InvGate Assets.

As with some other ITSMs, unfortunately the pricing is opaque, but the firm does offer a 30-day trial.