I am new to this group and want to hear about peoples experiences of using JSM vs SNOW

[Nachiket Bal]

I am new to this group and want to hear about peoples experiences of using JSM vs SNOW

[Tim Braxton]

Hello @Nachiket Bal! 

Creating reports and dashboards in SNOW is a painful task. Creating filters and dashboards in Jira Service Management is effortless. Overall, SNOW's back end interface is not as intuitive as JSM.

I do not know about configuring the customer-facing side of SNOW, but I do know that forms for requests are awesome in JSM. Here is my open example for a community management portal in JSM (using forms): 

https://itshere.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/1

I have an in-use version of what I created above for my own community, and it is phenomenal at tracking all request types you see at the link above, replacing community management company software that is not configured with homeowners or community associations in mind.

I do not know about automation and workflows in SNOW, but I love using both for my requests in JSM with automated emails and built-in approval steps, respectively. I know SNOW has an SLA feature that seemed to work. I configured JSM with SLAs based on the request or work item type.

If you want to integrate SNOW with Jira, forget about it. JSM is the only option, in my opinion. Additionally, I like building knowledge bases in Confluence that feed JSM. Not sure how easy it is to create knowledge in SNOW, but it is very easy in Confluence. Also, SNOW's knowledge base is not open to everyone for creation of knowledge outside of interfacing with SNOW's ITSM module - or at least, it did not appear to be open for people in my old organization. Confluence however, is a tool all could use.

I will say that you are probably going to find some bias here, but I would love to challenge someone to create something in SNOW as fast and efficient as I can in JSM (A build off!). I challenged someone to create something in SharePoint that I created in Confluence one time. It took them a week to create what I could in less than a day - and their product was clunkier in the end.

I hope this helps!

[Nachiket Bal]

@Tim Braxton  This is a great comparison, the problem that I am dealing with is that our Firm is a Service Now heavy firm where most of the Internal IT teams live. My team owns and manages the Atlassian products within the Firm and I am a pro JSM guy, the challenge is operating two tools within one company provides a very clunky experience to the end user. So I am trying to find a sweet spot where my end users get the experience of JSM where I can but also leverage SNOW somehow for the infra teams.

[Tim Braxton]

I understand the situation where someone looked at a magic quadrant and listened to a sales pitch, then the organization had one clunky tool to go along with something that works well.

I'd say that the program managers for both the Atlassian products and SNOW need to have a discussion with each other. If they are the same person, then I'd love to see that conversation! If the status quo cannot be challenged, can you integrate them? Example article:

https://support.atlassian.com/jira-service-management-cloud/docs/integrate-with-servicenow/

If integration or automation are not solutions, then you could provide your leadership a short summary with the specific details about the problem, but also offer them a solution (don't just come to them with the problem - this is probably why you are here). I hope someone from Atlassian or with more knowledge than I have can help you here.

Someone does need to perform an analysis of alternatives with cost and capabilities comparison, showing how well each platform performs each matching capability and where there are capability gaps (and don't leave user and admin feedback out of the study).

I do know that it is very difficult to challenge the status quo, so I can empathize with you @Nachiket Bal. I look forward to a positive outcome for you and your customers!

[Nachiket Bal]

@Tim Braxton You are right, Service now is so deep rooted for the past 15 years so it is going to be a challenge the status quo, but the integration option that you have suggested seems like the best option to go forward. Thanks for the suggestion.