ITSM: From Functional Core to AI Building Blocks, the Market Discovers a New Path

Due to “the evolution of market conditions,” the ITSM platforms Magic Quadrant is making a comeback.

The last edition dated from 2023. The following year Gartner had shifted toward a more “specialized” form. Citing the standardization of the core functionality, the firm moved its focal point from platforms to the building blocks that AI relies on. More precisely, those whose data and ITSM metadata form the primary source.

It had sustained this approach in 2025, still taking into account both autonomous AI applications and those integrated into ITSM platforms or usable as add-ons. The result was the following hierarchy:

• A “leader” (ServiceNow)
• A “challenger” (Moveworks)
• Two “visionaries” (Aisera and BMC Helix)
• Six “niche players” (Atlassian, Freshworks, Halo, ManageEngine, SymphonyAI and SysAid)

The return of the generalist Magic Quadrant does not appear to herald the end of the “specialized.” At least if one refers to Gartner’s framing of the “evolution of market conditions”: indeed, buyers tend to evaluate AI separately from the core functionality, but they do not replace their ITSM platform, which remains the “source of truth.”

ITSM Platforms: 16 Vendors, 4 “Leaders”

The Magic Quadrant is structured along two axes. One, called “Execution,” reflects the ability to meet demand (customer experience, pricing, quality of products/services…). The other, called “Vision,” mirrors strategies (go-to-market, marketing, innovation…).

On the “execution” axis, the situation is as follows:

On the “vision” axis :

Atlassian Stands Out on the Functional Front…

Gartner applauds Atlassian’s level of investment in ITSM and its patent portfolio. It also highlights the strong reputation of the offering, and its ability to differentiate with features such as Rovo (agentic AI), Teamwork Graph (a unified data graph) and DevOps bridges.

… at the expense of the ITSM core

Atlassian now develops the AI portion more quickly than the core functionality, to the detriment of the “out-of-the-box” approach, Gartner argues. Also watch the licensing, which has undergone several changes including the end of Data Center offerings and the introduction of usage-based pricing for AI and certain assets. Be vigilant about the customer relationship as well. Atlassian tends to concentrate its account managers on strategic accounts, with potential consequences for others in terms of availability, notably for deployment and live support.

A Balanced Roadmap for BMC Helix…

BMC stands out for its global footprint (customer base, offices, partners, hosting). Gartner also praises its “balanced” roadmap, which offers distinctive improvements in change, problem, and configuration management. It also notes the “advanced capabilities” delivered on the AI side and the integration with the Helix Operations Management offering for observability.

… but dependencies on multiple components

The BMC Helix ITSM platform exhibits a degree of operational complexity. In particular, deploying major releases requires substantial preparation. Gartner also points to dependencies on third parties for several components (LLMs, iPaaS, reporting and certain service-management capabilities). These do not help differentiation against competitors. Also be aware of potential difficulties when dealing directly with BMC Helix if you are not a large enterprise.

Freshworks, Responsive to Customer Feedback…

With the acquisitions of Device42 and FireHydrant, Freshworks has strengthened its core ITSM in dependency mapping and incident response. Like Atlassian, it enjoys strong brand recognition and frequently features on shortlists. It is also quick to capture customer feedback and translate it into features.

… but not to its advantage on SLAs

Add-ons (AI, CMDB, integrations) are necessary to fully leverage the solution. Also note that sandboxes and audit logs are only available at the highest licensing tier. Gartner also notes the absence of guaranteed response and resolution times on standard support. It also judges that Freshworks’ ServiceOps messaging strategy is not the most effective way to reach its targets.

ServiceNow, Functionally Advanced…

Beyond its global presence (communication channels, partners, users…), ServiceNow manages to differentiate itself with elements such as AI agent management, native DEX, process mining and workflow optimization. Gartner praises, on the functional side, the unified data model, granular governance and automation flexibility.

… but Budgeting Carefully is Essential

The economic model introduced in April 2026—with the addition of various GenAI blocks at every licensing tier—may prove less advantageous for new customers than the previous model. As for the entry ticket (ITSM Foundation), Gartner believes it will not meet the needs of the majority of buyers (no change management or problem management, notably). It is also necessary to budget for add-on modules when venturing into capabilities like ITOM or when adding workflow approvers. And remember that despite self-service resources, a substantial portion of customer success is reserved for premium offerings.