Gartner recently published its latest Market Guide for IT Service Management Platforms, and as someone who used to co-author the Magic Quadrant for ITSM when I was an analyst at Gartner… I have some thoughts.  

Market Guides aren’t about ranking vendors. They are about helping IT buyers understand market trends and make informed decisions. And one of the biggest takeaways from this year’s guide? Most organizations are overspending on ITSM tools and failing to get ROI. 

This isn’t a new problem, but it is getting worse. IT teams are buying advanced features with the hope of using them, but most organizations don’t have the maturity to implement them effectively. So, they end up stuck with bloated, expensive tools that don’t deliver the value they expected. 

I want to break down what is happening in the ITSM market and, more importantly, how buyers can avoid this trap. 

The ITSM Market Is Fat, and Most Organizations Are Overspending 

Gartner’s research confirms what I have seen for years. Eight in 10 IT buyers overspend on their ITSM tools. 

Why? Because they buy based on a wish list of features rather than the real needs and capabilities of their IT team. 

It is easy to get sold on automation, AI-powered service management, advanced change management, asset discovery, dependency mapping, and all kinds of sophisticated features (by the way, EasyVista offers many of these, we just don’t force you to bundle them if you’re not ready to implement them yet). But here is the reality: Most IT teams still process tickets manually through email and phone. 

The appetite for advanced capabilities is strong, but IT maturity often isn’t there yet. So, companies overbuy, under implement, and waste budget. 

The Reality of ITSM Vendors 

When it comes to ITSM tools, most organizations end up choosing between: 

1. The “Big Three” (ServiceNow, Ivanti, BMC). These platforms are built for the most mature, complex IT environments, the top 10% of organizations. While more than half of IT teams are using one of these tools, the reality is that most will never fully utilize them. 

2. More modern but lightweight options (Freshworks, Atlassian). These tools are great for simple ticketing and come at a lower price point. But many organizations outgrow them quickly, realizing they need more advanced capabilities sooner than expected. 

Alright, this is going to sound a little salesy for two seconds, but I promise I’ll move on. 

The fact of the matter is that I came to EasyVista because I genuinely believe a lot more IT organizations should be checking out EasyVista’s ITSM tools. And my opinion on that matches Gartner’s data on organizational maturity and how most IT teams are misaligned with what they are buying. EasyVista offers the best bang for the buck, providing enterprise-grade ITSM with plenty of room to grow without forcing you to overpay for features you won’t use yet. 

Ok, now back to what I’m actually here for, which is to help you make a better buying decision, whether you buy from EasyVista or not. 

How to Choose the Right ITSM Tool Without Wasting Budget 

If you are evaluating ITSM solutions, here is my specific recommendation for the buying process: 

Engage with vendors for a demo, but come prepared. 

• Don’t just sit through a sales pitch. Come with a clear list of your organization’s current critical IT objectives and a realistic assessment of what your team can actually implement within the next two to three years. 

• Ask how each vendor’s tool aligns with those objectives and what their typical customers actually implement within the first year. 

Prioritize what you need today while leaving room to grow. 

• The goal isn’t to buy every feature you hope to use someday. It is to buy a solution that matches where you are today, with the ability to scale into additional features when you are ready. 

• Look for a vendor that allows you to add functionality over time rather than forcing you into an all-inclusive package upfront. 

Be extremely thoughtful about pricing and contracts. 

• This is where the big vendors tend to trap buyers. Their sales teams will push the whole enchilada, locking you into large, expensive contracts for functionality you aren’t ready to implement. And once you realize you’re paying for more than you can actually implement, it is not a very good-tasting enchilada. 

• Make sure the vendor you are interested in is willing to sell you what you actually need, not just what they want to bundle. 

At the end of the day, overbuying is the fastest way to waste budget, and 80% of IT buyers fall into this trap. The smartest approach is to buy based on reality, not aspiration, and ensure your ITSM tool fits your current needs with the flexibility to grow into additional capabilities over time. 

ITSM Is Hard, but Smarter Buying Makes It Easier 

ITSM isn’t easy, and no tool is going to magically fix that. 

I obviously think you should check out EasyVista, but what’ is most important is that you get the right mix of features and pricing for your organization. Too many IT teams end up stuck with tools they can’t implement or outgrow too fast. The key is to be thoughtful about what you actually need, what you can realistically implement, and how flexible your vendor is with pricing and scaling options. 

If there is one thing I have learned from years of analyzing this market, it’ is that success in ITSM doesn’t come from buying the most expensive or most feature-rich tool. It comes from buying the right tool for where you are today, with a clear path to grow into the features you actually need in the future. 

That’s how you avoid wasting budget and actually get ROI from your ITSM investment.