ITSM, SaaS or self-hosted: how to decide

Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In short:

The decision is not about licence price but about five cost lines, of which operations is the most underestimated.

SaaS transfers operations to the vendor and, in return, fixes the upgrade rhythm.

Self-hosting keeps control of the calendar but assumes a team available in three years, not only today.

Three non-financial constraints often decide before cost: data location, integration depth, internal skills.

What the decision actually covers

Presented as a choice between two prices, SaaS versus self-hosting is really a choice between two ways of splitting the work. In one, the vendor carries infrastructure, backup and upgrades. In the other, the organisation does, or its integrator.

Choosing an ITSM platform: the criteria grid

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In short:

Six criteria genuinely separate ITSM platforms, and functional richness is not among them.

On core processes, incident, request and change, every serious platform performs alike.

The billing unit, technician or end user, weighs more on five-year cost than any single feature.

The service catalogue is written before the consultation, not after: it is what makes demos comparable.

What to settle before looking at any tool

Most tenders start with a feature grid sent to vendors. That is the reverse of the order that produces a good decision. Until scope is written down, every vendor answers on its own ground and the answers are not comparable.

ITSM Platform on ESM Guide

ITSM, SaaS or self-hosted: how to decide

What the decision actually covers

Choosing an ITSM platform: the criteria grid

What to settle before looking at any tool