ITSM vs CMMS: Why Modern Maintenance Teams Need Both

If you've ever searched for asset management software, you've probably noticed two categories keep coming up: ITSM and CMMS. They sound similar. They both manage assets. They both handle tickets or work orders. But they solve fundamentally different problems — and choosing the wrong one is an expensive mistake.

Here's the breakdown.

What is ITSM?

IT Service Management (ITSM) is the practice of managing IT services across an organisation. Think help desk tickets, software deployments, server management, and IT change requests.

ITSM tools — like SysAid, ServiceNow, Jira Service Management, and Freshservice — are built for IT departments. They follow frameworks like ITIL and focus on:

Incident management — "My laptop won't connect to WiFi"
Problem management — "Why do laptops keep losing WiFi?"
Change management — "We need to upgrade the firewall this weekend"
Service request management — "I need access to the CRM"
IT asset management — Tracking laptops, servers, software licences
Knowledge management — Self-service portals and documentation

The assets being managed are digital: laptops, servers, network switches, software licences, cloud subscriptions.

What is CMMS?

Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) is software for managing physical assets and maintenance operations. Think work orders, equipment servicing, compliance inspections, and spare parts inventory.

CMMS tools — like AssetOS, UpKeep, Fiix, and Limble — are built for maintenance and facilities teams. They focus on:

Work order management — "The HVAC unit on floor 3 needs repair"
Preventive maintenance — "Service the generator every 500 hours"
Compliance tracking — "MOT expires in 14 days, inspection due next week"
Asset lifecycle management — Procurement to disposal, total cost of ownership
Inventory management — Spare parts, consumables, reorder points
Mobile field access — Technicians logging work on-site, often offline

The assets being managed are physical: equipment, vehicles, facilities, machinery, infrastructure.

The key differences

| | ITSM | CMMS | |---|---|---| | Primary users | IT department | Maintenance / facilities teams | | Assets managed | Laptops, servers, software | Equipment, vehicles, buildings | | "Tickets" | IT support requests | Maintenance work orders | | Prevention | Software patches, licence renewals | Equipment servicing, inspections | | Compliance | ITIL, SOC2, ISO 27001 | MOTs, OSHA, regulatory inspections | | Field work | Remote desktop support | Hands-on repair, on-site inspections | | Inventory | Software licences | Spare parts, consumables | | Frameworks | ITIL, COBIT | RCM, TPM, ISO 55000 |

Where they overlap

Here's where it gets interesting. As organisations mature, the line between ITSM and CMMS gets blurry:

Change management

IT change management (CAB approvals for software releases) and physical asset change management (approvals for equipment modifications) follow the same pattern: request → review → approve → implement → verify.

An organisation managing both server deployments and equipment installations needs change control for both — but shouldn't need two separate systems.

Service desk

When someone reports that "the air conditioning isn't working," is that an IT ticket or a maintenance work order? In most organisations, it depends on who handles the request — but the person reporting it doesn't care. They just want it fixed.

A unified service desk that routes to the right team — whether IT or facilities — reduces friction and speeds resolution.

Asset dependencies

Modern operations have assets that span both worlds. A manufacturing line has PLCs (IT manages the software), servo motors (maintenance manages the hardware), and network switches (IT again). When something goes wrong, you need visibility across both domains.

Compliance and audit trails

Whether it's SOC2 compliance for IT or regulatory inspections for equipment, both require the same thing: immutable records of what happened, when, and who was responsible. The audit trail capability is identical — the subject matter differs.

The problem with using ITSM for physical maintenance

We talk to teams every week who tried using their ITSM tool for maintenance. Here's what goes wrong:

No preventive maintenance scheduling. ITSM tools handle incidents reactively. They don't schedule recurring maintenance by time intervals or usage meters. You can hack it with recurring tickets, but it's not the same as a proper PM engine.

No compliance deadline tracking. ITSM tools track SLAs on tickets. They don't track that your fleet vehicles need MOTs, your fire extinguishers need inspection, or your lift certification expires in 30 days.

No field technician workflows. ITSM tools assume your users are at desks. Maintenance technicians are in plant rooms, on rooftops, under vehicles. They need offline-capable mobile apps with large buttons for gloved hands — not a mobile-optimised web portal.

Wrong cost model. ITSM tools charge $79–$150/user/month because they're built for IT departments with 5–20 agents handling thousands of end-user tickets. Maintenance teams need 10–50 technician seats at a price point that makes sense.

The problem with using CMMS for IT service management

The reverse is also true. Using a CMMS for IT service management doesn't work either:

No ITIL workflows. CMMS tools don't understand incident → problem → change escalation paths. They handle work orders, not service tickets with SLA timers.

No self-service portal. End users can't submit "my laptop is broken" through a CMMS the way they can through an ITSM self-service portal.

No software asset management. CMMS tools track physical assets. They don't track software licences, patch status, or configuration items in a CMDB.

The convergence: why modern teams want both

Here's what we're seeing across our conversations with maintenance leaders:

Operations are getting more connected. IoT sensors on physical equipment feed data to cloud platforms. Building management systems run on servers. Fleet vehicles have telematics sending data to dashboards. The IT and OT (operational technology) worlds are merging.

Change management is universal. Whether you're deploying a software release or modifying a piece of critical equipment, you need the same governance: approval workflows, backout plans, implementation steps, and post-change verification.

Audit pressure is increasing. Regulators and auditors want complete records. They don't care that your asset data lives in three different systems — they want one answer, fast.

Teams want fewer tools, not more. Nobody wants to maintain (and pay for) separate ITSM and CMMS platforms when 80% of the functionality is the same: track assets, manage work, enforce compliance, produce audit trails.

What to look for in a unified platform

If you're evaluating tools that bridge both worlds, here's the checklist:

Work orders AND service tickets — Can it handle both physical maintenance work orders and IT-style service requests?
Preventive maintenance — Does it support time-based and usage-based scheduling? (ITSM tools usually can't)
Change management — Does it support multi-party approvals, implementation plans, and backout procedures?
Compliance tracking — Can it track both regulatory deadlines (MOTs, inspections) and IT compliance (SOC2, ISO)?
Audit trails — Are all changes logged immutably across both asset types?
Mobile access — Does it work for field technicians, not just desk-based IT staff?
Pricing — Is it priced for maintenance teams ($15–$50/user) or IT departments ($80–$150/user)?

The bottom line

ITSM and CMMS are converging. The organisations that figure this out first — using a single platform for physical and digital asset management — will have simpler operations, better audit trails, and lower software costs.

The question isn't "ITSM or CMMS?" anymore. It's "which platform handles both without making me pay twice?"

AssetOS is a modern CMMS with change management and service desk capabilities built in. If you're managing physical assets and want IT-grade change control without ITSM pricing, start a free trial or book a demo.