Best Incident Management Software in 2024

What Is Incident Management Software?

Imagine that there is a machine that defends your business from the obstacles thrown by unforeseen events. That's exactly what incident management software does. It's like a toolkit to spot, address, and learn from incidents like DoS (Denial of Service) attacks, malware attacks, hardware failure etc. 

Incident management software (IMS) helps organizations identify, track, and resolve disruptions to their services. It's essentially a software program that helps businesses deal with unexpected problems that arise and also analyzes them for future improvements. 

IMS consists of several key elements. There's an incident tracking module, which acts as a central repository for recording incident details and monitoring their progress. Additionally, it includes alerting and notification features to promptly notify concerned authorities when an incident arises.  

Must-Have Features in Incident Management Tool 

Incident management software offers a wide range of features for incident tracking, reporting, automation, alerting, and more. Here are some of the most common features:  

1. Incident Tracking: Incident tracking is the core functionality of incident management tools. It allows organizations to record every detail of an incident. By using this tool, users can record and track details such as the time it occurred, the nature of the problem, the impact on business operations, and the steps taken to resolve it or is the issue resolved yet, etc. 
2. Orchestration and Automation: An incident management tool streamlines responses to unforeseen events through orchestration and automation. It coordinates actions across systems and teams, automating repetitive tasks for quicker resolution. This feature ensures efficient incident handling, minimizing downtime and maximizing operational resilience. 
3. Reporting and Analytics: Incident management software also provides reporting and analytics capabilities. The software is equipped with reporting and analytics features and helps organizations document incidents and analyze data for insights. This functionality helps in understanding incident trends, identifying areas for improvement, and making data-driven decisions to enhance incident response strategies.  
4. Security Compliance: Incident reporting software helps organizations adhere to regulations and standards, safeguarding sensitive data and systems. It enables the tracking and resolution of security incidents, ensures timely alerts etc. It also facilitates documentation for audit trails, loggings, compliance reporting to bolster overall cybersecurity posture. 
5. Alerts and Notifications: The software also includes features for alerting and notifications. This ensures timely communication of incidents to relevant personnel. These functionalities enable quick response time and efficient resolution of issues, minimizing potential disruptions to business operations. 
6. Mobile Accessibility: Incident management software offers mobile accessibility which allows users to respond to incidents from anywhere. This feature can help with swift action and coordination anywhere in the world. Mobile access enables real-time updates, collaboration, and resolution, enhancing efficiency and responsiveness in addressing unexpected events. 

Benefits of Using Incident Management Tools 

Incident management tools offer a wide range of benefits for organizations of all sizes. Here are some of the key advantages: 

• Faster Resolution Time: By automating tasks, streamlining workflows, and prioritizing incidents, incident management tools can significantly reduce the time it takes to resolve disruptions. This leads to less downtime and improves operational efficiency. 
• Improved Communication and Collaboration: The software often provides a central platform for teams to communicate, share information, and collaborate on resolving incidents. This fosters better teamwork and ensures everyone involved is on the same page. 
• Helps in identification of Root Causes: Incident management tools can help track trends, analyze data, and identify the root causes of incidents. This knowledge empowers organizations to take preventive measures and avoid similar issues in the future. 
• Enhanced Decision-Making: Incident reporting tools offer real-time data and insightful reports which can help organizations with data-driven decision-making while responding to incidents. This allows teams to prioritize responses and allocate resources efficiently. 
• Stronger Compliance: Many incident management tools support security compliance by ensuring secure data storage, audit trails, and role-based access control. This can be crucial for organizations in regulated industries like Healthcare, Gas, Energy etc. 
• Cost and Time saving: Faster resolution times, reduced downtime, and improved preventive measures can all contribute to cost savings for businesses. Moreover, automating repetitive tasks frees up valuable time for administrators, allowing them to focus on more strategic initiatives and problem-solving activities. 

What is the Difference Between Incident and Problems?

Many people believe that incidents and problems are the same. However, these two differ from each other in many ways. Incident is like a sudden problem that pops up and needs to be fixed right away to get things back to normal. It's like when your internet suddenly stops working.  

A problem, on the other hand, is what's causing those incidents to happen in the first place. It's like figuring out the disruption in internet so that you can stop it from happening again in the future. So, incidents are the immediate issues, while problems are what's behind those issues.

Incident: 

• An incident is a specific occurrence of a disruption or malfunction in a service, process, or system. 
• It's an unexpected event that causes an interruption in normal operations. 
• Incidents are usually temporary and require immediate attention to restore normal functionality. 
• Examples: A website goes down, an application crashes, hardware failure, etc. 

Problem 

• A problem is the underlying cause of one or more incidents. 
• It's the root issue that's causing the disruptions or malfunctions. 
• Examples: A problem can be a design flaw, a bug in code, a network configuration error, or even a physical hardware issue. 
• They require investigation and analysis to identify and fix the root cause to prevent future occurrences. 

Top 10 Incident Management Tools Comparison 

Here is a comparison of the best incident management software along with their key features and pricing plans. 

Best Incident Management Tools Comparison
Softwares	Key Features	Pricing
Jira Service Management	Asset and configuration management , Centralize all alerts , Categorize and prioritize issues , Record everything to get full visibility into the entire incident lifecycle , Assign and track follow-up tasks , Collaborate with efficiency	Starts at $21
Servicenow	Identify, track, and resolve high‑impact incidents , Single-pane agent view , Get AI-powered insight , AIOps integration , Omni-channel notifications , Incident response playbook , A single system of record	Available on request
PagerDuty	Deploy management , IT asset management , Event orchestration , 24×7 endpoint monitoring , Real-time alerts , 700+ native integrations , Granular and scalable permissions	Starts at $25/month per user
Opsgenie	Actionable & reliable alerting , On-call management & escalations , Operational- efficiency reporting and analytics , Service & Infrastructure Health Reporting , Routing rules and escalations	Starting at $11
RiskWare	Incident register , Generate custom alerts , Configurable incident types , Action plans for resolution , Identify organizational incidents , Investigation and diagnosis , Empower employees with self-service	Available on request
Safetymint	Capture and create incident reports , Seamlessly collect incident data , Enhanced visibility of reports and schedules , Proactively control multiple reports , Clean, intuitive interface design , Third-party integrations , Root cause analysis	Starting at $4,250 /Year
Jeli	700+ native integrations, extensible APIs, and customizable workflows , Reduce alert noise and accelerate triage , Process automation , On-call management , Mitigate revenue and reputational risk , Analyzing past incidents	Starts at $3,000
xMatters	Full control over data with the xMatters Incident Console , Review incident details in seconds from a unified incident console , Keep tabs on progress , Incident analytics , Create and share an exportable Post-Incident Report	Starts at $9
New Relic	Search and filter issues , Root cause analysis , Impacted entities and issue map , Issue timeline and Log , Automatically collects data related to an incident , Organize alerts through tagging , Correlate incoming incidents	Available on request
EHS Insight	Record and keep track of incidents across your workforce , Maintain regulatory compliance , Control and Measure Incidents , Create OSHA-Ready Reports , Manage incidents, audits and inspections, health and safety, etc	Available on request

How Do We Evaluate and Select the Best Incident Management Software for You?

When selecting the best security incident and event management system for you, we follow a thorough evaluation process based on several key factors.   

First and foremost, we carefully examine the features offered by each software. These features include incident monitoring, issue tracking, automation capabilities, integrations, data analytics, reporting and more. 

Furthermore, we look for security compliance features offered by each tool, the software must facilitate documentation for audit trails, loggings, compliance reporting, etc. Next, we thoroughly assess the scalability options so that the software can be upgraded or downgraded whenever needed.  

Finally, we check the feedback and customer reviews so that we can provide valuable insights into the real-world performance and reliability of each incident reporting software. 

How to Choose the Right Incident Management Software?

Before choosing any incident management software, users must consider their budget, features they require, scalability options, and more. Here are some of the factors to consider while choosing the best incident response tools: 

Choosing the right incident management software involves understanding your organization's specific needs and evaluating different tools based on those requirements. Here's a roadmap to guide you through the selection process: 

1. Identify Your Needs: The first step is to identify your needs like team size, IT infrastructure, and the number of people who will be using the tool. This will help you narrow down the incident management and event management system available in the market. 
2. Features and functionalities: Next, make a list of essential features you need, such as incident tracking, automation, integrations, reporting, and security compliance. Moreover, the software should be user-friendly and intuitive for both IT staff and other relevant teams. Furthermore, look for tools that can adapt to your growing needs and allow for some level of customization to fit your specific workflows. 
3. Budget: Determine how much you're willing to spend on licensing and ongoing costs associated with incident response software. 
4. Research the software: After that, list down the tools that fit in your budget. Check the vendor reputation, online reviews, and ask feedback from potential users. 
5. Compare shortlisted tools: Finally, compare the shortlisted options based on your evaluation criteria and feature sets. After the comparison, you can choose the software that best suits your requirements. 

How Much Do Incident Management Platforms Cost?

The cost of incident reporting platforms can vary depending on factors such as features, functionalities, and scalability options. Entry-level solutions often start at a few hundred dollars per month, while enterprise-grade incident management platforms with advanced functionalities can cost you around $5000 - 10000 or more. Furthermore, software customization, training, and ongoing support also contribute to overall expenses. So, it's essential for you to assess your specific needs and budget before selecting an incident reporting tool.