In this guide, you'll find:
- Why the ServiceNow-Armis deal is reshaping this market
- The deployment models and protocol depth that separate these platforms
- A side-by-side comparison of the top Armis alternatives for 2026
- How ORDR's agentless platform moves from device discovery to enforcement
- What to test before you sign with a new vendor
Why Armis Customers Are Weighing Their Options
ServiceNow completed its $7.75 billion acquisition of Armis on April 20, 2026, bringing Armis’s asset intelligence capabilities into its broader IT service management and AI platform.
For current Armis customers, that raises a few practical questions:
- Will Armis remain a focused connected-device security platform?
- Could key features become bundled into larger ServiceNow products?
- Does it make sense to evaluate alternatives before the next contract renewal?
Forrester described the deal as ServiceNow’s largest acquisition and highlighted a potential risk for customers. Capabilities such as vulnerability management and threat intelligence could eventually be folded into ServiceNow’s broader product ecosystem.
That uncertainty, rather than a service outage or a confirmed price increase, is prompting some procurement teams to compare alternatives now rather than wait to see how the integration develops.
What to Evaluate in an Armis Alternative
Every connected-device security platform claims full visibility. The differences show up in six areas.
Criterion | Why It Matters |
Deployment Model | Agent-based tools can miss unmanaged and legacy devices. Agentless platforms can read network traffic instead. |
OT and IoMT Protocol Depth | Generic IT tools often can't accurately parse industrial or medical device protocols. |
Integration Breadth | The platform needs to push data into your firewall and NAC tools, as well as your SIEM stack. |
Time to Value | Some deployments take months to produce a usable asset inventory; others take days. |
Pricing Transparency | None of these vendors publish list pricing. Ask for a quote scoped to your device count early. |
Vendor Roadmap Independence | A parent company can deprioritize acquired features that don't fit its core product. |
Top Armis Alternatives for 2026
The table below compares deployment model and standout strengths across the platforms security teams evaluate most often, starting with ORDR.
Platform | Best For | Deployment | Notable Strength |
ORDR | Healthcare, banking, manufacturing | Agentless | 99.8% accurate device ID with human-approved automation |
Claroty | Industrial and healthcare CPS environments | Cloud (xDome) or on-premises (CTD) | Named a Gartner 2026 CPS Protection Platforms Leader, second year running |
Nozomi Networks | Critical infrastructure and OT | Cloud, on-premises, or hybrid sensors | Named a Gartner 2026 CPS Protection Platforms Leader, second year running |
Forescout (Vistaro) | Large, IT-heavy enterprises | Agentless | Built on 25+ years in network security |
Microsoft Defender for IoT | Microsoft 365 E5 shops | Agentless, with optional agent-based monitoring | Bundled into an existing Microsoft security suite |
Dragos | OT and ICS-only environments | On-premises or virtual/cloud | Named a Gartner 2026 CPS Protection Platforms Leader, second year running |
Tenable OT Security | Teams already standardized on Tenable | On-premises or cloud | Named a Gartner 2026 CPS Protection Platforms Challenger |
Gartner evaluated 13 vendors for its 2026 Magic Quadrant for CPS Protection Platforms, naming four of them Leaders. ORDR sits outside that specific evaluation, competing instead in the broader connected-device and IT asset visibility market.
ORDR's Agentless Approach to Connected-Device Security
ORDR discovers every device on the network without installing an agent. The platform fingerprints device behavior with AI. It classifies each asset by type and manufacturer, then scores its risk level.
ORDR IQ, the platform's orchestration layer, lets analysts ask plain-language questions about the network rather than build custom queries. Enforcement stays under human control. ORDR investigates a risk and explains what it found. The platform then recommends a segmentation policy, and an analyst approves the action before it takes effect.
That workflow moves teams from visibility to enforcement faster than most agent-based tools allow, as the numbers below show.
Metric | Result |
Device Identification Accuracy | 99.8% |
Initial Visibility | 24–48 hours after deployment |
Threat Containment | Under 5 minutes |
Policy Deployment | Days, versus a 12–24 month industry norm |
Integrations | 130+ IT and security tools |
Certifications | SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA; ISO 27001 evaluation in progress |
Customers | 500+ healthcare, banking, and manufacturing organizations |
ORDR applies the same discovery engine to converged IT and OT networks. It unifies visibility and enforcement, stopping a threat that enters through an IT endpoint before it reaches production equipment on the plant floor. The platform also underpins zero trust segmentation projects. Instead of granting access based on where a device sits on the network, ORDR verifies device identity first and scopes access to what that specific device needs.
Choosing the Right Armis Alternative
Start with your device inventory, not a vendor's feature list. Count how many unmanaged devices sit on your network today. Then ask each finalist to run a proof of concept against that exact environment, including your medical devices or your building systems. Time how long each platform takes to produce a usable, audit-ready inventory.
Check each finalist's own compliance posture, too. A platform handling protected health information or payment card data should carry its own current SOC 2 Type II report and map cleanly to your HIPAA or PCI DSS obligations, not just promise to help you pass an audit later. Ask what happens to your data and your contract if that vendor gets acquired next.
Request a demo to see ORDR run against your own network before you renew or replace Armis.