ConnectWise Automate vs Microsoft Configuration Manager comparison

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between ConnectWise Automate and Microsoft Configuration Manager based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about NinjaOne, Kaseya, TeamViewer and others in Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM).
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765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"This product saves us a lot of time and increases our efficiency.""It allows us to manage all client requests, jobs and invoicing.""Remote access and detailed monitoring help us support our equipment.""It's definitely improved the help-desk servicing, et cetera.""Scripting and patch management are really important for us. Patch Manager is something that we use a lot, and we would love to have it continually improved. It is one of the most useful features for us for controlling patches and other things for different clients.""It is very scalable.""The implementation is nice and easy.""The initial setup is easy and the deployment is quick."

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"Microsoft is being very competitive right now, and they are really investing in a lot of new features to be more competitive in the marketplace.""Offers good patching.""Technical support was helpful and responsive.""Provides great insight into the functionalities of the data scope.""It is a very good solution. It has a good interface and is easy to use. On top of that, it is very reliable in terms of distribution as well as getting the report.""With the SCCM inventory, we found a lot of rogue applications. We were able to identify them, find out who was running them, and either put them on our application list or remove them.""It uses detailed descriptions of the workstations, and that is good for me.""The ability to make collections and deploy to them has been great."

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Cons
"Technical support was helpful.""In Patch Manager, there should be more reportability so that it is easier to see the updates that I have applied to a machine and when the next update will happen. A lot of times, it seems like all the information is kind of thrown all over the place, and you can't really see it all at the same time. There should be a simplified patch data view that allows us to quickly confirm that our various clients are getting patched as they should be.""The fixed client for Automate is slow. The web client is not very intuitive.""They could use some automated alerts particularly when we're talking about an MSP that might shoot over.""The menu doesn't always load properly.""We would love to get feature updates and cumulative updates fixed. I know they aren't really supposed to be pushed with Patch Manager. We've got recommendations from ConnectWise to use the scripted feature update installs, scripted KB updates, etc. Having these in Patch Manager itself would be great.""Patching and reporting need improvements, especially reporting. The reporting engine is quite outdated, so you end up having to use your own dashboard.""The project management needs improvement and there's a section of the product called configuration that also needs to be improved."

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"There is a reboot issue with the patching. Sometimes, if patching runs into any issue whatsoever, it doesn't reboot but it doesn't tell you it errored out. It just sits there and we don't find out until the next day whether it patched or not. That was a big issue for us. We're working through that. They added some stuff in there now where you can actually tell reboot is pending. But we still need some kind of notification that if something fails or is pending, we know. We shouldn't have to go in and look. They don't have anything for that right now.""A lot of experience is needed in terms of troubleshooting, as this is one of the most difficult tasks in MECM. We were seven people in a group and I was the only one that had the patience to do the troubleshooting at times.""The tool's deployment is complex and depends on the architecture you want to implement.""They need to improve the support for the Mac operating system.""The operations could be faster and you need some patience with this tool.""The product needs to improve scalability.""We'd like the solution to make it easier to manage remote users.""The tool's deployment is difficult. Microsoft needs to improve documentation with videos."

More Microsoft Configuration Manager Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Pricing and licensing are reasonable."
  • "From what I've overheard, it is pretty comparable to other solutions in terms of price."
  • "I believe Automate is available for around $2."
  • "I pay $85 a month per user for a ConnectWise package that contains multiple solutions."
  • More ConnectWise Automate Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Pricing and licensing are horrible. You have to not look at dollar value to use SCCM. It's super-duper expensive but it works. The acquisition cost is expensive, it's labor-intensive. But it works."
  • "Pricing and licensing are a downside of SCCM. It's expensive. I'd have to confirm this, but I think they changed the licensing to core-based instead of socket-based. It's not cheap, because you have to buy the software, you have to buy SQL. Another thing we learned from talking to Microsoft is that they provide you a license for SQL if you run it on the same box as the primary server. If you run it outside that box, you have to buy SQL. Microsoft does recommend you running it on the same box because of performance. But then, in order to run SQL, SCCM, and everything on the same box, you better have some resources. It's an expensive solution. There's no doubt about it."
  • "Overall, I think it's fine. It's pretty much in-line because there are ways to offset it with the Office 365 licensing."
  • "SCCM comes with its own version of SQL Server. If you use that SQL Server with SCCM and don't use it for another applications than you get an SQL Server for free."
  • "The licensing is good because they have various options, depending on what you are looking for."
  • "Pricing is negotiable with Microsoft, depending upon which of their packages you choose."
  • "When you compare this solution with other tools in the market you might actually find a lot of variation in the pricing and that's why people opt for the other tools rather than Microsoft tools."
  • "Its price is okay because it is part of our licensing."
  • More Microsoft Configuration Manager Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:The most value we get from this solution is that everything is on a patch cycle.
    Top Answer:I pay $85 a month per user for a ConnectWise package that contains multiple solutions.
    Top Answer:The fixed client for Automate is slow. The web client is not very intuitive. It could use some updating and some thought around the UX. Also, with the scripting, I would like to see something where it… more »
    Top Answer:Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager takes knowledge and research to properly configure. The length of time that the set up will take depends on the kind of technical architecture that your… more »
    Top Answer:ManageEngine Desktop Central is very easy to set up, is scalable, stable, and also has very good patch management. What I like most about ManageEngine is that I can log on to every PC very easily and… more »
    Top Answer:Microsoft Configuration Manager gives different tools in one solution.
    Ranking
    Views
    2,269
    Comparisons
    1,656
    Reviews
    2
    Average Words per Review
    577
    Rating
    7.0
    2nd
    out of 42 in Server Monitoring
    Views
    4,112
    Comparisons
    3,129
    Reviews
    28
    Average Words per Review
    455
    Rating
    8.5
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    LabTech for IT Service Providers, ConnectWise Automate for Corporate IT Departments, ConnectWise Automate for IT Service Providers
    Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM )
    Learn More
    Interactive Demo
    Overview

    ConnectWise Automate is an IT management tool that helps deliver IT services at the speed of business. Our remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform provides powerful automation to discover & manage devices, monitor for problems, and automate action. Deliver streamlined reactive and proactive managed services, stop putting out fires, and start focusing on what matters most. See why over 5,500 partners worldwide chose ConnectWise Automate by visiting ConnectWise.com or calling 877-522-8323.

    Microsoft Configuration Manager helps IT manage PCs and servers, keeping software up-to-date, setting configuration and security policies, and monitoring system status while giving employees access to corporate applications on the devices that they choose. When Configuration Manager is integrated with Microsoft Intune, you can manage corporate-connected PCs and Macs along with cloud-based mobile devices running Windows, iOS, and Android, all from a single management console.

    New features of Configuration Manager, such as the support of Windows 10 in-place upgrade, co-management with Microsoft Intune, Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise Servicing Dashboard, integration with Windows Update for Business, and more make deploying and managing Windows easier than ever before.

    Sample Customers
    I-M Technology, Mainstay Technologies, PC Works Plus, Integrity IT, Kerkhoff Technologies Inc., Marathon Consulting, Christenberry Sales Company, EDTS, Secom Technology, Ready to View, ARRC Technology, DaVinci Digital, JNR Networks, Quinn Technology Solutions, PCIT, Liberty Technology, Capital Computers & Networks, Atlanta Technology Force, Doberman Technologies, First Column Enterprises, CisCom Solutions
    Bank Alfalah Ltd., Wªrth Handelsges.m.b.H, Dimension Data, Japan Business Systems, St. Lucie County Public Schools, MISC Berhad
    Top Industries
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization47%
    Computer Software Company9%
    Financial Services Firm5%
    Real Estate/Law Firm4%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Manufacturing Company13%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Insurance Company9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company12%
    Government11%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business71%
    Midsize Enterprise21%
    Large Enterprise7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise55%
    Large Enterprise25%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise69%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise67%
    Buyer's Guide
    Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about NinjaOne, Kaseya, TeamViewer and others in Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM). Updated: March 2024.
    765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    ConnectWise Automate is ranked 7th in Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) with 15 reviews while Microsoft Configuration Manager is ranked 2nd in Server Monitoring with 76 reviews. ConnectWise Automate is rated 7.6, while Microsoft Configuration Manager is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of ConnectWise Automate writes "Responsive, integrates well with other applications, and the technical support is helpful". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Microsoft Configuration Manager writes "Seamless system updates, useful integration, and reliable". ConnectWise Automate is most compared with Kaseya VSA, ConnectWise RMM, NinjaOne, Atera and N-able N-central, whereas Microsoft Configuration Manager is most compared with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, ManageEngine Endpoint Central, Microsoft Intune, BigFix and Tanium.

    We monitor all Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.