Microsoft Configuration Manager vs ServiceNow Discovery comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

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

Find out in this report how the two Server Monitoring solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Configuration Manager vs. ServiceNow Discovery Report (Updated: March 2024).
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
"Provides great insight into the functionalities of the data scope.""The ability to make collections and deploy to them has been great.""Microsoft Configuration Manager gives different tools in one solution.""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.""You can remote control or RDP. That has been the most valuable because we can go into one console and can get to anything we want. Instead of going to all these different consoles, we centralized everything.""What's valuable is the basic management of the systems, being able to control who can access the systems.""The initial setup is fairly straightforward.""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."

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"The most valuable feature is its integration with CMDB, as it collects all the data.""The process involving the original setup of the solution is excellent.""The biggest advantage of ServiceNow is the value that it brings.""Discovery enables us to get an accurate inventory that's updated daily. It eliminates human error and the need for people to update configuration changes manually. We have not implemented them yet but plan to set up alerts on CIs that are being audited to see if there are any changes.""I find that the Discovery and scripting features are the most useful.""It's a single system of record and it captures the relationships.""We mostly use the solution's ITSM and ITOM capabilities in most workflows.""We can find servers or services we were unaware of and stumble on vulnerabilities from those devices."

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Cons
"I would like to see an agentless version of the solution.""Could do with some cosmetic improvements on the user interface.""In terms of the monitoring, the timeframe it takes to actually report back on the compliance of a device after it has been patched is a bit too long.""SCCM should strive to enhance the accuracy of its reporting functions in order to avoid any issues with incorrect or inaccurate data.""As far as load balancing across, they don't have that support yet, so that you can actually build multiple primaries and have it load balance across. They don't have any of that functionality yet. That would be a nice feature, to scale that way.""SCCM does not scale well, which is one of the reasons we are not going to continue to use it.""Microsoft should extend support for additional platforms.""Troubleshooting in general needs improvement. There's just a ton of logs to go through, and so finding the error log that corresponds with that you're doing can sometimes be difficult."

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"It's an expensive platform.""ServiceNow has a constant development environment. Hence they get constant bugs which result in incorrect performance. It should also improve customer service.""It creates quite a bit of duplication, so that needs to be fixed.""Whenever you try to discover something with the solution, you get errors that are not descriptive enough.""The current limitation requires having mid servers or discovery servers in each data center for proper discovery, hindering the ability to discover assets across continents such as Asia Pacific and Europe.""What needs improvement in ServiceNow Discovery is the reporting UI because I didn't find it as friendly compared to other tools. Other tools have better reporting UI than what's currently in ServiceNow Discovery. What I'd like to see in the next release of ServiceNow Discovery is more user-friendly out-of-the-box reporting that would be helpful for non-technical users. Some users such as managers would want to just do a few clicks to access the reports and shouldn't be required to do search queries, but right now, reporting in the tool isn't very user-friendly.""Application discovery could be improved. And, right now, ServiceNow needs to be coupled with another solution in order to verify information.""The service mapping component is less developed than it is in other solutions, and is in need of improvement."

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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 →

  • "This solution is a paid option within the ServiceNow framework."
  • "It's a bit expensive compared to other products in the market, but it's worth the money you pay because it's far advanced in terms of features, automation, and capabilities compared to other products."
  • "There is a subscription for ServiceNow Discovery. It's expensive, but I think it's one of the best solutions on the market, so it's worth it."
  • "The price could be better. It's a bit on the pricey side."
  • "It is an expensive product with a price that depends on the models that you wish to purchase."
  • "It costs a lot. It is probably close to over a hundred thousand. It's an expensive platform, but you can't compare ServiceNow's Discovery functionality to other discovery tools. It's not an apples-to-apples comparison of ServiceNow to a configuration management tool to an asset management tool because it does those things, but it's not those things."
  • "You need a subscription to ServiceNow Discovery, so you can use its features. You can also use specific plugins with the tool, and some of the plugins are free. I don't have information on how much my company pays for the subscription to ServiceNow Discovery."
  • "The solution is very expensive."
  • More ServiceNow Discovery Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    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.
    Top Answer:ServiceNow Discovery has played a vital role in improving service visibility through automated IT service management processes, including change and problem management.
    Top Answer:Setting up and licensing for ServiceNow can be expensive, especially for enterprise service management. However, it helps with significant cost savings in various areas. In particular, in two Oracle… more »
    Top Answer:ServiceNow Discovery has an area for improvement, particularly concerning its global deployment in a company with data centers worldwide. The current limitation requires having mid servers or… more »
    Ranking
    2nd
    out of 42 in Server Monitoring
    Views
    4,112
    Comparisons
    3,129
    Reviews
    28
    Average Words per Review
    455
    Rating
    8.5
    3rd
    out of 42 in Server Monitoring
    Views
    4,503
    Comparisons
    1,996
    Reviews
    24
    Average Words per Review
    576
    Rating
    8.1
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM )
    Learn More
    ServiceNow
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    Overview

    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.

    ServiceNow Discovery finds applications and devices on your network, and then updates the CMDB with the information it finds. Discovery is available as a separate subscription from the rest of the Now Platform.

    Sample Customers
    Bank Alfalah Ltd., Wªrth Handelsges.m.b.H, Dimension Data, Japan Business Systems, St. Lucie County Public Schools, MISC Berhad
    York, National Grid, DXC Technology, experian, BEACHBODY
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Manufacturing Company13%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Insurance Company9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company12%
    Government11%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm18%
    Computer Software Company18%
    Retailer12%
    Educational Organization12%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company15%
    Financial Services Firm15%
    Healthcare Company9%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise69%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise67%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business40%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise49%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business14%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise75%
    Buyer's Guide
    Microsoft Configuration Manager vs. ServiceNow Discovery
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Configuration Manager vs. ServiceNow Discovery and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Microsoft Configuration Manager is ranked 2nd in Server Monitoring with 76 reviews while ServiceNow Discovery is ranked 3rd in Server Monitoring with 34 reviews. Microsoft Configuration Manager is rated 8.2, while ServiceNow Discovery is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Microsoft Configuration Manager writes "Seamless system updates, useful integration, and reliable". On the other hand, the top reviewer of ServiceNow Discovery writes "Valuable relationship building that discovers and auto-builds to make cleanup easy". Microsoft Configuration Manager is most compared with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, ManageEngine Endpoint Central, Microsoft Intune, BigFix and Ivanti Neurons Patch for Intune, whereas ServiceNow Discovery is most compared with Tanium, AWS Cloud Map, ScienceLogic, SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor and Lansweeper. See our Microsoft Configuration Manager vs. ServiceNow Discovery report.

    See our list of best Server Monitoring vendors.

    We monitor all Server Monitoring 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.