We performed a comparison between AWS CloudFormation and AWS Systems Manager based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Configuration Management solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."It's normally able to meet 100% expectations of our customers."
"The security-related tools are excellent; these features allow us to secure devices, lock them down, and ensure compliance."
"Mobile device management is most valuable."
"The reporting and analytics features in Microsoft Intune have been a lifesaver."
"It is helpful for managing devices anytime and any place without requiring dependency on the local networks."
"Intune device restriction policies enable me to enforce limitations on the device, like blocking the mobile camera or restricting the employees from using and inserting USB devices, including thumb drives and flash drives."
"It works well if you have a Microsoft environment."
"For our office workers who are not based in Norway, when we order the PC, we can do some of the settings for them. These are standardized settings. We can set them up exactly as they are in Norway so that they're the same."
"The reusability of the solution is valuable."
"CloudFormation itself is free to use. You will be charged for the resources you deploy using CloudFormation."
"I would rate the scalability a nine out of ten. We use it every day."
"The most valuable feature of AWS CloudFormation is the simple tracking of infrastructure."
"There is a cost-benefit to using CloudFormation that comes about because of the automation that it provides."
"With CloudFormation, there is no need to use complicated coding."
"Automations make it pretty easy to provision AWS, development, or deployment environments."
"Versioning makes our work easy."
"With AWS Systems Manager, our company can patch our systems directly from it, so we don't need to patch our systems manually."
"AWS provides Auto Scaling groups."
"Systems Manager has a feature where it analyzes the logs and gives us a performance overview in the form of a graph. We know when it's taking up more resources and when there are spikes, so we can predict the usability."
"The solution's ability to scale is good."
"Has a variety of automation options."
"When we do the automation in the cloud, we use the SSM agent. This helps us to test our automation and documents, and monitor the cloud."
"The solution is user-friendly"
"One area for improvement is app deployment. Another is the Windows update rollout. If you're rolling out an object to a device that's offline, Intune stops trying to reach this device after it sits idle for a bit. We are forced to find a workaround that could help manage that."
"Intune has limited integration with non-Microsoft solutions."
"The reporting could be improved, as it's pretty poor compared to other products of this type."
"More integration with monitoring tools is needed."
"Sometimes, customers compare it with AirWatch, but the concept of Intune is different from other solutions. It's an application management app. It gets a bit difficult to explain it to customers, but it's not a product limitation. It takes a presale document or presentation to explain it to customers."
"We only have major classifications for iOS and Android, but there are different brands that have different cycles of updates. If they can fine-tune it to make it more brand-specific, that would be even better."
"It just doesn't handle software updates well at all by itself. You need to be a scripting wizard to make those happen properly, or you use third-party tools. The Windows feature updates are very difficult to implement. I would like to see a proprietary built-in remote control tool. I know that they have Team Viewer integrated, but it is not seamless. It would be nice if they had a seamless remote desktop capability directly from the Intune console."
"It would be beneficial to have a more straightforward understanding of Intune's capabilities, presented in a simplified manner."
"CloudFormation is not particularly good at handling cross-account dynamic references. If you try to refer to an object that CloudFormation has created in a separate AWS account, it tends to fall apart. That's because it is a byproduct of the multi-tenant configuration. This is the most glaring shortcoming in my perspective because you can't dynamically reference objects in other accounts that CloudFormation has created, but it is not a shortcoming that you can't overcome. This is the only pain point that I've come across that didn't have a workaround natively. Sometimes the confirmation is slow, and it could be faster. The downside to CloudFormation when you're fully embracing it is that the AWS services do not get released immediately fully CloudFormation enabled. If you need to use the latest AWS service that just got announced or reinvented, you're not going to be able to continue with CloudFormation for the first X number of months. This is because they develop the products separately, and then they hand it to the CloudFormation team, which later on develops a CloudFormation integration. So, if you need to be on the newest thing AWS has, CloudFormation is often going to be a constraint that prevents you from doing that."
"GUI could be improved by adding graphical components."
"Error-handling features can be improved."
"One area where AWS CloudFormation could improve is by offering more flexibility in creating custom templates."
"If you are a developer or a more technical person, it's very difficult to learn the complete syntax or because CloudFormation includes a new way to write infrastructure code."
"This tool is not intuitive and there are others that are easier to understand."
"Including certain examples of templates would be advantageous."
"For improvement, it's crucial that AWS provides options in terms of computing services, DB related services, and machine learning solutions. If I'm not hands-on with a particular service, like machine learning applications, I struggle to write the CloudFormation code."
"The AWS UIs are not the most intuitive. Also, the usability needs room for improvement."
"AWS does not have EKS cluster backup."
"Lacks sufficient integrations."
"Additional features can be added as per customer requirements."
"The fact that AWS Systems Manager takes time to complete the patching process, makes it an area where improvements are required."
"The current challenge is that we can't pull any incidents from other accounts."
"We formerly used third-party products to analyze the log, give us information, and find bottlenecks. Systems Manager could provide more tools that conduct this analysis, so we don't have to do it ourselves."
AWS CloudFormation is ranked 8th in Configuration Management with 28 reviews while AWS Systems Manager is ranked 6th in Configuration Management with 7 reviews. AWS CloudFormation is rated 8.4, while AWS Systems Manager is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of AWS CloudFormation writes "Pretty easy setup with great automations for provisioning that save time and money". On the other hand, the top reviewer of AWS Systems Manager writes "Offers a variety of automation options; simplifies governance and administration ". AWS CloudFormation is most compared with Spring Cloud, Red Hat Satellite, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform and Microsoft Configuration Manager, whereas AWS Systems Manager is most compared with Microsoft Configuration Manager, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, Red Hat Satellite, BigFix and Chef. See our AWS CloudFormation vs. AWS Systems Manager report.
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We monitor all Configuration Management 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.
