We performed a comparison between Microsoft Configuration Manager and SolarWinds Network Configuration 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."Being able to manage the devices remotely is most valuable. We can push security requirements through Microsoft Intune."
"The Autopilot feature is fantastic. It is a Microsoft product, so it deals best with Microsoft operating systems, but it can integrate with iOS, Mac OS, Linux, and Android."
"The feature I like the most is that we can perform remote tasks. If we want to retire or wipe out personal data or corporate data from a device, we can use Microsoft Intune remotely, and with the click of a button, data is removed automatically. Nothing needs to be done from the end-user side."
"The reporting and analytics features in Microsoft Intune have been a lifesaver."
"For Windows services, there are multiple options within Intune to modernize it to be more internet-facing and dynamic."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Intune is having all our devices compliant with our policies."
"It's normally able to meet 100% expectations of our customers."
"I like how Microsoft Intune lets me lock down the email profile and make it accessible only on certain devices."
"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."
"I like a lot of the reporting capabilities and baseline configurations."
"We have found the scalability to be quite good."
"Automation of operating system, application, and update deployments massively reduces IT operations effort."
"There have to be made some improvement in WSUS and control in other non-Microsoft products updates."
"I have found the solution to be scalable. We have around 50,000 users using the solution."
"The initial setup is fairly straightforward."
"It works well for the endpoints for the customer I'm consulting. It has a bunch of knobs, and you can tune it to do lots of things."
"The scanning features have proven to be highly valuable, particularly due to the comprehensive information they provide."
"The configuration compliance aspect of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager allows for easy comparison of configuration settings across branches, ensuring adherence to security guidelines and best practices. Automation capabilities have greatly impacted workflows, enabling tasks such as configuration backups, template deployment, and firmware upgrades to be automated, thereby streamlining processes and saving time. Compliance reporting features provide valuable insights into network compliance, offering pre-built security audit reports and customizable options to meet specific requirements."
"It is a stable solution."
"The features we find most valuable is the configuration backup automation, the configuration compliance, the security vulnerability detection and upgrading devices."
"The feature that I really enjoy is the ability to script changes across all of your devices."
"The most valuable Real-time fault detection is beneficial as it enables the identification of changes made to a device's configuration through the SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager. This makes it easy to pinpoint which configurations were added or removed, potentially causing network issues. Such changes are saved in logs for future reference."
"It allows us to manage backups in big companies. It is also useful in managing the configuration changes."
"What's nice with NCM is you can set up policies that you can then check against the configs to ensure that your device configs adhere to a baseline or standard that you've set in place."
"Intune could add more Linux security features and more integration with on-prem devices. The application deployments can also be improved."
"Some enrollment features could be improved."
"Regarding mobile devices, Intune is good, but there are other services that I would say are ahead of Intune from an administration and reporting point of view."
"The solution requires Mac support."
"There can be some added features, such as an improved dashboard. Any new feature that could be a benefit to our customers would be good."
"It would be better if they can reduce the cost of the license."
"Sometimes, updating a client policy is very difficult. This needs to be improved."
"The solution can have some compliance problems in general and the end-point user can bypass easily the company policies in Intune."
"Not everything is readily available, and there are a lot of commands that are only executable via PowerShell."
"It is not easy to get good technical support, especially at level one."
"There's no way to say, "I want this maintenance window to be on the second Tuesday of the month." It's strict. This window is this and that's it. You can't fluctuate."
"Some of the capabilities aren't fully developed yet. It's an ongoing work in progress. I think they are making some steps in the right direction as far as managing workstations centrally, like Intune."
"The cost of the product can be improved."
"I would like to see an agentless version of the solution."
"Regarding this, I'd like to mention the agent situation. When the agent on an end-user device is not functioning correctly, it can be quite problematic. It would be highly beneficial if there were a self-healing mechanism in place. Essentially, if the agent becomes corrupted or encounters issues, it should be able to rectify itself autonomously. This is particularly critical because, in order to utilize a tool like MECM (assuming you're referring to Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager), we need to deploy agents, known as AsMs, on all the devices we use, such as Windows 10 or Windows Server. Sometimes, when we deploy configurations or updates, they don't apply properly due to agent issues. This issue has been present since we began using MECM around 23 years ago. Unfortunately, there is currently no built-in mechanism for the agent to detect its own problems and initiate self-repair. Microsoft doesn’t have any feature to scan vulnerabilities and hence, they could include those."
"This solution should be simpler, and more consistent across modules/sections."
"When it comes to the way of managing the network devices, SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager should provide the simplest way that devices can relate to the server. For example, when we want to get the devices on board, we go by SSH to make the SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager create the connectivity with the device. After that, we pull the configuration. It would be helpful if they could combine both so that everything will be done in one step."
"I'd like to see additional features like support for devices that don't use CLI for configuration backups, expanded inventory support for other vendors beyond Cisco, and compatibility with newer SD WAN devices. These enhancements would further improve the product's versatility and utility for users. we hope for future enhancements, especially in supporting security devices that lack CLI backup options."
"Its customer service response could be faster."
"The solution could improve by being more secure."
"The network flow is a problem for this solution."
"Our experience has shown that most of the problems we've had with SolarWinds NCM are related to software issues."
"The solution could have better integration."
"The third-party plugins available in the solution could improve. I have received some issues with the templates."
More Microsoft Configuration Manager Pricing and Cost Advice →
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Microsoft Configuration Manager is ranked 2nd in Configuration Management with 78 reviews while SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is ranked 10th in Configuration Management with 22 reviews. Microsoft Configuration Manager is rated 8.2, while SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Microsoft Configuration Manager writes "Affordable, easy to use, and easy to understand". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager writes "Streamlines network configuration and compliance processes through its centralized dashboard, although its compatibility with multi-vendor devices may present limitations". Microsoft Configuration Manager is most compared with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, ManageEngine Endpoint Central, BigFix, Tanium and AWS Systems Manager, whereas SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is most compared with Cisco DNA Center, Cisco Prime, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, OpenText Network Node Manager i and DataMiner. See our Microsoft Configuration Manager vs. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager report.
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