Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

AWS CloudFormation vs SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor comparison

Sponsored
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Intune
Sponsored
Ranking in Configuration Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
335
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (2nd), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
AWS CloudFormation
Ranking in Configuration Management
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SolarWinds Server Configura...
Ranking in Configuration Management
19th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Configuration Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 6.9%, down from 10.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of AWS CloudFormation is 3.4%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor is 1.5%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Configuration Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Intune6.9%
AWS CloudFormation3.4%
SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor1.5%
Other88.2%
Configuration Management
 

Featured Reviews

AkashKamble - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr MacOS specialist engineer at Cyber24
Enables management of multiple operating systems with a single license
The best feature is that it's a Microsoft product, so if anything goes wrong, we get quick support for anything required. Remote system functionality allows us to sit anywhere and take control of any device via remote management. We can enhance security for clients' laptops with built-in Microsoft Defender, which is available with the Microsoft Intune license. We use it for reporting purposes through endpoint analytics. When pushing scripting, there are two types available: remediation script and reservation script. Through endpoint analytics, you can push defender policies to clients. It helps with reporting, inventory updates, and monitoring tenant status health.
SC
application security engineer at Hyperspace IT India
Automation and consistency in infrastructure deployment provide a robust foundation
When it comes to the challenges with AWS CloudFormation, I faced a few challenges. One challenge is associated with large infrastructures; the template can become very long and hard to manage. Sometimes, the error messages during stack creation or update can be very hard to troubleshoot. Managing the correct order of resource creation and some updates can be tricky, especially with interdependent resources. If a stack update fails halfway and rolls back, it sometimes leaves the resources in an inconsistent state. AWS imposes a limit on stack size and the number of resources per stack, which can be quite constrained for large deployments. Despite all this, once we have experience, we can overcome these challenges very easily. Stack creation or updates can be slower than expected, especially with large and complex resources, and certain resource types or dependencies can add to the wait time. Nevertheless, AWS offers a way to optimize performance by breaking large templates into nested stacks. It's very capable, but there is room for improvement in speed.
AR
Software Developer at NOESIS Portugal
Alerting has helped us detect server issues across our environment
The alert mechanism is the biggest advantage of SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor. The customizability of the alerting system is particularly valuable. Whatever devices are in the environment, whether EC2 servers or on-premises servers, all of them can be monitored using this service. I can easily find out what exactly is going wrong in the environment. The clear audit trail aids in troubleshooting and optimization. The tool is effective for detecting unauthorized changes across platforms.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"When comparing Microsoft Intune to Jamf, Microsoft Intune is superior."
"The biggest asset is the range of device management options available with Intune, whether it is a Windows device, a Linux device, a Mac device, or mobile devices."
"Great for software update needs, operating system version updates, and security policy enforcement."
"It's really easy to access."
"Among the most valuable features are the Company Portal that is built into Intune, and the update rings so that we can manage what types of future updates the devices get."
"It has a useful device management feature."
"These capabilities have made a significant impact in my work, providing a comprehensive view of all devices and features in a single platform."
"Microsoft Intune scales very effectively with our growing needs."
"For the cost point of this solution, the customer service and support is quite good."
"Using AWS CloudFormation has given us the ability to automate and optimize our infrastructure, reducing manual efforts and improving efficiency, particularly in cost optimization and management of our cloud resources."
"AWS CloudFormation has automated the resource-building process, thereby removing the scope of human errors. We can tag the resources which help the billing process."
"Automations make it pretty easy to provision AWS, development, or deployment environments."
"The most valuable features of AWS CloudFormation are all the resources documentation is located in one location, simple resource reverting, and ease of use of the full package for new users."
"CloudFormation drives most of our AWS configuration; it is the configuration engine for our whole footprint, and literally everything that we configure in AWS is configured in CloudFormation."
"The CloudFormation template can be reused to create multiple stacks, reducing duplications and improving our infrastructure."
"What I like best about AWS CloudFormation is that it is a quick and simple way to deploy various applications, like WordPress."
"The product’s alert feature is good. We receive notifications whenever some failures occur in the configuration."
"The customizability of the alerting system is particularly valuable; whatever devices are in the environment, whether EC2 servers or on-premises servers, all of them can be monitored using this service."
"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor is version control. For example, if we began on the first of the month and we considered that as the configuration of the server, I could set that configuration as my baseline. On a daily basis, if there was the operations team that did, for example, server patching, the tool will maintain all levels of versions."
"SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor is a good-to-have solution for all customers who are under audit pressure, especially from regulatory authorities."
 

Cons

"The main disadvantage seen today is regarding Linux clients. We have a lot of development resources that have Linux on their clients, and we can't manage them on the same platform, as we do with other clients such as macOS and Windows."
"The policies we had in SCCM and AD offered features that are missing from Microsoft Intune."
"I would like some integration with the Microsoft reporting platform Power BI."
"The generic answer to what can be improved is that I hope that the reporting needs to be a bit more interactive."
"Some enrollment features could be improved."
"There are areas that have room for improvement in Microsoft Intune, particularly regarding integrations."
"The way the apps are getting deployed, the checkboxes for deleting previous versions are actually creating more conflicts than fixing problems."
"The pricing can be expensive if you are not combining it with other products."
"Creating the inline policies is not great."
"Provisioning a large environment or a large number of services takes a bit more time than with Terraform."
"The solution must enable more hands-on designing of the templates."
"For a beginner, it's kind of difficult to set up. So, the user does need some knowledge in order to do it."
"Improving the quality of support would be helpful."
"There are some limitations with JSON, as the code is written in JSON, which doesn't support commands, looping, or conditionals. This can make the code difficult to read and share across teams. Moreover, the tool only supports AWS."
"This tool is not intuitive and there are others that are easier to understand."
"GUI could be improved by adding graphical components."
"The price of SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor is not reasonable, it is slightly on the higher side."
"The product’s support services and licensing models need improvement."
"In a feature release, they could enhance the reporting. However, we have not evaluated this part of the solution extensively."
"Some dashboards I observed in Dynatrace are not available in SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost of the license and the features are justified for myself as a technical person."
"We spend a lot of money on Intune licensing, and some of our users have to be double licensed just because of how our dev and corporate environments are segmented."
"Microsoft offers some licensing where it's included at no extra cost when customers are already using the licenses. In such a case, it's a really good value. If you have to buy the licensing for it, it's probably on par with other solutions. It isn't substantially more or less expensive. The great thing is that it is included in some of Microsoft's licensed packages. So, some customers don't have to spend additional money for it. Typically, most providers that support Intune do charge a management fee of some sort or some fee. Certainly, we're no exception."
"The purchase of the product was handled by someone else."
"The price for Intune is fair."
"Our enterprise agreement includes Microsoft Intune at no additional cost."
"Generally, we get favorable discounts, so it's not too bad. Obviously, we're looking at decreasing those wherever we can to bring value back to the public purse because it's all charity based. It's all publicly funded."
"Its price is quite okay. I wish they provide certain additional features with the same license."
"There's no cost for launching any template using CloudFormation."
"AWS CloudFormation's pricing is cheaper than that of other cloud providers."
"If you compared serverless and container-based, serverless is less expensive. If you use certain instances the price can increase and become too expensive."
"AWS CloudFormation doesn't have any cost because it's only the resources that you deploy with the solution that'll incur costs."
"The tool's pricing depends on the page model."
"The tool is free for the AWS environment."
"The product is free."
"In general, pricing within AWS is relatively affordable."
"SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor has medium pricing compared to other solutions."
"The price of SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor is not reasonable, it is slightly on the higher side."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Configuration Management solutions are best for your needs.
885,264 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business124
Midsize Enterprise53
Large Enterprise167
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise17
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

How does Microsoft Intune compare with VMware Workspace One?
Microsoft Intune is a great tool for managing a mobile device fleet while keeping access control. The solution makes ...
What are the pros and cons of Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune is a great configuration management tool and has a lot of good things going for it. Here are some of...
How does Google Cloud Identity compare with Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also ...
What do you like most about AWS CloudFormation?
AWS Cloud automation reduces the time needed to create AWS resources.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS CloudFormation?
AWS CloudFormation is free. However, there may be unexpected costs if developers deploy services incorrectly without ...
What needs improvement with AWS CloudFormation?
When it comes to the challenges with AWS CloudFormation, I faced a few challenges. One challenge is associated with l...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor?
In general, I think that licensing for SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor is acceptable, and the solution is qui...
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor?
Some dashboards I observed in Dynatrace are not available in SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor. The dashboard f...
What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor?
I work only with SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor. My major use case is the monitoring of environment servers ...
 

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
CloudFormation
SolarWinds SCM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Nextdoor, Coinbase, Expedia
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS CloudFormation vs. SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
885,264 professionals have used our research since 2012.