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Clarity CA vs vCenter Configuration Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Clarity CA
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Client Desktop Management (4th)
vCenter Configuration Manager
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.2
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Systems Management solutions, they serve different purposes. Clarity CA is designed for Client Desktop Management and holds a mindshare of 11.2%, up 5.8% compared to last year.
vCenter Configuration Manager, on the other hand, focuses on Configuration Management, holds 1.7% mindshare, up 0.9% since last year.
Client Desktop Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Clarity CA11.2%
ManageEngine Endpoint Central19.6%
KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)12.1%
Other57.1%
Client Desktop Management
Configuration Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
vCenter Configuration Manager1.7%
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform12.2%
Microsoft Configuration Manager9.5%
Other76.6%
Configuration Management
 

Featured Reviews

TN
Solution center consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Multipurpose and useful for managing projects and resources; easy to integrate with other systems, and has a knowledgeable technical support team
I support Clarity CA, but I'm on the administrator side rather than the end-user side. My company has a partnership with Clarity CA. Clarity CA is deployed on-premises in my company, but I have a customer who deployed the solution on the cloud. Deploying the solution requires two or three resources. For ongoing support, it depends on how many people use Clarity CA. A minimum of three or four resources would be enough to support the solution, particularly two LIFF developers and one administrator. My advice to people looking into implementing Clarity CA is to make sure there's a team who'll support it, otherwise, you have to look into a Broadcom partner that can provide you with a service support deal. This way, you don't have to deal with the many administrative and maintenance responsibilities that go with Clarity CA as that could be a hassle. You have to be ready by having a team who will support the solution. My rating for Clarity CA is nine out of ten. Its interface is getting better. It has everything you need in terms of program or project management. The solution works for any organization. It's stable, flexible, and has been around for a long time. You can do a lot with Clarity CA, and that gives you a little bit of power.
MI
Principal Consultant Engineer at Estarta Solutions
Migration streamlines processes while real-time monitoring opportunities remain
The migration feature of vCenter Configuration Manager is the most loved feature so far. This particular feature is valuable because it is vendor-oriented and works with VMware, which makes your life easy. Regarding system reliability, it is helpful. When you design it for the process, it will help you minimize the downtime, and it will help the reliability of the system. vCenter Configuration Manager has impacted my organization positively, but it's not fully deployed yet; we only use it for one or two tasks, and our team goes back to using the vCenter itself. However, further on, maybe we'll find a use case that will help us use the configuration manager.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"To me, the most valuable feature of Clarity CA is the timesheet. It's the only feature I use because I just support the tool, and I just enter time on it. Others use Clarity CA for other purposes, such as resource management, project management, scheduling, and financials. The tool also has a fairly simple integration with other systems, so at the moment, it's working fine. I also like that you can write your own code in Clarity CA, and you can make changes to it based on your needs."
"The product's initial setup process is very simple."
"I particularly appreciate the reporting capabilities, as they allow for in-depth analysis of logs and the ability to interpret alerts effectively, enabling informed responses."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The solution is very easy to manage."
"In large implementations, especially in regulated environments, vCenter's automation capabilities prove invaluable for implementing new processes efficiently."
"The interface is very user-friendly and the solution is simple to use."
"My experience working with this solution has been good and I recommend it."
"The feature that I have found most valuable is the virtual machine management across different hosts, located in different areas."
 

Cons

"What could be improved in Clarity CA is its UI, but I know the Clarity team is working on a new UI, so I'm expecting its UI to get better. The software also has too many functions, so it would be good if the functions or features could be split up, rather than needing to buy the whole Clarity CA package, when you'll only use a few of its functions. This increases the cost of the software, so that's another area for improvement. How Clarity CA is marketed could also be improved."
"We would like to improve the UI interface and customer experience in vCenter Configuration Manager. We need a speed-based system, which is methodology checked. The migration functions, from one hardware to another and the nodes must be a partner of four nodes, which acts as a weakness. They should have advanced training and course material for vCenter solutions."
"I think the logging side should be improved because it's pretty difficult to keep up to date VMware and with vCenter."
"Regarding the licensing part, previously I was able to acquire the license with an eight-core configuration. Now it requires a 16-core setup, which is difficult for customers who have fewer connections to the servers."
"It should be easier to use alternate storage."
"The platform's certificate management functionality can be challenging, along with troubleshooting when issues arise."
"The product's high price is an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"The product's price could be lesser."
"There isn't a clear document covering all the errors. It would be helpful if the company provided better documentation for solving issues."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's fairly expensive to use Clarity CA. There's a yearly license fee for the solution based on the users, and there's a one-time implementation fee as well."
"The price of the solution is expensive. However, it is reasonably priced compared to competitors."
"There is a free license for the standard version. Their enterprise version is expensive. I would advise starting with one server and working your way up as you go. The enterprise version provides support."
"Users need to pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution, which is expensive."
"The product price and licensing fees are reasonable, especially when compared to other products in the market."
"We have to pay for the whole bundle and individual pricing is not available. One license costs us almost $200 every year."
"The price of the solution is too expensive for us and we are looking to move to another solution."
"vCenter's pricing is reasonable, but nowadays, they are drastically increasing their prices, which is pathetic."
"While the pricing is reasonable for large corporations, it presents a substantial financial challenge for medium-sized businesses."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Marketing Services Firm
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise19
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What do you like most about vCenter Configuration Manager?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for vCenter Configuration Manager?
Nowadays, it is a bit expensive. It's costly, primarily due to the licensing aspect.
What needs improvement with vCenter Configuration Manager?
My impression on the impact of the real-time monitoring features of vCenter Configuration Manager is that it's somewhat good, but you cannot find the full log message; you have to dig deep in order...
 

Also Known As

Client Automation, CA Client Manager, CA Client Automation
vCM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

First Horizon National Corporation, Olympus, Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago LimitedŒ _Petrotrinî, Racing and Wagering Western Australia
Bank Al Bilad, Thomas-Krenn.AG, Pronto!, Unimed Juiz de Fora
Find out what your peers are saying about ManageEngine, Broadcom, Quest Software and others in Client Desktop Management. Updated: January 2026.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.