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IBM Tivoli Configuration Manager [EOL] vs Microsoft Configuration Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 16, 2025

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

IBM Tivoli Configuration Ma...
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Configuration Man...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
85
Ranking in other categories
Software Distribution (1st), Server Monitoring (6th), Configuration Management (3rd), Patch Management (2nd)
 

Featured Reviews

Megha Rastogi - PeerSpot reviewer
Server Administrator at Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited
Responsive support, reliable, and scalable
IBM Tivoli Configuration Manager is used for complete database storage The user interface of IBM Tivoli Configuration Manager could improve. You have to know the full UI before you can manage it properly. I have been using IBM Tivoli Configuration Manager for approximately 10 years. IBM Tivoli…
JunedBedrekar - PeerSpot reviewer
Expert at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Have effectively deployed patches and applications while integrating with cloud solutions
The features I find most valuable in Microsoft Configuration Manager are replication and scripting. If I want to get a fetch report for anything, such as hardware-related issues or group policy-related issues, I need to fetch the report by using SCCM's scripting language and remediation part. The inventory collection features of Microsoft Configuration Manager are good because we always prefer the inventory. We do it by using the script language. We use remote management capabilities in Microsoft Configuration Manager. Remote management capabilities are useful if the user is not providing access; we can use the backend users to update the group policy and sync the devices. These are the main features we require.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I have found IBM Tivoli Configuration Manager to be scalable."
"Provides great insight into the functionalities of the data scope."
"The main, clear valuable feature is updating the latest, patches and updates from Windows. This is the main feature we really utilize a lot."
"The product is suitable for our size, handling 800 devices."
"SCCM does everything from A to Z for a Windows operating system."
"There is a faster time to rollout. If we get a new PC, it can be ready for productivity right away."
"The solution is user-friendly and easy to learn."
"The tool's most valuable features are easy patch management and software deployment."
"We're a Microsoft-centric organization, so we are happy with the integration between products."
 

Cons

"The user interface of IBM Tivoli Configuration Manager could improve. You have to know the full UI before you can manage it properly."
"I would like to see more automation."
"Its client interface should be more accessible, and the notifications should be more customizable from the console. It should be more user friendly and have some kind of customized notifications so that we can use it on the client side. These are the reasons why we restricted its use only for the server environment and didn't use it on the client side."
"There is no asset management package included."
"We'd like the solution to make it easier to manage remote users."
"On some hardware, we'd like an easier way to get peripherals attached."
"I want the system to provide some dependency relations. I would also like to see the relationship between different machines."
"The product needs to improve scalability."
"It would be better if automation options were available. For example, in Nexthink or SysTrack, there is an analytical tool. Creating dashboards would be very easy if you implement the same thing in Microsoft. That report will be a daily cost to the customers and good revenue for our organization. The price also could be better. In the next release, we need to include some features like tables, dashboards, surveys, services, and metrics in the dashboard. Whatever we are implementing will be downloaded by a report. Apart from the report, we will telecast from the dashboard. It's very easy to compare, and it will be easy to telecast to the end-users."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"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."
"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."
"The price is competitive and reasonable."
"For enterprises, there is an annual license required to use this solution. The price of the solution could be cheaper. However, this is mostly because of the exchange rate from the dollar to the Nigerian currency."
"There is not a license needed to use the solution."
"The price of SCCM depends on the size of the organization. The price is competitive."
"It comes free with the Microsoft account. We have a yearly agreement, and all products are covered under it."
"The solution is expensive. Microsoft Configuration Manager would likely be considered high-priced for small businesses because they may not fully utilize all of its features and capabilities."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
11%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise64
 

Questions from the Community

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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 a...
What do you like most about SCCM?
One of the standout features of SCCM is its application management capabilities. It allows us to create packages efficiently and deploy them to specific groups within our network. This streamlined ...
 

Also Known As

Tivoli Configuration Manager
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM ), Microsoft SMS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bendigo Community Telco
Bank Alfalah Ltd., Wªrth Handelsges.m.b.H, Dimension Data, Japan Business Systems, St. Lucie County Public Schools, MISC Berhad
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Configuration Manager vs. Sonatype Nexus Repository and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
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