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Microsoft Configuration Manager vs Qualys Patch Management comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 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

Microsoft Configuration Man...
Ranking in Patch Management
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
81
Ranking in other categories
Server Monitoring (7th), Configuration Management (4th)
Qualys Patch Management
Ranking in Patch Management
4th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
34
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Patch Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Configuration Manager is 12.8%, down from 17.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qualys Patch Management is 4.3%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Patch Management
 

Featured Reviews

MikeNelson2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Deployment recovery works well but requires configuration improvements
While I do not use the product frequently, many issues were due to configuration rather than the product itself. I cannot give an exact recommendation as it is not my area of responsibility. The team that uses it finds it adequate. It is presently good enough for us not to investigate other options. Overall, I rate the product a six out of ten.
Revathi VeeraRaghavan - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides a centralized platform for managing assets and vulnerabilities, enabling assessment, prioritization, and remediation
Qualys Patch Management system requires several improvements. Firstly, the inability to download asset patches and the lack of third-party application integration limit patch accessibility. Additionally, rollback options are unreliable, and pre-deployment patch testing is crucial. Reporting needs enhancement, particularly with group-based compliance percentages and clearer, VMDR-like reporting in the Patch Management module. Furthermore, detection speed should be improved, as patches are released 24 hours after QIDs are published. The user interface could be more functional, with dashboards for patch compliance visualization and simplified error code language. Finally, the Mac patch catalogue needs expansion, and automated workflows, policy enforcement, and testing procedures should be streamlined for seamless, user-independent operation.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I like the data collection."
"The tool's most valuable features include security updates and patch management, which are critical functions for maintaining security. The automated software distribution and the ability to manage deployments are also highly useful. Enforcing compliance with set policies on systems is another key functionality we leverage."
"The most valuable features are application deployment and task-sequenced imaging."
"Technical support was helpful and responsive."
"The ease of usability is the most valuable feature. It's user-friendly."
"The product is very stable compared to older versions."
"It is easy to install, and quick to deploy."
"The dashboards have information about our assets."
"The integrations with VMware include configurations to mitigate vulnerabilities. It helps us identify permissions and whatever is applicable for the vulnerability for faster patching."
"Qualys Patch Management has significantly reduced our organizational risks."
"The integration of Qualys Gateway Scanner is my favorite feature."
"The customer support team is quite responsive and always ready to assist."
"The consolidated report we received from the solution was very time-saving because, in the dashboard, we could get all the patch details for a particular patch and all the assets listed."
"Patch Management offers pre-action and post-action features, which provide the ability to execute scripts during the installation or uninstallation of software. This helps me make changes from Qualys itself."
"The most valuable feature in Patch Management is the Qualys query language for set-it-and-forget-it patching for our preapproved patches, and our preapproved schedules, That is extremely helpful compared to the old days of patching."
"Overall, I would rate Qualys Patch Management a nine out of ten."
 

Cons

"The cost of the product can be improved."
"The configuration of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager could be improved, it is a bit complicated."
"The solution is on-premises. The cloud version of the product, if a person needs to be on the cloud, would be InTune, which already exists as an option. SCCM doesn't need to offer cloud features for this reason."
"In spite of us being a premier customer we find the support unsatisfactory."
"The database should be made to be more stable and robust, but not so much the configuration."
"The solution is a bit heavy on the sources such as RAM or CPU and the software needs to be a bit lighter."
"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."
"The assets have reached their end-of-life, and patching them is a complex and laborious task. It would be highly advantageous if there were an integrated solution that provided distinct options for each end-of-life asset, streamlining the process and facilitating comprehension."
"Qualys's current response time for releasing solutions to zero-day vulnerabilities, which takes approximately 12 to 16 hours, needs improvement."
"The GUI has areas that need improvement, particularly in the accuracy of results when adding dashboards and running queries."
"I struggled to see patch availability for some applications in the Qualys console, requiring me to use third-party repositories. If repositories could be integrated within the Qualys module, it would simplify the patching process for me."
"This authentication requirement blocks some patches from being pushed through Qualys, leaving them in a locked state."
"The pricing of the solution is slightly high compared to other tools in our field."
"They need to improve the user-friendliness of identifying how many devices are affected by a particular patch. It is not intuitive, and there should be clearer indicators or buttons to access this information easily."
"I deploy patches to endpoints and servers every month. However, despite a job showing as successful, I need to examine the job in detail."
"The user interface could be more functional, with dashboards for patch compliance visualization and simplified error code language."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Microsoft provides a steep price for their enterprise products, but they offer very competitive pricing for their legacy customers."
"SCCM comes with its own version of SQL Server. If you use that SQL Server with SCCM and don't use it for another applications than you get an SQL Server for free."
"The license price could be reduced for Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager They should make the price more affordable for smaller companies, most companies would be able to use the solution if it was priced better. There are more people on this cloud because you don't have to have either a server room or an on-premise server. You can have one IT person handle this without any local infrastructure."
"Along with buying a license for MECM, we also have to buy a service called CMG (Cloud Management Gateway) which is a virtual machine in the cloud with which you can link your MECM to the Azure tenant so as to manage teleworkers."
"Presently, I am using a free trial version."
"As far as I know, it is an annual operating expense license."
"There is an annual license needed to use the solution."
"I rate the price of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager an eight out of ten."
"The pricing is reasonable and competitive. We get many more features at the same price compared to other solutions such as Microsoft SCCM. It is worth the money considering the services and features it has. Their support team is also awesome."
"Pricing for Qualys Patch Management is moderate."
"Qualys Patch Management is a cost-effective solution for managing our 43,000-plus assets."
"Qualys Patch Management offers a moderate price point, neither cheap nor expensive, considering its comprehensive functionality."
"Compared to other tools, the price of Qualys Patch Management is reasonable."
"Qualys is fairly priced."
"Pricing is on the higher side. We found it costly compared to other vendors."
"Qualys Patch Management comes as part of a bundled package with several modules, making it a cost-effective deal for us."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How does Ansible compare to Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (SCCM)?
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager takes knowledge and research to properly configure. The length of time that the set up will take depends on the kind of technical architecture that your org...
How to choose between ManageEngine Desktop Central and Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (formerly SCCM)?
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 ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys Patch Management?
From a pricing perspective, I find Qualys to be a bit higher, but it is worth it. Compared to other tools, it is on the costly side, but I believe it is worth the investment.
What needs improvement with Qualys Patch Management?
Regarding improvements in Qualys Patch Management, I did not quite understand the downsides they were expecting. Initially, I was confused about where to find and how to use the available features....
What is your primary use case for Qualys Patch Management?
I am using Qualys Patch Management for two years, and everything is satisfactory from my side. Before purchasing Qualys Patch Management, we were already using Qualys VMDR and the cloud agent model...
 

Also Known As

Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM )
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bank Alfalah Ltd., Wªrth Handelsges.m.b.H, Dimension Data, Japan Business Systems, St. Lucie County Public Schools, MISC Berhad
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Configuration Manager vs. Qualys Patch Management and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.