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Microsoft Configuration Manager vs Symantec Client Management Suite 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

Microsoft Configuration Man...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
86
Ranking in other categories
Software Distribution (1st), Server Monitoring (6th), Configuration Management (3rd), Patch Management (2nd)
Symantec Client Management ...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Client Desktop Management (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Systems Management solutions, they serve different purposes. Microsoft Configuration Manager is designed for Server Monitoring and holds a mindshare of 4.0%, down 6.5% compared to last year.
Symantec Client Management Suite, on the other hand, focuses on Client Desktop Management, holds 11.9% mindshare, down 27.5% since last year.
Server Monitoring Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Configuration Manager4.0%
Zabbix13.4%
Checkmk6.6%
Other76.0%
Server Monitoring
Client Desktop Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Symantec Client Management Suite11.9%
ManageEngine Endpoint Central19.1%
KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)12.5%
Other56.5%
Client Desktop Management
 

Featured Reviews

NS
Senior System Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Centralized endpoint control has streamlined deployments and improved security compliance
In my experience, the best features of Microsoft Configuration Manager are software deployments and updates, OSD, hardware and software inventory, compliance and configuration baseline, reporting and monitoring, and integration with Intune hybrid management. These features make endpoint management efficient and scalable. The feature I rely on the most day-to-day is software deployment and patch management. It keeps endpoints updated and secure with minimal manual effort. Inventory and compliance monitoring are also important, but daily deployments are critical. Microsoft Configuration Manager has had a significant positive impact on our organization in several ways: improved efficiency, enhanced security and compliance, standardization, scalability, and visibility reporting. Overall, Microsoft Configuration Manager has helped us save time, reduce risk, improve operational efficiency, and maintain strong control over our endpoints. One of the biggest impacts Microsoft Configuration Manager has had on efficiency is the reduced manual work for software deployment and patching. For example, deploying a new application or security updates to hundreds or thousands of devices previously required several days of manual effort, including running scripts, checking devices individually, and validating installation. With Microsoft Configuration Manager, these tasks are automated and managed, allowing deployments to complete in hours rather than days. We also have automated reporting for deployment success and compliance which saved the IT team significant time that used to be spent gathering and reconciling inventory data from multiple tools.
Sathish-Holla - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Consultant at a real estate/law firm with 51-200 employees
Knowledgeable support, easy client management, and straightforward agent installation
Symantec Client Management Suite is used for Microsoft Windows patches and inventory management. The solution can be deployed on-premise and on the cloud Yes it helped to update systems remotely  The most valuable feature of Symantec Client Management Suite is the ease of client management and…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I like a lot of the reporting capabilities and baseline configurations."
"Valuable features include configurations enforcement, compliance data gathering, and deployment of a standardized OS."
"Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is valuable in keeping our systems updated. We are able to send updates to all the systems. Additionally, the Intune integration is helpful."
"Endpoint Manager is valuable to our organization because it allows us to connect to our enterprise from remote locations securely. The most useful feature is its robustness and scalability. It is highly scalable and flexible, allowing us to use it in various environments. Additionally, we can specialize the policies related to each device group. This ensures that each group has access to the applications they need for their work and non-work hours."
"It is a very good solution. It has a good interface and is easy to use. On top of that, it is very reliable in terms of distribution as well as getting the report."
"Patching is the main feature because SCCM is made to control the entire environment without manually interpreting. So it is good to use for patching."
"It's a stable product."
"The initial setup is fairly straightforward."
"We can track the incidents, we can track the changes, we can track the assets from cradle to grave and give some kind of accounting as they get older."
"The most important thing for us is that it is very easy to use, as well as the availability of it in our support centers."
"The most valuable feature of Symantec Client Management Suite is the ease of client management and agent installation."
 

Cons

"There is a reboot issue with the patching. Sometimes, if patching runs into any issue whatsoever, it doesn't reboot but it doesn't tell you it errored out. It just sits there and we don't find out until the next day whether it patched or not. That was a big issue for us. We're working through that. They added some stuff in there now where you can actually tell reboot is pending. But we still need some kind of notification that if something fails or is pending, we know. We shouldn't have to go in and look. They don't have anything for that right now."
"SCCM is a high CPU/memory consuming application and so it would be fine that Microsoft could improve performances."
"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."
"I would like to see an agentless version of the solution."
"The configuration of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager could be improved, it is a bit complicated."
"The downside of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is it's an on-premise-based solution. With the pandemic coming on board the need to support users across the globe has increased. For a while, we would use the in-built Microsoft Teams screen sharing feature but the disadvantage of that is you cannot perform privileged access. Microsoft does not give you access to that. That's where you need cloud-based tools, such as BeyondTrust or Freshservice."
"Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager could improve the integration."
"The availability of technical support could improve."
"The technical support is in need of improvement."
"Some parts are working okay, some of the other components aren't. Workflow isn't working properly. Different people accepting changes and being able to close it has some issues. Putting hot fixes and installing it usually breaks the system."
"Symantec Client Management Suite can improve by adding more network devices."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is expensive."
"We have a support license from Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager and the overall price of the solution is reasonable."
"There is not a license needed to use the solution."
"The price is competitive and reasonable."
"There is an annual license needed to use the solution."
"We use the tool's free license. It is expensive."
"I rate the price of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager an eight out of ten."
"It comes free with the Microsoft account. We have a yearly agreement, and all products are covered under it."
"The price of the solution is competitive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
University
15%
Government
13%
Non Profit
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise66
No data available
 

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 ...
Ask a question
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Also Known As

Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM ), Microsoft SMS
Symantec Altiris Client Management Suite
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bank Alfalah Ltd., Wªrth Handelsges.m.b.H, Dimension Data, Japan Business Systems, St. Lucie County Public Schools, MISC Berhad
Alghanim Industries, Asia Pacific Telecom Co. Ltd, Barnabas Health, Berry Plastics Corporation, BNY Mellon, Borealis, British American Tobacco Italia S.p.A, Cabela's Inc., Carrington Holding Company, College of Science, Technology, and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago (COSTAATT), Comparex, Cybercom Plenware Oy, DHL Hub Leipzig GmbH, Dickinson Dees LLP, Farmington Area Public Schools, Fazer Group, First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, ForceTEC Co. Ltd., Frucor Beverages Ltd, Hadassah University Hospital, Hillsborough County Public Schools, Hutchison Whampoa (China) Commerce Limited, Indian River School District, Johnson County Community College, JW Marriott Hotel Seoul, Kier Group plc, Kwizda Holdings GmbH, Lake Health, Lansky Ganzger & Partner, Mobilezone, Molina Healthcare Inc., Nanyang Technological University, NASDAQ OMX Group Inc., Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology, Pima Community College, Regional council of Franche-Comt_, Shanghai Pudong International Container Terminals Co. Ltd., Siemens Professional Education, Symantec Corporation (Endpoint Security 12.1), TIVIT, Travelport, University of Oxford
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