


Microsoft Configuration Manager and VMware Aria Automation compete in the endpoint management and automation category. Microsoft Configuration Manager seems to have the upper hand due to its integration with Intune and comprehensive management features.
Features: Microsoft Configuration Manager offers comprehensive endpoint management, application deployment, OS deployment, and patch management. It integrates with Intune for mobile management and boasts powerful reporting tools for compliance and updates. VMware Aria Automation excels in automating workflows and offers extensive integration options with public cloud providers. It simplifies environments through self-service portals and provides flexibility, particularly for multi-cloud strategies.
Room for Improvement: Microsoft Configuration Manager could improve performance, simplify troubleshooting, and enhance integration with non-Microsoft products. Upgraded documentation and user interface could boost usability. VMware Aria Automation, although feature-rich, presents complexity and integration challenges with third-party tools. Streamlining its user interface and setup process, along with better documentation, would enhance its utility in hybrid environments.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Configuration Manager is mainly deployed in on-premises environments and benefits from extensive online resources and community support. However, users report varying experiences with technical support. VMware Aria Automation is deployed on-premises and in private cloud settings, praised for its flexibility despite noted complexity, with challenges in customer service clarity and response times.
Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Configuration Manager offers scalable licensing, affordable for SMEs but potentially costly for larger environments. Its positive ROI is due to comprehensive management capabilities. VMware Aria Automation is considered costly with complex licensing models and high initial setup costs, yet its long-term value comes from automation and integration efficiencies. Pricing concerns remain a barrier for smaller enterprises.
Everything we've gained from it makes my job easier day after day, and I see value in it as an engineer.
Microsoft Intune not only saves costs by reducing the number of personnel needed but also offers a comprehensive solution for managing laptops, applications, security, individual access, and enrollment.
With Microsoft Intune, tasks such as device provisioning, policy deployment, application delivery, and compliance enforcement require less manual effort than in more traditional management models.
With Microsoft Configuration Manager, these processes are automated and managed, reducing the time required by roughly 40 to 50 percent.
When a support ticket is submitted, it directly reaches someone with Intune support expertise.
When I contacted Microsoft, they had the same expertise, if not more, which is phenomenal because I felt heard and my problem was solved.
Sometimes, the support provided is excellent, and the representative is knowledgeable, while other times, the service needs improvement.
Their response time and first-level support quality need improvement.
For technical support from Microsoft, I would rate them a nine.
I see a lot of lack of knowledge and lack of training.
We never had major issues to report or request support.
The scalability of Microsoft Intune is ten out of ten.
Ideally, we want to automatically segregate devices based on user properties like primary use, but currently, dynamic groups seem limited to device properties.
It supports organizations with 200 endpoints and those with more than 15,000 endpoints.
In our organization, which has grown by adding more endpoints, remote users, and hybrid devices, Microsoft Configuration Manager has managed to handle the increased workload without requiring major changes on our side.
The product is suitable for our size, handling 800 devices.
We have not experienced downtime, bugs, or glitches.
It appears Microsoft Intune undergoes changes without informing customers.
In my experience, Microsoft Intune is a stable platform as it is a cloud-based service, and updates are regularly delivered by Microsoft.
There were misconfigurations by our team rather than issues with the product itself.
Until version six or seven, it was perfect.
Features like unlocking devices sometimes fail, and the support offered for other operating systems is insufficient.
There are communication issues, so you might start working with a feature without knowing if it will be deprecated six months from now.
Many third-party companies offer single-pane-of-glass reporting that shows you what your update environment looks like, how your patch is doing, application status, etc., but Intune's reporting is not intuitive.
A better command line interface for Microsoft Configuration Manager would be an additional feature I would to see in the future to make it closer to a perfect score.
I can suggest that Microsoft Configuration Manager should get the Autopilot feature because Autopilot is the main part of Intune, and nowadays everybody is using Autopilot.
Overall, Microsoft Configuration Manager is a powerful and reliable platform.
VCF 9 will bring VCF Automation and VCF Operations, the new product line of VMware.
It operates for both of my products, however, as a product, it is complicated to integrate and automate with other products.
Introductory professional services, like a fast-track service, were included with our E5 membership, and there have been no additional costs.
The Intune suite and add-ons, such as batch management and remote help, are costly.
It costs approximately forty euros per user per month.
The cost is reasonable considering the enterprise-level features, but it scales depending on the number of managed devices and the inclusion of Intune for co-management.
The setup cost is considered sufficient.
The pricing for Microsoft Configuration Manager is okay for me.
Intune excels in configuration and compliance management for Windows 10, ensuring devices receive timely updates and adhere to organizational standards.
Dynamic groups allow us to set conditions for automatic membership, eliminating the need for user intervention or manual review and ensuring a seamless workflow.
Windows Autopatch is the most valuable because it removes the burden of patch management.
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 most valuable features I find in Microsoft Configuration Manager are mostly patching, deploying software, deploying images, and running custom scripts.
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.
We leverage VRO when the going gets tough. When something is not doable with the tools we have with VMware Aria Automation, we use the capabilities of VRO because it has many plugins for many things.
It helps us automate the workflow of creating many VMs and the TensorFlow key method.
We have strong regulations for maintaining compliance and mitigating risks with this product.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Intune | 6.9% |
| Microsoft Configuration Manager | 8.8% |
| VMware Aria Automation | 4.8% |
| Other | 79.5% |


| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 124 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 53 |
| Large Enterprise | 168 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 20 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 13 |
| Large Enterprise | 66 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 33 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 24 |
| Large Enterprise | 130 |
Microsoft Intune is a cloud-based service designed for device management, security, and compliance. It supports automation and facilitates endpoint management for Windows, iOS, and Android devices, ensuring data protection and efficient policy enforcement.
Microsoft Intune offers seamless integration with tools like Windows Autopilot to automate device setup and deployment. Integrated with Azure Active Directory, it enhances policy management while providing robust reporting and analytics tools for compliance tracking. Despite its intuitive interface aimed at simplifying navigation and device security management, there are challenges such as compatibility issues with Linux and Mac, limited policy support for Android, and demands for better third-party integration. It's widely used for both corporate-owned devices and BYOD scenarios in dynamic IT environments.
What are the key features of Microsoft Intune?In industries such as finance and healthcare, Microsoft Intune is implemented to ensure data protection and compliance with regulatory standards. Manufacturing sectors utilize Intune for managing a distributed workforce across global locations, while educational institutions employ it to secure and manage devices in learning environments supporting both students and faculty.
Microsoft Configuration Manager streamlines IT management with features such as software deployment, patch management, and automation, centralizing operations for Windows environments. Integration with Microsoft products allows efficient oversight of workstations and servers.
Microsoft Configuration Manager provides comprehensive IT management, offering software deployment, patch management, and application pushing. Automation reduces manual tasks, ensuring consistency across systems. Centralized management enables standardized OS deployments, application updates, and configuration integrity. Integration with Microsoft products facilitates seamless operations, while hardware and software inventory, compliance reporting, and remote control functions enhance IT management. Users seek improvements in application deployment for those without deep scripting knowledge and desire better WSUS control, PowerShell and Intune integration, Linux compatibility, and user interface enhancements. Performance improvements are requested for remote user management and third-party application support.
What features enhance Microsoft Configuration Manager?Microsoft Configuration Manager is widely implemented in organizations to manage Windows workstations and servers. It is essential for deploying operating systems and applications, managing software updates, and conducting hardware and software inventories. The tool is crucial for endpoint and configuration management, ensuring compliance, and automating processes like patching and vulnerability management. Industries such as finance, healthcare, and education rely on Microsoft Configuration Manager to keep systems secure and operational, adapting it to address their specific needs and challenges in maintaining diversified IT environments.
VMware Aria Automation is a cloud management tool that allows companies to simplify their cloud experience through a modern automation platform. The solution is designed to deliver self-service clouds, multi-cloud automation with governance, and DevOps-based security and infrastructure management. It helps organizations improve IT agility, efficiency, and productivity through its various features.
VMware Aria Automation has multiple use cases that include the following:
VMware Aria Automation Features
VMware Aria Automation has various features that allow users to easily perform operations. Some of the solution's capacities include:
VMware Aria Automation Benefits
VMware Aria Automation offers its users various benefits. Some of the biggest advantages that the solution brings to companies that utilize it include:
Reviews from Real Users
Awais J., CTO/CEO at a tech services company, likes VMware Aria Automation because it saves a lot of time, provides more visibility, and has extensive automation capabilities.
An IT consultant at a government rates VMware Aria Automation highly because the product gives you flexibility to analyze and consume resources.
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