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Perforce Puppet vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 22, 2026

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 Intune
Sponsored
Ranking in Configuration Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
356
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (2nd), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
Perforce Puppet
Ranking in Configuration Management
16th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.4
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SolarWinds Network Configur...
Ranking in Configuration Management
13th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Network Automation (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Configuration Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 5.4%, down from 10.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Perforce Puppet is 3.6%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is 3.0%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Configuration Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Intune5.4%
SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager3.0%
Perforce Puppet3.6%
Other88.0%
Configuration Management
 

Featured Reviews

Varun Mehra - PeerSpot reviewer
Collaboration Support Engineer at a retailer with 11-50 employees
Centralized device management has transformed security and streamlined remote provisioning
One area where Microsoft Intune can improve is the user interface. Sometimes the portal feels a bit complex and not very intuitive, especially for new users, and it can take time to find specific settings. Another point is troubleshooting. While logs are available, the diagnostic policies and sync issues can still be time-consuming and not very straightforward. I also feel that reporting could be more detailed and customizable. The built-in reports are helpful, but for deeper insights, I often need to rely on additional tools. Overall, it is a strong solution, but improving usability and troubleshooting experience would make it even better. While Microsoft Intune works very well within the Microsoft ecosystem, the integration of some third-party tools could be smoother and require less customization. Support is another area that could improve, as sometimes response times can be slow, and resolving complex issues may take longer than expected. In terms of features, I think more advanced automation and built-in remediation options would be helpful since common issues can be fixed automatically without manual intervention.
MS
Unix Consultant at ExxonMobil
Have managed configurations efficiently with an adaptable tool
I am using Perforce Puppet in the IT industry. I have experience with configuration management tools, specifically Perforce Puppet. I am a user of Perforce Puppet. I have used modular architecture to customize and integrate with my current IT environment. It is flexible and able to address my specific needs. I have worked with event-driven automation, and it helps to identify potential issues when someone manually changes any configuration on the server. Perforce Puppet reinforces the intended configuration that we have set earlier. I recommend Perforce Puppet as it's a good tool for all kinds of business and easy to use. It takes less than three months to learn how to use Perforce Puppet. On a scale of one to ten, I rate Perforce Puppet an eight.
AB
MD at Thembanet
Flexibility and reliability enable effective network monitoring with integrations and compliance reporting
The flexibility and reliability of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager are particularly valuable. It allows for a significant amount of integrations, including with collaboration platforms like Microsoft Teams and Telegram, as well as ServiceNow and Microsoft BI. The solution facilitates compliance reporting through an NCM module, effectively generating out-of-the-box reports on software vulnerabilities and outdated software versions. Additionally, the real-time change detection feature significantly reduces the time to resolve issues by allowing alerts to be tracked through to resolution. The use of templates helps in deploying configuration standards, preventing configuration errors.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Microsoft Intune is a very strong and modern endpoint management solution, especially for organizations moving towards cloud and hybrid environments."
"Microsoft Intune has improved endpoint visibility, simplified remote device management, and helped standardize security policies across both corporate and remote devices."
"The most reliable feature is the integration with Microsoft XDR, which grants administrators and solution architects like me the ability to bring value to a business."
"With on-premises Active Directory, the main challenge was that we had no control when a user was working from home. We didn't know what exactly a user was doing and whether the AV was up to date or not. Intune provides better control of their machines."
"The feature of remotely wiping devices in Microsoft Intune is what I prefer the most."
"It is very easy for me to configure all the things. Once I create policies and applications in Intune, it is very easy for us to enroll users."
"The best features in Microsoft Intune include secure authentication, which I find very favorable, and the fact that we can remotely push applications."
"I like Intune's ability to install software to a device remotely and push policy through the Azure portal."
"Puppet Enterprise has reduced the time of production changes or environment changes, freeing our engineers to spend their time on creative, visionary work instead of repetitive tasks."
"Puppet Enterprise has good functionalities."
"The organization of the overall product in terms of usage is very good."
"Puppet3 and 4 series provides optimum deployment solutions for infrastructure and applications."
"The agent-based feature helps me by being stable."
"Puppet Enterprise has reduced the time of production changes or environment changes."
"The most valuable features are the agent, high load balancing, and overall robustness and features."
"Return on the IaaS project was breaking even in the same year with deployment of 500 VM servers with a 3-tier app stack, and annual ROI from savings thereafter was to the tune of 60-80%."
"I use it for monitoring the entire network for the company. We oversee nodes down, we oversee devices heading up to crossing the threshold for CPU usage. We oversee power so power backups on the switches, we oversee if they're down or if they're failing. We oversee any node down or any router from any vendor."
"It's perfect for network configuration management. It's easy to use."
"The network performance monitoring of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is a vital feature"
"SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager can be used for backing up network device configuration, which helps you be more secure because when you have a system failure, you can get the information back."
"We push all our configurations to the servers with ease and the logs capture almost all the transactions needed for an internal audit."
"The feature that I really enjoy is the ability to script changes across all of your devices."
"The tool is useful for security purposes."
"It's perfect for network configuration management, and it's easy to use."
 

Cons

"It would be nice to have a location tracker for the mobile device management tool. I'm not sure if it exists but hasn't been configured or if it's missing, but we've been unable to utilize the location features."
"Intune is not the most user-friendly mobile device management platform available."
"There can be some added features, such as an improved dashboard. Any new feature that could be a benefit to our customers would be good."
"In an upcoming release, I would like to see some kind of analytics report."
"Microsoft Intune could improve by being more user-friendly and having it geared toward device management. The graphic interface is not very good."
"One issue that Inutune can improve is password integration with the BitLocker key option. Another issue is assigning licenses. We can assign the licenses for some users on the BPM side, and our BPS users work on Outlook 365 but cannot access it there. A BPS person can go to the company portal and download Outlook 2016. They could improve the NDIS part to assign a license directly to the BPS person that allows them to install the Intune device manager directly on our system."
"The reports that are generated aren't so great; they don't give a lot of meaning so far."
"The reports that are generated aren't so great. They don't give a lot of meaning so far, but that could be down to user knowledge than the actual reporting side of things. I'm not a big user of it, but I was a bigger user of MaaS360, and we used to be able to run weekly and monthly reports. In the case of any deviations. we'd get a warning immediately. That's not so easy to do or to get in place for Intune. This could be just a user issue, but when I compare both, that's the only thing that's lacking for me."
"We would like Puppet to add more integration for applications."
"Well at the beginning it was kind of complex. Because you had a lack of knowledge."
"We would like Puppet to add more integration for applications."
"It's a bit of a pain point to make sure that everything works once we've upgraded it because Puppet has been evolving pretty fast."
"Clients with less technical expertise may find Puppet complex to configure. Our team may struggle if technical team members leave the organization, leaving others uncertain about using the tool."
"Puppet Enterprise should improve the general extensibility for places where they can't install it."
"The solution has really complex code, you have to understand the Ruby language. However, once you know the code then you can move ahead without any problems."
"Puppet Enterprise is more complex and difficult to configure."
"The interface of solar winds could be improved."
"The AI features do not work well."
"For each device, when you open the network performance monitor, it will give you all of the information about the device, but many of the natural configuration management features are not on that page."
"I would like to see more integration tools. Something like dialysis, for example."
"We do health checkups for the network devices. However, compared to NetBrain, the NCM health checkup is getting very bad."
"We want to be able to store it in a data warehouse format and integrate it with Google single sign-on."
"The solution could improve by being more secure."
"The solution could have better integration."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"They have categorized the licenses according to the size of the business. So, if it's a smaller organization, we can choose the license accordingly. If it's a big organization, then we can choose accordingly. Everything is clearly mentioned, and we can decide. It's suitable for all kinds of infrastructure, and that's very goo"
"Microsoft Intune is reasonably priced for large organizations that already have Microsoft Enterprise licenses, but it is less affordable for smaller businesses."
"Consider the Microsoft Enterprise Mobility Suite rather than choosing specific sub-components, e.g. only Microsoft Intune."
"The purchase of the product was handled by someone else."
"The Intune license model is costly."
"The E5 license is expensive."
"The tool is cheaper than our company's other MDM tools."
"Its price is fair. It's a normal price. It isn't too expensive or too cheap."
"Depending on the size of the organization there is a point when the price of Puppet Enterprise should be lower. However, they provide really good functionality, features, and capabilities."
"Puppet Enterprise can be an expensive solution for smaller businesses."
"Puppet Enterprise’s pricing is competitive."
"The main thing that we noticed when we switched from the enterprise version to the community version was the difference in cost — the infrastructure is pretty expensive."
"In Africa, the cost is a major factor in decision-making for many companies. As a result, some companies may choose cheaper solutions, even if they are open-source, over more expensive ones, such as SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager. However, as an engineer, I believe that the functionalities and services offered by SolarWinds justify the cost. Nonetheless, many companies in Africa may still view the prices as unaffordable."
"Pricing is reasonable and competitive."
"There is a license needed to use SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager."
"With a minimal bundle, we pay about $3000 a year in licensing costs. If you have multiple devices in your network, you must buy the bundle, which is 100% identical for your infrastructure. If you have 15 devices, you need 15 licenses, for example. That's one bundle. You don't pay for anything over and above that."
"You have a base license for 50 devices, and then you can add more licenses as you go."
"Additional costs beyond the standard licensing fee are inevitable."
"Available at a moderate price"
"The pricing is good."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Construction Company
7%
Government
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business151
Midsize Enterprise60
Large Enterprise177
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

How does Microsoft Intune compare with VMware Workspace One?
Microsoft Intune is a great tool for managing a mobile device fleet while keeping access control. The solution makes ...
What are the pros and cons of Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune is a great configuration management tool and has a lot of good things going for it. Here are some of...
How does Google Cloud Identity compare with Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Puppet Enterprise?
Regarding the cost, I find it expensive, always. I don't know how much the license would cost per year or per user ap...
What needs improvement with Puppet Enterprise?
I don't know what could be improved in Perforce Puppet to make this tool better for the next release. I can't think o...
What is your primary use case for Puppet Enterprise?
My main use case for Perforce Puppet is for configuration management.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager?
The licensing costs of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager are expensive, but considering its reliability, featu...
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager?
NCM could benefit from enhanced automation capabilities — for instance, enabling workflow-based configuration automat...
What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager?
I work with SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager ( /products/solarwinds-network-configuration-manager-reviews ) a...
 

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
Puppet
SolarWinds NCM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Los Alamos National Laboratory, GitHub, IP Commerce, Cedexis, Spiceworks, Server Density, Swisstopo, Chockstone, Constant Contact, NICS, Citrix
United Lincolnshire Hospitals, Air Rarotonga, NetSuite, Thai AirAsia, REA Group, 335th Signal Command, Agilisys, Marine Expeditionary Force
Find out what your peers are saying about Perforce Puppet vs. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,221 professionals have used our research since 2012.