Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor comparison

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs. SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor

Download the complete report

Helped 900,838 peers since 2012

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

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Configuration Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 4.9%, down from 10.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is 10.3%, down from 17.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor is 1.6%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Configuration Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform	10.3%
Microsoft Intune	4.9%
SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor	1.6%
Other	83.2%

Configuration Management

Featured Reviews

OluwashileAdeniyi

Senior Infrastructure Security Engineer at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees

Centralized endpoint security has improved and supports hybrid work and BYOD policies

Regarding what I dislike about Microsoft Intune and its downsides, I would say that more Mac controls are needed because we have limited Mac and Linux control. When comparing controls and policies between Windows, Mac, and Linux, Windows has almost everything you can think of, while Mac and Linux have limited types of control. You cannot implement certain things on Mac and Linux that you can on Windows. The limited controls are a major issue. Additionally, if Microsoft could find a way to embed servers into Microsoft Intune, that would be beneficial. Microsoft Intune is not really designed for servers or Windows servers. It is more tailored towards Windows 11 and Windows 10 operating systems. Windows servers are not fully supported. Enterprise organizations usually have both servers and endpoints, which are users' workstations. For servers, most people look for other solutions such as SCCM, which is Configuration Manager. However, SCCM is what Microsoft Intune is trying to replace. Both SCCM and Microsoft Intune belong to Microsoft. Microsoft is trying to transition organizations into Microsoft Intune, the native cloud solution. However, because this update is still in process, servers are not fully compatible with Microsoft Intune and cannot be managed by it. The current policy that has emerged from issues with clients is what they call co-management, which is relatively new, and I do not know if adoption is significant. Many legacy or older customers who have been using these products for decades still have SCCM. When it is time for them to manage their Windows devices, they use what is called cloud attach. Cloud attach is a term whereby your SCCM is connected to your Microsoft Intune. Most people do not know about it, but I have deployed it for several organizations. Cloud attach and co-management work together so that your device is in SCCM, but some policies are pushed from Microsoft Intune. It is like two different solutions working hand in hand. That is what they call co-management. Microsoft Intune does not bring all of your endpoint and security management tools into one place, which is the goal and how it should be. However, as I mentioned, servers are not included. If we talk about end users, Microsoft Intune does bring all your devices together. In a typical enterprise environment, you have end users with workstations, laptops, company-issued phones, and bring your own devices. You can create policies for all of these. However, for the backend, your servers do not have much coverage. Servers are not really covered by Microsoft Intune in that way.

Read full review

Manas Kashyap

Senior Dev Ops Engineer at 11 East Capital

Automation has transformed server patching and has reduced months of work to minutes

The best features that Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform offers is that it does not require any additional resources inside the servers. Python is the only requirement, and since Python is already present inside the servers, we can run it from our location and it automatically deploys things and does the work for us. The minimal requirements and easy deployment have definitely impacted my daily work and my team's efficiency. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is one of the best features that we depend on. We have evaluated other options, but Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform was the best choice because it has saved us a tremendous amount of time. We do not need to manually intervene in the servers or install third-party software to maintain these things. It is very easy to write playbooks for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform. Ansible Galaxy contains many playbooks that are readily available and ready to be used. It is highly configurable with Jinja templating, making it easy to maintain. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform has positively impacted my organization. Previously, we needed to go into the servers and maintain them manually, which used to take a lot of time. For 200 to 300 servers, the maintenance took about one to two months. New patches would arrive and we would have to repeat the process. Now, it is a one-night work or a 10 to 15 minutes task. We write a playbook, maintain an inventory, and roll out the updates and it starts working for us. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform uses conditional clauses and has rollback options, functioning like a standard coding language that is simple to use. There is definitely a reduction in errors with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform because we have playbooks written with all the necessary clauses and rollback options. Manual work automatically creates more errors, whereas in automation, we have written sets that we do not forget every time we run it. We have protected written sets that we execute consistently.

Read full review

Akhil Reddy

Software Developer at NOESIS Portugal

Alerting has helped us detect server issues across our environment

The alert mechanism is the biggest advantage of SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor. The customizability of the alerting system is particularly valuable. Whatever devices are in the environment, whether EC2 servers or on-premises servers, all of them can be monitored using this service. I can easily find out what exactly is going wrong in the environment. The clear audit trail aids in troubleshooting and optimization. The tool is effective for detecting unauthorized changes across platforms.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It provides control over all mobile devices that are being connected to the corporate network."

"The insights, even though we're talking about charts and graphs, are super valuable to customers who might not otherwise know what's in their ecosystem or the current state of things within their ecosystem."

"Microsoft Endpoint Manager is not expensive overall, especially for small environments."

"The most valuable feature for us is the security, including risk analysis and patch management."

"Autopilot is a feature I really like."

"The Advanced Endpoint Analytics in Microsoft Intune has improved and helps us proactively detect and remediate anomalies in endpoints."

"Advanced endpoint analytics provides granular information about devices in Microsoft Intune, facilitating easier troubleshooting at system and application levels."

"Microsoft Intune does help me save time in terms of management of various devices—I don't have to go to those locations to manage the devices at those locations, I can do it remotely, which is very helpful."

More Microsoft Intune pros

"The most valuable feature of Ansible is repeatability because when you're working at the DoD, you want things to be cookie-cutter and replicable."

"The solution is capable of integrating with many applications and devices in comparison to BigFix."

"It was easy to read and learn. It is a YAML-based syntax, which makes it easily understand and pick up."

"Automation is valuable. It saves us time in performing tedious tasks or repetitive tasks."

"The development tools are decent and being able to consistently manage those servers is really the key, which is why we went with Ansible in the first place."

"It is one of the best products to use, easy to understand and easy to manage, and you can use it if you have a cloud, physical server, or VMware because it is very good and offers operational efficiency."

"When you have an enterprise-level number of network devices, the ability to quickly push out security updates to thousands of devices is the biggest thing"

"We can have an easy to go, ready demonstration set up in less than five minutes."

More Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform pros

"The customizability of the alerting system is particularly valuable; whatever devices are in the environment, whether EC2 servers or on-premises servers, all of them can be monitored using this service."

"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor is version control. For example, if we began on the first of the month and we considered that as the configuration of the server, I could set that configuration as my baseline. On a daily basis, if there was the operations team that did, for example, server patching, the tool will maintain all levels of versions."

"The product’s alert feature is good. We receive notifications whenever some failures occur in the configuration."

"SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor is a good-to-have solution for all customers who are under audit pressure, especially from regulatory authorities."

Cons

"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."

"Automations in Microsoft Intune can be more elaborated; KQL (Kusto Query Language) is available, but if multiple automation options were readily available, which would include PowerShell, KQL, JSON, and different interpreters like VS Code or Python readily available from Microsoft Intune, it would help administration and management much better."

"Installing software in Microsoft Intune can be challenging if it is not already prepackaged."

"We've faced significant pushback with Copilot as our clients aren't seeing a favorable cost-benefit analysis."

"However, I dislike how it lags sometimes. I cannot work on multiple processes at the same time."

"While no specific feature requires immediate improvement, the ongoing expansion of reporting and inventory capabilities promises to enhance its utility."

"A feature I would want to see added in Microsoft Intune is the ability to manage other non-Microsoft devices."

"One area where Microsoft Intune could improve is policy troubleshooting and reporting. Identifying why a device is non-compliant or why a deployment failed can sometimes require longer than expected."

More Microsoft Intune cons

"I would like to see improvements in the dashboards. More detailed dashboards would be beneficial because there is a lack of dashboards on Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform."

"Ansible has just been upgraded, and the only issue that we are seeing at the moment is that the user interface can be slow. We're currently investigating the refresh period with Red Hat when you click a job and run a job. It seems that the buffer no longer runs in real-time. We haven't discovered whether that's partially an issue with our environment, but Red Hat has come back and said that they're working on a couple of bugs in the background. We've upgraded to that version in the last six months, and that's the only issue that we've seen."

"They should think of this product as an end-to-end solution and begin to develop it that way."

"Currently, Ansible can't do this with all the modules out there."

"We would like support for the post-integration of this product before cloud frameworks because right now their approach is to avoid using on-premises activities and move everything to the cloud."

"There is always room for improvement in features or customer support."

"The web GUI can be a little bit better. There should be a couple of more features."

"One problem that I'm facing right now is the mismatch between the new version of Python and Ansible. Sometimes it's Python 2, and sometimes it's Python 3. When things get a bit dicey, I wish that Ansible would solve this issue by itself. I don't want to have to specify if it is Python 3 or version 2."

More Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform cons

"Some dashboards I observed in Dynatrace are not available in SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor."

"The price of SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor is not reasonable, it is slightly on the higher side."

"The product’s support services and licensing models need improvement."

"In a feature release, they could enhance the reporting. However, we have not evaluated this part of the solution extensively."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is very reasonable."

"The price of Intune is included with the license for Office 365, so we don't have to pay anything extra for it."

"We don't get Intune as a separate module. Most of the time, we use it within an enterprise agreement like E3 or E5. Those licenses are at a good price, but what is annoying is that every single year they go higher."

"There is a license needed to use the solution and we are on an annual license."

"Microsoft offers some licensing where it's included at no extra cost when customers are already using the licenses. In such a case, it's a really good value. If you have to buy the licensing for it, it's probably on par with other solutions. It isn't substantially more or less expensive. The great thing is that it is included in some of Microsoft's licensed packages. So, some customers don't have to spend additional money for it. Typically, most providers that support Intune do charge a management fee of some sort or some fee. Certainly, we're no exception."

"The price of Microsoft Intune is reasonable."

"Intune is included in the Microsoft 365 licensing package that we have."

"Its price is in the medium range. It is acceptable because you're paying for the features. I am not aware of any additional costs."

More Microsoft Intune pricing and cost advice

"The cost is determined by the number of endpoints."

"Customers need to pay yearly for the license."

"Everything is generally fair. No one ever likes to pay a lot of money, but we are getting the value. We also get support with it. It has been fair and worthwhile."

"Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is an expensive solution. There may be additional fees to use advanced features."

"Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is an affordable solution."

"We use the open-source version of the solution."

"The pricing is okay."

"Like many Red Hat products, they have a no-cost version of the web application (AWX, formerly Ansible Tower), but you are on your own to install and it is a little more complicated than just installing Ansible."

More Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform pricing and cost advice

"SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor has medium pricing compared to other solutions."

"The price of SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor is not reasonable, it is slightly on the higher side."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Configuration Management solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

900,838 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

18%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	190
Midsize Enterprise	65
Large Enterprise	185

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	25
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	52

No data available

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 the difference between Red Hat Satellite and Ansible?

Red Hat Satellite has proven to be a worthwhile investment for me. Both its patch management and license management h...

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 ...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform was very simple. There ...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor?

In general, I think that licensing for SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor is acceptable, and the solution is qui...

What needs improvement with SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor?

Some dashboards I observed in Dynatrace are not available in SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor. The dashboard f...

What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor?

I work only with SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor. My major use case is the monitoring of environment servers ...

Jamf Pro vs Microsoft Intune

Comparisons

Compared 10% of the time

IBM MaaS360 vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 10% of the time

Workspace ONE UEM vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 4% of the time

SOTI MobiControl vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 2% of the time

More Microsoft Intune Competitors

VMware Aria Automation vs Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Configuration Manager vs Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Compared 6% of the time

Red Hat Satellite vs Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Compared 5% of the time

BigFix vs Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Compared 4% of the time

Cisco DNA Center vs Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Compared 4% of the time

More Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Competitors

AWS Config vs SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor

Compared 13% of the time

HashiCorp Terraform vs SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor

Compared 10% of the time

AWS Systems Manager vs SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor

Compared 7% of the time

SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager vs SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor

Compared 6% of the time

BMC TrueSight Automation for Networks vs SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor

Compared 4% of the time

More SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor Competitors

Product Reports

Microsoft Intune

Download Microsoft Intune product report

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Download Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform product report

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform report

Configuration Management

Download SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor product report

SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor report

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager

Ansible, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Subscription on AWS

SolarWinds SCM

Overview

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?

Windows Autopilot: Automates device setup for rapid deployment.
Azure Active Directory Integration: Enhances user policy management.
Reporting and Analytics: Improves compliance visibility.
Mobile Application Management: Ensures app security without compromising personal data.
Cloud-Based Management: Allows management from any location.

What benefits and ROI can users expect?

Time Efficiency: Automation reduces time in policy enforcement and configuration updates.
Enhanced Security: Ensures data protection across corporate-owned and BYOD devices.
Improved Compliance: Advanced reporting tools enhance compliance visibility.
Flexible Management: Cloud-based nature supports management from any location.

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

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform streamlines IT operations with features like a simplified GUI and extensive module support. Its agentless architecture and YAML ease make it an adaptable choice for managing diverse infrastructures efficiently.

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform offers a robust automation framework that supports multiple environments and integrates well with various applications. Its agentless Python-based architecture facilitates efficient server management and rapid update deployment. Users benefit from centralized management through Ansible Tower, role-based access control, and dynamic inventory. However, improvement areas include documentation, API integration, network support, and UI scaling. Enhanced community contributions could address module availability and compatibility gaps.

What are the most important features of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform?

Agentless Architecture: Leverages Python for seamless management without needing local agents.
Extensive Module Support: Provides modules for managing multiple environments effectively.
Ansible Tower GUI: Offers a centralized interface for easy automation management.
Role-Based Access Control: Ensures user-specific permissions for improved security.
Integration Capabilities: Connects with a variety of applications to enhance functionality.
Dynamic Inventory: Automatically updates inventory, simplifying large infrastructure management.

What benefits and ROI should one consider?

Automation Efficiency: Significantly reduces manual intervention, saving time and resources.
Adaptability: Easily integrates with cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, and Azure.
Security Compliance: Automates compliance checks, ensuring up-to-date security protocols.
Cost Management: Lower operational costs through streamlined processes.
Scalability: Supports infrastructure growth without requiring major adjustments.

In industries like finance, healthcare, and technology, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is used for network management, security compliance, and configuration tasks. Organizations utilize its capabilities for cloud and on-premises deployment, infrastructure provisioning, and workflow orchestration. Many integrate it with tools such as Puppet or Terraform to enhance CI/CD processes, benefiting from its agentless design in adapting to cloud environments.

Red Hat

SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor offers a comprehensive solution for tracking and managing server configurations. It provides visibility into configuration changes, helping IT professionals ensure compliance and prevent unplanned downtime.

Designed for IT teams prioritizing server performance and uptime, SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor delivers detailed insights into configuration changes and deviations. By automating the tracking process, it minimizes manual errors and accelerates troubleshooting. Customers rely on it for maintaining compliance with internal policies and external regulations. This tool not only monitors servers but also provides alerts and automated workflows to resolve configuration issues promptly, enhancing efficiency and service delivery.

What are the key features of SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor?

Configuration Change Monitoring: Tracks all server configuration changes in real-time to detect unauthorized or unintended modifications.
Compliance Reporting: Offers detailed reports to ensure compliance with industry standards and organizational policies.
Alerting System: Provides customizable alerts to notify IT teams about critical configuration changes.
Historical Comparison: Allows users to compare current configurations with past setups to identify variances.
Automated Workflow: Simplifies the process of managing and resolving configuration issues with automated tasks.

What benefits and ROI should users expect?

Improved Uptime: By quickly identifying and rectifying configuration issues, reduces server downtime.
Enhanced Security: Detects unauthorized changes, preventing potential security breaches.
Cost Efficiency: Reduces manual effort and the associated costs with automated monitoring and reporting.
Regulatory Compliance: Facilitates adherence to legal and industry regulations, minimizing compliance risks.

Industries such as finance, healthcare, and technology leverage SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor for stringent compliance requirements and to maintain high performance standards. Its role in swiftly identifying deviations from required configurations makes it invaluable for sectors where data integrity and availability are critical.

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway

HootSuite Media, Inc., Cloud Physics, Narrative, BinckBank

Information Not Available

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs. SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor