Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs vCenter Configuration Manager comparison

Red Hat and Broadcom are both solutions in the Configuration Management category. Red Hat is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.3, while Broadcom is ranked #18 with an average rating of 7.3. Red Hat holds a 9.8% mindshare in CM, compared to Broadcom’s 2.0% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Red Hat users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 1, 2026

vCenter Configuration Manager and Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform are contenders in IT management. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform seems to have an upper hand due to its budget-friendly model for small to medium businesses thanks to its open-source nature.

Features: vCenter Configuration Manager provides robust VM management features such as vMotion, high availability, and support for hyper-converged infrastructure. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform offers an agentless architecture, ease of automation with playbooks, and extensive community support with numerous plugins.

Room for Improvement: vCenter Configuration Manager could improve cloud integration, automation features, and hybrid-cloud environment support. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform users note that scalability and support for private repositories are areas needing enhancement, especially with large server quantities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: vCenter Configuration Manager is predominantly on-premises with satisfactory deployment and customer service, though response times could improve. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform offers flexible deployments across environments, praised for an easy setup and strong community-driven support.

Pricing and ROI: vCenter Configuration Manager is more expensive, appealing to large enterprises but provides significant ROI through increased virtualization. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is more cost-effective, especially for small to medium businesses, mainly due to its open-source nature, but enterprise features might incur additional costs.

To learn more, read our detailed Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs. vCenter Configuration Manager Report (Updated: August 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs. vCenter Configuration Manager

August 2026

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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 August 2026, in the Configuration Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 4.6%, down from 9.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is 9.8%, down from 16.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of vCenter Configuration Manager is 2.0%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Configuration Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Intune	4.6%
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform	9.8%
vCenter Configuration Manager	2.0%
Other	83.6%

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.

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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.

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Nikhil Nikhil

Information Technology Operations Lead at TT Systems LLC

Compliance management has improved efficiency but licensing changes pose challenges

I am not using any advanced features or AI. I am employing a basic VMware vCenter setup for my infrastructure. Scalability has no major limitations, and the solution is efficient. Overall, it's satisfactory. I would rate the vCenter experience as seven out of ten due to concerns regarding license, pricing, and AI features.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"From the user perspective, Microsoft Intune enables access to corporate data and apps even on personal devices, which is convenient."

"It has improved our organization through the remote management of non-domain joined devices."

"The security posture is very good. It's very customizable."

"I like the tool's integration with Apple. Anyone who creates an ID in Intune will get an Apple ID."

"I like the fact that it's integrated with the rest of the Microsoft products, so customers can manage it from their Office 365 portal or Azure portal."

"The biggest asset is the range of device management options available with Intune, whether it is a Windows device, a Linux device, a Mac device, or mobile devices."

"The solution has significantly improved managing a diverse range of devices. We have observed enhancements across Android, iOS, and Windows devices."

"Intune's most valuable feature is its centralized management capability."

More Microsoft Intune pros

"Ansible, as an orchestrator, has filled the gap, allowing you to manage an almost unlimited number of nodes with a single body and delivering an 80 to 90 percent time savings for service deployment, moves, and updates."

"Saved time as well as helped support compliance and standards."

"RBAC is great around Organizations and I can use that backend as our lab. Ingesting stuff into the JSON logs, into any sort of logging collector; it works with Splunk and there are other collectors as well. It supports Sumo and that helps, I can go create reports in Sumo Logic. Workflows are an interesting feature. I can collect a lot of templates and create a workflow out of them."

"The playbooks and the code the solution uses are quite useful."

"Installing it is a PIP command. So, it's pretty easy. It is a one liner."

"You can literally automate everything."

"The most valuable feature is that it is easy to build playbooks. The learning curve is not that steep."

"The reason I like Ansible is, first, the coding of it is very straightforward, it's very human-readable."

More Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform pros

"The technical support services are good."

"The most valuable features of vCenter Configuration Manager are highly mature technology."

"vCenter Configuration Manager is pretty simple."

"vCenter Configuration Manager is a mature solution with high quality."

"I like vMotion because it manages fault tolerance."

"The most valuable feature of vCenter Configuration Manager is the ease of provisioning."

"Scalability has no major limitations, and the solution is efficient."

"This is the best solution for management for the server administrator. VMware has been on the market for many years, so they have a lot of solutions. For on-premises, VMware is the best available solution."

More vCenter Configuration Manager pros

Cons

"In an upcoming release, I would like to see some kind of analytics report."

"Applying security recommendations can be difficult in Microsoft Intune. Sometimes, they give you recommendations, but you need a different server to manage the pieces, or you have to go to each device individually. However, it has been improving. Before, there were certain policies you could not implement directly in Intune, but now I see progress. I would like to see more improvement in policy management, similar to how we used group policies on-premises."

"Microsoft Intune lacks live location tracking capabilities. Improvements should be made in terms of MDM platforms for other devices."

"There is improvement needed in integrating with the installed Office solutions versions, such as Office 2019. The Office 365 integrates without a problem."

"There are some areas of improvement for Microsoft Intune, including faster policy sync so changes can apply quicker, a simpler interface, better reporting with more details and clear insight, improved troubleshooting, clearer error messages and logs, and stronger support for macOS and Linux, alongside better cross-platform features."

"Microsoft Intune's support for Mac devices is lacking and could be improved."

"In the past, I raised some tickets for the enhancement feature, which was missing in Intune."

"Customer service used to be better, but as we are nearing the end of the contract, the focus on investing in us as a customer has diminished. It is what one would expect in such a situation."

More Microsoft Intune cons

"We'll probably use it in conjunction with Puppet, because Puppet is more a solution where every 30 minutes it's going to check, whereas Ansible doesn't do that."

"In my opinion, one thing that needs improvement is mass updates: How I can parallelize that process a little bit better?"

"It can use some more credential types."

"I have seen indications that the documentation needs improvement. They are providing a "How to Improve Your Documentation" presentation at this conference."

"In modern infrastructure, there are more than just servers. The initial server-centric approach in Ansible is a bit strange."

"The solution is slightly expensive, and its pricing could be improved."

"It would be helpful to have templates for common configurations. It would make it much easier and faster rather than creating a whole script. The templates would decrease the learning curve as well."

"The governance features could be improved."

More Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform cons

"It is not so user-friendly that you can just start the host and everything works."

"The pricing and security could be improved."

"The technical support could be faster."

"The reporting could be improved."

"The product's price could be lesser."

"Additionally, they could improve the hybrid-cloud environment and its management, not only for the localhost but also including the connection between the public and private cloud."

"This is a good solution but it has too many configurations for what it does. In that sense, it's not particularly user friendly and requires too many clicks."

"The product's high price is an area of concern where improvements are required."

More vCenter Configuration Manager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The overall pricing of Microsoft Intune is good for companies that have big IT budgets, 3,000 or more users and devices."

"Microsoft's licensing is more flexible and adaptive than its competitors."

"The pricing is inherently reasonable, as Microsoft leverages market insights to maintain the total cost of ownership at around ninety to ninety-five percent of what would be incurred in an on-premise scenario."

"Microsoft Intune's costliness stems from licensing fees and the overhead associated with its management, user experience, and device remediation."

"It's monthly for us, but it's built into the license cost that we pay our IT each month. It's maybe 129 Kroner per head, which translates to £10. There are some additional costs. Our IT had to set up and configure their own server, so there is an extra cost for that, but I'm not sure what that costs."

"Intune is moderately expensive. You can get the license bundled with Office 365 E3 or E5 licenses. The E5s are a bit expensive, but you get some cheaper solutions with Intune."

"We are partners, so we receive some discount. However, from the customer's perspective, Microsoft Intune's pricing is competitive with non-Microsoft technology, and the price is good compared to other market competitors."

"The price is very reasonable."

More Microsoft Intune pricing and cost advice

"The solution is inexpensive compared to other products."

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

"The pricing is pretty standard."

"Ansible is a lot more competitive than any of the others. Its setup was also straightforward. In fact, we just implemented Ansible on OpenShift, so that is how we are running the Ansible Automation Platform now."

"The pricing for us is huge because we use twenty thousand nodes, so that is a huge infrastructure, but if someone is using a small infrastructure, then the pricing is not so much."

"We're charged between $8 to $13 a month per license."

"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."

More Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform pricing and cost advice

"It is on a yearly basis."

"The product price and licensing fees are reasonable, especially when compared to other products in the market."

"The price of the solution is expensive."

"The solution is quite expensive."

"I rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten. The product has increased its cost by at least two to three times its previous cost."

"Users need to pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution, which is expensive."

"vCenter's pricing is reasonable, but nowadays, they are drastically increasing their prices, which is pathetic."

"The solution comes with three-year support. We have to renew the support annually after the three years are up."

More vCenter Configuration Manager pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Outsourcing Company

Financial Services Firm

17%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Construction Company

18%

Outsourcing Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	192
Midsize Enterprise	62
Large Enterprise	186

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

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	27
Midsize Enterprise	11
Large Enterprise	20

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 ...

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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...

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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 ...

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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...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for vCenter Configuration Manager?

Nowadays, it is a bit expensive. It's costly, primarily due to the licensing aspect.

See all answers

What needs improvement with vCenter Configuration Manager?

My impression on the impact of the real-time monitoring features of vCenter Configuration Manager is that it's somewh...

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What is your primary use case for vCenter Configuration Manager?

My usual use cases for vCenter Configuration Manager mainly involve migration, shift and lift mainly, and some type o...

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Comparisons

IBM MaaS360 vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 11% of the time

Jamf Pro 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 3% of the time

Samsung Knox vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 2% of the time

More Microsoft Intune Competitors

Microsoft Configuration Manager vs Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Compared 6% of the time

VMware Aria Automation 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

Microsoft Azure DevOps vs Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Compared 4% of the time

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Microsoft Configuration Manager vs vCenter Configuration Manager

Compared 17% of the time

Perforce Puppet vs vCenter Configuration Manager

Compared 10% of the time

BigFix vs vCenter Configuration Manager

Compared 8% of the time

VMware Aria Automation vs vCenter Configuration Manager

Compared 6% of the time

AWS Systems Manager vs vCenter Configuration Manager

Compared 3% of the time

More vCenter Configuration Manager Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Intune

July 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

July 2026

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform report

Download Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform product report

Buyer's Guide

vCenter Configuration Manager

July 2026

Download vCenter Configuration Manager product report

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager

Ansible, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Subscription on AWS

vCM

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

vCenter Configuration Manager offers a robust platform for managing virtual environments and optimizing IT infrastructure. It supports multiple platforms while facilitating virtualization, migration, and compliance processes.

vCenter Configuration Manager efficiently manages virtual machines, data centers, and servers. It enhances system performance through automation and centralized management of ESXi clusters. Known for its reliability, it also simplifies patch management and supports hyper-converged infrastructure. Challenges include improving integration, user interaction, and support for cloud and hybrid environments. Licensing transitions and compatibility issues with operating systems are areas of focus. Its strong presence in India enhances VMware environments.

What are vCenter Configuration Manager's key features?

User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies navigation and operation tasks.
VM Management: Efficient management of virtual machines.
Migration Capabilities: Streamlines the migration process.
High Availability: Ensures continuous operation without downtime.
Automation: Facilitates automated processes to improve efficiency.
Support for Hyper-Converged Infrastructure: Enhances the IT environment's scalability.
vMotion and DRS: Critical for disaster recovery and business continuity.

What benefits and ROI should reviews highlight?

Resource Management: Optimizes resource allocation and utilization.
Ease of Provisioning: Simplifies deploying IT assets across the organization.
Compliance Management: Ensures regulatory compliance and governance.
Reliable Stability: Provides a stable and robust IT environment.

vCenter Configuration Manager is implemented across sectors like healthcare and industry. It manages virtualization, server oversight, and host monitoring. Its automation and patch management streamline IT processes, making it a valuable tool for managing diverse IT infrastructures effectively.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway

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

Bank Al Bilad, Thomas-Krenn.AG, Pronto!, Unimed Juiz de Fora

Buyer's Guide

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs. vCenter Configuration Manager

August 2026

Free Report: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs. vCenter Configuration Manager

Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs. vCenter Configuration Manager and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.

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