VMware Aria Automation vs vCenter Configuration Manager comparison

vCenter Configuration Manager and VMware Aria Automation are both solutions in the Configuration Management category. vCenter Configuration Manager is ranked #16 with an average rating of 7.8, while VMware Aria Automation is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.2. vCenter Configuration Manager holds a 2.1% mindshare in CM, compared to VMware Aria Automation’s 4.1% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of vCenter Configuration Manager users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of VMware Aria Automation users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

vCenter Configuration Manager and VMware Aria Automation compete in the IT automation and management category. Users are happier with VMware Aria Automation due to its robust feature set despite the higher price.

Features: vCenter Configuration Manager provides strong compliance management, automated audits, and comprehensive reporting. VMware Aria Automation offers scalability, flexibility in automating IT tasks, and excellent integration capabilities. Users rate VMware Aria Automation higher for these advanced features.

Room for Improvement: vCenter Configuration Manager could improve user experience and system integration. VMware Aria Automation needs to reduce complexity and improve documentation. Users are more vocal about needed improvements in vCenter Configuration Manager.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: vCenter Configuration Manager is straightforward to deploy but has mixed reviews on customer service. VMware Aria Automation has a complex deployment but excellent customer service. Users prefer VMware Aria Automation’s customer service despite deployment challenges.

Pricing and ROI: vCenter Configuration Manager is cost-effective and gives a good return on investment. VMware Aria Automation, while more expensive, offers superior features and a higher ROI. Users find VMware Aria Automation worth the extra expense due to its premium feature set.

To learn more, read our detailed VMware Aria Automation vs. vCenter Configuration Manager Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

VMware Aria Automation vs. vCenter Configuration Manager

June 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 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 vCenter Configuration Manager is 2.1%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Aria Automation is 4.1%, down from 5.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Configuration Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Intune	4.9%
VMware Aria Automation	4.1%
vCenter Configuration Manager	2.1%
Other	88.9%

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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Mohamad Irshidat

Principal Consultant Engineer at Estarta Solutions

Migration streamlines processes while real-time monitoring opportunities remain

The migration feature of vCenter Configuration Manager is the most loved feature so far. This particular feature is valuable because it is vendor-oriented and works with VMware, which makes your life easy. Regarding system reliability, it is helpful. When you design it for the process, it will help you minimize the downtime, and it will help the reliability of the system. vCenter Configuration Manager has impacted my organization positively, but it's not fully deployed yet; we only use it for one or two tasks, and our team goes back to using the vCenter itself. However, further on, maybe we'll find a use case that will help us use the configuration manager.

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VasilisGiannitsiotis

Senior IT at ITSolutions

Automation has streamlined complex financial workflows but still needs more intuitive orchestration

Something to improve in VMware Aria Automation would be related to VCF 9, as I do not know what it is trying to bring because they exposed it as the solution of everything. So VCF 9 will bring VCF Automation and VCF Operations, the new product line of VMware. I have not seen what this brings or what else it includes. Maybe in the area of vRealize Orchestrator, this would be beneficial because VRO can do everything. Perhaps a more user-friendly way to use that tool would be helpful because the possibilities there are endless. I am looking for more user-friendly navigation in VMware Aria Automation.

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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

"One of the most valuable aspects of Microsoft Intune is its seamless integration with Azure Active Directory, offering capabilities akin to Group Policy Objects."

"I can reach devices or computers over the internet. I don't need to worry about the network connectivity between the offices. I can manage any device. That is the most important part."

"The solution has reduced the risk of security breaches by 30%."

"The user experience of Microsoft Intune is quite good because there's not much disturbance in the background; it's just running in the background."

"I would recommend Microsoft Intune to others; it is a very good and scalable solution."

"We can securely manage both company-owned devices and personal devices enrolled in our BYOD program."

"The feature that we can deploy policies and configuration settings and it will be applied to every user who is connected to it around the world just with an internet connection is very good."

"Remote control is the feature I like the most, as I can take control of devices so that we can work hands-on and create access with access restrictions."

More Microsoft Intune pros

"Reliable, stable and scalable."

"My experience managing virtual environments using vCenter Configuration Manager has been quite smooth. Over time, I've observed that there's been a significant local competency built around the product, especially in India, where ESXi and VMware dominate the market. It's evident that vCenter Configuration Center is the preferred management tool in this context, and it's relatively easy to find expertise in the market."

"vCenter Configuration Manager is the best tool for centrally managing resources"

"There are a lot of useful features, such as DRS, ease of use, and many configuration options."

"In large implementations, especially in regulated environments, vCenter's automation capabilities prove invaluable for implementing new processes efficiently."

"The solution overall is very good, the online configuration, especially in the latest version, is very good, and it's worked well for us so far and hasn't disappointed on any level."

"vCenter has some good user experience, and the initial setup is straightforward."

"I particularly appreciate the reporting capabilities, as they allow for in-depth analysis of logs and the ability to interpret alerts effectively, enabling informed responses."

More vCenter Configuration Manager pros

"vRA provides that single pane of glass for our cloud tenants to deploy, monitor, access, and manage their VMs/guest operating systems."

"It has helped to increase infrastructure agility, speed of provisioning, time to market, application agility, and made it easier for IT to support developers."

"Aria Automation gives you the flexibility to deploy tenants with customized blueprints for permissions and policies. Version 7.8 consisted of multiple products, so you had to deploy a lot of virtual machines on one of the servers. Starting from 8.6, VMware consolidated all the components into one Linux appliance. This allows the option to use vRA or DevOps capabilities."

"We have it deployed in a highly-available environment and scalability is nice because we just had another ESX host and then we are able to increase the capacity."

"The solution’s automated processes have reduced infrastructure provisioning time, taking the time down to about an hour whereas it could take days if it was done manually, and this time reduction has also reduced application provisioning time and time to market for our apps."

"The most valuable feature is the consistency it delivers, at the end of the day. We know that we have consistent images based off consistent Blueprints, check-pointed or QA'ed in a consistent manner."

"We have developed a complete, multi-tiered, stable build system for our Internet servers with SaltStack as the base of the build system, and it is stable and easy to modify as we grow and change our needs."

"usability; It's very user-friendly. It is not hard to go and find things. There is a one-click Help that you can use to find all the documentation you need to manage it."

More VMware Aria Automation pros

Cons

"The scalability could be improved, and like most other MDM products, Intune is good but not 100% there yet."

"For an existing customer who has an SCCM, it would need to be upgraded to an MECM first before I can introduce Microsoft Intune."

"The technical support from Microsoft is not good, they take a long time to respond to a case and they do not update you on what is happening on a case."

"The only drawback or challenge is that it does not support server deployment."

"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."

"Intune lags all of its competitors in terms of report generation."

"I have one remark about the application management for the Android version. Often, the Play Store opens and leaves the possibility to download to the user, which is not good."

"Its integration with Mac and Linux devices can be better. They should provide more features similar to Windows. We should be able to manage policies within Linux and Mac machines. If we can have more granular controls for these two operating systems, it will be really helpful."

More Microsoft Intune cons

"Many major industry players like VMware, Microsoft, and Oracle often fall short in software coding and the smooth release of new versions."

"The solution should allow for more customization."

"The pricing and security could be improved."

"Error reporting should be more precise and descriptive, and there is no way to filter the logs. It would be helpful if its logs analysis can be more detailed, and the logs can be filtered."

"SAP CRM could improve by adding additional automation features."

"Regarding the licensing part, previously I was able to acquire the license with an eight-core configuration. Now it requires a 16-core setup, which is difficult for customers who have fewer connections to the servers."

"Their licensing needs to be improved."

"The product's price could be lesser."

More vCenter Configuration Manager cons

"I rate it a seven out of ten because it needs improvement in stability, performance, and quality."

"I think debugging can be improved. In case of errors, the devOps team finds it difficult to read the Python stack traces at times."

"The solution could be lighter. As an administrator, I would like to simplify the number of services I need to deploy. They took a significant step in that direction by removing all the Windows dependencies that we had in the past, but there are still a lot of services consuming resources."

"Broadcom has acquired the tool, which could lower its pricing. Many customers are moving away from VMware infrastructure towards enterprise systems like Azure or AWS. This shift could be due to two main reasons: pricing and uncertainty about the future, especially regarding how Broadcom will handle licenses and strategy."

"They can improve on the dashboard representations and the options for non-technical people."

"Most of the time the upgrade experience has been good but sometimes things break after upgrading. For example, some API codes stopped working."

"There is some performance lag, but that could be on our end."

"My impression of its stability is "middle of the road." We've had some issues where it seems to be a little bit sensitive, where deployments fail and we don't really know a specific reason why. We'll dig through logs and try and figure out what's going on, but it's not always apparent as to why it failed. And you can kick it off again and it'll succeed. So stability could be better."

More VMware Aria Automation cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If you ask the accountant or the finance department, they'll tell you that it is way too expensive, but when I look at the cost and compare it with the value you actually get, it's more than fair."

"Consider the Microsoft Enterprise Mobility Suite rather than choosing specific sub-components, e.g. only Microsoft Intune."

"Pricing can be improved."

"The product is relatively pricey, but considering its benefits, I'd say it's fair. The benefits outweigh the expensive licensing fees, especially for large organizations, but medium-sized and smaller businesses may be unable to afford it."

"The price for Intune is fair."

"The solution is cost-efficient."

"There is a license required to use this solution. However, it was part of a bundle package. Microsoft Intune is far less expensive than other solutions, such as Workspace ONE."

"Intune's pricing is reasonable considering its benefits and the high costs it helps avoid."

More Microsoft Intune pricing and cost advice

"Their licensing costs are high. But I think for the scale that we are using, it's suitable. If you use it on a larger scale with many servers, you have to pay a lot of money for them. I think it's suitable for organizations that don't need expert people that want more money each year or each month because it's a straightforward solution. We prefer to pay for these products that are integrated and straightforward."

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

"The solution is quite expensive."

"Price-wise, the product is an affordable one. The additional expenses, apart from the licensing costs of the solution, are attached to the support a user wants to receive from vCenter Configuration Manager's end."

"The price of the solution is too expensive for us and we are looking to move to another solution."

"I have a license to cover four hosts."

"I am not knowledgeable with the pricing of the product."

"It's a large application. It consumes a lot of resources. Sometimes the price is too high for our customers. If they buy it directly from VMware, its hard to convince the customer that we will bring down the total cost of ownership, in the end."

More vCenter Configuration Manager pricing and cost advice

"The tool is expensive since it is an enterprise product."

"This is an expensive product and the high price is starting to become an issue for us."

"I would rate it high because, compared to other solutions, VMware’s pricing is quite expensive. VMware products have become significantly more costly in recent years, leading to higher costs."

"It is an expensive product. After VMware's acquisition by Broadcom, there was a rise in the price of VMware Aria Automation."

"There is confusion between licensing levels. There are three different licensed versions of vRealize Automation, and there are different things which can happen in each of them."

"I would rate the pricing a ten out of ten, with ten being very expensive."

"SaltStack is an open-source product."

"The cost of the solution is reasonable for us. Although it is relatively high, we prioritize stability and integration over cost."

More VMware Aria Automation pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Government

Construction Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

Marketing Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	192
Midsize Enterprise	62
Large Enterprise	185

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

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	33
Midsize Enterprise	24
Large Enterprise	131

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 ...

See all answers

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 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.

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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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What's the difference between VMware vRA (automation) and vROps (operations)?

vROP is a virtualization management solution from VMWare. It is efficient and easy to manage. You can find anything y...

See all answers

Is there any way to try VMware Aria Automation for free?

When it comes to VMware Aria Automation, you have three choices for free runs: Hands-on Lab (HOL) Advanced lab A fre...

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Which sectors can benefit the most from VMware Aria Automation?

I was looking at VMware Aria Automation case studies recently and I got the impression that three main kinds of compa...

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Comparisons

Jamf Pro vs Microsoft Intune

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

ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 4% of the time

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Microsoft Configuration Manager vs vCenter Configuration Manager

Compared 15% of the time

Perforce Puppet vs vCenter Configuration Manager

Compared 10% of the time

BigFix vs vCenter Configuration Manager

Compared 9% of the time

Clarity CA vs vCenter Configuration Manager

Compared 6% of the time

BMC TrueSight Automation for Networks vs vCenter Configuration Manager

Compared 5% of the time

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Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs VMware Aria Automation

Compared 7% of the time

VMware Aria Operations vs VMware Aria Automation

Compared 4% of the time

Morpheus vs VMware Aria Automation

Compared 4% of the time

HashiCorp Terraform vs VMware Aria Automation

Compared 3% of the time

Microsoft Configuration Manager vs VMware Aria Automation

Compared 3% of the time

More VMware Aria Automation Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Intune

June 2026

Download Microsoft Intune product report

Buyer's Guide

vCenter Configuration Manager

May 2026

Download vCenter Configuration Manager product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware Aria Automation

May 2026

Download VMware Aria Automation product report

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager

vCM

VMware vRealize Automation, vRA, VMware DynamicOps Cloud Suite, SaltStack

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

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

VMware Aria Automation is known for its automation capabilities, integrating with VMware and third-party tools to enhance workflow efficiency, save time, and manage resources effectively.

VMware Aria Automation offers a diverse set of features including a self-service portal and a streamlined user-friendly interface, which make it ideal for organizations aiming to automate virtual machine provisioning. The platform supports extensive automation capabilities across multi-cloud environments, featuring flexible blueprint designs and comprehensive integration with platforms like AWS, Azure, and ServiceNow. Though improvements are desired in areas like logging, template management, and vCenter integration, its robust framework facilitates IT infrastructure services, disaster recovery, and development operations. It is specifically beneficial for orchestrating workflows, automating routine tasks, and managing workloads efficiently in private and hybrid cloud environments.

What are the most important features of VMware Aria Automation?

Self-Service Portal: Empowers users with easy access to resources and tools needed for automation.
User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies navigation and usage for both technical and non-technical users.
Extensive Automation Capabilities: Streamlines VM deployment and processes across various platforms.
Integration with VMware and Third-Party Tools: Enhances workflow automation and extends functionality.
Flexible Blueprint Designs: Allows for customized and scalable deployment solutions.

What are the benefits and ROI users should consider?

Efficiency: Reduces manual workload, leading to time and cost savings.
Scalability: Supports dynamic growth and resource management.
Enhanced Workflow Automation: Improves process efficiency with comprehensive integrations.
Customizable Orchestration: Enables tailored solutions that meet specific requirements.
Resource Management: Efficiently utilizes resources, reducing waste and optimizing operations.

VMware Aria Automation is implemented across industries for automating the provisioning of virtual machines and managing cloud environments. It is used in sectors requiring efficient server deployment, network configurations, and seamless integration with tools such as AWS and Azure. It aids in reducing manual efforts, supporting IT infrastructure services, and enhancing disaster recovery protocols.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway

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

Rent-a-Center, Amway, Vistra Energy, Liberty Mutual

Buyer's Guide

VMware Aria Automation vs. vCenter Configuration Manager

June 2026

Free Report: VMware Aria Automation vs. vCenter Configuration Manager

Find out what your peers are saying about VMware Aria Automation vs. vCenter Configuration Manager and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.

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