Amazon CloudWatch vs Microsoft System Center comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft are both solutions in the Cloud Monitoring Software category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.1, while Microsoft is ranked #28 with an average rating of 8.5. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 2.0% mindshare in CMS, compared to Microsoft’s 0.7% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Amazon CloudWatch

Read 48 Amazon CloudWatch reviews

4,548 Views
1,728 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Microsoft System Center

Read 20 Microsoft System Center reviews

847 Views
525 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Amazon CloudWatch

Microsoft System Center

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

Microsoft System Center and Amazon CloudWatch compete in the field of IT management and monitoring solutions. Amazon CloudWatch seems to have the upper hand in AWS environments due to its native integration and comprehensive monitoring features.

Features: Microsoft System Center offers ease of configuration, strong monitoring capabilities, and automation for updates and hypervisor management. It integrates well within the Microsoft ecosystem, offering out-of-the-box functionality for many administrators. Amazon CloudWatch is known for real-time data collection, detailed metrics, and seamless integration with AWS services. It is simple to set up, scalable, and provides robust security features.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft System Center could benefit from better integration with non-Microsoft products, streamlined installations, and enhanced reporting flexibility. It requires significant computing resources and could improve in user interface and mobile capabilities. Amazon CloudWatch faces challenges with real-time data visualization, lacks clarity in dashboard metrics, and experiences integration issues with non-AWS environments. Report functionalities and user-friendly configurations are potential areas for improvement.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft System Center is primarily deployed on-premises or in hybrid environments, often requiring complex and costly technical support. Users seek more engagement and faster resolutions. Amazon CloudWatch, designed for public cloud environments, benefits from AWS support integration. However, customization and usage costs may be initial hurdles, but its cloud-native design simplifies deployment compared to Microsoft System Center.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft System Center is often criticized for high licensing costs but provides strong ROI by reducing dependencies on third-party services. Amazon CloudWatch offers a flexible pay-as-you-go pricing model, suited for cloud environments, with potential costs linked to data storage and usage. Many view CloudWatch as more cost-effective within AWS ecosystems.

To learn more, read our detailed Amazon CloudWatch vs. Microsoft System Center Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Amazon CloudWatch vs. Microsoft System Center

December 2025

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Helped 881,114 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:

ROI

Sentiment score

6.8

Amazon CloudWatch reduces monitoring costs, boosts operational efficiency, is vital for oversight, but not direct revenue, especially for small projects.

Sentiment score

8.3

Microsoft System Center boosts efficiency, saves costs through automation and internal task handling, achieving ROI in eight months.

Amazon CloudWatch offers cost-saving advantages by being an inbuilt solution that requires no separate setup or maintenance for monitoring tasks.

Satheesh Papisetty

Digital Services & Engagement Senior Manager at AXA

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon CloudWatch report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft System Center report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

7.4

Amazon CloudWatch support is reliable, with varying response times and expertise based on support level, premium ensures faster help.

Sentiment score

4.9

Microsoft System Center support is appreciated but criticized for slow response times, regional dependencies, and cost concerns.

While using their cloud and cloud resources, if you have an issue with CloudWatch, you must pay additional monthly fees to get time from dedicated tech support.

S K Mishra

founder, ceo at Techrev Solutions Pvt Ltd

In recent years, due to business expansion, knowledge levels among support engineers seem to vary.

Satheesh Papisetty

Digital Services & Engagement Senior Manager at AXA

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon CloudWatch report

As a partner, I cannot create a ticket directly; I have to involve the end user's email to create one, so using the Software Assurance ID to create a ticket directly is not possible, making it very challenging for me.

Carl Palapal

Sr. Sys. Server & Storage Egineer / Tech .Consultant at CANAR OFFICE SYSTEMS

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft System Center report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.7

Amazon CloudWatch excels in scalability and performance, efficiently managing data and adapts quickly to diverse organizational needs.

Sentiment score

7.5

Microsoft System Center is highly scalable, managing thousands of endpoints efficiently, yet requires careful resource consideration for optimal performance.

It is already there as a managed service from AWS.

Azam S M

Infrastructure Lead at Danat Fz LLC

Amazon CloudWatch's scalability is managed by AWS.

Satheesh Papisetty

Digital Services & Engagement Senior Manager at AXA

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon CloudWatch report

Microsoft System Center is scalable, allowing integration even if I have different sites.

Carl Palapal

Sr. Sys. Server & Storage Egineer / Tech .Consultant at CANAR OFFICE SYSTEMS

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft System Center report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

8.1

Amazon CloudWatch is praised for its reliability and performance, though some note occasional data delays and slowness in low-capacity environments.

Sentiment score

7.8

Microsoft System Center is valued for its maturity and stability, performing reliably with manageable bugs and efficient update resolutions.

I sometimes notice slowness when Amazon CloudWatch agents are installed on machines with less capacity, causing me to use other monitoring tools.

Satheesh Papisetty

Digital Services & Engagement Senior Manager at AXA

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon CloudWatch report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft System Center report

Room For Improvement

Users seek better customization, visualization, and integration in CloudWatch, citing high costs, steep learning curve, and scalability challenges.

Microsoft System Center needs improved third-party integration, simplified installation, enhanced performance, user interface updates, and better documentation.

When using third-party dashboards such as Kibana or Grafana and other visualization tools, there should be a way to feed CloudWatch's data and logging capabilities into these visualization tools.

S K Mishra

founder, ceo at Techrev Solutions Pvt Ltd

If you want to get a proper visual representation to see what is happening, then you need to integrate a third-party tool.

Azam S M

Infrastructure Lead at Danat Fz LLC

Maybe Amazon Web Services can improve by providing a library for CloudWatch with some useful features.

Rohit Bhosale

Senior Software Engineer at Carnera

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon CloudWatch report

The disadvantage of Microsoft System Center is related to the many integrated services; if one service is failing, then all features will be affected.

Carl Palapal

Sr. Sys. Server & Storage Egineer / Tech .Consultant at CANAR OFFICE SYSTEMS

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft System Center report

Setup Cost

Amazon CloudWatch pricing is variable, with costs ranging from $25 to $350, depending on usage and AWS service integration.

Microsoft System Center is pricey, with annual fees and potential savings from SQL Server, rated 5-7 on affordability.

Overall, the pricing of Amazon CloudWatch is very expensive.

S K Mishra

founder, ceo at Techrev Solutions Pvt Ltd

Amazon CloudWatch charges more for custom metrics as well as for changes in the timeline.

Satheesh Papisetty

Digital Services & Engagement Senior Manager at AXA

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon CloudWatch report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft System Center report

Valuable Features

Amazon CloudWatch offers real-time data, AWS integration, efficient monitoring, user-friendly interface, and versatile dashboards for enhanced system performance.

Microsoft System Center offers comprehensive endpoint management with integration, automation, monitoring, and ease of use in Windows environments.

As a monitoring tool, whenever your system experiences issues, it will notify you and is directly linked to your service.

Azam S M

Infrastructure Lead at Danat Fz LLC

Amazon CloudWatch allows me to set up and view even historical logs, which is one of the features I find valuable.

Satheesh Papisetty

Digital Services & Engagement Senior Manager at AXA

I like its filtering capability and its ability to give the cyber engine insights.

Rohit Bhosale

Senior Software Engineer at Carnera

For more quotes and insights, download the Amazon CloudWatch report

In Microsoft System Center, all the features are integrated already, whereas in ManageEngine, you have to license each feature individually to access those features.

Carl Palapal

Sr. Sys. Server & Storage Egineer / Tech .Consultant at CANAR OFFICE SYSTEMS

For more quotes and insights, download the Microsoft System Center report

Categories and Ranking

Amazon CloudWatch

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

11th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (13th), Log Management (15th)

Microsoft System Center

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

28th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Infrastructure (14th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Cloud Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Amazon CloudWatch is 2.0%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft System Center is 0.7%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Monitoring Software Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Amazon CloudWatch	2.0%
Microsoft System Center	0.7%
Other	97.3%

Cloud Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Azam S M

Infrastructure Lead at Danat Fz LLC

Has provided reliable monitoring and alerting through extensive metric tracking and dashboard configuration

Amazon CloudWatch itself provides a lot of data. However, for visualization, we need to use third-party tools. We are in a process of integrating Grafana, Loki, and Prometheus to have better visualization on Amazon CloudWatch. We are also integrating Grafana with the application itself to get the application data and logs. Alternatively, there is AWS Kinesis and Glue where you can scrape the logs and have visualization, but a more easy option is Grafana. If you want to get a proper visual representation to see what is happening, then you need to integrate a third-party tool. Amazon CloudWatch has all the data, but to see what is happening, you need some third-party tool.

Read full review

Carl Palapal

Sr. Sys. Server & Storage Egineer / Tech .Consultant at CANAR OFFICE SYSTEMS

Provides comprehensive system management with effective deployment and integration capabilities

The advantages of Microsoft System Center are significant, and I have seen other products as well. As far as advantages are concerned, they have PXE deployment, which is good for deploying operating systems, such as Windows client systems including Windows 10 and Windows 11. Since it is a Microsoft product, all the patches are proprietary, making it easier to deploy. In Microsoft System Center, all the features are integrated already, whereas in ManageEngine, you have to license each feature individually to access those features. The automated features of Virtual Machine Manager are very useful; it automates as long as the policy that I have created is in line with the objective, especially the templates when I'm going to deploy. Regarding endpoint management, Microsoft System Center is very helpful; it has integrated endpoint protection deployment, allowing me to handle endpoint configuration, system deployment, and patch deployment, making it an all-in-one stop shop for managing and configuring end clients. The impact of using Microsoft System Center is significant; it gives me a whole picture of my environment, making it easy to get inventory details regarding applications and hardware, providing full visibility of my setup within the organization.

Read full review

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Transportation Company

Comms Service Provider

11%

Transportation Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	17
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	24

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	10

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon CloudWatch?

The monitoring features are valuable.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon CloudWatch?

No specific setup costs were mentioned.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Amazon CloudWatch?

See all answers

What do you like most about Microsoft System Center?

The product's initial setup phase was easy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft System Center?

Microsoft System Center's licensing is costly.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft System Center?

The disadvantage of Microsoft System Center is related to the many integrated services; if one service is failing, then all features will be affected. For example, with site configuration, when one...

See all answers

Comparisons

Grafana Loki vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 16% of the time

Amazon OpenSearch Service vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 8% of the time

Zabbix vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 6% of the time

Dynatrace vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 5% of the time

Datadog vs Amazon CloudWatch

Compared 4% of the time

More Amazon CloudWatch Competitors

VMware Aria Operations for Applications vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 19% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 13% of the time

IBM BPM vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 13% of the time

JBoss Enterprise Application Platform vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 12% of the time

LogicMonitor vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 9% of the time

More Microsoft System Center Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Amazon CloudWatch

January 2026

Download Amazon CloudWatch product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft System Center

January 2026

Download Microsoft System Center product report

Also Known As

No data available

MS System Center

Overview

Amazon CloudWatch integrates seamlessly with AWS, providing real-time monitoring and alerting features. Its interface supports task automation, enhancing troubleshooting and analytics capabilities, while offering strong security and scalability at a cost-effective rate.

Amazon CloudWatch is an impactful platform for monitoring AWS resources and managing application performance. It simplifies infrastructure performance monitoring by providing comprehensive analytics capabilities, including application insights and event scheduling. Users appreciate CloudWatch for its detailed metrics, dashboards, and support in issuing alerts to detect anomalies. It efficiently tracks performance, optimizes resource utilization, and ensures service availability. CloudWatch is recognized for its robust alerting features and integration with other AWS services, further supporting its resource monitoring capabilities. However, there is room for improvement in dashboard customization, log streaming speed, and integration with non-AWS services. Enhancements in API integration, machine learning features, and support for third-party tools are also desired.

What features does Amazon CloudWatch offer?

Seamless Integration: Works effortlessly with AWS for cohesive service management.
Advanced Metrics: Provides detailed monitoring of CPU, memory, and more.
Real-time Monitoring: Offers up-to-the-minute alerts on infrastructure status.
Dashboards: User-friendly and informative for quick insights.
Automation: Supports task automation for efficient troubleshooting.

What benefits does Amazon CloudWatch provide?

Cost-effectiveness: Efficient resource monitoring without high costs.
Scalability: Easily adapts to growing infrastructure needs.
Security: Strong protocols for safe monitoring activities.
Improved Performance: Enhances application insights and operational efficiency.
Operational Insights: Provides comprehensive logging and performance analysis.

Industries implementing Amazon CloudWatch often focus on optimizing IT infrastructure. Companies in sectors like finance and e-commerce rely on its monitoring and alerting capabilities to ensure service uptime and performance. The platform's automation and analytics features empower teams to proactively manage performance and detect potential issues promptly.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

System Center helps customers realize the benefits of the Microsoft Cloud Platform by delivering unified management. Experience fast time-to-value with out-of-the-box monitoring, provisioning, configuration, automation, protection and self-service.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

AirAsia, Airbnb, Aircel, APUS, Avazu, Casa & Video, Futbol Club Barcelona (FCBarcelona), National Taiwan University, redBus

Kassen_rztliche Vereinigung Nordrhein, Magyar Telekom Nyrt., Adeka, QualCare, Aeriandi, UniCredit Bank d.d., Mostar, Allianz Australia Ltd., Grupo Familia

Buyer's Guide

Amazon CloudWatch vs. Microsoft System Center

December 2025

Free Report: Amazon CloudWatch vs. Microsoft System Center

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