We performed a comparison between AWS CloudFormation and AWS Systems Manager based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Configuration Management solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."A great solution for anyone wanting a modern endpoint device management solution."
"Stable product that's easy to set up compared to other MDM products."
"Configuration profiles, remediation, scripts, and auto-pilot features are very good."
"By using Microsoft Intune we can control which websites the users can go to and it provides a secure environment for our employees using their laptops that are having access from home. We have installed Intune to control the user's environment minimizing the chances of any hacking."
"The initial setup is not complex."
"It allows our clients to have the confidence to centrally manage policies for security. It helps them in securing the organization from a technology aspect."
"The stability is good."
"The many policies available in Microsoft Intune for managing our devices are valuable."
"What I like best about AWS CloudFormation is that it is a quick and simple way to deploy various applications, like WordPress."
"The most valuable feature of AWS CloudFormation is the simple tracking of infrastructure."
"CloudFormation gives us control of AWS and any Cloud infrastructure. It creates the whole stack for Cloud services technologies so it's easy to manage the whole system."
"The nested stacks would be one of the more valuable features."
"AWS CloudFormation has automated the resource-building process, thereby removing the scope of human errors. We can tag the resources which help the billing process."
"Its ability to treat infrastructure's code is valuable. It makes things automatable and reproducible."
"The most beneficial aspect lies in its capability to handle input acquisition and assessment."
"The CloudFormation template can be reused to create multiple stacks, reducing duplications and improving our infrastructure."
"Systems Manager has a feature where it analyzes the logs and gives us a performance overview in the form of a graph. We know when it's taking up more resources and when there are spikes, so we can predict the usability."
"The solution is user-friendly"
"When we do the automation in the cloud, we use the SSM agent. This helps us to test our automation and documents, and monitor the cloud."
"Has a variety of automation options."
"The solution's ability to scale is good."
"There are a few security features that are not available in Microsoft Intune, when compared to other products."
"The synchronization could be improved."
"Microsoft Intune's support for Mac devices is lacking and could be improved."
"The main disadvantage seen today is regarding Linux clients. We have a lot of development resources that have Linux on their clients, and we can't manage them on the same platform, as we do with other clients such as macOS and Windows. So, it should have support for Linux clients. It should also have better support for macOS."
"Microsoft Intune fails a lot when it comes to device compliance."
"Intune doesn't provide much control over Windows servers. It's something we struggle with."
"Enhancements for managing MacOS more comprehensively would be beneficial."
"The reports aren't complete, and it's not easy to build custom reports. For example, Windows Autopilot isn't working well in cases where the computers don't have a good internet connection. Then the option is not good enough."
"There could be better error handling. It would be a good way to improve the solution."
"Including certain examples of templates would be advantageous."
"The speed of the replication process could improve. It can take some time to replicate that could use a speed increase."
"If you are a developer or a more technical person, it's very difficult to learn the complete syntax or because CloudFormation includes a new way to write infrastructure code."
"GUI could be improved by adding graphical components."
"As soon as they manage to parametrize the whole thing and to implement parameters at all levels, it will become automatically a lot more flexible."
"This tool is not intuitive and there are others that are easier to understand."
"There is less support for on-premise environments."
"Lacks sufficient integrations."
"We formerly used third-party products to analyze the log, give us information, and find bottlenecks. Systems Manager could provide more tools that conduct this analysis, so we don't have to do it ourselves."
"Additional features can be added as per customer requirements."
"The current challenge is that we can't pull any incidents from other accounts."
"The AWS UIs are not the most intuitive. Also, the usability needs room for improvement."
AWS CloudFormation is ranked 9th in Configuration Management with 20 reviews while AWS Systems Manager is ranked 7th in Configuration Management with 5 reviews. AWS CloudFormation is rated 8.2, while AWS Systems Manager is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of AWS CloudFormation writes "Pretty easy setup with great automations for provisioning that save time and money". On the other hand, the top reviewer of AWS Systems Manager writes "Offers a variety of automation options; simplifies governance and administration ". AWS CloudFormation is most compared with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, Spring Cloud, Red Hat Satellite, Chef and SaltStack, whereas AWS Systems Manager is most compared with Microsoft Configuration Manager, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, Red Hat Satellite, BigFix and Chef. See our AWS CloudFormation vs. AWS Systems Manager report.
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