AWS CloudFormation vs Microsoft Configuration Manager comparison

AWS CloudFormation vs. Microsoft Configuration Manager

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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 May 2025, in the Configuration Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 10.3%, up from 9.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of AWS CloudFormation is 1.2%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Configuration Manager is 12.5%, down from 13.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Configuration Management

Featured Reviews

Joseph Merusi

Collaborations engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Everything has worked better since we started using it

Sometimes the syncing is inconsistent. I'm confident that the devices are checking in every eight hours, but sometimes the devices aren't picking up the settings as quickly as I would expect. Some features haven't been updated in a while, and Microsoft doesn't seem interested in developing them. Unless you talk to an engineer, you don't know whether there will be an update. There are communication issues, so you might start working with a feature without knowing if it will be deprecated six months from now. Some reporting areas still need development. For example, I noticed that the reporting for driver updates is still confusing.

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Mbula Mboma

AWS Cloud Re-Start Program Specialist at Orange RDC (Congo)

Facilitates efficient infrastructure deployment with visibility into resource connections

I primarily use AWS CloudFormation for deploying infrastructure efficiently. For instance, if I want to create load balancers with target groups and EC2 instances, I find CloudFormation simplifies the process of deployment and configuration, reducing the possibility of errors AWS CloudFormation…

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MikeNelson2

IT Infrastructure Coordinator at NSW Government

Deployment recovery works well but requires configuration improvements

While I do not use the product frequently, many issues were due to configuration rather than the product itself. I cannot give an exact recommendation as it is not my area of responsibility. The team that uses it finds it adequate. It is presently good enough for us not to investigate other options. Overall, I rate the product a six out of ten.

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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

"There has been a noticeable increase in productivity for both my organization and clients."

"The one feature we find most useful is the Mobile Application Manager. There are two types, we have the complete MDM and the Mobile Application Manager(MAM). We don't give our users phones, it is their own personal phone, and we need to allow them to have access to the company detail on their phone. We need to create a balance between their own personal data and the company data. We deploy the Mobile Application Manager for them so that we won't be able to interfere with their own personal data."

"The best part of Intune is application deployment. We can deploy an application to several users with a single click. We can use conditional access, granting access to users based on certain conditions, such as location, platform, etc."

"Comparing this to having an endpoint management solution, the efficiency gain may be up to 80%."

"First of all, the integration with the rest of Microsoft's products is a major win."

"The solution is fully integrated with the Microsoft platform and the Autopilot feature, which is a unique feature."

"The biggest benefits of Intune are the ability to push changes and the added security. When we moved forward with Defender, we onboarded all those machines automatically. That helps dramatically. For a while, we were left with machines that weren't protected. We could see where people had done things they shouldn't have done, and Defender saved our skins a few times. It didn't happen a lot, but it happened enough that it made us glad we made that decision."

"I like how Microsoft Intune lets me lock down the email profile and make it accessible only on certain devices."

More Microsoft Intune pros

"AWS CloudFormation makes infrastructure deployment easy."

"It is easy to work from the console and deploy new database services."

"I appreciate the flexibility of infrastructure as code. With CloudFormation, we can define ground rules, control usage limits, and scale our infrastructure up or down programmatically. Having this level of control through code on infra is a major benefit. That's the beauty of CloudFormation."

"There is a cost-benefit to using CloudFormation that comes about because of the automation that it provides."

"Versioning makes our work easy."

"I love CloudFormation as it's a great tool for infrastructure as code. This makes my job very easy."

"Since AWS CloudFormation integrates well with the AWS platform, it facilitates faster deployment. Building templates for AWS services within the solution is also straightforward, making the process easier."

"With CloudFormation, there is no need to use complicated coding."

More AWS CloudFormation pros

"With the SCCM inventory, we found a lot of rogue applications. We were able to identify them, find out who was running them, and either put them on our application list or remove them."

"Patching is the main feature because SCCM is made to control the entire environment without manually interpreting. So it is good to use for patching."

"The most valuable feature of SCCM is the application distribution."

"Microsoft Configuration Manager is integrated with other Microsoft products."

"Patching is very effective and reporting is very good."

"The scalability to deploy the package."

"We're a Microsoft-centric organization, so we are happy with the integration between products."

"The cloud account management is a valuable feature."

More Microsoft Configuration Manager pros

Cons

"There is room for improvement, particularly in terms of compatibility, extending beyond the well-known major brands."

"There are items that require improvements. One is the controls from iOS."

"Microsoft Intune is currently overpriced."

"Reporting in Microsoft solutions is pathetic. With Intune, I'm getting a free inventory tool, but I don't get a reporting tool. When I go to Intune, I can see one machine's entire data in terms of the hardware and the software running on it, but I cannot generate a report for all the machines in the organization. The reporting is the only feature holding back the functionality that is already there."

"I expect Microsoft Intune to have more features in the cloud because there are two major functionalities that we need to be added. This is software metering and license management. These functionalities, for now, must be on-premise. For this purpose, we have set up a SQL Server and I hope that in near future this option will be in the cloud in Microsoft Intune."

"There is room for improvement in the reporting capabilities, specifically app reporting. It is challenging to report which apps are installed on which device."

"Microsoft Intune lacks the ability to provide seamless remote assistance or remote control."

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

More Microsoft Intune cons

"The Infrastructure Composer is not fully complete, making it necessary to tweak the code manually after generating it, which could be improved."

"It would help all users if AWS improved the auto-generation of the CloudFormation file."

"One area where AWS CloudFormation could improve is by offering more flexibility in creating custom templates."

"I prefer Terraform over AWS CloudFormation because AWS CloudFormation is specific to just AWS. But if I want to use a multi-cloud or hybrid setup, then Terraform works better. It uses a simple language, HCL. So, if you learn HCL, you can manage your infrastructures across different cloud providers. You don't need to be specific to one cloud provider."

"Provisioning a large environment or a large number of services takes a bit more time than with Terraform."

"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."

"If Amazon could extend CloudFormation to other cloud platforms, that would be good. Currently, it is only limited to AWS."

"The conditions that can be added in AWS CloudFormation are not as powerful as any programming language."

More AWS CloudFormation cons

"It would be better if automation options were available. For example, in Nexthink or SysTrack, there is an analytical tool. Creating dashboards would be very easy if you implement the same thing in Microsoft. That report will be a daily cost to the customers and good revenue for our organization. The price also could be better. In the next release, we need to include some features like tables, dashboards, surveys, services, and metrics in the dashboard. Whatever we are implementing will be downloaded by a report. Apart from the report, we will telecast from the dashboard. It's very easy to compare, and it will be easy to telecast to the end-users."

"The setup was complex and I faced a lot of problems initially because I was new to the solution."

"Some of the capabilities aren't fully developed yet. It's an ongoing work in progress. I think they are making some steps in the right direction as far as managing workstations centrally, like Intune."

"This solution should be simpler, and more consistent across modules/sections."

"One area of improvement is regarding the patching of Office 365 products. We have some difficulties on this side, and it can be improved."

"Its client interface should be more accessible, and the notifications should be more customizable from the console. It should be more user friendly and have some kind of customized notifications so that we can use it on the client side. These are the reasons why we restricted its use only for the server environment and didn't use it on the client side."

"I would like to see an agentless version of the solution."

"The ability to integrate MDM would be great."

More Microsoft Configuration Manager 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."

"It is cheap, but as compared to Google, it is costly. Google is cheaper, but quality-wise, Microsoft Intune is better."

"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."

"It is average. Some of the costs are quite high depending on what the customer currently uses, but overall, it is not bad. I would not say that I would not recommend Intune based on the cost. I definitely would, but they can definitely improve on the cost. So overall, its cost is not bad."

"Its price is quite okay. I wish they provide certain additional features with the same license."

"The price could be better."

"Intune is available as an individual product, but it also comes with Office 365 Premium or an Enterprise license, and the price varies for each version."

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

More Microsoft Intune pricing and cost advice

"There's no cost for launching any template using CloudFormation."

"The product is free."

"AWS CloudFormation's pricing is cheaper than that of other cloud providers."

"AWS CloudFormation doesn't have any cost because it's only the resources that you deploy with the solution that'll incur costs."

"In general, pricing within AWS is relatively affordable."

"The price of the solution is good because it is scalable."

"This solution is free to use and does not require a license."

"If you compared serverless and container-based, serverless is less expensive. If you use certain instances the price can increase and become too expensive."

More AWS CloudFormation pricing and cost advice

"The license price could be reduced for Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager They should make the price more affordable for smaller companies, most companies would be able to use the solution if it was priced better. There are more people on this cloud because you don't have to have either a server room or an on-premise server. You can have one IT person handle this without any local infrastructure."

"The price of SCCM depends on the size of the organization. The price is competitive."

"The licensing is good because they have various options, depending on what you are looking for."

"The price could be better."

"There is not a license needed to use the solution."

"I rate the price of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager an eight out of ten."

"SCCM comes with its own version of SQL Server. If you use that SQL Server with SCCM and don't use it for another applications than you get an SQL Server for free."

"Pricing is negotiable with Microsoft, depending upon which of their packages you choose."

More Microsoft Configuration Manager pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

20%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

23%

Financial Services Firm

19%

Government

University

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

11%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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 do you like most about AWS CloudFormation?

AWS Cloud automation reduces the time needed to create AWS resources.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS CloudFormation?

AWS CloudFormation is free. However, there may be unexpected costs if developers deploy services incorrectly without ...

What needs improvement with AWS CloudFormation?

Improvements are needed for sharing resources between template files, especially when using AWS ( /products/amazon-aw...

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 ...

How to choose between ManageEngine Desktop Central and Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (formerly SCCM)?

ManageEngine Desktop Central is very easy to set up, is scalable, stable, and also has very good patch management. Wh...

What do you like most about SCCM?

One of the standout features of SCCM is its application management capabilities. It allows us to create packages effi...

Jamf Pro vs Microsoft Intune

Comparisons

Compared 13% of the time

Workspace ONE UEM vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 8% of the time

ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 5% of the time

More Microsoft Intune Competitors

AWS Systems Manager vs AWS CloudFormation

Compared 66% of the time

Red Hat Satellite vs AWS CloudFormation

Compared 21% of the time

VMware Aria Automation vs AWS CloudFormation

Compared 13% of the time

More AWS CloudFormation Competitors

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 13% of the time

ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 13% of the time

Tanium vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 8% of the time

BigFix vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 5% of the time

BMC Client Management vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 2% of the time

More Microsoft Configuration Manager Competitors

Product Reports

Microsoft Intune

Download Microsoft Intune product report

AWS CloudFormation

Download AWS CloudFormation product report

Microsoft Configuration Manager

Download Microsoft Configuration Manager product report

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager

CloudFormation

Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM )

Overview

Microsoft Intune provides centralized management of mobile devices and applications, ensuring security, compliance, and productivity through integration with Microsoft services like Microsoft 365 and Azure Active Directory.

Organizations use Intune for managing mobile devices and applications, enhancing security and compliance across platforms. With features like single sign-on, conditional access, and zero-touch deployment via Autopilot, it facilitates efficient operations. Intune's scalability, easy enrollment, and capabilities such as remote wipe support diverse device management, offering robust data protection and efficient operation. Despite its features, improvement areas include reporting, compatibility with non-Microsoft devices, and better support for macOS and Linux devices.

What are the key features of Microsoft Intune?

Seamless Integration: Works with Microsoft 365, Azure Active Directory, and System Center for streamlined management.
Conditional Access: Enhances security with policies that restrict access based on conditions.
Autopilot: Provides zero-touch deployment for setting up new devices efficiently.
Mobile Device Management: Enables control over both personal and corporate devices.
Application Deployment: Facilitates app delivery across a range of devices.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Centralized Management: Reduces complexity by managing devices and applications in one place.
Security Enhancement: Protects data with features like remote wipe and compliance monitoring.
Improved Productivity: Enhances efficiency with seamless integration and automation features.
Device Scalability: Supports diverse device management for growing business needs.

In industries such as finance, healthcare, and education, Microsoft Intune is implemented to ensure secure and compliant device management. Companies leverage its capabilities to deploy security policies and manage both corporate-owned and BYOD environments, facilitating a unified approach to data protection and compliance.

Microsoft

AWS CloudFormation provides a common language for you to model and provision AWS and third party application resources in your cloud environment. AWS CloudFormation allows you to use programming languages or a simple text file to model and provision, in an automated and secure manner, all the resources needed for your applications across all regions and accounts. This gives you a single source of truth for your AWS and third party resources.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Microsoft Configuration Manager helps IT manage PCs and servers, keeping software up-to-date, setting configuration and security policies, and monitoring system status while giving employees access to corporate applications on the devices that they choose. When Configuration Manager is integrated with Microsoft Intune, you can manage corporate-connected PCs and Macs along with cloud-based mobile devices running Windows, iOS, and Android, all from a single management console.

New features of Configuration Manager, such as the support of Windows 10 in-place upgrade, co-management with Microsoft Intune, Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise Servicing Dashboard, integration with Windows Update for Business, and more make deploying and managing Windows easier than ever before.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway

Nextdoor, Coinbase, Expedia

Bank Alfalah Ltd., Wªrth Handelsges.m.b.H, Dimension Data, Japan Business Systems, St. Lucie County Public Schools, MISC Berhad

AWS CloudFormation vs. Microsoft Configuration Manager