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AWS CloudFormation vs vCenter Configuration Manager comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

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
Sponsored
Ranking in Configuration Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
255
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (1st), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
AWS CloudFormation
Ranking in Configuration Management
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
vCenter Configuration Manager
Ranking in Configuration Management
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

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 vCenter Configuration Manager is 0.9%, down from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Configuration Management
 

Featured Reviews

Joseph Merusi - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Mbula Mboma - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
Nikhil Nikhil - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The key benefit of Intune is its integration with the Microsoft ecosystem."
"Microsoft integrated BitLocker and Active Directory into Intune, simplifying management."
"The most valuable feature is the policy CSPs."
"The most valuable feature is Intune's ability to push out updates for the security and antivirus. I also like Intune's copilot and the ability to automate processes. For example, if you have 5,000 employees who are issued new PCs and you need to set them up with everything they need."
"The most valuable includes managing everything from a single console."
"It helps implement conditional access policies to restrict mobile users from accessing potentially dangerous emails."
"Conditional access has helped us tailor and enforce our security policies in the mobile space."
"The thing I appreciate most about Microsoft Intune is that the management of the devices was very simplified."
"The most beneficial aspect lies in its capability to handle input acquisition and assessment."
"Versioning makes our work easy."
"It allows defining the infrastructure as code using templates, which describe the desired state of the infrastructure."
"AWS CloudFormation makes infrastructure deployment easy."
"Scripting does what we need to reinstall something from scratch."
"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."
"It is easy to work from the console and deploy new database services."
"We can scale the solution as needed."
"vCenter Configuration Manager is the best tool for centrally managing resources"
"The interface is very user-friendly and the solution is simple to use."
"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."
"The platform's automation capabilities help reduce manual configuration efforts, speeding up deployment and management tasks."
"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."
"I like vMotion because it manages fault tolerance."
"The most valuable features of this solution are the ability to manage all of our environments allowing us to have better functionality and high availability."
 

Cons

"We had an APNS certificate set to expire last week. We tried to renew it two days before it expired. We logged in to the APNS portal but could not find that certificate. We didn't know where it went. All the iOS devices stopped working. We contacted the Apple and Microsoft teams, and each blamed the other. This is something that Microsoft should take care of. Last week, we had so many escalations from high-profile users who couldn't access corporate data on their devices."
"The closest Microsoft Intune can be to GPOs, the better. There needs to be more granularity on application deployments. However, they have done better recently with the application deployments."
"Manually syncing devices to enforce policies is cumbersome."
"It should be simplified. I've worked with many different mobile device management solutions, and Intune is one of the more complex ones. It could be more simplified, and some of it is related to the wording that is being used, such as a configuration profile versus a policy. They really should have had different names to make it less confusing."
"Intune could be enhanced by automating application upgrades, similar to how it automates operating system upgrades."
"Intune's privilege management feature, while beneficial, is less intuitive than other Intune features, making it challenging to use."
"The current Intune reporting functionality could benefit from some improvements."
"The synchronization could be improved."
"The Infrastructure Composer is not fully complete, making it necessary to tweak the code manually after generating it, which could be improved."
"The solution needs to offer better support to other cloud vendors."
"The code we write in AWS CloudFormation is pretty big compared to Terraform. We need to have more modules in the solution. A library should also be there where we can save code lines. A dashboard feature would be good for designers."
"For improvement, it's crucial that AWS provides options in terms of computing services, DB related services, and machine learning solutions. If I'm not hands-on with a particular service, like machine learning applications, I struggle to write the CloudFormation code."
"There are some limitations with JSON, as the code is written in JSON, which doesn't support commands, looping, or conditionals. This can make the code difficult to read and share across teams. Moreover, the tool only supports AWS."
"Splitting CloudFormation into multiple formations results in changes to resources like API gateway URLs and Cognito pools, which causes issues, especially when trying to maintain consistency across resources."
"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."
"There is room for improvement in the optimization of AWS CloudFormation."
"I think the logging side should be improved because it's pretty difficult to keep up to date VMware and with vCenter."
"The customer service and support are not as good as that of other solutions. It is not very fast."
"The reporting could be improved."
"There are some complexities within the system center. For example, we use two different applications for updates and the deployment of the machine. We also have another third party solution."
"The platform's certificate management functionality can be challenging, along with troubleshooting when issues arise."
"It would be better to integrate this infrastructure with native cloud environments, but we can't do it. We are trying to improve our experience by converting our infrastructure through virtualization on native cloud environments and workloads."
"Users need to pay a licensing fee for the solution, which could be cheaper."
"The product's high price is an area of concern where improvements are required."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are licenses required for this solution. We enable licenses on the devices we need to manage."
"Pricing depends on the features. Microsoft offers special packages if there are more than 10,000 users, and you may be able to get a reduced rate."
"We spend a lot of money on Intune licensing, and some of our users have to be double licensed just because of how our dev and corporate environments are segmented."
"For organizations that are a Microsoft shop, the pricing is compelling."
"The cost is handled through our Office 365 license, so I have yet to be able to compare it directly with other tools in its class."
"The pricing is not cheap, especially with inflation. They've had to increase their prices. It's not excessive, but alright."
"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."
"Intune is inexpensive. It also comes bundled in some Office 365 licenses, so you can choose to purchase it separately or as a package."
"There's no cost for launching any template using CloudFormation."
"The tool is free for the AWS environment."
"The price of the solution is good because it is scalable."
"The product is free."
"AWS CloudFormation doesn't have any cost because it's only the resources that you deploy with the solution that'll incur costs."
"If you compared serverless and container-based, serverless is less expensive. If you use certain instances the price can increase and become too expensive."
"The pricing is not notably high."
"AWS CloudFormation's pricing is cheaper than that of other cloud providers."
"It is an expensive solution."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"I am not knowledgeable with the pricing of the product."
"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."
"It is an expensive product."
"There is a free license for the standard version. Their enterprise version is expensive. I would advise starting with one server and working your way up as you go. The enterprise version provides support."
"While the pricing is reasonable for large corporations, it presents a substantial financial challenge for medium-sized businesses."
"vCenter's pricing is reasonable, but nowadays, they are drastically increasing their prices, which is pathetic."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
20%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
23%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Government
7%
University
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Insurance Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

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...
What do you like most about vCenter Configuration Manager?
Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
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.
What needs improvement with vCenter Configuration Manager?
Regarding the licensing part, previously I was able to acquire the license with an eight-core configuration. Now it r...
 

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
CloudFormation
vCM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Nextdoor, Coinbase, Expedia
Bank Al Bilad, Thomas-Krenn.AG, Pronto!, Unimed Juiz de Fora
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS CloudFormation vs. vCenter Configuration Manager and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.