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AWS CloudFormation vs vCenter Configuration Manager comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 19, 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
6.7
Number of Reviews
309
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (2nd), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
AWS CloudFormation
Ranking in Configuration Management
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
vCenter Configuration Manager
Ranking in Configuration Management
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.2
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Configuration Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 8.2%, down from 10.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of AWS CloudFormation is 3.0%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of vCenter Configuration Manager is 1.5%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Configuration Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Intune8.2%
AWS CloudFormation3.0%
vCenter Configuration Manager1.5%
Other87.3%
Configuration Management
 

Featured Reviews

AkashKamble - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr MacOS specialist engineer at Cyber24
Enables management of multiple operating systems with a single license
The best feature is that it's a Microsoft product, so if anything goes wrong, we get quick support for anything required. Remote system functionality allows us to sit anywhere and take control of any device via remote management. We can enhance security for clients' laptops with built-in Microsoft Defender, which is available with the Microsoft Intune license. We use it for reporting purposes through endpoint analytics. When pushing scripting, there are two types available: remediation script and reservation script. Through endpoint analytics, you can push defender policies to clients. It helps with reporting, inventory updates, and monitoring tenant status health.
KK
Full-stack Developer / AWS Architect at Mantiqh Technologies
Infrastructure management becomes more efficient with automated deployments using code
Improvements are needed for sharing resources between template files, especially when using AWS SAM. Documentation can be difficult to understand, and I suggest AWS provide small instructional videos on their website. Additionally, creating microservices and connecting multiple APIs into a single API gateway can be challenging; documentation should address specific needs. The ability to split CloudFormation templates without losing data due to changes in resources like API gateway URLs or Cognito pools is also needed.
Nikhil Nikhil - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Technology Operations Lead at TT Systems LLC
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

"What I like most about the tool is that it's now very easy to set up a device for someone to use. It also helps us tremendously in managing security. Before, we used on-premise management with a domain controller. It was difficult to manage security comprehensively. For example, it was hard to know which computers were updated. We weren't able to do that easily with our previous solution."
"The security compliance capabilities make it widely adopted across organizations."
"As an IT administrator, I appreciate Intune's ability to implement granular device-level policies for our organization's employees."
"Intune simplifies compliance. The ability to manage software updates and policies on endpoints has helped us meet contract requirements."
"I like the fact that it's integrated with the rest of the Microsoft products, so customers can manage it from their Office 365 portal or Azure portal."
"It's cloud-based with no need for on-premise infrastructure, you can access it anywhere and start working on it, and you will have the record of data in your hand anytime if you need it quickly."
"The most important thing for me is the autopilot feature."
"I like Intune's ability to install software to a device remotely and push policy through the Azure portal."
"The most beneficial aspect lies in its capability to handle input acquisition and assessment."
"I would rate the scalability a nine out of ten. We use it every day."
"The CloudFormation template can be reused to create multiple stacks, reducing duplications and improving our infrastructure."
"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."
"It allows defining the infrastructure as code using templates, which describe the desired state of the infrastructure."
"The product uses a simple JSON file format, so it's easy for a beginner to start. But you can use Terraform once you get good hands-on experience and know the infrastructure and resources well."
"Automations make it pretty easy to provision AWS, development, or deployment environments."
"The most valuable feature of AWS CloudFormation is the simple tracking of infrastructure."
"The clustering part and the load balancing part are most valuable."
"vCenter Configuration Manager is a mature solution with high quality."
"I appreciate it because it's very easy to set up and configure new disks and servers."
"In large implementations, especially in regulated environments, vCenter's automation capabilities prove invaluable for implementing new processes efficiently."
"Beneficial patch management and template features."
"There are a lot of useful features, such as DRS, ease of use, and many configuration options."
"The solution is excellent at automating processes."
"The migration feature of vCenter Configuration Manager is the most loved feature so far."
 

Cons

"It would be great if Intune offered better data protection controls for BYOD Windows PCs."
"We do not utilize Microsoft customer service and technical support since it is generally a waste of time."
"It would be nice to have a location tracker for the mobile device management tool. I'm not sure if it exists but hasn't been configured or if it's missing, but we've been unable to utilize the location features."
"Improvements can be made by allowing server integrations since it is an area where the product currently has shortcomings."
"I would like to see micro VPN. I like the way that some of the other providers have done something similar where, as you open that app on an end-point device, it creates a micro VPN straight into your device, which is quite a nice little feature. Also, Microsoft Intune relies heavily on its fellow products in the suite. It would be nice if Microsoft Intune could stand on its own two feet."
"No option to do end-to-en macOS management. Slow implementation of policies."
"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."
"It would be good if, in addition to the minimal patching and compliance, we could also use Intune for application deployment. For instance, if a device is not patched, Intune should have the ability to push not only a Microsoft patch but also other patches, such as a browser patch."
"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."
"They could improve the product's capability to handle circular dependencies more effectively."
"There could be better error handling. It would be a good way to improve the solution."
"The solution needs to offer better support to other cloud vendors."
"If Amazon could extend CloudFormation to other cloud platforms, that would be good. Currently, it is only limited to AWS."
"Creating the inline policies is not great."
"This tool is not intuitive and there are others that are easier to understand."
"The only challenge my company faces with the solution in relation to the customers is something that is directly related to the tool's pricing."
"Configuration Manager's reporting could be better. I need to use a third-party reporting solution to get the details. They could add reporting features similar to RVTools."
"There is room for improvement in operating and managing cluster environments and maintenance. And hardware environment visibility."
"The solution should allow for more customization."
"The pricing and security could be improved."
"The licensing model has shifted from socket-based to core-based licensing, resulting in increased customer costs. Moreover, if a customer utilizes software like VMware, which integrates seamlessly with ESXi, it becomes even more challenging to consider replacing ESXi. Hence, many customers, particularly in India, are actively exploring alternatives."
"If the solution could manage on-premises and cloud resources with the help of one tool, it would be an extra agent."
"The VxRail configuration is very complicated and a little bit too difficult to guess what the final product is going to be."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"While Microsoft Intune boasts a wide range of features, its user-friendliness and bundled licensing cost are key considerations for me."
"There is a license required to use the solution. If you're core users in Office 365, for example, you have Outlook email and E3 license, this is only email. You have to buy an EMS license to have Microsoft Intune. It is expensive."
"It is reasonable for the features it has."
"With one user base license, we can use Intune for up to five devices. However, with Soti MobiControl, each license is tied to a single device, meaning one license is dedicated to one device only."
"Intune's pricing is competitive. For example, the license of Blackberry's Enterprise Mobility Suite was costly, but Intune is affordable. It is included as an additional feature when you buy security enhancements for your organization. For example, let's say I have fifty users in my organization and all of them are using Microsoft cloud services, like Teams, Office 365, and OneDrive."
"Microsoft Intune has a user-based subscription model. You can go for a monthly or a yearly payment."
"Microsoft Intune is a cost effective choice. It is less expensive than other products on the market."
"Intune is linked with Microsoft. We can deploy the Microsoft E365 license to users by Intune. There are different types of licenses, such as device administrator licenses, E5 licenses for device enrollment manually, and P1 and p2 licenses for device enrollment automatically. These are the licenses required for the administration."
"The solution's cost is normal, neither cheap nor expensive."
"AWS CloudFormation's pricing is cheaper than that of other cloud providers."
"The price of the solution is good because it is scalable."
"The product is free."
"The pricing is not notably high."
"The tool is free for the AWS environment."
"If you compared serverless and container-based, serverless is less expensive. If you use certain instances the price can increase and become too expensive."
"AWS CloudFormation doesn't have any cost because it's only the resources that you deploy with the solution that'll incur costs."
"I am not knowledgeable with the pricing of the product."
"The product is highly-priced."
"Users need to pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution, which is expensive."
"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."
"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."
"The solution comes with three-year support. We have to renew the support annually after the three years are up."
"vCenter's pricing is reasonable, but nowadays, they are drastically increasing their prices, which is pathetic."
"The price of the solution is expensive. However, it is reasonably priced compared to competitors."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business119
Midsize Enterprise47
Large Enterprise153
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise17
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise19
 

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?
When it comes to the challenges with AWS CloudFormation, I faced a few challenges. One challenge is associated with l...
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?
My impression on the impact of the real-time monitoring features of vCenter Configuration Manager is that it's somewh...
 

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: December 2025.
879,889 professionals have used our research since 2012.