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AWS Systems Manager vs SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

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 Systems Manager
Ranking in Configuration Management
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SolarWinds Network Configur...
Ranking in Configuration Management
12th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Network Automation (4th)
 

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 Systems Manager is 10.9%, up from 10.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager is 1.4%, up from 1.1% 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.
Ambe Frankline - PeerSpot reviewer
Tracks every action on AWS accounts in a centralized way
Setting up AWS Systems Manager to monitor and control other services is easy. You need to link the services you want to observe and track. The time it takes to deploy depends on factors like connectivity, latency, and the complexity of the services. For example, setting up a simple application is faster than setting up a more complicated three-tier or multi-tier system. Using the solution for batch updates varies depending on the number of servers involved and the commands needed. Personally, when I do small projects at home, deploying a few servers doesn't take long. But at work, where we handle larger deployments with hundreds of servers, it's faster due to better connectivity and resources.
RajeshB - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers additional functionality, including warranty management
Setting up a solution involves configuring a server and a web console, which is straightforward. Network team coordination is necessary when applying it to devices. This involves creating device connection profiles and ensuring SNMP is enabled. Initially, there were challenges involved in this process, but once the setup was complete, operations proceeded smoothly. All network devices are automatically added to NPM during auto-discovery in SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor, including Network Configuration Manager features. Once configuration profile credentials are established in NCM, they are automatically deployed to all network devices. The solution is easy to use and deploy, although initial setup may require coordination and overcoming challenges.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The thing I appreciate most about Microsoft Intune is that the management of the devices was very simplified. We have all machines connected to it at all times, whether they are in the office or working from home."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Intune is having all our devices compliant with our policies."
"Comparing this to having an endpoint management solution, the efficiency gain may be up to 80%."
"Intune has automated the deployment of patches and applications, which is more efficient and easier."
"Intune provides a centralized management solution, although its suitability depends on specific needs and comparisons with alternatives like Jamf, Kandji, or ManageEngine."
"It is a very helpful solution."
"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 ability to send configurations to our systems is valuable, particularly as we don't have a regular Windows AD server. Our current environment doesn't have a Windows AD, which limits our ability to push GPOs. However, this is where the solution can step in and help us push policies."
"With AWS Systems Manager, our company can patch our systems directly from it, so we don't need to patch our systems manually."
"The solution's ability to scale is good."
"The store organizes parameters hierarchically, making it easier to configure and control versions. It also ensures scalability and high availability, automatically scaling to handle increasing workloads and providing reliable access to configuration data across multiple AWS availability zones."
"I use AWS Systems Manager primarily for infrastructure management and automation. One of its key benefits is managing patches and updates for our EC2 instances, including both Windows and Linux workloads. It can perform compliance checks on all managed workloads, identifying which systems aren't compliant or haven't been patched."
"AWS Systems Manager's most valuable feature is its ability to dynamically export and import values in various AWS accounts"
"It is beginner-friendly with extensive features that can be learned gradually based on the user's needs and tasks."
"The solution is user-friendly"
"AWS Systems Manager's most valuable feature is its ability to dynamically export and import values in various AWS accounts."
"The scanning features have proven to be highly valuable, particularly due to the comprehensive information they provide."
"The most valuable features the solution offers are compliance, reliability, and information about reliability."
"The tool is useful for security purposes."
"SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager improves the mean time to repair significantly, bringing measurable benefits to customers."
"We push all our configurations to the servers with ease and the logs capture almost all the transactions needed for an internal audit."
"The solution's view is very nice, and they have a great customized dashboard."
"This solution has helped our organization by allowing us to store all the device configurations for the various network devices in NCM and making it easy for us to retrieve and look them over."
"The installation is straightforward."
 

Cons

"Intune's server management could be better. If it could incorporate more features from System Center into Intune's Configuration Manager, it would be beneficial."
"Microsoft Intune's support for Mac devices is lacking and could be improved."
"Microsoft Intune could enhance its patch management for various devices, ensuring regular updates and tracking of device privileges."
"I wanted to check if there is any provision at the Intune level to restrict certain things, such as a website, but unfortunately, that feature is available only in Microsoft Defender. Intune has web filtering capabilities, but they are only useful for protection from malicious websites, whereas we would like to be able to restrict a website. For example, YouTube is a clean website. No one would identify it as a malicious website, but if we want to stop the end-users from going to that website, we have to go for another product, such as Microsoft Defender or another third-party proxy solution. It would be great if this capability is included in Intune."
"Onboarding of endpoint devices is not straightforward. The onboarding process was a little heavier than I thought it would be. That's the key improvement area. Obviously, the more control you have over the devices, the better it is."
"The interface is not as modern as some competitors in terms of single pane of glass visibility across the entire landscape. It has a very Azure vibe and may not be as graphically appealing as other products."
"Lacks the ability to deploy more ways of management, managing devices and processing the policies."
"The policies we had in SCCM and AD offered features that are missing from Microsoft Intune."
"AWS does not have EKS cluster backup."
"I'd like to see more automation for monitoring and managing things like AWS CloudWatch and AWS Config. It would be a significant improvement if it could automatically handle these tasks and address issues as they arise."
"The AWS UIs are not the most intuitive. Also, the usability needs room for improvement."
"Additional features can be added as per customer requirements."
"The current challenge is that we can't pull any incidents from other accounts."
"One area that could be enhanced is dynamic configuration management. Additionally, improving integration with other AWS services like Lambda and CloudFormation would be beneficial."
"The fact that AWS Systems Manager takes time to complete the patching process, makes it an area where improvements are required."
"Lacks sufficient integrations."
"The only thing that requires some experience, and training doesn't fix, is how to set up your custom policy-based reports to check compliance."
"The AI features do not work well."
"Our experience has shown that most of the problems we've had with SolarWinds NCM are related to software issues."
"Further improvements in automation are needed. Currently, there are limitations in performing tasks without logging into routers directly, and we expect more comprehensive device control."
"When it comes to the way of managing the network devices, SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager should provide the simplest way that devices can relate to the server. For example, when we want to get the devices on board, we go by SSH to make the SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager create the connectivity with the device. After that, we pull the configuration. It would be helpful if they could combine both so that everything will be done in one step."
"Its customer service response could be faster."
"Releasing a product compatible with operating systems other than Windows would be advantageous."
"Its look and feel can be improved. They can also put in more effort into building the THWACK community and use the information about various customer issues and requests to build the new releases."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"Intune is included with our F3 and E5 licenses."
"As a partner, we always look for how we can generate more revenue from a consulting point of view, but I do not see any complaints from the customer side regarding pricing, so they are satisfied with it."
"Its licensing model is not complex, but it is very expensive compared to other solutions. They can bring more models and reduce the pricing. They should allow customers to select the features they want and price it accordingly."
"The price could be better."
"Consider the Microsoft Enterprise Mobility Suite rather than choosing specific sub-components, e.g. only Microsoft Intune."
"Microsoft Intune is expensive."
"It's a bit expensive from a licensing perspective, especially as we look to have organizations with tenants across the globe."
"Most of the features are free. I'm not entirely certain, but I believe the pricing is generally very low. Some services that are part of Ops Manager might have associated costs."
"The platform provides excellent value for the capabilities it offers when compared to third-party tools for similar tasks."
"As we were doing a government project so the government got the project at a very nominal cost."
"An AWS cloud engineer can bring down the costs."
"Pricing is reasonable and competitive."
"The price of the solution is high compared to other solutions."
"The pricing is good."
"With a minimal bundle, we pay about $3000 a year in licensing costs. If you have multiple devices in your network, you must buy the bundle, which is 100% identical for your infrastructure. If you have 15 devices, you need 15 licenses, for example. That's one bundle. You don't pay for anything over and above that."
"Available at a moderate price"
"There is a license needed to use SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager."
"I have a yearly subscription."
"You have a base license for 50 devices, and then you can add more licenses as you go."
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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
15%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

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 Systems Manager?
With AWS Systems Manager, our company can patch our systems directly from it, so we don't need to patch our systems m...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS Systems Manager?
Every AWS service comes with some associated costs. While using AWS Systems Manager, we continually monitor to optimi...
What needs improvement with AWS Systems Manager?
There isn't anything specific I remember at the moment.
What do you like most about SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager?
The configuration compliance aspect of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager allows for easy comparison of configu...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager?
The licensing costs of SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager are expensive, but considering its reliability, featu...
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager?
Further improvements in automation are needed. Currently, there are limitations in performing tasks without logging i...
 

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
Amazon Elastic Container Registry
SolarWinds NCM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
United Lincolnshire Hospitals, Air Rarotonga, NetSuite, Thai AirAsia, REA Group, 335th Signal Command, Agilisys, Marine Expeditionary Force
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Systems Manager vs. SolarWinds Network Configuration Manager and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.