Clarity CA vs Microsoft Configuration Manager comparison

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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
"To me, the most valuable feature of Clarity CA is the timesheet. It's the only feature I use because I just support the tool, and I just enter time on it. Others use Clarity CA for other purposes, such as resource management, project management, scheduling, and financials. The tool also has a fairly simple integration with other systems, so at the moment, it's working fine. I also like that you can write your own code in Clarity CA, and you can make changes to it based on your needs."

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"I like a lot of the reporting capabilities and baseline configurations.""It does the job and meets our needs. With everybody working remotely these days, we are using this solution to deploy everything. The deployment of PCs is easy.""Automation of operating system, application, and update deployments massively reduces IT operations effort.""The solution has a very good set of features.""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.""There have to be made some improvement in WSUS and control in other non-Microsoft products updates.""It uses detailed descriptions of the workstations, and that is good for me.""Microsoft Configuration Manager gives different tools in one solution."

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Cons
"What could be improved in Clarity CA is its UI, but I know the Clarity team is working on a new UI, so I'm expecting its UI to get better. The software also has too many functions, so it would be good if the functions or features could be split up, rather than needing to buy the whole Clarity CA package, when you'll only use a few of its functions. This increases the cost of the software, so that's another area for improvement. How Clarity CA is marketed could also be improved."

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"I would like to see some improvements in WSUS and control of other, non-Microsoft, product updates.""I'm looking for a single solution for all discovery needs. It fulfills about 40% of the requirements, and I'd like to see the other 60% so that I don't have to keep doing this.""There is no asset management package included.""The assets have reached their end-of-life, and patching them is a complex and laborious task. It would be highly advantageous if there were an integrated solution that provided distinct options for each end-of-life asset, streamlining the process and facilitating comprehension.""They need to improve the support for the Mac operating system.""The ability to integrate MDM would be great.""The downside of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is it's an on-premise-based solution. With the pandemic coming on board the need to support users across the globe has increased. For a while, we would use the in-built Microsoft Teams screen sharing feature but the disadvantage of that is you cannot perform privileged access. Microsoft does not give you access to that. That's where you need cloud-based tools, such as BeyondTrust or Freshservice.""The tool's deployment is difficult. Microsoft needs to improve documentation with videos."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "It's fairly expensive to use Clarity CA. There's a yearly license fee for the solution based on the users, and there's a one-time implementation fee as well."
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  • "Pricing and licensing are horrible. You have to not look at dollar value to use SCCM. It's super-duper expensive but it works. The acquisition cost is expensive, it's labor-intensive. But it works."
  • "Pricing and licensing are a downside of SCCM. It's expensive. I'd have to confirm this, but I think they changed the licensing to core-based instead of socket-based. It's not cheap, because you have to buy the software, you have to buy SQL. Another thing we learned from talking to Microsoft is that they provide you a license for SQL if you run it on the same box as the primary server. If you run it outside that box, you have to buy SQL. Microsoft does recommend you running it on the same box because of performance. But then, in order to run SQL, SCCM, and everything on the same box, you better have some resources. It's an expensive solution. There's no doubt about it."
  • "Overall, I think it's fine. It's pretty much in-line because there are ways to offset it with the Office 365 licensing."
  • "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."
  • "The licensing is good because they have various options, depending on what you are looking for."
  • "Pricing is negotiable with Microsoft, depending upon which of their packages you choose."
  • "When you compare this solution with other tools in the market you might actually find a lot of variation in the pricing and that's why people opt for the other tools rather than Microsoft tools."
  • "Its price is okay because it is part of our licensing."
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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:To me, the most valuable feature of Clarity CA is the timesheet. It's the only feature I use because I just support the tool, and I just enter time on it. Others use Clarity CA for other purposes… more »
    Top Answer:It's fairly expensive to use Clarity CA. There's a yearly license fee for the solution based on the users, and there's a one-time implementation fee as well.
    Top Answer:What could be improved in Clarity CA is its UI, but I know the Clarity team is working on a new UI, so I'm expecting its UI to get better. The software also has too many functions, so it would be good… more »
    Top Answer:Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager takes knowledge and research to properly configure. The length of time that the set up will take depends on the kind of technical architecture that your… more »
    Top Answer:ManageEngine Desktop Central is very easy to set up, is scalable, stable, and also has very good patch management. What I like most about ManageEngine is that I can log on to every PC very easily and… more »
    Top Answer:Microsoft Configuration Manager gives different tools in one solution.
    Ranking
    Views
    59
    Comparisons
    28
    Reviews
    1
    Average Words per Review
    866
    Rating
    9.0
    2nd
    out of 42 in Server Monitoring
    Views
    4,112
    Comparisons
    3,129
    Reviews
    28
    Average Words per Review
    455
    Rating
    8.5
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Client Automation, CA Client Manager, CA Client Automation
    Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM )
    Learn More
    Overview

    Clarity Client Automation (CA) consistently provides a fully transparent view of an organization's complete IT asset base and implements remote client management abilities and full automation for the administration of the end-user computing environment - either virtual or physical. Clarity CA can take on any IT environment, no matter how complex. It simplifies the everyday operational tasks that can slow down an enterprise's IT operations. Clarity CA will ensure that enterprise organizations are able to operate more effectively and deliver better outcomes and profitability.

    Clarity CA is able to help organizations improve performance and the security of servers, desktops, laptops, and other devices with user self-service and policy-based client automation and dynamic analytics. The solution is also able to streamline the management process of virtual and physical environments, minimizing administration complexities while enhancing service delivery. This solution consistently supports the organization's transformation to a next-generation device management protocol.

    Clarity CA Benefits

    • Cost-effective: Clarity CA enables organizations to realize key performance indicators (KPIs). The solution delivers full transparency of all critical device information, allowing organizations the ability to minimize spending, reduce power consumption, discover cost-effective processes, and make appropriate business choices that support effective, efficient business outcomes.
    • Minimize risk: Clarity CA plays an integral role in helping organizations maintain the highest levels of efficiency. The solution will keep the environment secure by staying abreast of the numerous patches and updates demanded by today’s dynamic environments. Clarity CA is able to deliver critical asset data to satisfy compliance regulations, thereby minimizing any financial loss to the organization for noncompliance.
    • Improve productivity: Clarity CA is able to automate everyday mundane tasks that can slow down productivity by freeing up critical resources to concentrate on the design and implementation of dynamic technology processes.

    Clarity CA Features

    • Secure desktop control: Clarity CA allows IT personnel to accurately and securely view, manage, modify, control, and access the remote desktop and mobile systems regardless of the distance from the main branch.
    • Patch administration: Clarity CA’s content research team is available 24/7 to offer valuable and trustworthy software patch management. They are able to assist with auditing and analysis, testing, packaging, deployment, and more.
    • Software deployment: Clarity CA is able to simplify the deployment and updates of software throughout a diversified business ecosystem. The solution facilitates the maintenance of software configurations and rollouts throughout numerous platforms and geographic locations.
    • Device tracking: The solution offers a dynamic suite of device tracking and identification abilities that ensure organizations can appropriately manage and secure their physical and virtual environments.
    • Automated migration processes: Users are able to benefit from pre-built process-automation workflows, templates, and web-based wizards to simplify and normalize system migrations and deployments. Clarity CA gives IT personnel increased options when implementing individual, departmental or corporate-wide system refresh processes by allowing personalization and standardization throughout the migration process.

    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.

    Sample Customers
    First Horizon National Corporation, Olympus, Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago LimitedŒ _Petrotrinî, Racing and Wagering Western Australia
    Bank Alfalah Ltd., Wªrth Handelsges.m.b.H, Dimension Data, Japan Business Systems, St. Lucie County Public Schools, MISC Berhad
    Top Industries
    No Data Available
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Manufacturing Company13%
    Insurance Company9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company12%
    Government11%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Company Size
    No Data Available
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise69%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise67%

    Clarity CA is ranked 3rd in Client Desktop Management with 2 reviews while Microsoft Configuration Manager is ranked 2nd in Server Monitoring with 76 reviews. Clarity CA is rated 8.0, while Microsoft Configuration Manager is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Clarity CA writes "Multipurpose and useful for managing projects and resources; easy to integrate with other systems, and has a knowledgeable technical support team". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Microsoft Configuration Manager writes "Seamless system updates, useful integration, and reliable". Clarity CA is most compared with , whereas Microsoft Configuration Manager is most compared with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, ManageEngine Endpoint Central, Microsoft Intune, BigFix and Tanium.

    We monitor all Client Desktop Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.