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ConnectWise Automate vs Datto Remote Monitoring and Management vs Microsoft Configuration Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
ConnectWise Automate6.5%
Kaseya VSA15.0%
NinjaOne12.0%
Other66.5%
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Datto Remote Monitoring and Management10.4%
Kaseya VSA15.0%
NinjaOne12.0%
Other62.6%
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)
Server Monitoring Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Configuration Manager4.0%
Zabbix13.4%
Checkmk6.6%
Other76.0%
Server Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

Sean Saeb - PeerSpot reviewer
Partner and CIO at Caspian IT Group
Responsive, integrates well with other applications, and the technical support is helpful
There is always room for improvement. I haven't had any problems, and they're doing a great job, in my opinion. They're doing quite well. In most cases, when we discover an issue, we report it to their engineers, who then schedule a fix. Normally, when we request something, I can see it happening within three to four months. This is a raw system. Of course, it has some flaws that could be improved. But, it's something that we will have to work with to get to the point where we need this, we request it and they do their best to make it happen. There is a lot of integration with other applications through Automate, and I believe they are working with all of the industry leaders to get the integration going. I am very pleased to be working with them.
Alex Clerici - PeerSpot reviewer
System Integrator IT Manager at Tecnimex S.r.l.
Granular monitoring and automated patching have improved service delivery and customer autonomy
I am always busy and have a lot to handle as the customer asks. I absolutely see the importance because if we lose this opportunity, it is probably detrimental. From my experience, automated patch management is considered efficient and useful, but it needs proper training. During the initial deployment, I faced some challenges as operating systems often have vulnerabilities that arise month by month. Datto Remote Monitoring and Management alone is not sufficient for effective patching; I need to pay attention to the manufacturer platform as well. Therefore, I must manage the RMM software effectively while being mindful of the lifecycle of operating systems to identify the best patch policy to adopt. Datto Remote Monitoring and Management's real-time monitoring capabilities are very granular depending on what I want to manage. For Windows, PCs, servers, and other devices such as tablets, I can customize my policy quite effectively. However, for network devices, there are other tools that might be more efficient than Datto Remote Monitoring and Management, such as Ovic, which is a specific solution for network scenarios. If I prefer not to use two separate solutions, I can meet minimal needs with Datto Remote Monitoring and Management's network module. I find the reporting and analytics features of Datto Remote Monitoring and Management to be very efficient as they are granular and rely on many customizable predefined templates. As an example of utilizing the reporting and analytics features for my customers, I act as an MSP provider and can define a site for an end customer, allowing them to monitor their environment by creating a specific account with defined roles. Consequently, a customer can often operate autonomously without my intervention while having an overview of their IT environment. I can control the reporting capabilities at different levels, giving customers autonomy if configured correctly. Regarding the remote control capabilities of Datto Remote Monitoring and Management, it offers various ways to control devices remotely. While it may not be the best module in the suite, when used alongside other tools, it can solve many problems. Regarding pricing and licensing, after recent updates, I believe Kaseya has found a correct way to offer this solution by modifying their licensing policy. I can start with a minimum committed license, and if I exceed my limits, the additional costs can be managed efficiently by paying the difference. Also, if I wish to reduce my licensing, I can do so through my account manager. The latest news about Datto's licensing seems very interesting, and I plan to evaluate it further in the coming months. I chose Datto because of my positive impressions regarding their local support during the initial phase. I received good assistance from the distributor, who provided interesting tools and integrations for Datto. I can answer what other best features Datto has compared to others after I have explored other solutions deeply. Recently, I connected with N-able but do not remember the name of another solution that seemed interesting. Testing solutions comprehensively requires a time investment, which is something I currently lack. I do not currently have any questions. If I have questions in the future, I will likely reach out through my PeerSpot account or another method. I rate this product nine out of ten overall.
NS
Senior System Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Centralized endpoint control has streamlined deployments and improved security compliance
In my experience, the best features of Microsoft Configuration Manager are software deployments and updates, OSD, hardware and software inventory, compliance and configuration baseline, reporting and monitoring, and integration with Intune hybrid management. These features make endpoint management efficient and scalable. The feature I rely on the most day-to-day is software deployment and patch management. It keeps endpoints updated and secure with minimal manual effort. Inventory and compliance monitoring are also important, but daily deployments are critical. Microsoft Configuration Manager has had a significant positive impact on our organization in several ways: improved efficiency, enhanced security and compliance, standardization, scalability, and visibility reporting. Overall, Microsoft Configuration Manager has helped us save time, reduce risk, improve operational efficiency, and maintain strong control over our endpoints. One of the biggest impacts Microsoft Configuration Manager has had on efficiency is the reduced manual work for software deployment and patching. For example, deploying a new application or security updates to hundreds or thousands of devices previously required several days of manual effort, including running scripts, checking devices individually, and validating installation. With Microsoft Configuration Manager, these tasks are automated and managed, allowing deployments to complete in hours rather than days. We also have automated reporting for deployment success and compliance which saved the IT team significant time that used to be spent gathering and reconciling inventory data from multiple tools.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Technical support is really good; they are helpful and responsive."
"The most value we get from this solution is that everything is on a patch cycle, so all my team has to do is go through patches, whereas previously, they were doing all the patches manually."
"Scripting and patch management are really important for us. Patch Manager is something that we use a lot, and we would love to have it continually improved. It is one of the most useful features for us for controlling patches and other things for different clients."
"We use monitors to keep track of our machines. We use a pretty good portion of information from Automate."
"It is very scalable."
"Remote access and detailed monitoring help us support our equipment."
"I was very happy with how they handled me as a client and am quite satisfied with the level of support we get."
"Scripting and patch management are really important for us, and Patch Manager is something that we use a lot and is one of the most useful features for us for controlling patches and other things for different clients."
"We support nine different nonprofits, and the billing took the manager three or four days working on spreadsheets. When I finished automating everything with Datto, we cut everything down to a couple of hours. That's a substantial cost savings on the billing side."
"The alerting system helps us determine what are high level alerts, and what are alerts which can wait for a day or two. We catch RAID failures, hot servers, bad drives (or predicted failures on drives), etc."
"I also like how Datto integrates seamlessly with the Autotask ticketing system."
"The project management and task management features work well; it's a decent product in that regard and is relatively simple to use."
"Automation, in terms of the standard patches and standard updates, and remote support are valuable. When it does the standard Windows and patches, it works really well. This is something they focus on. Remote support is also something they focus on quite a bit, and it works really well. Being able to get to an agent or a client computer right away is very helpful."
"Datto Remote Monitoring is a little more robust compared to Automate, with components that let you audit inventory, see which customer has which device or what devices haven't been rebooted within the last 30 days, and access and run scripts on any device across the whole site."
"The tool's main valuable features are its ease of use and intuitive console. It's very easy to implement and create policies. I don't need highly technical staff to manage the tool, which is a big advantage."
"AEM support is great for Macs."
"One of the standout features of SCCM is its application management capabilities. It allows us to create packages efficiently and deploy them to specific groups within our network. This streamlined process has significantly improved our software distribution workflows."
"It saves a lot of money when you can install things automatically and they are installed the exact same way on every computer."
"The main, clear valuable feature is updating the latest, patches and updates from Windows. This is the main feature we really utilize a lot."
"Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is valuable in keeping our systems updated. We are able to send updates to all the systems. Additionally, the Intune integration is helpful."
"Overall, Microsoft Configuration Manager has helped us save time, reduce risk, improve operational efficiency, and maintain strong control over our endpoints."
"The scalability to deploy the package."
"The solution has a very good set of features."
"The dashboards have information about our assets."
 

Cons

"We would love to get feature updates and cumulative updates fixed. I know they aren't really supposed to be pushed with Patch Manager. We've got recommendations from ConnectWise to use the scripted feature update installs, scripted KB updates, etc. Having these in Patch Manager itself would be great."
"There could be better linkages between ConnectWise Automate and Manage from a ticketing perspective."
"They could use some automated alerts particularly when we're talking about an MSP that might shoot over."
"I know we get some false positives at times, where things report offline and then when we connect to them with control they're connectable."
"The wait time for a support ticket to be addressed needs to be reduced. They take a couple of days to get back."
"This is a raw system. Of course, it has some flaws that could be improved."
"Because of the vast number of features, the software is difficult to navigate."
"Their support needs to be better."
"This is not a product that I recommend."
"The only area where I see room for improvement is the ability to delay the application of patches for a set number of days."
"Be prepared to spend a lot of time on conversions if you have a lot of clients."
"Right now, it's not making monetary sense."
"I would like the ability to remotely manage configuration and settings on individual units. Some organizations have a certain device configuration that needs to be consistent across all computers. For example, if we have computers that cannot go to sleep or hibernate because they're being accessed remotely, we need to be able to quickly configure those computers to not hibernate. With Datto, there is no easy and/or direct way to accomplish this. I can't create a group called No Hibernate and drag all those computers to that group so that they do not go into hibernation. There is no easy way to put in a policy or a procedure like that. It's still back to going to each computer and doing it by hand, which is what I'm trying to get away from. I want to automate and simplify as much as possible. I write code and scripts to do most of my work anyways. The intention is to get away from me having to be so hands-on."
"Datto Remote Monitoring and Management alone is not sufficient for effective patching; I need to pay attention to the manufacturer platform as well."
"Its stability should be improved. The area of stability has been going downhill, and it has been frustrating."
"We would like to see a little more functionality when monitoring network devices, such as switches and routers."
"It needs to be able to load faster during deployment and the new release could include this ability."
"The time the solution takes for updating systems could be quicker. For example, the system information status is not updating as it should. Additionally, the database synchronization querying is slow and could be improved."
"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."
"The solution is crowded with information."
"Cloud-based improvements need to be better managed."
"This solution should be simpler, and more consistent across modules/sections."
"Devices like smartphones and tablets are managed very well on VMware, however, they are absent in SCCM. I could configure iPad from the VMware site and it was done very easily. It should be just as possible on SCCM."
"They should improve their anti-malware policies like the SCEP policies. For instance, you can't have different policies for different servers, there is only one policy in all the servers, and everything is covered under that."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I believe Automate is available for around $2."
"Pricing and licensing are reasonable."
"From what I've overheard, it is pretty comparable to other solutions in terms of price."
"I pay $85 a month per user for a ConnectWise package that contains multiple solutions."
"It fluctuates on the number of computers you have. Depending on the number of computers you have, it can fluctuate anywhere between $5 to $10 per computer per month, which is not too bad. I am not aware of any additional costs beyond the standard licensing fee. It was one flat rate per device."
"AEM is a lot more scalable as you just pay per agent instead of having to purchase expensive licenses."
"Regarding pricing, Kaseya sells it as part of a bundle called Kaseya 360. This package includes several tools, such as EDR, ransomware protection, and more. Considering the bundle, the price is reasonable. However, where I am in Brazil, the high dollar rate and taxes make it not cheap for mid-sized companies. Still, it's competitively priced compared to similar tools."
"The license typically depends on the number of endpoints. On the RMM side, I think we're paying around $2,250 per endpoint. Then there is also a license per user and tech, so that comes out to about a hundred bucks per tech, give or take."
"It goes by how many endpoints you have. It is about $3,000 a month for us. If we can't figure it out ourselves and need additional help to set it up, we would have to pay for that."
"We had to pay out some overtime for a few problematic sites. Sites on domain networks are incredibly easy to install. We learned a few tricks that streamlined the process, but in the beginning, it was a bit tedious."
"Microsoft provides a steep price for their enterprise products, but they offer very competitive pricing for their legacy customers."
"There is not a license needed to use the solution."
"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."
"The price is competitive and reasonable."
"We use the tool's free license. It is expensive."
"We have a support license from Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager and the overall price of the solution is reasonable."
"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 model is different for every client."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Performing Arts
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Performing Arts
15%
Wholesaler/Distributor
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise66
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What needs improvement with Datto Remote Monitoring and Management?
Improvements for Datto Remote Monitoring and Management could be made in the areas of vulnerability assessment and op...
What advice do you have for others considering Datto Remote Monitoring and Management?
I am always busy and have a lot to handle as the customer asks. I absolutely see the importance because if we lose th...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Datto Remote Monitoring and Management?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Datto Remote Monitoring and Management is that it is smooth...
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...
 

Also Known As

LabTech for IT Service Providers, ConnectWise Automate for Corporate IT Departments, ConnectWise Automate for IT Service Providers
Autotask EM, Autotask Endpoint Management, Datto RMM
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM ), Microsoft SMS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

I-M Technology, Mainstay Technologies, PC Works Plus, Integrity IT, Kerkhoff Technologies Inc., Marathon Consulting, Christenberry Sales Company, EDTS, Secom Technology, Ready to View, ARRC Technology, DaVinci Digital, JNR Networks, Quinn Technology Solutions, PCIT, Liberty Technology, Capital Computers & Networks, Atlanta Technology Force, Doberman Technologies, First Column Enterprises, CisCom Solutions
Wessex Networks, Base2, Valiant Technology, Technology Services Group, TechGuru
Bank Alfalah Ltd., Wªrth Handelsges.m.b.H, Dimension Data, Japan Business Systems, St. Lucie County Public Schools, MISC Berhad
Find out what your peers are saying about NinjaOne, Kaseya, TeamViewer and others in Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM). Updated: March 2026.
885,789 professionals have used our research since 2012.