Google Cloud&#39;s operations suite (formerly Stackdriver) vs Microsoft System Center comparison

Google Cloud's operations suite (formerly Stackdriver) vs. Microsoft System Center

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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

Google Cloud's operations s...

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

18th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (31st), Log Management (23rd)

Microsoft System Center

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

42nd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Infrastructure (17th)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Cloud Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Google Cloud's operations suite (formerly Stackdriver) is 0.9%, down from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft System Center is 0.8%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Google Cloud's operations suite (formerly Stackdriver)	0.9%
Microsoft System Center	0.8%
Other	98.3%

Cloud Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Anand_Patel

Senior Technical Architect at T-Systems International GmbH

Offers reliable Ops Agent and logging transport feature with easy third-party integrations

As part of our company, we implemented several changes in our log analytics pattern, including the storage and procurement process. Earlier, before implementing the solution, our company was able to procure only one year of data, but later, we came to the three-year mark. Around 15-20% reduction has been witnessed in the total analytic consumption of our company. The aforementioned result was possible because the solution allowed the creation of a dashboard where factors like storage costs, proportion of logs, and logs presence in a storage bucket or Big Query can all be checked. Earlier all logs were stored in a raw storage, but currently our company is able to move logs in table bucket that contributes towards cost savings. It has default integration for all gcp services. recently managed Prometheus support gives more flexibility to organizations to remain connected with their current Prometheus setup. We leveraged integrated FinOps Hub for recommendations for our workloads and server configurations, helpd us lot in order to get maximum TCO.

Read full review

Carl Palapal

Sr. Sys. Server & Storage Egineer / Tech .Consultant at CANAR OFFICE SYSTEMS

Provides comprehensive system management with effective deployment and integration capabilities

The advantages of Microsoft System Center are significant, and I have seen other products as well. As far as advantages are concerned, they have PXE deployment, which is good for deploying operating systems, such as Windows client systems including Windows 10 and Windows 11. Since it is a Microsoft product, all the patches are proprietary, making it easier to deploy. In Microsoft System Center, all the features are integrated already, whereas in ManageEngine, you have to license each feature individually to access those features. The automated features of Virtual Machine Manager are very useful; it automates as long as the policy that I have created is in line with the objective, especially the templates when I'm going to deploy. Regarding endpoint management, Microsoft System Center is very helpful; it has integrated endpoint protection deployment, allowing me to handle endpoint configuration, system deployment, and patch deployment, making it an all-in-one stop shop for managing and configuring end clients. The impact of using Microsoft System Center is significant; it gives me a whole picture of my environment, making it easy to get inventory details regarding applications and hardware, providing full visibility of my setup within the organization.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Google's technical support is very good."

"I would tell potential users that the current version is much nicer than the previous one."

"Google Stackdriver is all about activity."

"The cloud login enables us to get our logs from the different platforms that we currently use."

"We find the solution to be stable."

"Our company has a corporate account for Google Cloud and so our systems and clusters integrate really well."

"Provides visibility into the performance uptime."

"It has reduced the amount of time that we would take for troubleshooting."

More Google Cloud's operations suite (formerly Stackdriver) pros

"It can generate KPIs and management reports with monthly presentations on activities and updating the environment (success and failure)."

"Many processes could be implemented out-of-the-box, and this helped to adopt processes in areas which we lacked."

"If you're using only Microsoft products then this is a good solution because you're working in a unified environment."

"The availability performance matrix and the reporting capabilities are the solution's most valuable features."

"System Center 2012 SP1 is one hell of infrastructure management suite."

"Integrates great with other Microsoft Products."

"The tool has many valuable features, including license tracking, software deployment, and installation deployment. However, we primarily use it for Windows updates and deployment for Windows servers and desktops. It's a complex product but very well-managed. If you use all the features, they will be valuable to your organization. It allows you to deploy desktops, manage patches, and track various features."

"The detail in the alarms is great."

More Microsoft System Center pros

Cons

"If I want to track any round-trip or breakdowns of my response times, I'm not able to get it."

"Operations documentation could be a bit better. It took us some time to get up and running with it."

"It could be even more automated."

"If I want to track any round-trip or breakdowns of my response times, I'm not able to get it. My request goes through various levels of the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and comes back to my client machine. Suppose that my request has taken 10 seconds overall, so if I want to break it down, to see where the delay is happening within my architecture, I am not able to find that out using Stackdriver."

"It is difficult to estimate in advance how much something is going to cost."

"Lacking sufficient operations documentation."

"The process of logging analytics can be improved"

"The logging functionality could be better."

More Google Cloud's operations suite (formerly Stackdriver) cons

"System Center hasn't updated to keep up with the industry. It needs improvements in the user interface, ease of use, and overall product functionality, particularly the cloud-monitoring features. It needs more capabilities to monitor AWS and Azure infrastructure."

"Could be more user friendly."

"The problem is that when we do contact them they don't have a ready solution."

"Most of the documentation is online, however, there are some gaps there. The product documentation still refers back to the 2012 Server. We're pretty much in 2022. There's a ten-year gap there."

"The most difficult area we faced was the requirement of having one central system center that deployed in one domain, capable of managing and controlling the end user devices."

"They should have some customized solutions or internal development, then maybe it could be easier to use different solutions or some self-developed solution."

"Have had challenges to integrate with Non-Microsoft Products."

"The multi-tenancy support needs to be improved. We need to have the ability to manage several different environments from one central point of administration."

More Microsoft System Center cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have a basic standard license without any additional costs."

"The cost could be lower."

"The cost of using Stackdriver depends on usage."

"Microsoft System Center is quite expensive."

"It's rolled into our enterprise subscription. The entire subscription is around $25,000 a year, however, that covers all the products that we use."

"We maximized our license investment."

"Microsoft System Center's licensing is costly."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten."

"I rate the product price as five to six on a scale of one to ten, where one means it is cheap and ten means it is expensive."

"I know that sometimes there is some reduction in the prices of Microsoft System Center because of the costs of Microsoft SQL Server, which can be advantageous."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

12%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Construction Company

11%

Outsourcing Company

Construction Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	9

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	10

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Stackdriver?

As Ops Suite, is a google product which effectively comes at zero setup cost, in order to manage your on-premises logs on onsite, it involves negligible cost for using ops agent and it also include...

What needs improvement with Microsoft System Center?

The disadvantage of Microsoft System Center is related to the many integrated services; if one service is failing, then all features will be affected. For example, with site configuration, when one...

What is your primary use case for Microsoft System Center?

I am using Microsoft System Center. I use Microsoft System Center for patch deployment and application deployment.

What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft System Center?

The connection is not very stable. I rate Microsoft System Center a nine out of ten.

Splunk AppDynamics vs Google Cloud's operations suite (formerly Stackdriver)

Comparisons

Compared 7% of the time

Datadog vs Google Cloud's operations suite (formerly Stackdriver)

Compared 6% of the time

AWS X-Ray vs Google Cloud's operations suite (formerly Stackdriver)

Compared 5% of the time

Amazon CloudWatch vs Google Cloud's operations suite (formerly Stackdriver)

Compared 5% of the time

Mezmo vs Google Cloud's operations suite (formerly Stackdriver)

Compared 3% of the time

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Zenoss Cloud vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 11% of the time

JBoss Enterprise Application Platform vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 8% of the time

Oracle SOA Suite vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 7% of the time

VMware Aria Operations for Applications vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 6% of the time

IBM BPM vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 6% of the time

More Microsoft System Center Competitors

Product Reports

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Download Google Cloud's operations suite (formerly Stackdriver) product report

Google Cloud's operations suite (formerly Stackdriver) report

Microsoft System Center

Download Microsoft System Center product report

Also Known As

Google Stackdriver, Stackdriver, Stackdriver Monitoring, Stackdriver Logging, Google Cloud Monitoring

MS System Center

Overview

Google Cloud's operations suite is a comprehensive toolset offering multi-cloud support, insights into performance, uptime, health, and scalable logging for seamless cloud operations.

This suite by Google Cloud provides robust features for organizations managing workloads on GCP and AWS. It offers real-time logging and monitoring, aiding in efficient troubleshooting and performance analysis. With automatic monitoring, statistical insights for Kubernetes and VPNs, and the ability to manage logs, it helps in optimizing technology changes and supports risk management. Despite needs for better APM, cost clarity, migration tools, and enhanced documentation, companies benefit from its capabilities in tracking errors and analyzing metrics in execution environments.

What are the key features of Google Cloud's operations suite?

Multi-cloud Integration: Seamless support for GCP and AWS environments.
Performance Visibility: Insights into system health and uptime.
Scalable Logging: Efficient log management and export capabilities.
User-friendly Interface: Intuitive interaction for easy monitoring configuration.

What benefits and ROI can be expected from Google Cloud's operations suite?

Enhanced Monitoring: Real-time updates facilitate swift response to performance issues.
Efficient Troubleshooting: Detailed log analysis helps resolve code issues quickly.
Performance Analysis: Dashboards support engineering load testing and SLA monitoring.

Industries utilizing Google Cloud's operations suite find it invaluable for optimizing cloud operations, especially in sectors involving extensive database requests and workload execution. Java and Python teams leverage its logging and alert capabilities for improved error tracking and metrics analysis, crucial for maintaining high-performance standards in tech-driven environments.

Google

Microsoft System Center offers comprehensive management of IT environments, integrating seamlessly with Microsoft platforms. It supports automated updates, antivirus management, and endpoint monitoring, delivering insights and managing applications efficiently.

Microsoft System Center stands out as a robust IT management solution, delivering efficient performance monitoring, seamless integration with Microsoft environments, and effortless configuration. Users benefit from automated updates, endpoint and antivirus management, and precise reporting capabilities, ensuring full visibility of applications and hardware. With features like PXE deployment and Virtual Machine Manager automation, coupled with an intuitive interface, it enhances operational efficiency in managing deployments and updates. Yet, areas such as integration with non-Microsoft products, resource demands, and mobile app support present challenges needing improvement, alongside complexities in multi-tenant environments.

What are the most important features of Microsoft System Center?

Seamless Microsoft Integration: Ensures effortless synergy with Microsoft environments.
Automated Updates: Simplifies the update management process with automation.
Antivirus and Endpoint Management: Provides centralized control over security and device management.
Performance Monitoring: Delivers real-time insights into system performance and functionality.
PXE Deployment: Eases network-based installation of operating systems and applications.
Virtual Machine Manager Automation: Enhances virtual environments with automation capabilities.

What benefits or ROI can users evaluate in Microsoft System Center?

Operational Efficiency: Improves productivity through streamlined management processes.
Low Learning Curve: Reduces training time due to intuitive design.
Comprehensive Reporting: Enhances decision-making with detailed operational insights.
Full Infrastructure Visibility: Offers complete view of applications and hardware ensuring transparency.

In industries like retail and government, Microsoft System Center plays a critical role in monitoring server functionality, performance, and application management. It aids infrastructure management, facilitates device deployments, and enhances cybersecurity with endpoint protection. Organizations use it for collecting inventory data, generating insightful reports, and supporting help desks through efficient ticketing, alongside centralized antivirus oversight.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Uber, Batterii, Q42, Dovetail Games

Kassen_rztliche Vereinigung Nordrhein, Magyar Telekom Nyrt., Adeka, QualCare, Aeriandi, UniCredit Bank d.d., Mostar, Allianz Australia Ltd., Grupo Familia

Google Cloud's operations suite (formerly Stackdriver) vs. Microsoft System Center