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Ivanti Security Controls [EOL] vs Microsoft Configuration Manager comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 4, 2026

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

Ivanti Security Controls [EOL]
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Configuration Man...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
86
Ranking in other categories
Software Distribution (2nd), Server Monitoring (5th), Configuration Management (4th), Patch Management (2nd)
 

Featured Reviews

Chethan R - PeerSpot reviewer
Windows Security Patching Operation III (Cyber Operations) at CBTS
Has reduced hardware strain through agentless patching and improved asset visibility
This solution does not have capability of managing applications. It is only used for asset management and patch management. Regarding analytics for Ivanti Security Controls, it does not have extensive capabilities. It is a basic tool from Ivanti for scanning and deploying. It does not have analytics features such as EDR or security tools available in the market. It only has capability to check missing patches, find them, and deploy them. When it comes to reports, compliance reports or similar types of reports are not user-friendly. Expertise is required for handling these aspects. The asset management in Ivanti Security Controls needs more visibility. Additionally, it can be improved to handle in-house applications, which currently cannot be installed. It can only handle existing applications, unlike Ivanti's Endpoint Manager. It should have additional features in this area that need improvement.
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

"Ivanti Security Controls is an agentless tool which means we do not need to install any agent on the server or endpoint, and through agentless capabilities, it can install software, install patches, and control over the server, including asset management."
"Technical support is helpful and responsive."
"What has been most valuable is the ability to manage, restore and install upgrades and applications. We scan PCs and server and receive results."
"Ivanti Security Controls is a better solution than SCCM."
"I like a lot of the reporting capabilities and baseline configurations."
"The entire solution, from end to end is excellent."
"Valuable features include configurations enforcement, compliance data gathering, and deployment of a standardized OS."
"It uses detailed descriptions of the workstations, and that is good for me."
"Technical support was helpful and responsive."
"I would tell potential users that for 15,000 or 30,000 machines, you must go with Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager as it's the best tool."
"The most valuable feature of SCCM is the application distribution."
"SCCM, therefore, is the best that I can tell, as I've been able to evaluate it fully."
 

Cons

"It should be more scalable."
"For the Windows upgrade, the errors we experience are not clear. We see a time out error but do not know the reason. We would like to know the root cause."
"Ivanti Security Controls is a powerful product, but it has quite a steep learning curve."
"When it comes to reports, compliance reports or similar types of reports are not user-friendly. Expertise is required for handling these aspects."
"It should provide the ability to remotely connect to mobile devices. There are some solutions that are doing that, but with Microsoft Intune, the only way to remotely connect to devices outside the organization and mobile devices is by using TeamViewer. It is pretty strange for a big company like Microsoft to not have something for that."
"It is a bit of an old and outdated product."
"It is not easy to get good technical support, especially at level one."
"The operations could be faster and you need some patience with this tool."
"Its client interface should be more accessible, and the notifications should be more customizable from the console. It should be more user friendly and have some kind of customized notifications so that we can use it on the client side. These are the reasons why we restricted its use only for the server environment and didn't use it on the client side."
"Regarding this, I'd like to mention the agent situation. When the agent on an end-user device is not functioning correctly, it can be quite problematic. It would be highly beneficial if there were a self-healing mechanism in place. Essentially, if the agent becomes corrupted or encounters issues, it should be able to rectify itself autonomously. This is particularly critical because, in order to utilize a tool like MECM (assuming you're referring to Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager), we need to deploy agents, known as AsMs, on all the devices we use, such as Windows 10 or Windows Server. Sometimes, when we deploy configurations or updates, they don't apply properly due to agent issues. This issue has been present since we began using MECM around 23 years ago. Unfortunately, there is currently no built-in mechanism for the agent to detect its own problems and initiate self-repair. Microsoft doesn’t have any feature to scan vulnerabilities and hence, they could include those."
"The solution is a bit heavy on the sources such as RAM or CPU and the software needs to be a bit lighter."
"It would be of benefit if Configuration Manager could be connected/integrated with multiple Microsoft Intune subscriptions rather than just one (the current limit)."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"Microsoft provides a steep price for their enterprise products, but they offer very competitive pricing for their legacy customers."
"The licensing is good because they have various options, depending on what you are looking for."
"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."
"We have a support license from Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager and the overall price of the solution is reasonable."
"There is an annual license needed to use the solution."
"I would rate the cost as eight out of ten."
"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."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise69
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Ivanti Security Controls?
Ivanti Security Controls is a powerful product, but it has quite a steep learning curve. There is quite a lot to learn, though it proves to be very powerful if you put in the time to learn how to u...
What is your primary use case for Ivanti Security Controls?
We are using Ivanti Security Controls for deploying Windows updates to Windows servers.
What advice do you have for others considering Ivanti Security Controls?
I am currently working with Ivanti Security Controls as a customer. I think Ivanti Security Controls is an effective product for this purpose. I would give tech support for Ivanti Security Controls...
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 the set up will take depends on the kind of technical architecture that your org...
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. What I like most about ManageEngine is that I can log on to every PC very easily a...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SCCM?
The setup cost is considered sufficient. It is not significant enough for us to consider a change at the moment.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM ), Microsoft SMS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Bank Alfalah Ltd., Wªrth Handelsges.m.b.H, Dimension Data, Japan Business Systems, St. Lucie County Public Schools, MISC Berhad
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