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ManageEngine Applications Manager vs Microsoft System Center comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 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

ManageEngine Applications M...
Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software
36th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (41st)
Microsoft System Center
Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software
28th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
Application Infrastructure (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Cloud Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of ManageEngine Applications Manager is 0.7%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft System Center is 0.7%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Monitoring Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft System Center0.7%
ManageEngine Applications Manager0.7%
Other98.6%
Cloud Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

SN
Senior System Engineer at Qatar Petroleum
Managing application health has become simpler but new monitoring features still need faster delivery
I use application discovery and dependency mapping. It helps with managing application health What I like about ManageEngine Applications Manager is the ease of use and ease of deployment. I cannot remember anything specific for future updates of the product. The new features take a lot of time…
Carl Palapal - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of this solution is its ease of use."
"ManageEngine Applications Manager's installation is pretty easy."
"What I like most about ManageEngine Applications Manager is its price point, apart from its technicalities. The solution is cheaper than its competitors. ManageEngine Applications Manager has helpful documentation that makes setting it up straightforward."
"What I like about ManageEngine Applications Manager is the ease of use and ease of deployment."
"I am impressed with the tool's reporting feature which is simple."
"We do not have pricing constraints as an organization, because we do have reservations about ManageEngine being functionally scalable."
"Its price and the flexibility to deploy are the most valuable. Flexibility is very important, and you can scale from very basic to more complex. This solution is a part of a complete suite of management tools. So, it can be integrated with other solutions for monitoring networks, which is very important. You can expand it or interconnect it with many other tools, which is a powerful feature. We have a very good and long relationship with ManageEngine support guys. They provide very good support for us."
"ITSM is a valuable feature, it complies with the requirements in Pakistan."
"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."
"The features that I have found most valuable are the ease of configuration and the easy discovery of the environment."
"The detail in the alarms is great."
"The installation process is easy."
"The availability performance matrix and the reporting capabilities are the solution's most valuable features."
"We like Microsoft System Center's Operations Manager. That is primarily why we use it."
"Managment Packs for Microsoft-specific products, help us implement the best practices for each product."
"Step-by-step documentation that clarifies the implementation procedure."
 

Cons

"They can improve the post-processing of the data. AppDynamics has more powerful tools for post-processing or analytics. It has some limitations in more complex environments, but because we are free to use different solutions, we try to find what is best for the customers or the problem we are trying to solve."
"Lacks an SIEM solution which can be found in other products."
"The inventory of assets needs improvement."
"One area of improvement is the dashboard should be more readable and available."
"I assess the impact of real-user monitoring of this product on my application's performance as not good. I am not satisfied with monitoring."
"They could probably rearrange the UI so that it would be easy for people who are new to the Application Manager to configure things."
"The integration process with third party tools poses some challenges; enhancing the robustness of these integrations could greatly improve overall functionality and user experience."
"The information provided by ManageEngine is not deep-dive like IBM and CA provide."
"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."
"Less server consumption would help, as would better, more flexible reports."
"The solution's dashboard needs improvement."
"The disadvantage of Microsoft System Center is related to the many integrated services; if one service is failing, then all features will be affected."
"Microsoft System Center should be easier to manage. However, it is complex to deploy, so people hesitate to use it. Though it has many features, such as licensing, asset tracking, and software deployment, we mainly use it for Windows updates. It protects many screens and integrates with databases, but it's complex compared to other solutions. Many now use cloud-based products or other tools like Automox to deploy updates and manage vulnerabilities."
"The platform performance and responsiveness need improvement. It still demands high computing resources."
"Implementation and integration in the case of multi-tenant environments needs improvement."
"In Microsoft System Center, it is difficult to follow the steps to create dataflows at times."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its price is good."
"It is a cost-effective solution."
"The licensing costs for ManageEngine Applications Manager are around $1,200 per year. For additional monitors, you have to pay extra."
"The solution's licensing costs are yearly."
"The annual licensing depends on the number of monitors you have connected. Once you get to two hundred monitors you can see the price reflect."
"The solution is noted for its cost-effectiveness, a crucial consideration for potential users."
"Price-wise, it is a cheap tool...The solution's licensing model is subscription-based, in which yearly payments are to be made."
"The cost of this solution is not too bad, although it could be cheaper considering what you're getting for the price."
"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."
"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."
"Microsoft System Center is quite expensive."
"We maximized our license investment."
"Microsoft System Center's licensing is costly."
"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
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Transportation Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Insurance Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ManageEngine Applications Manager?
The solution is noted for its cost-effectiveness, a crucial consideration for potential users.
What needs improvement with ManageEngine Applications Manager?
The integration process with third party tools poses some challenges; enhancing the robustness of these integrations could greatly improve overall functionality and user experience.
What is your primary use case for ManageEngine Applications Manager?
Our primary application of this solution revolves around IT infrastructure monitoring. We focus on alert consolidation from core network and service levels to enhance our service management framework.
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...
 

Also Known As

Applications Manager
MS System Center
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Certis Europe, Financial Domain, SaaS Office Suite, On Demand TV, Parliament's IT Systems, Sastra Technologies, UniServity
Kassen_rztliche Vereinigung Nordrhein, Magyar Telekom Nyrt., Adeka, QualCare, Aeriandi, UniCredit Bank d.d., Mostar, Allianz Australia Ltd., Grupo Familia
Find out what your peers are saying about ManageEngine Applications Manager vs. Microsoft System Center and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.