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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
33rd
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability (46th)
Microsoft System Center
Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software
42nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
Application Infrastructure (17th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Cloud Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of ManageEngine Applications Manager is 0.9%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft System Center is 0.7%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
ManageEngine Applications Manager0.9%
Microsoft System Center0.7%
Other98.4%
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

"We have a very good and long relationship with ManageEngine support guys, and they provide very good support for us."
"ITSM is a valuable feature, it complies with the requirements in Pakistan."
"For a small organization, I think ManageEngine is pretty nice, I think it's enough."
"ManageEngine Applications Manager maintains the historical data and it's easy for us to analyze the trends and patterns and fix them accordingly."
"The most valuable features are: Takes care of all IT monitoring in one console: Server, apps and business services."
"The anomaly detection feature helps with maintaining the system's health. It is regarding our IT incident center."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is its ease of use."
"What I like about ManageEngine Applications Manager is the ease of use and ease of deployment."
"The installation process is easy."
"Integrates great with other Microsoft Products."
"The features that I have found most valuable are the ease of configuration and the easy discovery of the environment."
"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it helps us manage our company's application pool, license pool, application update pool, and OS updates."
"For the Wintel estate currently SCOM is the best fit for the interim in terms of cost, feature, and function."
"Step-by-step documentation that clarifies the implementation procedure."
"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."
"System Center 2012 SP1 is one hell of infrastructure management suite."
 

Cons

"The agent often crashes when there is too much load on the application side. If a sudden storm of data comes in, the agent crashes down most of the time."
"They can improve the post-processing of the data."
"I would like the solution to improve the ability to track services."
"My suggestion for improving this feature is to also monitor the end-user experience for application clients and servers."
"The problem is that implementation requires a significant amount of mapping effort."
"More modem support for SMS feature."
"Lacks an SIEM solution which can be found in other products."
"The dashboards in the interface need a lot of work."
"The platform performance and responsiveness need improvement. It still demands high computing resources."
"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."
"In my opinion, DPM needs a lot of improvements to its limitations."
"The platform's performance could be improved. Additionally, its UI needs to be well-upgraded and work faster."
"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."
"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."
"For me, the tool's UI seems to be too old."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing costs for ManageEngine Applications Manager are around $1,200 per year. For additional monitors, you have to pay extra."
"The cost of this solution is not too bad, although it could be cheaper considering what you're getting for the price."
"It is a cost-effective solution."
"ManageEngine Applications Manager has reasonable pricing. It's more affordable than other solutions in the market. My company has an instance-based license for ManageEngine Applications Manager. You can purchase a yearly subscription or a perpetual license. The standard license covers most features, but you can still have some paid add-ons."
"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."
"Price-wise, it is a cheap tool...The solution's licensing model is subscription-based, in which yearly payments are to be made."
"The solution's licensing costs are yearly."
"The solution is noted for its cost-effectiveness, a crucial consideration for potential users."
"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."
"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."
"We maximized our license investment."
"Microsoft System Center's licensing is costly."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
13%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
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?
I am satisfied with the licensing cost for ManageEngine Applications Manager.
What needs improvement with ManageEngine Applications Manager?
The new features take a lot of time to be implemented, and that could be improved about ManageEngine Applications Manager. If I were requesting a new feature that is not existing, making it availab...
What is your primary use case for ManageEngine Applications Manager?
I use application discovery and dependency mapping. It helps with managing application health.
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.
 

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: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.