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Microsoft System Center Orchestrator vs Pega Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

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

Microsoft System Center Orc...
Ranking in Process Automation
19th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.1
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Pega Platform
Ranking in Process Automation
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
82
Ranking in other categories
Business Rules Management (1st), Business Process Management (BPM) (4th), Rapid Application Development Software (6th), Low-Code Development Platforms (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Process Automation category, the mindshare of Microsoft System Center Orchestrator is 0.9%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pega Platform is 6.3%, down from 11.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Process Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Dan Campeanu - PeerSpot reviewer
Automates tasks and manages multiple servers from a central location
The initial setup was quite complex. It required careful preparation of installation steps, as many tasks were not automated as expected. Special attention was needed to prepare groups, users, and permissions at each step to ensure a smooth setup process. Please do so accurately to avoid having to start over. Challenges encountered during deployment included issues with installation and configuration and difficulties detecting machines and executing tasks as expected. Some solutions were found through trial and error during installation, while others were discovered through recommendations from other users. Despite these challenges, the deployment and rollout of Orchestrator took approximately one and a half months to ensure proper functionality.
Mallik-Kesavaraju - PeerSpot reviewer
Significantly improves the overall cycle time, and offers robotic automation, and the BPM workflow
The extensive availability of ready-made gadgets in Pega BPM is a double-edged sword. While it offers convenience, it also leads to a steeper learning curve. Our developers and business analysts need to invest significant time and effort to fully understand and utilize the platform's capabilities. In essence, it's a complex product that demands a deep understanding to be used effectively. So, it cuts both ways. This complexity can be both an advantage and a disadvantage, depending on the user's expertise. So, the learning curve is pretty high! So, it's very good if you are a professional user, but you need to be a really good professional user to use this solution effectively.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It can manage multiple servers and workstations from a single location."
"Automation is the most valuable feature of the solution."
"Pega BPM's most valuable feature is the use of CDX to solve problems."
"While there may be stability issues, they are minimal."
"The most valuable feature of Pega BPM is its architecture."
"The most valuable feature of the product is that it's very customer-centric. It's easy to use for a customer or a user. It's also easy for someone who is developing an application. You can develop different features in just one place. You don't have to go to different places."
"Whenever a customer needs to do something, the way Pega designs the whole thing into an easy number of steps makes the flow from the actual intent to the actual final results pretty fast."
"One of the key advantages of PegaRULES is its out-of-the-box capabilities, which eliminate the need to build certain functionalities from scratch. For instance, features like "get next" in process flows allow for the seamless continuation of a flow without the requirement of additional activity creation. This serves as an illustration of how existing components can be leveraged rather than starting from scratch. It provides a solid foundation, to begin with, and allows for enhancements at a higher level, making it a beneficial starting point."
"The product helps you to build faster."
"We find the product to be scalable."
 

Cons

"I find the Orchestrator UI to be problematic."
"The product's management aspect needs enhancement."
"PEGA claims that they provide a LOW-CODE-PLATFORM which is easy to use - even for "citizen developers" (i.e. business employees). If you really want to use all the features out of this platform, you definitely need a lot of experience and a lot of training."
"There is room for improvement in the user interface area."
"Implementation is a challenge due to the handling of the code"
"Lack of stronger cloud support is somewhat inconvenient for users and implementation."
"The product's artificial intelligence capabilities could be improved. More advanced AI features could further optimize process automation and decision-making."
"I would like to see Pega BPM improve the user experience."
"The UI layer is a concern since it is native to them and embedded into the code."
"Pega BPM could improve the UI, it is poorly designed to have a good UX experience."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I give the cost of the solution a five out of ten."
"We obtained a license that bundled Windows Server with System Center at no additional cost."
"May be somewhat more expensive than other solutions initially, but should have enhanced return on investment."
"There are multiple Pega licensing models, including outcome- and revenue-based licensing models"
"This upgrade process is very expensive; although I haven't been on the sales team responsible for the pricing, I know it costs millions of dollars."
"Its pricing is on the higher side, but they have come up with different plans and different small products that can be used by smaller organizations that don't have that much money to spend. They have different pricing packages depending on the number of users or depending upon the number of cases created in the production or live environment."
"The licensing model from Pega BPM is too complex and is more expensive than other solutions, such as SAP. The overall price of the solution depends on the use case."
"It's a user-based license where, as you scale the numbers of users, the price increases."
"They're very cagey in giving out prices, and it is very difficult to find out the real price any organization is going to get. It is almost never their list price, if you can find it, and there are a lot of factors that go into the whole pricing."
"In terms of the price, if I were to compare Pega to other tools, it would be more expensive, but it would also provide you with the same features."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
28%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft System Center Orchestrator?
It can manage multiple servers and workstations from a single location.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft System Center Orchestrator?
The platform was almost free of cost for us. We obtained a license that bundled Windows Server with System Center at no additional cost.
What needs improvement with Microsoft System Center Orchestrator?
The product's management aspect needs enhancement. It affects the visibility of powerful scripts that were previously accessible. Furthermore, the focus is shifting towards cloud-based features, sp...
Is Pega BPM easy to work with and can beginners utilize this software?
You do need some preparation to be able to use all functions of Pega BPM. However, all users of this platform are in luck as it comes with good documentation and you can learn pretty much everythin...
Have you encountered any issues while using Pega BPM and were you assisted by the company?
My company has been using this tool for years and the only issue we have had, if you can call it that, was while setting it up. When we were setting it up initially, we had some drawbacks and could...
When you consider the features and benefits of Pega BPM, would you say this product is fairly priced?
Pega BPM can be considered overpriced for some; it all depends on the size of your company and the requirements of your customers. Sure, there are products out there that do the things that Pega B...
 

Also Known As

MS System Center Orchestrator
Pega BPM, Pegasystems, SmartBPM, PegaRULES
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
The State of Maine, ANZ, Coca-Cola, Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), ME, New South Wales, OptumRx, Texas Department of Transportation, UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft System Center Orchestrator vs. Pega Platform and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.