

Microsoft System Center and ThousandEyes compete in the IT management software category. ThousandEyes appears to have the upper hand in network monitoring due to its comprehensive insights and application visibility, while Microsoft System Center excels in integration within Microsoft environments.
Features: Microsoft System Center offers seamless integration with Microsoft products, antivirus administration, and robust OS upgrade capabilities. ThousandEyes provides end-to-end network monitoring, application visibility, and integration with Cisco products, focusing on deep insights into network paths and ISPs.
Room for Improvement: Microsoft System Center needs better integration with non-Microsoft environments, improved third-party compatibility, and clearer documentation. ThousandEyes requires enhanced network device monitoring, better application-level insights, and improved integration with non-Cisco platforms.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft System Center primarily offers on-premises deployment, with customer support sometimes being slow and expensive. ThousandEyes provides a mix of on-premises and hybrid cloud deployments, with support feedback being generally less complicated compared to Microsoft.
Pricing and ROI: Microsoft System Center's pricing is high, as it is usually part of broader enterprise subscriptions, offering substantial ROI through automation. ThousandEyes is considered expensive, with pricing justified by its value in providing large-scale network insights.
There has been a great ROI from using ThousandEyes, with significant time saved in troubleshooting as I can quickly pinpoint issues rather than spending time isolating them, alongside enhancing customer feedback and experience.
I have seen a return on investment by reducing troubleshooting time and having lesser user mapping error issues, in addition to engineering time saved through better observability and reduced organizational MTTR.
As a partner, I cannot create a ticket directly; I have to involve the end user's email to create one, so using the Software Assurance ID to create a ticket directly is not possible, making it very challenging for me.
We contacted the support team, and they resolved it within a couple of hours.
I would give it a rating of 10 because whenever we have any issues, we can typically reach someone who has the knowledge to help us.
The customer support for ThousandEyes is very proactive and supportive.
Microsoft System Center is scalable, allowing integration even if I have different sites.
Scalability with ThousandEyes is straightforward as you don't really need to scale; it's designed to monitor multiple applications, accommodating 50 or 100 applications simultaneously.
ThousandEyes's scalability is excellent; it is very scalable and grows with my organization's needs.
From my experience, ThousandEyes has been stable up to 95%; I have not seen any stability issues.
ThousandEyes is not very stable; sometimes you have to reboot the servers to get actual results.
I would assess the stability and reliability of ThousandEyes as good, with no downtime or crashes or performance issues experienced.
The disadvantage of Microsoft System Center is related to the many integrated services; if one service is failing, then all features will be affected.
Incidents should be alerted on and traced early, before they escalate to full outages.
I think the pricing, setup cost, and licensing for ThousandEyes are too costly.
Having a dedicated incident alert system for URL alerts would help manage noise and streamline operations, especially during patch upgrades.
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing has been that everything was cost-effective.
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that it comes in cheaper than alternatives.
My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing indicates that licensing is somewhat complicated because of the credits system.
In Microsoft System Center, all the features are integrated already, whereas in ManageEngine, you have to license each feature individually to access those features.
I measure the 70% improvement in customer experience through customer tickets and feedback after resolving issues, where previously, users faced problems and limited time on the platform, and after using ThousandEyes, the user time reached up to five to six hours a day, even for teams possibly totaling 30 hours a day.
ThousandEyes offers the best features including global internet and cloud visibility from distributed vantage points, application and network performance monitoring, real-time outage detection and incident alerts, end-to-end path visualization for rapid troubleshooting, proactive issue demarcation, and historical data.
ThousandEyes has become critical for swift network troubleshooting as well, so anytime that there's potential issues with applications or we want to be proactive in resolving potential issues before they arise, ThousandEyes is really the platform that we're leveraging for WAN monitoring, Wi-Fi, latency, packet loss, etc.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| ThousandEyes | 1.9% |
| Microsoft System Center | 0.7% |
| Other | 97.4% |


| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 7 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 4 |
| Large Enterprise | 10 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 8 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 3 |
| Large Enterprise | 17 |
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?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.
ThousandEyes offers cutting-edge monitoring capabilities with advanced features such as end-to-end network monitoring, real-time alerts, and application insights. It supports integration with Cisco products and provides visibility into network paths, helping businesses maintain superior network performance.
ThousandEyes is renowned for its ability to diagnose network issues by offering comprehensive network path visualization and detailed analytics. Its ability to detect packet loss and monitor ISPs ensures robust network security. The integration capabilities, particularly with Cisco platforms, make it versatile for businesses requiring customizable dashboards. Users benefit from ease of use and real-time alert systems, though improvements in guest portal usability, packet analysis, and integration with Cisco platforms are needed. Enhancements in automation, knowledge resources, and application-level features could benefit users, alongside better network device monitoring through SNMP and improved path visualization. Additionally, better incident management and alert detection systems are anticipated.
What are the key features of ThousandEyes?Businesses across sectors leverage ThousandEyes for seamless network monitoring and diagnostics. It is invaluable for ensuring connectivity across LANs, Wi-Fi, internet, and SaaS applications. ThousandEyes provides critical insights into internet and ISP performance, significantly benefiting industries reliant on robust digital infrastructure.
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