Microsoft System Center vs Zenoss Cloud comparison

Microsoft and Zenoss are both solutions in the Application Infrastructure category. Microsoft is ranked #15 with an average rating of 8.5, while Zenoss is ranked #29. Microsoft holds a 1.7% mindshare in AIS, compared to Zenoss’s 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 85% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Zenoss users who would recommend it.

Microsoft System Center

Read 20 Microsoft System Center reviews

737 Views
295 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Zenoss Cloud

Read 8 Zenoss Cloud reviews

1,771 Views
106 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Microsoft System Center

Zenoss Cloud

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

Zenoss Cloud and Microsoft System Center compete in IT infrastructure management. Zenoss Cloud appears to have the upper hand in customer support and flexible pricing, while Microsoft System Center is favored for its comprehensive features.

Features: Zenoss Cloud provides real-time analytics and predictive capabilities with extensive cloud integrations. Zenoss emphasizes predictive analytics and a scalable approach to IT monitoring. Microsoft System Center focuses on configuration management and offers robust asset management along with extensive networking capabilities and configuration options.

Room for Improvement: Zenoss Cloud could enhance its user interface for better accessibility and expand its offline capabilities. Additional customization options could further enhance its adaptability. Microsoft System Center could benefit from simplifying its deployment process and offering more straightforward configuration management tools. Enhancements in cloud-native integrations and cost transparency would add value.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Zenoss Cloud is recognized for its streamlined deployment process and proactive customer service, which supports faster adoption and issue resolution. Microsoft System Center, although more complex to deploy, provides comprehensive documentation and training to assist in feature implementation.

Pricing and ROI: Zenoss Cloud offers a scalable pricing model, maximizing ROI through flexibility and lower initial costs. Microsoft System Center, though higher in cost, provides ROI through its feature-rich integrated suite and depth of resources.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft System Center vs. Zenoss Cloud Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft System Center vs. Zenoss Cloud

December 2025

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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

Ranking in Application Infrastructure

15th

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

28th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Zenoss Cloud

Ranking in Application Infrastructure

29th

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

42nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Event Monitoring (14th), Network Monitoring Software (75th), Server Monitoring (26th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (50th), Container Monitoring (8th), AIOps (24th)

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of Microsoft System Center is 1.7%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zenoss Cloud is 1.1%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Infrastructure Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft System Center	1.7%
Zenoss Cloud	1.1%
Other	97.2%

Application Infrastructure

Featured Reviews

Carl Palapal

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.

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ClaudiaChen

Cloud Architect - Senior Technology Architect at Telstra

Generates close to real-time alerts so users can resolve issues, but needs more integration and public cloud monitoring features

As Zenoss Service Dynamics is more for network-centric devices and you want to monitor, for example, a server, its services, IP addresses, and interfaces, if it's a network and you're going to monitor multiple items, you'll be charged multiple times. This is what Zenoss Service Dynamics needs to improve to make sure that customers pay just one fee to monitor the entire server. What I'd like to see in Zenoss Service Dynamics in the future is a public cloud monitoring feature, particularly for the Azure public cloud. Another additional feature I'd like to see in the next release of the solution is integration with the Azure public cloud because I know that there are some services from Azure that Zenoss Service Dynamics is currently unable to monitor.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"System Center helps to create the basis for ITIL alignment."

"We like Microsoft System Center's Operations Manager. That is primarily why we use it."

"The availability performance matrix and the reporting capabilities are the solution's most valuable features."

"The installation process is easy."

"The product's initial setup phase was easy."

"It can generate KPIs and management reports with monthly presentations on activities and updating the environment (success and failure)."

"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."

"Managment Packs for Microsoft-specific products, help us implement the best practices for each product."

More Microsoft System Center pros

"The most valuable feature is the flexible discovery mechanism."

"What I like most about Zenoss Service Dynamics is that it monitors the devices and gives close to real-time alerts. For example, in case the device is not available, Zenoss Service Dynamics generates an alert so my team can resolve the issue."

"Its Docker Container concept is mind blowing. It is the first monitoring tool which comes with Docker features."

"They have also accommodated many state-of-the-art technologies like Docker and ZooKeeper."

"The product offers good documentation that helps with initial training."

"The custom built integration is one of the most valuable features because you can see all the especially critical items."

"It's easy to use."

Cons

"The multi-tenancy support needs to be improved. We need to have the ability to manage several different environments from one central point of administration."

"The disadvantage of Microsoft System Center is related to the many integrated services; if one service is failing, then all features will be affected."

"The platform's performance could be improved. Additionally, its UI needs to be well-upgraded and work faster."

"In Microsoft System Center, it is difficult to follow the steps to create dataflows at times."

"Something super important that we need is this integration via Intune Configuration Manager."

"Most of the documentation is online, however, there are some gaps there. The product documentation still refers back to the 2012 Server. We're pretty much in 2022. There's a ten-year gap there."

"We have some bugs but it's stable. It doesn't break every day. It works. Like other applications, it has a lot of bugs but they're manageable."

"Implementation and integration in the case of multi-tenant environments needs improvement."

More Microsoft System Center cons

"The AI aspect needs to improve."

"As Zenoss Service Dynamics is more for network-centric devices and you want to monitor, for example, a server, its services, IP addresses, and interfaces, if it's a network and you're going to monitor multiple items, you'll be charged multiple times. This is what Zenoss Service Dynamics needs to improve to make sure that customers pay just one fee to monitor the entire server. What I'd like to see in Zenoss Service Dynamics in the future is a public cloud monitoring feature, particularly for the Azure public cloud. Another additional feature I'd like to see in the next release of the solution is integration with the Azure public cloud because I know that there are some services from Azure that Zenoss Service Dynamics is currently unable to monitor."

"There is room for improvement with the administrative part. They introduced Control Center to manage things in Zenoss 5. The services that Zenoss provides remained the same, but the administrative part, since they introduced Docker, etc., has become a little complex"

"There was a problem with Zenoss and storage monitoring."

"The inclusion of a feature to show a graphical view of the network would be a helpful improvement."

"Now it is stable, but they should design threshold parameters in percentage instead of raw values."

"It would be ideal if the product offered sound alerts."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We maximized our license investment."

"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."

"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."

"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's licensing is costly."

"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."

"It depends on the customer, what he wants."

"The pricing depends on the environment, the number of services, and the size of the data center. It can go from $100,000 to a million dollars."

"It is very cost-effective compared to the tools I worked with in the past. The company is gaining a lot with respect to the cost factor. It provides agentless monitoring and in a very cheap way."

"There are additional costs you'll have to pay apart from the license fee for Zenoss Service Dynamics. I can't remember exactly how much my company is paying because I don't handle the finance part, but the cost is paid annually. On a scale of one to five, with one being the cheapest and five being the most expensive, I'm rating the solution three out of five."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Energy/Utilities Company

Insurance Company

Computer Software Company

12%

Performing Arts

Financial Services Firm

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	10

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Large Enterprise	5

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft System Center?

The product's initial setup phase was easy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft System Center?

Microsoft System Center's licensing is costly.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What is the best network monitoring software for large enterprises?

In my experience, I worked with many monitoring software, but the one that gave me the most functionalities of a large-scale company is Zenoss, due to its ability to monitor completely hybrid and a...

See all answers

Comparisons

VMware Aria Operations for Applications vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 27% of the time

Veeam Data Platform vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 20% of the time

IBM BPM vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 17% of the time

JBoss Enterprise Application Platform vs Microsoft System Center

Compared 16% of the time

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Nagios XI vs Zenoss Cloud

Compared 9% of the time

Zabbix vs Zenoss Cloud

Compared 9% of the time

Nagios Core vs Zenoss Cloud

Compared 5% of the time

SCOM vs Zenoss Cloud

Compared 5% of the time

Broadcom DX Application Performance Management vs Zenoss Cloud

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft System Center

December 2025

Download Microsoft System Center product report

Buyer's Guide

Zenoss Cloud

December 2025

Download Zenoss Cloud product report

Also Known As

MS System Center

Cloud Monitoring, Zenoss Service Dynamics

Overview

System Center helps customers realize the benefits of the Microsoft Cloud Platform by delivering unified management. Experience fast time-to-value with out-of-the-box monitoring, provisioning, configuration, automation, protection and self-service.

Microsoft

Zenoss Cloud revolutionizes IT infrastructure monitoring with a service-centric approach, prioritizing the overall health of services and applications. Harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AIOps), Zenoss Cloud offers end-to-end visibility across servers, networks, storage, and applications. Real-time monitoring, event correlation, and automated remediation ensure immediate insights and efficient issue resolution. The customizable dashboards empower users to tailor visualizations to their needs, while scalability accommodates diverse infrastructures. Zenoss Cloud guarantees improved application performance, reduced downtime, and enhanced IT efficiency, making it an ideal choice for businesses of all sizes, from small enterprises seeking simplicity to large corporations requiring advanced scalability. Experience unified monitoring and proactive management with Zenoss Cloud, a comprehensive solution that transforms IT infrastructure optimization in today's complex environments.

Zenoss

Sample Customers

Kassen_rztliche Vereinigung Nordrhein, Magyar Telekom Nyrt., Adeka, QualCare, Aeriandi, UniCredit Bank d.d., Mostar, Allianz Australia Ltd., Grupo Familia

2degrees, Rackspace, State of North Dakota, El Paso Independent School District, NWN Corporation

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft System Center vs. Zenoss Cloud

December 2025

Free Report: Microsoft System Center vs. Zenoss Cloud

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