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Datto Remote Monitoring and Management vs Microsoft Configuration Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Datto Remote Monitoring and...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (4th)
Microsoft Configuration Man...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
86
Ranking in other categories
Software Distribution (1st), Server Monitoring (6th), Configuration Management (3rd), Patch Management (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Systems Management solutions, they serve different purposes. Datto Remote Monitoring and Management is designed for Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) and holds a mindshare of 9.9%, up 7.0% compared to last year.
Microsoft Configuration Manager, on the other hand, focuses on Server Monitoring, holds 3.9% mindshare, down 5.9% since last year.
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Datto Remote Monitoring and Management9.9%
Kaseya VSA14.3%
NinjaOne11.4%
Other64.4%
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)
Server Monitoring Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Configuration Manager3.9%
Zabbix11.5%
Nagios XI6.0%
Other78.6%
Server Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

Alex Clerici - PeerSpot reviewer
System Integrator IT Manager at Tecnimex S.r.l.
Granular monitoring and automated patching have improved service delivery and customer autonomy
I am always busy and have a lot to handle as the customer asks. I absolutely see the importance because if we lose this opportunity, it is probably detrimental. From my experience, automated patch management is considered efficient and useful, but it needs proper training. During the initial deployment, I faced some challenges as operating systems often have vulnerabilities that arise month by month. Datto Remote Monitoring and Management alone is not sufficient for effective patching; I need to pay attention to the manufacturer platform as well. Therefore, I must manage the RMM software effectively while being mindful of the lifecycle of operating systems to identify the best patch policy to adopt. Datto Remote Monitoring and Management's real-time monitoring capabilities are very granular depending on what I want to manage. For Windows, PCs, servers, and other devices such as tablets, I can customize my policy quite effectively. However, for network devices, there are other tools that might be more efficient than Datto Remote Monitoring and Management, such as Ovic, which is a specific solution for network scenarios. If I prefer not to use two separate solutions, I can meet minimal needs with Datto Remote Monitoring and Management's network module. I find the reporting and analytics features of Datto Remote Monitoring and Management to be very efficient as they are granular and rely on many customizable predefined templates. As an example of utilizing the reporting and analytics features for my customers, I act as an MSP provider and can define a site for an end customer, allowing them to monitor their environment by creating a specific account with defined roles. Consequently, a customer can often operate autonomously without my intervention while having an overview of their IT environment. I can control the reporting capabilities at different levels, giving customers autonomy if configured correctly. Regarding the remote control capabilities of Datto Remote Monitoring and Management, it offers various ways to control devices remotely. While it may not be the best module in the suite, when used alongside other tools, it can solve many problems. Regarding pricing and licensing, after recent updates, I believe Kaseya has found a correct way to offer this solution by modifying their licensing policy. I can start with a minimum committed license, and if I exceed my limits, the additional costs can be managed efficiently by paying the difference. Also, if I wish to reduce my licensing, I can do so through my account manager. The latest news about Datto's licensing seems very interesting, and I plan to evaluate it further in the coming months. I chose Datto because of my positive impressions regarding their local support during the initial phase. I received good assistance from the distributor, who provided interesting tools and integrations for Datto. I can answer what other best features Datto has compared to others after I have explored other solutions deeply. Recently, I connected with N-able but do not remember the name of another solution that seemed interesting. Testing solutions comprehensively requires a time investment, which is something I currently lack. I do not currently have any questions. If I have questions in the future, I will likely reach out through my PeerSpot account or another method. I rate this product nine out of ten overall.
NS
Senior System Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Centralized endpoint control has streamlined deployments and improved security compliance
In my experience, the best features of Microsoft Configuration Manager are software deployments and updates, OSD, hardware and software inventory, compliance and configuration baseline, reporting and monitoring, and integration with Intune hybrid management. These features make endpoint management efficient and scalable. The feature I rely on the most day-to-day is software deployment and patch management. It keeps endpoints updated and secure with minimal manual effort. Inventory and compliance monitoring are also important, but daily deployments are critical. Microsoft Configuration Manager has had a significant positive impact on our organization in several ways: improved efficiency, enhanced security and compliance, standardization, scalability, and visibility reporting. Overall, Microsoft Configuration Manager has helped us save time, reduce risk, improve operational efficiency, and maintain strong control over our endpoints. One of the biggest impacts Microsoft Configuration Manager has had on efficiency is the reduced manual work for software deployment and patching. For example, deploying a new application or security updates to hundreds or thousands of devices previously required several days of manual effort, including running scripts, checking devices individually, and validating installation. With Microsoft Configuration Manager, these tasks are automated and managed, allowing deployments to complete in hours rather than days. We also have automated reporting for deployment success and compliance which saved the IT team significant time that used to be spent gathering and reconciling inventory data from multiple tools.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The tool's main valuable features are its ease of use and intuitive console. It's very easy to implement and create policies. I don't need highly technical staff to manage the tool, which is a big advantage."
"Its scalability is fantastic; you can scale it up and down, and in terms of usage, it is the only product that we use for remote management."
"The project management and task management features work well. It's a decent product in that regard."
"We felt that AEM had the best features with the best Mac support."
"Datto Remote Monitoring is a little more robust compared to Automate, with components that let you audit inventory, see which customer has which device or what devices haven't been rebooted within the last 30 days, and access and run scripts on any device across the whole site."
"The project management and task management features work well; it's a decent product in that regard and is relatively simple to use."
"I also like how Datto integrates seamlessly with the Autotask ticketing system."
"We support nine different nonprofits, and the billing took the manager three or four days working on spreadsheets. When I finished automating everything with Datto, we cut everything down to a couple of hours. That's a substantial cost savings on the billing side."
"It has been working for us, and it has never been down so far."
"This solution has made life easy with respect to patching, compliance, and OSD."
"It has the ability to perform mass distribution."
"This solution helps us by automating the patching of our system."
"The solution enables significant streamlining and reduces resources from a personnel perspective."
"With the SCCM inventory, we found a lot of rogue applications. We were able to identify them, find out who was running them, and either put them on our application list or remove them."
"It is easy to install and quick to deploy."
"I like its ease of use, it does what you need it to do, and it's a one-stop-shop for the company and for all your deployments."
 

Cons

"Datto Remote Monitoring and Management alone is not sufficient for effective patching; I need to pay attention to the manufacturer platform as well."
"They have a tab to provide information about the type of hardware the computers have. One thing they don't specify is what model of hard drive the computers have. Identification of storage models would be nice."
"We would like to see a little more functionality when monitoring network devices, such as switches and routers."
"My most significant criticism is Datto is a complex product that takes a while to understand, but that could be said of almost any solution at the same level. It depends on where you're starting from. You have to rework all your workflows, and it's some heavy lifting if you want to get it right."
"I would like the ability to remotely manage configuration and settings on individual units. Some organizations have a certain device configuration that needs to be consistent across all computers. For example, if we have computers that cannot go to sleep or hibernate because they're being accessed remotely, we need to be able to quickly configure those computers to not hibernate. With Datto, there is no easy and/or direct way to accomplish this. I can't create a group called No Hibernate and drag all those computers to that group so that they do not go into hibernation. There is no easy way to put in a policy or a procedure like that. It's still back to going to each computer and doing it by hand, which is what I'm trying to get away from. I want to automate and simplify as much as possible. I write code and scripts to do most of my work anyways. The intention is to get away from me having to be so hands-on."
"Its stability should be improved. The area of stability has been going downhill, and it has been frustrating."
"Right now, it's not making monetary sense."
"We would like to see a little more functionality when monitoring network devices, such as switches and routers."
"There is a reboot issue with the patching. Sometimes, if patching runs into any issue whatsoever, it doesn't reboot but it doesn't tell you it errored out. It just sits there and we don't find out until the next day whether it patched or not. That was a big issue for us. We're working through that. They added some stuff in there now where you can actually tell reboot is pending. But we still need some kind of notification that if something fails or is pending, we know. We shouldn't have to go in and look. They don't have anything for that right now."
"The solution is crowded with information."
"The setup was complex and I faced a lot of problems initially because I was new to the solution."
"This solution should be simpler, and more consistent across modules/sections."
"Its client interface should be more accessible, and the notifications should be more customizable from the console. It should be more user friendly and have some kind of customized notifications so that we can use it on the client side. These are the reasons why we restricted its use only for the server environment and didn't use it on the client side."
"In spite of us being a premier customer, we find the support unsatisfactory."
"Troubleshooting in general needs improvement. There's just a ton of logs to go through, and so finding the error log that corresponds with what you're doing can sometimes be difficult."
"The time the solution takes for updating systems could be quicker. For example, the system information status is not updating as it should. Additionally, the database synchronization querying is slow and could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It fluctuates on the number of computers you have. Depending on the number of computers you have, it can fluctuate anywhere between $5 to $10 per computer per month, which is not too bad. I am not aware of any additional costs beyond the standard licensing fee. It was one flat rate per device."
"It goes by how many endpoints you have. It is about $3,000 a month for us. If we can't figure it out ourselves and need additional help to set it up, we would have to pay for that."
"The license typically depends on the number of endpoints. On the RMM side, I think we're paying around $2,250 per endpoint. Then there is also a license per user and tech, so that comes out to about a hundred bucks per tech, give or take."
"AEM is a lot more scalable as you just pay per agent instead of having to purchase expensive licenses."
"We had to pay out some overtime for a few problematic sites. Sites on domain networks are incredibly easy to install. We learned a few tricks that streamlined the process, but in the beginning, it was a bit tedious."
"Regarding pricing, Kaseya sells it as part of a bundle called Kaseya 360. This package includes several tools, such as EDR, ransomware protection, and more. Considering the bundle, the price is reasonable. However, where I am in Brazil, the high dollar rate and taxes make it not cheap for mid-sized companies. Still, it's competitively priced compared to similar tools."
"Its licensing is quite complicated because we are getting the license not only for SCCM but for the full Microsoft package. We don't need to pay for a separate license. We need to have one license that includes everything we need, such as Windows, Microsoft 365, SCCM, encryption, and so on. So, we don't have a specific price for it. Perhaps, it is good that it includes the full suite of licensing of Microsoft. It is expensive, but we are getting a lot of features."
"Pricing and licensing are a downside of SCCM. It's expensive. I'd have to confirm this, but I think they changed the licensing to core-based instead of socket-based. It's not cheap, because you have to buy the software, you have to buy SQL. Another thing we learned from talking to Microsoft is that they provide you a license for SQL if you run it on the same box as the primary server. If you run it outside that box, you have to buy SQL. Microsoft does recommend you running it on the same box because of performance. But then, in order to run SQL, SCCM, and everything on the same box, you better have some resources. It's an expensive solution. There's no doubt about it."
"There is an annual license needed to use the solution."
"The license price could be reduced for Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager They should make the price more affordable for smaller companies, most companies would be able to use the solution if it was priced better. There are more people on this cloud because you don't have to have either a server room or an on-premise server. You can have one IT person handle this without any local infrastructure."
"We use the tool's free license. It is expensive."
"Its price is okay because it is part of our licensing."
"The price of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is expensive."
"The solution is expensive. Microsoft Configuration Manager would likely be considered high-priced for small businesses because they may not fully utilize all of its features and capabilities."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Performing Arts
15%
Wholesaler/Distributor
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise66
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Datto Remote Monitoring and Management?
Improvements for Datto Remote Monitoring and Management could be made in the areas of vulnerability assessment and operations related to this field, which I currently manage using other solutions l...
What advice do you have for others considering Datto Remote Monitoring and Management?
I am always busy and have a lot to handle as the customer asks. I absolutely see the importance because if we lose this opportunity, it is probably detrimental. From my experience, automated patch ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Datto Remote Monitoring and Management?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Datto Remote Monitoring and Management is that it is smooth and simple.
How does Ansible compare to Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (SCCM)?
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager takes knowledge and research to properly configure. The length of time that the set up will take depends on the kind of technical architecture that your org...
How to choose between ManageEngine Desktop Central and Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (formerly SCCM)?
ManageEngine Desktop Central is very easy to set up, is scalable, stable, and also has very good patch management. What I like most about ManageEngine is that I can log on to every PC very easily a...
What do you like most about SCCM?
One of the standout features of SCCM is its application management capabilities. It allows us to create packages efficiently and deploy them to specific groups within our network. This streamlined ...
 

Also Known As

Autotask EM, Autotask Endpoint Management, Datto RMM
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM ), Microsoft SMS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Wessex Networks, Base2, Valiant Technology, Technology Services Group, TechGuru
Bank Alfalah Ltd., Wªrth Handelsges.m.b.H, Dimension Data, Japan Business Systems, St. Lucie County Public Schools, MISC Berhad
Find out what your peers are saying about NinjaOne, Kaseya, TeamViewer and others in Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM). Updated: March 2026.
887,041 professionals have used our research since 2012.