Ivanti Security Controls vs Microsoft Configuration Manager comparison

Ivanti and Microsoft are both solutions in the Patch Management category. Ivanti is ranked #13 with an average rating of 8.5, while Microsoft is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.1. Ivanti holds a 2.5% mindshare in PM, compared to Microsoft’s 7.8% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Ivanti users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Ivanti Security Controls

Read 4 Ivanti Security Controls reviews

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958 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Microsoft Configuration Man...

Read 86 Microsoft Configuration Manager reviews

10,331 Views
3,306 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Ivanti Security Controls

Microsoft Configuration Man...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 22, 2026

Microsoft Configuration Manager and Ivanti Security Controls both operate within the IT and security management sector. Microsoft Configuration Manager generally offers an upper hand for organizations integrated into the Microsoft ecosystem, while Ivanti Security Controls shows strength with security management features that suit various IT environments.

Features: Microsoft Configuration Manager enables seamless management through its deep integration with Microsoft tools, offering robust asset inventory, application deployment, and compliance setting capabilities. It supports software and application pushing, patch management with WSUS integration, and mobile management with Intune Connector. Ivanti Security Controls is strong in patch management and vulnerability assessment, offering agentless scanning and comprehensive reporting that helps maintain endpoint security. It includes the capability to run PowerShell scripts and manage asset inventories, effectively identifying vulnerabilities and ensuring robust security.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft Configuration Manager could benefit from improved user interface design to enhance ease of navigation, compatibility enhancements for non-Windows environments, and better integration options with third-party software. Additionally, expanding cloud functionalities could prove beneficial. Ivanti Security Controls could improve by streamlining the user experience to make setup more accessible, enhancing cloud integration, and refining reporting features to ensure comprehensive insights. Its scripting capabilities might also benefit from a more intuitive configuration process.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Configuration Manager relies on an on-premises deployment model, which necessitates substantial initial infrastructure investments but is paired with extensive documentation and support through its established network. Ivanti Security Controls offers flexible deployment options suitable for both on-premises and cloud environments. The support from Ivanti is efficient and focuses on providing agility.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Configuration Manager generally involves greater initial setup costs but promises ROI via enhanced integration and superior device management efficiency. In contrast, Ivanti Security Controls might have lower upfront costs with ROI realized through its strong security capabilities that help mitigate vulnerabilities and reduce potential security breach expenses. These differences stand out in the broader cost of integrated management offered by Microsoft versus the cost efficiency within security-centric environments from Ivanti.

To learn more, read our detailed Ivanti Security Controls vs. Microsoft Configuration Manager Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Ivanti Security Controls vs. Microsoft Configuration Manager

March 2026

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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

Ivanti Security Controls

Ranking in Patch Management

13th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Microsoft Configuration Man...

Ranking in Patch Management

2nd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Software Distribution (1st), Server Monitoring (6th), Configuration Management (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Patch Management category, the mindshare of Ivanti Security Controls is 2.5%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Configuration Manager is 7.8%, down from 14.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Patch Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Configuration Manager	7.8%
Ivanti Security Controls	2.5%
Other	89.7%

Patch Management

Featured Reviews

Chethan R

Windows Security Patching Operation III (Cyber Operations) at CBTS

Has reduced hardware strain through agentless patching and improved asset visibility

This solution does not have capability of managing applications. It is only used for asset management and patch management. Regarding analytics for Ivanti Security Controls, it does not have extensive capabilities. It is a basic tool from Ivanti for scanning and deploying. It does not have analytics features such as EDR or security tools available in the market. It only has capability to check missing patches, find them, and deploy them. When it comes to reports, compliance reports or similar types of reports are not user-friendly. Expertise is required for handling these aspects. The asset management in Ivanti Security Controls needs more visibility. Additionally, it can be improved to handle in-house applications, which currently cannot be installed. It can only handle existing applications, unlike Ivanti's Endpoint Manager. It should have additional features in this area that need improvement.

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Narendar S

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.

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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

"Ivanti Security Controls is a better solution than SCCM."

"What has been most valuable is the ability to manage, restore and install upgrades and applications. We scan PCs and server and receive results."

"Ivanti Security Controls is an agentless tool which means we do not need to install any agent on the server or endpoint, and through agentless capabilities, it can install software, install patches, and control over the server, including asset management."

"Technical support is helpful and responsive."

"The most valuable features I find in Microsoft Configuration Manager are mostly patching, deploying software, deploying images, and running custom scripts."

"Automation of operating system, application, and update deployments massively reduces IT operations effort."

"Technical support was helpful and responsive."

"SCCM does everything from A to Z for a Windows operating system."

"The most valuable features are Remote Connect, SUP, Cloud functionality, Report, Query, and third-party patching."

"Overall, I believe Microsoft Configuration Manager is definitely a good product."

"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."

"The most valuable feature is the graphical-based reports of software updates that have been successful, the ones that have failed, and a summary of where the failures are what security breaches may occur."

More Microsoft Configuration Manager pros

Cons

"When it comes to reports, compliance reports or similar types of reports are not user-friendly. Expertise is required for handling these aspects."

"Ivanti Security Controls is a powerful product, but it has quite a steep learning curve."

"It should be more scalable."

"For the Windows upgrade, the errors we experience are not clear. We see a time out error but do not know the reason. We would like to know the root cause."

"The database should be made to be more stable and robust, but not so much the configuration."

"There should probably be better remote support. They should also continue to improve on patch management, patching, and creating or turning products in software into deployable apps."

"Regarding this, I'd like to mention the agent situation. When the agent on an end-user device is not functioning correctly, it can be quite problematic. It would be highly beneficial if there were a self-healing mechanism in place. Essentially, if the agent becomes corrupted or encounters issues, it should be able to rectify itself autonomously. This is particularly critical because, in order to utilize a tool like MECM (assuming you're referring to Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager), we need to deploy agents, known as AsMs, on all the devices we use, such as Windows 10 or Windows Server. Sometimes, when we deploy configurations or updates, they don't apply properly due to agent issues. This issue has been present since we began using MECM around 23 years ago. Unfortunately, there is currently no built-in mechanism for the agent to detect its own problems and initiate self-repair. Microsoft doesn’t have any feature to scan vulnerabilities and hence, they could include those."

"The solution should incorporate AI. It should also incorporate real-time capabilities. If we could get real-time information about challenges or issues, it would allow us to take immediate action. For example, with the recent outage caused by the Windows issue, having a real-time warning system could have helped us avoid or reduce the downtime we experienced."

"Devices like smartphones and tablets are managed very well on VMware, however, they are absent in SCCM. I could configure iPad from the VMware site and it was done very easily. It should be just as possible on SCCM."

"The tool's deployment can be cumbersome."

"Management of Linux devices could be improved."

"The tool's deployment is difficult. Microsoft needs to improve documentation with videos."

More Microsoft Configuration Manager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"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."

"When you compare this solution with other tools in the market you might actually find a lot of variation in the pricing and that's why people opt for the other tools rather than Microsoft tools."

"The price could be better."

"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."

"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."

"We have to pay for a license."

"Presently, I am using a free trial version."

More Microsoft Configuration Manager pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

18%

Outsourcing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

11%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	20
Midsize Enterprise	13
Large Enterprise	66

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Ivanti Security Controls?

Ivanti Security Controls is a powerful product, but it has quite a steep learning curve. There is quite a lot to learn, though it proves to be very powerful if you put in the time to learn how to u...

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What is your primary use case for Ivanti Security Controls?

We are using Ivanti Security Controls for deploying Windows updates to Windows servers.

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Ivanti Security Controls?

I am currently working with Ivanti Security Controls as a customer. I think Ivanti Security Controls is an effective product for this purpose. I would give tech support for Ivanti Security Controls...

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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...

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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...

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Windows Server Update Services vs Ivanti Security Controls

Compared 12% of the time

PDQ Deploy vs Ivanti Security Controls

Compared 10% of the time

Ivanti Patch for Endpoint Manager vs Ivanti Security Controls

Compared 9% of the time

Ivanti Neurons for Patch Management vs Ivanti Security Controls

Compared 9% of the time

Ivanti Neurons Patch for Intune vs Ivanti Security Controls

Compared 8% of the time

More Ivanti Security Controls Competitors

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 7% of the time

ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 5% of the time

PDQ Deploy vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 5% of the time

Tanium vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 4% of the time

Red Hat Satellite vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 2% of the time

More Microsoft Configuration Manager Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Patch Management

March 2026

Download Ivanti Security Controls product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Configuration Manager

February 2026

Download Microsoft Configuration Manager product report

Also Known As

No data available

Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM ), Microsoft SMS

Overview

Ivanti Security Controls simplifies security with unified and automated prevention, detection, and response techniques that target your biggest attack vectors. It provides the security global experts agree creates the highest barriers to modern cyber attacks, including discovery, OS and application patch management, privilege management, and whitelisting.

Ivanti

Microsoft Configuration Manager streamlines IT management with features such as software deployment, patch management, and automation, centralizing operations for Windows environments. Integration with Microsoft products allows efficient oversight of workstations and servers.

Microsoft Configuration Manager provides comprehensive IT management, offering software deployment, patch management, and application pushing. Automation reduces manual tasks, ensuring consistency across systems. Centralized management enables standardized OS deployments, application updates, and configuration integrity. Integration with Microsoft products facilitates seamless operations, while hardware and software inventory, compliance reporting, and remote control functions enhance IT management. Users seek improvements in application deployment for those without deep scripting knowledge and desire better WSUS control, PowerShell and Intune integration, Linux compatibility, and user interface enhancements. Performance improvements are requested for remote user management and third-party application support.

What features enhance Microsoft Configuration Manager?

Software Deployment: Efficiently distribute software across large networks.
Patch Management: Automate and streamline update processes for security and functionality.
Automation Capabilities: Reduce manual effort and enhance consistency in IT tasks.
Centralized Management: Standardize OS deployments and application updates.
Integration with Microsoft Products: Seamless operation with existing Microsoft infrastructure.
Hardware and Software Inventory: Comprehensive tracking for assets and resources.
Compliance Reporting: Ensure compliance with internal and external standards.
Remote Control Functions: Enhance support and troubleshooting capabilities.

What benefits should users expect when evaluating Microsoft Configuration Manager?

Decreased Manual Work: Automation reduces time spent on repetitive tasks.
Enhanced Security: Automated patch management keeps systems secure.
Consistent Configurations: Centralized updates ensure uniformity across systems.
Improved Integration: Seamless operation within Microsoft ecosystems boosts productivity.
Comprehensive Oversight: Detailed inventory and reporting tools aid in strategic planning.
Streamlined Support: Remote capabilities improve IT support and user satisfaction.

Microsoft Configuration Manager is widely implemented in organizations to manage Windows workstations and servers. It is essential for deploying operating systems and applications, managing software updates, and conducting hardware and software inventories. The tool is crucial for endpoint and configuration management, ensuring compliance, and automating processes like patching and vulnerability management. Industries such as finance, healthcare, and education rely on Microsoft Configuration Manager to keep systems secure and operational, adapting it to address their specific needs and challenges in maintaining diversified IT environments.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Bank Alfalah Ltd., Wªrth Handelsges.m.b.H, Dimension Data, Japan Business Systems, St. Lucie County Public Schools, MISC Berhad

Buyer's Guide

Ivanti Security Controls vs. Microsoft Configuration Manager

March 2026

Free Report: Ivanti Security Controls vs. Microsoft Configuration Manager

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