Microsoft Configuration Manager vs OpenText ZENworks Configuration Management comparison

Microsoft Configuration Manager vs. OpenText ZENworks Configuration Management

Download the complete report

Helped 894,738 peers since 2012

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 Intune

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Configuration Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 5.4%, down from 10.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Configuration Manager is 7.8%, down from 12.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText ZENworks Configuration Management is 2.2%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Configuration Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Intune	5.4%
Microsoft Configuration Manager	7.8%
OpenText ZENworks Configuration Management	2.2%
Other	84.6%

Configuration Management

Featured Reviews

Varun Mehra

collaboration support engineer at a retailer with 11-50 employees

Centralized device management has transformed security and streamlined remote provisioning

One area where Microsoft Intune can improve is the user interface. Sometimes the portal feels a bit complex and not very intuitive, especially for new users, and it can take time to find specific settings. Another point is troubleshooting. While logs are available, the diagnostic policies and sync issues can still be time-consuming and not very straightforward. I also feel that reporting could be more detailed and customizable. The built-in reports are helpful, but for deeper insights, I often need to rely on additional tools. Overall, it is a strong solution, but improving usability and troubleshooting experience would make it even better. While Microsoft Intune works very well within the Microsoft ecosystem, the integration of some third-party tools could be smoother and require less customization. Support is another area that could improve, as sometimes response times can be slow, and resolving complex issues may take longer than expected. In terms of features, I think more advanced automation and built-in remediation options would be helpful since common issues can be fixed automatically without manual intervention.

Read full review

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.

Read full review

it_user1272306

Chief Technology Officer at DoITWise

Helpful impact analysis and the discovery capability is quite good

This tool works hand-in-hand with RPA technology. RPA will allow you to control your servers by deploying the server automation agent. You don't have the discovery, but then you can deploy the policies that maintain the authorized versus current state. On top of that, you can use server automation to deploy patches or remediate configuration issues on the operating system. My advice to anybody who is implementing this solution is to ensure that the process is set up properly, first. Once the process is set up, the tool will do the rest for you. Overall, this is a comprehensive tool that works well, and I wouldn't touch it other than to enhance the UI and make containerization work without the CDF. I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"On the cloud, you can manage everything; you can push policies, maintain patches, and maintain security because everything interacts on the cloud and a VPN is not required."

"Microsoft Intune is the best solution available; we can connect with any device and handle all queries, which sets it apart from other tools available in the market."

"Microsoft's cloud comes with a lot of extra features that are free of charge."

"Intune has automated the deployment of patches and applications, which is more efficient and easier. It allows us to deploy applications, packages, Windows updates, and security updates like BitLocker encryption more efficiently and easily."

"It significantly reduces the overhead associated with providing support."

"My favorite feature about Microsoft Intune is that I have good logging capabilities; I can effectively troubleshoot, though I'm also missing some aspects."

"Intune's most valuable feature is its centralized management capability."

"We have used conditional access policies to prevent users from copying internal resources or internal data to external devices, which has helped protect our organizations from being compromised."

More Microsoft Intune pros

"It does the job and meets our needs, and with everybody working remotely these days, we are using this solution to deploy everything."

"It does the job and meets our needs. With everybody working remotely these days, we are using this solution to deploy everything. The deployment of PCs is easy."

"It has the ability to perform mass distribution."

"The solution doesn't require any maintenance from our end because it is a cloud-based solution and Microsoft takes care of everything."

"This solution helps to ease the day-to-day system operations and standardization of the organization."

"It lets you know what your infrastructure is like and what state you are in."

"Valuable features include configurations enforcement, compliance data gathering, and deployment of a standardized OS."

"Patching is very effective and reporting is very good."

More Microsoft Configuration Manager pros

"Overall, this is a comprehensive tool that works well, and I wouldn't touch it other than to enhance the UI and make containerization work without the CDF."

"The most valuable feature is the impact analysis."

"Automatic Spiral Discovery: This feature enables deep and dynamic configuration and change management."

"We use it for managing our desktops; we have 350,000 desktops and it allows us to manage and control them relatively easily."

"Helps me perform changes in connected infrastructure thanks to the discovery features."

Cons

"It would be awesome if Microsoft opened their API so we could filter more properties. If we have to do anything outside of Intune that requires a third-party solution to talk back to it, we're very limited in what we can do. Trust your people. We promise not to break your stuff. Open it up just a tiny bit wider."

"My main pain point for Microsoft Intune is the contact part. Not all Android or iOS applications have access to integration, for example, contacts."

"The most significant challenge is reporting and monitoring. The reporting accuracy for deploying applications and all aspects of Intune needs to be improved."

"Microsoft Intune could improve by being more user-friendly and having it geared toward device management. The graphic interface is not very good."

"We face multiple scenarios where IT decision-makers request specific policy implementations, however, due to product limitations, we cannot fulfill these requests."

"I know that their AI pieces are at the infancy stage, but allowing users to do more tagging for information would be an interesting thing because Intune also directly integrates with Azure. Because a lot of the devices are hosted with that, you also get a lot of tagging of user data and other things like that."

"I have one remark about the application management for the Android version. Often, the Play Store opens and leaves the possibility to download to the user, which is not good."

"Due to the abundance of features, there's a lot to organize, which makes managing and setting up the solution challenging. The setup is immense, and it would be good to see improvement in this area."

More Microsoft Intune cons

"The reports are too busy. They could be simpler. I'm a technician, so I don't care how pretty the reports look. They should be easy to read. I'm designing this for production folks. They need to read the reports quickly when they're patching in the middle of the night."

"It is a bit of an old and outdated product."

"Management of Linux devices could be improved."

"Our company would prefer not rebooting computers while people are using them. There seems to be no strategy behind it."

"I would like to see an agentless version of the solution."

"Servers are still not getting it properly, so we could add the servers in Microsoft Configuration Manager for things such as OS deployment and Autopilot as well."

"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 setup was complex and I faced a lot of problems initially because I was new to the solution."

More Microsoft Configuration Manager cons

"The infrastructure itself is stable, but the agent has a lot of problems."

"The native UI should be simplified because it is outdated and a little bit over-complicated."

"It needs dashboards."

"The native UI should be simplified because it is outdated and a little bit over-complicated."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing depends on the features. Microsoft offers special packages if there are more than 10,000 users, and you may be able to get a reduced rate."

"No one can compete with Microsoft when it comes to price, and the features it is offering."

"Every customer used to purchase licenses based on their needs."

"I recently got to know that the AD P1 license is compulsory to use Intune Autopilot, which was surprising for me. Earlier, this was not the case. It is the wrong thing to do. We now need to purchase AD P1 licenses for us and for our customers. I would rate it a seven out of ten for pricing."

"The pricing is not cheap, especially with inflation. They've had to increase their prices. It's not excessive, but alright."

"Any bundle package, such as Security E3, covers multiple things, such as AAP, BitLocker, etc. If you go for them individually, they would be more expensive. Bundling makes the price more attractive and competitive."

"The tool is cheaper than our company's other MDM tools."

"While I can't provide insights from a business perspective, it's worth noting that the pricing may differ significantly, and the discount we received might not be reflective of standard business rates."

More Microsoft Intune pricing and cost advice

"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."

"Its price is okay because it is part of our licensing."

"Microsoft provides a steep price for their enterprise products, but they offer very competitive pricing for their legacy customers."

"Pricing is negotiable with Microsoft, depending upon which of their packages you choose."

"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."

"SCCM comes with its own version of SQL Server. If you use that SQL Server with SCCM and don't use it for another applications than you get an SQL Server for free."

"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 price is competitive and reasonable."

More Microsoft Configuration Manager pricing and cost advice

"This is a really good tool for the money."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Configuration Management solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

894,738 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

12%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

University

31%

Government

10%

Construction Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	157
Midsize Enterprise	59
Large Enterprise	181

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	20
Midsize Enterprise	13
Large Enterprise	69

No data available

Questions from the Community

How does Microsoft Intune compare with VMware Workspace One?

Microsoft Intune is a great tool for managing a mobile device fleet while keeping access control. The solution makes ...

What are the pros and cons of Microsoft Intune?

Microsoft Intune is a great configuration management tool and has a lot of good things going for it. Here are some of...

How does Google Cloud Identity compare with Microsoft Intune?

Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also ...

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 ...

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. Wh...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SCCM?

The setup cost is considered sufficient. It is not significant enough for us to consider a change at the moment.

Jamf Pro vs Microsoft Intune

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

Comparisons

Compared 10% of the time

IBM MaaS360 vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 9% of the time

Workspace ONE UEM vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 7% of the time

ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 4% of the time

NinjaOne vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 1% of the time

More Microsoft Intune Competitors

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 6% of the time

PDQ Deploy vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 4% of the time

BigFix vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 3% of the time

ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 3% of the time

ManageEngine OS Deployer vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 3% of the time

More Microsoft Configuration Manager Competitors

HashiCorp Terraform vs OpenText ZENworks Configuration Management

Compared 12% of the time

AWS Systems Manager vs OpenText ZENworks Configuration Management

Compared 7% of the time

BMC TrueSight Server Automation vs OpenText ZENworks Configuration Management

Compared 7% of the time

Red Hat Satellite vs OpenText ZENworks Configuration Management

Compared 6% of the time

AWS CloudFormation vs OpenText ZENworks Configuration Management

Compared 5% of the time

More OpenText ZENworks Configuration Management Competitors

Product Reports

Microsoft Intune

Download Microsoft Intune product report

Microsoft Configuration Manager

Download Microsoft Configuration Manager product report

Configuration Management

Download OpenText ZENworks Configuration Management product report

OpenText ZENworks Configuration Management report

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager

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

Micro Focus ZENworks Configuration Management, HPE CMS, HPE Configuration Management, Micro Focus Configuration Management

Overview

Microsoft Intune is a cloud-based service designed for device management, security, and compliance. It supports automation and facilitates endpoint management for Windows, iOS, and Android devices, ensuring data protection and efficient policy enforcement.

Microsoft Intune offers seamless integration with tools like Windows Autopilot to automate device setup and deployment. Integrated with Azure Active Directory, it enhances policy management while providing robust reporting and analytics tools for compliance tracking. Despite its intuitive interface aimed at simplifying navigation and device security management, there are challenges such as compatibility issues with Linux and Mac, limited policy support for Android, and demands for better third-party integration. It's widely used for both corporate-owned devices and BYOD scenarios in dynamic IT environments.

What are the key features of Microsoft Intune?

Windows Autopilot: Automates device setup for rapid deployment.
Azure Active Directory Integration: Enhances user policy management.
Reporting and Analytics: Improves compliance visibility.
Mobile Application Management: Ensures app security without compromising personal data.
Cloud-Based Management: Allows management from any location.

What benefits and ROI can users expect?

Time Efficiency: Automation reduces time in policy enforcement and configuration updates.
Enhanced Security: Ensures data protection across corporate-owned and BYOD devices.
Improved Compliance: Advanced reporting tools enhance compliance visibility.
Flexible Management: Cloud-based nature supports management from any location.

In industries such as finance and healthcare, Microsoft Intune is implemented to ensure data protection and compliance with regulatory standards. Manufacturing sectors utilize Intune for managing a distributed workforce across global locations, while educational institutions employ it to secure and manage devices in learning environments supporting both students and faculty.

Microsoft

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

OpenText ZENworks Configuration Management provides robust IT asset management and configuration capabilities. Designed to manage devices and applications efficiently, it ensures seamless operations across networks while reducing complexity in IT environments.

OpenText ZENworks Configuration Management helps businesses streamline device management by automating routine IT tasks. It's well-suited for managing desktops, laptops, and servers. The software supports centralized administration, which reduces downtime and manpower costs. IT departments value its scalability and secure configuration capabilities, enabling them to manage diverse networks with ease.

What are the key features?

Device Management: Simplifies the management of endpoints with automated updates and patches.
Asset Inventory: Provides comprehensive tracking and management of software and hardware assets.
Remote Control: Allows secure remote access to troubleshoot devices.
Policy Enforcement: Ensures compliance through automated policy deployment.
Reporting: Offers detailed insights and reports on device statuses and usage patterns.

What benefits and ROI should users expect?

Cost Efficiency: Reduces IT administration costs by automating repetitive tasks.
Improved Security: Enhances security with robust patch management.
Easy Scalability: Supports growing infrastructure without scaling issues.
Time Savings: Minimizes downtime and increases productivity with efficient management.

Industries such as healthcare, education, and finance leverage OpenText ZENworks Configuration Management for its customizable configurations that suit regulatory requirements and data security needs. Its deployment supports diverse network structures, offering flexibility in managing unique IT demands across sectors.

OpenText

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway

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

Tech Mahindra, NNIT, ASIC

Microsoft Configuration Manager vs. OpenText ZENworks Configuration Management