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Microsoft Configuration Manager vs Qualys Patch Management comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 24, 2024

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 Configuration Man...
Ranking in Patch Management
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
81
Ranking in other categories
Server Monitoring (4th), Configuration Management (3rd)
Qualys Patch Management
Ranking in Patch Management
4th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Patch Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Configuration Manager is 15.5%, down from 18.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qualys Patch Management is 3.8%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Patch Management
 

Featured Reviews

MikeNelson2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Deployment recovery works well but requires configuration improvements
While I do not use the product frequently, many issues were due to configuration rather than the product itself. I cannot give an exact recommendation as it is not my area of responsibility. The team that uses it finds it adequate. It is presently good enough for us not to investigate other options. Overall, I rate the product a six out of ten.
Revathi VeeraRaghavan - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides a centralized platform for managing assets and vulnerabilities, enabling assessment, prioritization, and remediation
Qualys Patch Management system requires several improvements. Firstly, the inability to download asset patches and the lack of third-party application integration limit patch accessibility. Additionally, rollback options are unreliable, and pre-deployment patch testing is crucial. Reporting needs enhancement, particularly with group-based compliance percentages and clearer, VMDR-like reporting in the Patch Management module. Furthermore, detection speed should be improved, as patches are released 24 hours after QIDs are published. The user interface could be more functional, with dashboards for patch compliance visualization and simplified error code language. Finally, the Mac patch catalogue needs expansion, and automated workflows, policy enforcement, and testing procedures should be streamlined for seamless, user-independent operation.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It gives us the ability to set up schedules, according to what our security requirements are, to automate the patching of our servers and desktops."
"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 process has significantly improved our software distribution workflows."
"The most valuable feature of SCCM is the application distribution."
"The scalability to deploy the package."
"Provides great insight into the functionalities of the data scope."
"The solution is stable."
"I find the product valuable for deployment recovery and it has done much more than that."
"It has the ability to perform mass distribution."
"Qualys Patch Management has reduced our organizational risk by 99.9 percent."
"The most valuable feature in Patch Management is the Qualys query language for set-it-and-forget-it patching for our preapproved patches, and our preapproved schedules, That is extremely helpful compared to the old days of patching."
"Qualys Patch Management's most valuable feature is its responsiveness."
"Policy enforcement requires less time for my team because users cannot avoid applying updates. The user can skip two or three times or for a maximum of eight hours. After that, there is no way to avoid it. It helps us keep the environment safe."
"Patch Management gave my side and the security side a single pane of glass and the ability to better coordinate the delivery of patches."
"For a few applications, you do not need to go and download the patches from the network or somewhere else. They have the patches or the latest updates in the directory. You can just select a patch and deploy it to a server. You can create a patch job and select the patch. Everything is within the interface. You do not need to go out of it."
"We can update the registry with special features such as Registry Update. We can also run scripts via the Patch Management module. These features are very helpful in our operations."
"Qualys Patch Management is beneficial for addressing critical vulnerability alerts quickly, providing significant improvements in mitigating risk within our organization."
 

Cons

"The main room for improvement is the on-screen display. I think it would be good if some improvements were made."
"It would be better if reporting were more user-friendly. I would like to see an upgrade in the reporting structure in the next release. At the moment, you have to use an SQL query or configure it to pull reports through the graphical user interface. Their updates could be more regular. I think Mircosoft updates it every six months. They are also moving many things to Intune, and Microsoft decided to move the deployment solution there. I think SCCM is getting old, and Intune is new."
"There's no way to say, "I want this maintenance window to be on the second Tuesday of the month." It's strict. This window is this and that's it. You can't fluctuate."
"On some hardware, we'd like an easier way to get peripherals attached."
"Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager can improve by allowing us to schedule the scripts, we don't have a script scheduling option and have to do it manually."
"It is not easy to get good technical support, especially at level one."
"The operations could be faster and you need some patience with this tool."
"The cost of the product can be improved."
"There is room for improvement in terms of adding more patches. Not all patches are available for deployment on Qualys Patch Management, so collaborating with various vendors to provide new patches would be beneficial."
"Qualys's current response time for releasing solutions to zero-day vulnerabilities, which takes approximately 12 to 16 hours, needs improvement."
"Downloading extensive vulnerability reports, especially those with millions of entries, is time-consuming. To improve efficiency, Qualys should implement faster download speeds and offer reports in Excel format in addition to the current CSV option."
"Some patches require OEM consent or must be released by OEM. For example, if an outdated version of a tool like Falcon is detected, Qualys flags it as a vulnerability, but cannot automate the patch update."
"The patch status and patch completion information should be improved. If a patch fails due to some reason, such as a Windows error, the error code that gets published should be more detailed."
"It is pretty good. However, it would be good to have more widgets and AI-generated reports. I have not seen anything related to AI with Qualys. It would be beneficial for Qualys to incorporate AI-generated tools for Patch Management and VMDR. This could assist in managing risks, providing AI-generated reports, and creating risk letters for clients, which can streamline communication."
"The pricing of the solution is slightly high compared to other tools in our field."
"Qualys could improve its capacity to fix vulnerabilities on VMware and other virtualized environments. The reporting could also be enhanced to make it more user-friendly. It's difficult for beginners to learn."
 

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."
"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."
"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."
"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 price could be better."
"The solution operates on a licensing model that can be expensive."
"Along with buying a license for MECM, we also have to buy a service called CMG (Cloud Management Gateway) which is a virtual machine in the cloud with which you can link your MECM to the Azure tenant so as to manage teleworkers."
"The licensing is good because they have various options, depending on what you are looking for."
"Qualys Patch Management is expensive."
"I'm unaware of Qualys' exact price, but it's more expensive than Nessus. With technological products, you need to pay to get the best."
"Compared to other tools, the price of Qualys Patch Management is reasonable."
"From what I have heard, Qualys Patch Management is pricey, which is a main barrier to entry. Another aspect that I do not like about Qualys is that they do not add new patch management functionalities to the existing package. It is a separate SKU, so you have to pay more money."
"Pricing is on the higher side. We found it costly compared to other vendors."
"The pricing is reasonable and competitive. We get many more features at the same price compared to other solutions such as Microsoft SCCM. It is worth the money considering the services and features it has. Their support team is also awesome."
"Qualys Patch Management comes as part of a bundled package with several modules, making it a cost-effective deal for us."
"The licensing cost is more than 2,000 for the whole Americas region"
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
19%
Government
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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 ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys Patch Management?
Qualys Patch Management comes as part of a bundled package with several modules, making it a cost-effective deal for us. I cannot speak to the separate cost, as we have always used it as part of th...
What needs improvement with Qualys Patch Management?
I do not have any major problems. I think it's working great. My recommendation would be not just for Patch Management but for Qualys itself. I am using Qualys through a third party or reseller. Th...
What is your primary use case for Qualys Patch Management?
We are in the education industry, and we perform weekly scans. On weekends, we scan our entire management, servers, and expectations. Then on Monday, I set up some weekly reports. From these, I'll ...
 

Also Known As

Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM )
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bank Alfalah Ltd., Wªrth Handelsges.m.b.H, Dimension Data, Japan Business Systems, St. Lucie County Public Schools, MISC Berhad
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Configuration Manager vs. Qualys Patch Management and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
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