Microsoft Configuration Manager vs ServiceNow Discovery comparison

Microsoft and ServiceNow are both solutions in the Server Monitoring category. Microsoft is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.3, while ServiceNow is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.2. Microsoft holds a 9.5% mindshare in SM, compared to ServiceNow’s 9.1% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of ServiceNow users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Configuration Man...

Read 80 Microsoft Configuration Manager reviews

3,078 Views
2,330 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

ServiceNow Discovery

Read 40 ServiceNow Discovery reviews

3,187 Views
1,574 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Microsoft Configuration Man...

ServiceNow Discovery

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 20, 2024

Microsoft Configuration Manager and ServiceNow Discovery are compared in the IT management category. ServiceNow Discovery generally outperforms Microsoft Configuration Manager, especially in features and ease of deployment.

Features: Microsoft Configuration Manager offers comprehensive device management capabilities, integration with Windows environments, and reliable patch management. ServiceNow Discovery is valued for robust IT asset management, automated discovery, and extensive automation and coverage.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft Configuration Manager can benefit from more intuitive configuration settings, better support for non-Windows devices, and improved reporting functionalities. ServiceNow Discovery users suggest enhancements in reporting functionalities, initial setup complexity, and more streamlined user experience.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Configuration Manager is noted for its straightforward deployment in Windows ecosystems but faces challenges in mixed environments. ServiceNow Discovery offers a more flexible deployment process but can be complex initially. Users find ServiceNow Discovery's customer service more responsive and helpful compared to Microsoft Configuration Manager.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Configuration Manager is considered cost-effective for organizations heavily invested in Microsoft technologies, offering good value for its price. ServiceNow Discovery, while more expensive, is regarded as worth the investment due to its extensive capabilities and positive ROI. ServiceNow Discovery's pricing aligns better with its advanced feature set, leading to a higher perceived ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Configuration Manager vs. ServiceNow Discovery Report (Updated: October 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Configuration Manager vs. ServiceNow Discovery

October 2024

Download the complete report

Helped 815,854 peers since 2012

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Configuration Man...

Ranking in Server Monitoring

2nd

Average Rating

8.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Configuration Management (3rd), Patch Management (1st)

ServiceNow Discovery

Ranking in Server Monitoring

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Asset Management (5th), Cloud Resource Discovery Services (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Server Monitoring category, the mindshare of Microsoft Configuration Manager is 9.5%, down from 11.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow Discovery is 9.1%, up from 7.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Server Monitoring

Featured Reviews

Sachin Vinay

Assistant Manager-Networks at Amrita

Dec 12, 2022

We can specialize the policies related to each device group which ensures that each group has access to the applications they need for their work and non-work hours

I give the solution a nine out of ten. Maintenance is required for some client requests because a few of our cases involve clients reporting issues with their applications. We need to maintain their laptops because they usually run into issues while running other applications. However, in the case of personal computers, there is no problem. We can maintain them with only 20% of the typical maintenance requirements. I would recommend that everyone try out the Endpoint Manager solution from Microsoft. It is a great product because it integrates well with Microsoft products, which most organizations use. This reduces the number of integration and troubleshooting problems. Even if Microsoft products are not used in an organization, I still recommend this product. Other solutions are available but there may be some integration and troubleshooting problems.

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RISHI GUPTA

Senior Manager at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Jan 20, 2023

Valuable relationship building that discovers and auto-builds to make cleanup easy

Proof of concept for the solution doesn't make much sense. It totally depends on the capability of your partner. Choose the partner very carefully while you plan to use the solution. If you get a very competent and capable partner, then life will be easy. If you have a partner who only does technical implementations, then that won't help you. You need to have CMDB and CSDM experts on the team because the solution is for CMDB and CSDM. If you don't design your data model really well, then the solution will not give you much result. The solution is not fully automated so you still need to make some effort. You have to go through the complete remodeling cycle for non-useful data elimination whenever you add a new LAN segment or new mid-server on a new data center or service. It is a little bit of effort, but it is worth the effort. Based on the necessary but important effort, the solution is rated a seven out of ten.

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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

"This has made the management of our environment easier."

"Software deployment and WSUS are most valuable."

"The ability to make collections and deploy to them has been great."

"I manage software updates and operating systems for devices, and within seconds, we can remotely deploy a system for, say, 2,000 devices. Not only that, but we can also deploy scripts and create comprehensive compliance rules."

"It's a stable product."

"There is a faster time to rollout. If we get a new PC, it can be ready for productivity right away."

"We are happy with the collaboration of SCCM with Patch My PC, which allows us to do patch work."

"We're a Microsoft-centric organization, so we are happy with the integration between products."

More Microsoft Configuration Manager pros

"The solution can prioritize the discovery of IP ranges. The product automatically places all Discovery CIs into the correct class within the CMDB."

"We can find servers or services we were unaware of and stumble on vulnerabilities from those devices."

"The solution finds public cloud infrastructures globally and updates the integration management database, service catalogs, and asset management details."

"I like ServiceNow Discovery's overall structure and the way data comes in without creating a different dashboard or interface."

"I believe one of the great functionalities or improvements in ServiceNow Discovery is its ability to gather information about any Configuration Items (CIs)."

"One highly valuable aspect is the use of service accounts, which automates the process of identifying underlying nodes and associated assets."

"It's pretty robust, and it's agentless for the most part. So, you don't need to deploy agents, which makes it a lot easier to stand up."

"This solution provides excellent insights."

More ServiceNow Discovery pros

Cons

"Built in PowerShell cmdlets would be a nice feature because managing clients remotely can be a pain without knowing the WMI calls to run."

"Based on my experience with SCCM 2016, the main, big issue is not having a good user-friendly environment. It needs much better GUI."

"The product needs to improve scalability."

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

"In terms of the monitoring, the timeframe it takes to actually report back on the compliance of a device after it has been patched is a bit too long."

"As far as load balancing across, they don't have that support yet, so that you can actually build multiple primaries and have it load balance across. They don't have any of that functionality yet. That would be a nice feature, to scale that way."

"Initial setup was complex. There's a lot that goes into it."

"SCCM can improve on third-party application support."

More Microsoft Configuration Manager cons

"The solution should improve the classes of discovery assets to disregard more junk data."

"The service mapping component is less developed than it is in other solutions, and is in need of improvement."

"Application discovery could be improved. And, right now, ServiceNow needs to be coupled with another solution in order to verify information."

"Technical support has not been helpful when we have come across problems."

"We would like more flexibility with the licensing. Discovery is bundled with ServiceNow's ITOM license. It was more affordable when it was sold separately, but we bought a package license to get more functionality out of the CMDB. We'd prefer to buy only the pieces we need instead of taking things we don't want or solutions that aren't yet mature enough to use."

"On the Software Asset Management part of it, I expect additional reconciliation and Discovery features there."

"The product should improve its customer interface, web interface, and front end. I would like to see the integration of keyboard chat with the solution."

"What needs improvement in ServiceNow Discovery is the reporting UI because I didn't find it as friendly compared to other tools. Other tools have better reporting UI than what's currently in ServiceNow Discovery. What I'd like to see in the next release of ServiceNow Discovery is more user-friendly out-of-the-box reporting that would be helpful for non-technical users. Some users such as managers would want to just do a few clicks to access the reports and shouldn't be required to do search queries, but right now, reporting in the tool isn't very user-friendly."

More ServiceNow Discovery cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 licensing is good because they have various options, depending on what you are looking for."

"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."

"Pricing and licensing are horrible. You have to not look at dollar value to use SCCM. It's super-duper expensive but it works. The acquisition cost is expensive, it's labor-intensive. But it works."

"The price model is different for every client."

"We use the tool's free license. It is 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."

"I rate the price of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager an eight out of ten."

More Microsoft Configuration Manager pricing and cost advice

"The solution is very expensive."

"You need a subscription to ServiceNow Discovery, so you can use its features. You can also use specific plugins with the tool, and some of the plugins are free. I don't have information on how much my company pays for the subscription to ServiceNow Discovery."

"It's a bit expensive compared to other products in the market, but it's worth the money you pay because it's far advanced in terms of features, automation, and capabilities compared to other products."

"I would rate the product's pricing a six out of ten. We had availed some discount from the standard pricing. Even then, the tool's pricing is expensive. You have to pay some vendor service fees for the product's implementation."

"This is expensive, but it meets our needs."

"It's on a yearly basis. We renew our contract for three years at a time."

"The pricing is determined based on the CIs."

"The product is not cheap."

More ServiceNow Discovery pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Healthcare Company

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...

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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

What do you like most about ServiceNow Discovery?

The solution can prioritize the discovery of IP ranges. The product automatically places all Discovery CIs into the correct class within the CMDB.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ServiceNow Discovery?

The product pricing is fair and reasonable for the value it provides. However, it is important to factor in the ongoing maintenance costs, as the system requires professional upkeep to ensure optim...

See all answers

What needs improvement with ServiceNow Discovery?

The continuous improvement in the quality and customization of the product features would be beneficial, particularly as more customers rely heavily on its capabilities.

See all answers

Comparisons

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 13% of the time

ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 13% of the time

Tanium vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 7% of the time

BigFix vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 6% of the time

Kaseya VSA vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 2% of the time

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Tanium vs ServiceNow Discovery

Compared 30% of the time

Lansweeper vs ServiceNow Discovery

Compared 18% of the time

BMC Helix Discovery vs ServiceNow Discovery

Compared 6% of the time

ScienceLogic vs ServiceNow Discovery

Compared 6% of the time

SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor vs ServiceNow Discovery

Compared 5% of the time

More ServiceNow Discovery Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Configuration Manager

November 2024

Download Microsoft Configuration Manager product report

Buyer's Guide

ServiceNow Discovery

October 2024

Download ServiceNow Discovery product report

Also Known As

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

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Microsoft

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ServiceNow

Overview

Microsoft Configuration Manager helps IT manage PCs and servers, keeping software up-to-date, setting configuration and security policies, and monitoring system status while giving employees access to corporate applications on the devices that they choose. When Configuration Manager is integrated with Microsoft Intune, you can manage corporate-connected PCs and Macs along with cloud-based mobile devices running Windows, iOS, and Android, all from a single management console.

New features of Configuration Manager, such as the support of Windows 10 in-place upgrade, co-management with Microsoft Intune, Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise Servicing Dashboard, integration with Windows Update for Business, and more make deploying and managing Windows easier than ever before.

ServiceNow Discovery finds applications and devices on your network, and then updates the CMDB with the information it finds. Discovery is available as a separate subscription from the rest of the Now Platform.

Sample Customers

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

York, National Grid, DXC Technology, experian, BEACHBODY

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Configuration Manager vs. ServiceNow Discovery

October 2024

Free Report: Microsoft Configuration Manager vs. ServiceNow Discovery

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Configuration Manager vs. ServiceNow Discovery and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.

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