Microsoft System Center vs Pandora FMS comparison

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Microsoft System Center

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

Microsoft System Center and Pandora FMS compete in the IT management and monitoring category. Based on their functionality and user feedback, Microsoft System Center has an upper hand for Windows-centric organizations, while Pandora FMS offers superior cross-platform flexibility.

Features: Microsoft System Center integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft products, boasts powerful automation capabilities, and a low learning curve for Windows administrators. It includes operations management, antivirus administration, and intricate alarm systems. Pandora FMS is noted for its simplicity and flexibility, supporting agent and agentless monitoring, geolocation, and intuitive interfaces. It provides comprehensive network monitoring, including TCP/IP services and efficient alarm notifications.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft System Center users face issues with non-Microsoft product integration, cumbersome installation, and platform performance. There is also a need for smoother third-party integration. Pandora FMS requires enhancements in resource efficiency, documentation, and dashboard customization. Improved analytics and simplified configuration processes are also desired. Microsoft System Center lacks in cloud-monitoring, while Pandora FMS needs better mainframe integration and real-time monitoring.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft System Center supports primarily on-premises deployment, with mixed reviews on technical support, citing response delays and lack of engagement. Pandora FMS offers diverse deployment options, including on-premises, hybrid, and public cloud. It receives better initial support feedback, usually requiring less technical support post-implementation compared to System Center.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft System Center is considered expensive due to licensing and support costs but offers significant ROI within the Windows ecosystem by reducing third-party dependency. Pandora FMS presents a cost-effective solution with competitive pricing, offering an open-source version and a straightforward single-payment license that includes updates and support, providing excellent value for budget-conscious businesses.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft System Center vs. Pandora FMS Report (Updated: March 2025).

Microsoft System Center vs. Pandora FMS

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Helped 847,862 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 System Center

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

24th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Infrastructure (13th)

Pandora FMS

Ranking in Cloud Monitoring Software

27th

Average Rating

9.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (42nd), Server Monitoring (16th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (40th), Log Management (41st)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Cloud Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Microsoft System Center is 0.2%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pandora FMS is 0.6%, down from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Ajinkya Mohod

System Security Engineer at Punch Powertrain nv

Makes user management and application management easy for users

Speaking about the impact of the automation feature that impacted our company's operational efficiency, I can say that the complete tool works on automation. You just have to configure it, and it works, especially in areas like auto-patching updates. I suggest that others can definitely go ahead with Microsoft System Center, especially beginners who choose it, can get hands-on experience with it, and acquire a good understanding of how things work. In terms of the value and benefits derived from the use of the solution, I can say that my company's operations have been made simpler because of the product, especially in areas like user management and application management where we have been benefited a lot. I rate the tool a nine out of ten.

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Gabriel Glusgold

Asociado/ at Infraestructura Informática

Personalized metrics; simplicity of data

My primary use case for Pandora is monitoring This solution has helped us improve our organization by allowing us to create a lot of metrics on several platforms, including Windows, Linux, and Unix. We then use these Pandora metrics to create an interface. We then pass the interface off to the…

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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

"The deployment and asset management features are the most valuable. These are the product's main features."

"The tool has many valuable features, including license tracking, software deployment, and installation deployment. However, we primarily use it for Windows updates and deployment for Windows servers and desktops. It's a complex product but very well-managed. If you use all the features, they will be valuable to your organization. It allows you to deploy desktops, manage patches, and track various features."

"The installation process is easy."

"The solution is easily available. That's its most valuable aspect."

"The most valuable feature of Microsoft System Center is its GUI (graphical user interface)."

"The features that I have found most valuable are the ease of configuration and the easy discovery of the environment."

"System Center helps to create the basis for ITIL alignment."

"The detail in the alarms is great."

More Microsoft System Center pros

"We are able to control our business with this all-in-one monitoring tool."

"The most valuable features are auto-discovery and automatic detection of the network topology and network monitoring."

"The monitoring system within this solution is very good. It is easy to use and navigate, and makes issue alarms easily viewable."

"Thanks to its flexibility, I have been able to adapt the tool to our servers and find out quickly how their console works."

"The official forum is active enough to answer most of the high-end technical questions that you may have."

"This solution has screens that are easy to understand and provide a wealth of information."

"It allows me to quickly see the status of all of my printers, switches, computers, and virtual machines to determine if any system has fallen."

"This product has allowed us to identify and correct certain issues that were affecting our solution."

More Pandora FMS pros

Cons

"Could be more user friendly."

"They should have some customized solutions or internal development, then maybe it could be easier to use different solutions or some self-developed solution."

"Implementation and integration in the case of multi-tenant environments needs improvement."

"We have some bugs but it's stable. It doesn't break every day. It works. Like other applications, it has a lot of bugs but they're manageable."

"The platform's performance could be improved. Additionally, its UI needs to be well-upgraded and work faster."

"Less server consumption would help, as would better, more flexible reports."

"In Microsoft System Center, it is difficult to follow the steps to create dataflows at times."

"Microsoft System Center should be easier to manage. However, it is complex to deploy, so people hesitate to use it. Though it has many features, such as licensing, asset tracking, and software deployment, we mainly use it for Windows updates. It protects many screens and integrates with databases, but it's complex compared to other solutions. Many now use cloud-based products or other tools like Automox to deploy updates and manage vulnerabilities."

More Microsoft System Center cons

"This solution requires proper training to get 100% out of it."

"When it comes to the definition of local Software Agents for the first time in the open-source version, it can become very tedious."

"A nice feature in the next release would be an automation module to run workflow actions."

"I would like for the solution to be faster and have a better tolerance between parallel servers for Pandora and Pest Control."

"I sincerely believe that Pandora needs new ideas for functionality closer to advanced device security monitoring."

"Pandora FMS is relatively new, and the interface with the older version crashes at times. We have several different operating systems, such as Linux and Windows, and Pandora does not run as well in these."

"It would be useful if Pandora FMS included an ISO image (or «software appliance») for each big company that leases virtual private machines (VPS), just like in AWS."

"Third-party integration should be improved for some commonly used products."

More Pandora FMS cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the product price as five to six on a scale of one to ten, where one means it is cheap and ten means it is expensive."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten."

"I know that sometimes there is some reduction in the prices of Microsoft System Center because of the costs of Microsoft SQL Server, which can be advantageous."

"It's rolled into our enterprise subscription. The entire subscription is around $25,000 a year, however, that covers all the products that we use."

"We maximized our license investment."

"Microsoft System Center is quite expensive."

"Microsoft System Center's licensing is costly."

"My rule of thumb would be that if you need more than thirty agents, and you lack an automation tool such as Chef or Puppet, you will save a lot of time and money going to the Enterprise edition."

"In terms of money, the Enterprise version is the cheapest that I have found after a market study."

"Pandora FMS is easy to implement and the pricing of licenses is competitive."

"You have to pay for the number of agents and models that you are monitoring. I would rate the cost at three with one being the most expensive and five being the cheapest."

"The Open Source Community Edition is great to just explore the software, or use it on medium-sized infrastructures."

"You get the license and it includes updates, new versions, and access to the complete library of modules."

"Growing the solution or migrating to the Enterprise version is easy, and various plans are available."

"Only one payment and it includes support, updates, new versions, and access to the complete library of plugins except for SAP and z/OS."

More Pandora FMS pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Comms Service Provider

10%

Government

Media Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft System Center?

The product's initial setup phase was easy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft System Center?

Microsoft System Center's licensing is costly.

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What needs improvement with Microsoft System Center?

Microsoft System Center should be easier to manage. However, it is complex to deploy, so people hesitate to use it. Though it has many features, such as licensing, asset tracking, and software depl...

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Comparisons

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Product Reports

Microsoft System Center

Download Microsoft System Center product report

Download Pandora FMS product report

Also Known As

MS System Center

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Overview

System Center helps customers realize the benefits of the Microsoft Cloud Platform by delivering unified management. Experience fast time-to-value with out-of-the-box monitoring, provisioning, configuration, automation, protection and self-service.

Microsoft

Pandora FMS is a monitoring as a service (MaaS) solution that is ideal for companies with at least 100 or more devices. Instead of multiple, difficult-to-integrate monitoring systems, Pandora FMS is an all-in-one solution that is easy to use. The software is able to untangle complicated technology infrastructures to easily identify the root cause of issues in order to find the most efficient solution. It does so by analyzing everything in your system, from databases and applications to services and desktops, as well as communications.

Pandora FMS Features

Pandora FMS has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

Application Monitoring (APM)
IoT monitoring
Log collection
Inventory
Issue management / ITSM
Mainframe monitoring
Network monitoring
Remote control
Synthetic monitoring
Service oriented monitoring
Server monitoring
User experience monitoring
Virtualization & cloud

Pandora FMS Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing Pandora FMS. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

Comprehensive overview: Pandora FMS provides a comprehensive overview of your system to make troubleshooting easy. It also provides all the tools to monitor and analyze an extensive range of data, from traffic to connectivity.

Easy forecasting: With Pandora FMS, you can use your network diagram for forecasting solutions, which gives you the necessary info you need to perform maintenance.

Proactive solutions: Issues are proactively addressed. Pandora FMS provides alerts 24/7 so you can deal with problems before they grow even bigger. This also helps your organization eliminate any down time.

Solve future problems: Another benefit of implementing Pandora FMS is that it enables you to optimize your services to ensure that future issues are minimized. In addition, they offer around-the-clock monitoring and automated solutions. As a result, the solution enables you to operate your organization with maximum efficiency all the time, saving you money and time.

Personalized service maps: Pandora FMS allows you to create detailed, personalized service maps that can help you identify any shortcomings in your system and address them as soon as possible.

SLA and availability reports: With Pandora FMS, you receive critical alerts when SLA levels aren’t met, which also helps you understand when your applications and systems are not meeting your business goals.

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the Pandora FMS solution.

PeerSpot user Marc C., Systems Analyst at a university, says, "It is easy to create your own custom modules if you just know a little bit of scripting. If you have unique requirements, you can just make your own modules. You can even grab checks from other vendors. There are open-source checks for various things such as SMTP, etc. It is really flexible. It is reliable. It does the job, and it alerts. It is also surprisingly feature-rich. It is very mature for a not-so-known product."

Another reviewer, Alexandre J., comments, “What I value most about Pandora FMS is the simplicity of working with it. The speed of locating problems and to be able to solve them quickly, so that it affects our client's network infrastructure as little as possible, is very valuable.

Thanks to Pandora FMS we have everything unified in the same point and it is highly efficient.”

Sample Customers

Kassen_rztliche Vereinigung Nordrhein, Magyar Telekom Nyrt., Adeka, QualCare, Aeriandi, UniCredit Bank d.d., Mostar, Allianz Australia Ltd., Grupo Familia

Rakuten, Prosegur, Repsol, Teléfonica, Allianz, Ottawa Hospital, Hughes

Microsoft System Center vs. Pandora FMS