Microsoft Configuration Manager Reviews

We use this solution to apply new group policies.

The solution was particularly helpful for patching the OS, and for the VM in our environment. With 10 branches, we have a huge number of VMs. Using ECM, we can download the new patches one by one, apply and then restore them. It saves us a lot of time. 

The valuable feature is the ability to gain all the data you need. We can collect data and get insight into the functionalities of their scope. As system administrators, we get a summarized report for each site with the installed version of the OS for all PCs in our environment. We know which meet the requirements and which don't. For those that don't, we can mitigate any potential vulnerabilities or threats.

I think managing Linux devices could be improved. It would help our colleagues and other departments like the dev opps, who only use Linux machines to quickly patch their VMs.

I've been using this solution for two years. 

The solution is stable. 

The solution is scalable. 

The technical support could be improved. 

The initial setup is very straightforward. We have six users. 

It's important to keep the database going at all times to avoid any interruption of the service. The implementation must be very well designed because you have to know the scope of your workload and that should be addressed in the action plan before proceeding with the deployment. 

I rate this solution eight out of 10. 

We mostly use Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager for patch management and application deployment. We will check and post a critical or supplement patch if there is a vulnerability.

I like Mircosoft's technical support. Microsoft has a few updates, like some of the critical KBs. They are published within the interval time, and in case of an escalation on the client missions, we will raise a ticket with the Microsoft team. They will create a hotfix or a critical update. They will chat with us, and that is one thing I like about Microsoft. Whenever any issues occur at my organization, they will help you out soon as possible within the SLA.

It would be better if automation options were available. For example, in Nexthink or SysTrack, there is an analytical tool. Creating dashboards would be very easy if you implement the same thing in Microsoft. That report will be a daily cost to the customers and good revenue for our organization. The price also could be better.

In the next release, we need to include some features like tables, dashboards, surveys, services, and metrics in the dashboard. Whatever we are implementing will be downloaded by a report. Apart from the report, we will telecast from the dashboard. It's very easy to compare, and it will be easy to telecast to the end-users.

I have been using Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager for five years.

Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is a stable solution. There is nothing to worry about. When Microsoft pushes updates or patches, they will be in the W-Sync server. We have some people who will concentrate on Sync's parameters. Apart from that, everything is perfect.

Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is a scalable solution.

From my point of view, I'm just giving 60% to 70% marks to those who support us with these issues. If there are any new issues, they will check in with the corresponding team, which takes some time. If there are issues with a single machine or server, or it affects the whole environment, they will analyze it from their end and provide a hotfix.

On a scale from one to five, I would give Microsoft technical support a four.

Positive

I would tell potential users that for 15,000 or 30,000 machines, you must go with Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager as it's the best tool. We can install the clients on all the end-user machines. All the data will be recorded in the Microsoft console itself. There's no need to worry if the patching activities will be hygienic, which will be very useful. 

You can go with another third-party software if you're just a small organization with 50-odd machines. The Microsoft license cost is relatively high, but everything will be perfect, stable, and reliable.

The initial setup is straightforward because Microsoft is always user-friendly. They will share the parameters, like troubleshooting steps and the pre-request. They will send the database knowledge-base document to us. It will be a step-by-step procedure. There won't be any worrying or alarming issues with Microsoft. If we have any problems, we will raise a ticket with Microsoft, and the team from Microsoft will help us. We can implement this solution within two or three hours, depending on the bandwidth speed.

On a scale from one to five, I will give the initial setup a four.

We implemented this solution.

The price could be better.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager a nine.

We use System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) to manage workstations and servers in our Windows environment. We are primarily a Windows-only environment, which is what SCCM is designed to manage. It uses WMI underlying technology to ensure that it is compatible with all versions of Windows, from Windows XP to Windows 10. We use it to manage our Windows workstations and Servers. We use SCCM to do many things, like deploy operating systems, deploy applications, configure settings, gather compliance data, enforce software patching and run reports for software installations information.

We do not use it to do Mobile Device Management, though it does have that capability.

It does not manage products outside of Microsoft operating systems, so this product would be for Microsoft-heavy businesses.

Using SCCM allows our team to reimage a computer within an hour and have it ready to deploy to a user in less than a day. If we get a new workstation model, we can easily add drivers to the server and it will be compatible with our image. We can count on images and workstations having a specific configuration and having it enforced. It allows us to spend less time doing manual work and more time helping users. It also gives us good business intelligence through its reporting features.

• Deployment of a standardized operating system
• Application deployment to all domain machines
• Configurations enforcement
  
• Compliance data gathering

Ensuring configuration integrity across the domain is essential for maintaining an environment, so SCCM helps our company enforce a uniform configuration. SCCM’s ability to deploy applications to maintain updates and up-to-date software is also essential. Many vendors will not support end users if we are not on the latest software release, so this allows the IT department to control application versions and deployments. SCCM is also essential in maintaining WSUS updates, as those are a challenge to enforce as well.

SCCM is a pretty great product already. It has benefited greatly from having been around since its original incarnation as Small Business Server 2003. It would be cool if the SCCM client had some PowerShell cmdlets built into it, as managing clients remotely can be a pain without knowing the WMI calls to run remotely. Also, continued development PowerShell integration with the console (which they have already started developing).

Improperly set security settings can lead to console performance issues. SCCM client issues are also inevitable. We recently had to diagnose and fix downloading issues caused by older BranchCache issues with the old client. Otherwise, the client and server are very stable.

No. SCCM has the ability to be as big or as small as needed by the business. It can be used by businesses ranging from single office companies to massive international corporations.

N/A. SCCM is one of the most popular products on the market, so there are LOTS of online help articles for almost any problem you will have. I have never contacted their support because it's expensive, and I am stubborn and like to figure out problems myself.

N/A

The initial setup takes planning and careful consideration. It will also take input from your networking team, as it will take some router configuration to get PXE booting working. The overall design of the SCCM servers needs to be considered as well, as you can't change the big picture structure later. You have to decide if you want only a primary site or if you want a central administration hub with primary sites reporting to it, so it will take planning to setup.

Configuring the groups, collections, boundaries, and server roles takes time as well. It will also take an understanding of the business's needs and will require IT helpdesk input to be most effective.

Configuring applications and settings takes a bit less time once you have the underlying infrastructure setup, but SCCM doesn't really help you discover install commands outside of MSI or APPX packages. To be fair, there's not much they can do, but a technician will need to be aware of that.

I implemented it, so in-house. 

Microsoft has affordable pricing for Small to Medium Businesses, and it comes with many SMB packages already. It is worth investing in these, because the returns in automation and environmental integrity pay back the cost.

N/A

SCCM is a fantastic solution whose use is only limited by your creativity. Since it allows you to use PowerShell or VBScript to configure settings or execute procedures, a technician can make the any system do what they would like, provided they know how to do it programmatically. It can be a bit of a challenge to setup, configure, and maintain, but once you do, it will benefit you greatly. It is a complicated, complex product, so there is a learning curve, but that complexity is intrinsically linked to its ability to be a powerful tool. If setup improperly, SCCM can wipe out entire environments (don’t make an OS a required task sequence to all computers, for instance), but that is difficult to do.

We use the solution for remote control, patch management, and software deployment. 

The tool's most valuable features include security updates and patch management, which are critical functions for maintaining security. The automated software distribution and the ability to manage deployments are also highly useful. Enforcing compliance with set policies on systems is another key functionality we leverage.

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.

I have been working with the product for eight to ten years. 

I rate Microsoft Configuration Manager's stability a ten out of ten. 

I rate the solution's scalability an eight out of ten.

As a main competitor to Microsoft Configuration Manager, I've used Ansible quite extensively as an alternative. There are also other products like those from Ivanti or Jamf. From an automation standpoint, we've tried Ansible and Chef as competitors. However, doing a direct function-by-function comparison is difficult since they all have different capabilities.

Our team is highly skilled, so it seems fairly straightforward from my perspective. However, the difficulty likely depends on skill levels.

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.

The solution is mostly for enterprises. Smaller businesses can opt for Microsoft Intune or other third-party products. I rate the overall product an eight out of ten. 

Microsoft Configuration Manager helps with patch management. 

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

I have been working with the product for ten years. 

Microsoft Configuration Manager is stable. We have experienced downtime from time to time. 

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

I rate Microsoft Configuration Manager a six out of ten. 

We are using Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager to manage our client's Microsoft estate. 

The most valuable feature of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is the availability of being able to manage the Microsoft estate. It handles many areas, such as asset management and tracking.

Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager could improve the integration.

I have been using Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager for approximately 10 years.

Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is highly stable.

The scalability of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is good.

The support for Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is good.

We did not face any challenges with the initial setup of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager. The time it takes to do the deployment depends upon the size of the environment. Smaller deployments don't take more than a week and very large deployments can take up to three to six months.

The support staff needed for Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager depends upon the size of the deployment. However, we do not require a large number of people to support it. 

Microsoft comes with an end-to-end package that can include Office 365 and many other applications put together, it makes it a very integrated system for people to use.

We have a support license from Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager and the overall price of the solution is reasonable.

I rate Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager a nine out of ten.

The tool's most valuable features are easy patch management and software deployment. We use it because it is a Microsoft product, which makes it more secure and easier to use.

Microsoft Configuration Manager makes it easier to control remote desktops. It supplements other products. 

The tool's deployment can be cumbersome. 

Microsoft Configuration Manager's stability is very good. I rate it an eight out of ten. 

We don't contact Microsoft directly for support. We get support through a third-party vendor. 

I rate the product's ease of deployment a four out of ten. 

A contractor helped us with the product's deployment. 

I rate the overall solution an eight out of ten. 

It is used for software deployments, PC operating system deployments, and security patch deployments.

Currently, we are using it on-premises, but we are slowly moving to the cloud solution that is called Intune or Microsoft Endpoint Management (MEM).

We have high availability for all of our deployments. We can trust this platform for all our deployments. We are quite happy with the fact that we can do what we want to do. It fulfills our goals for all deployments.

It is a very well-rounded product. It is a complete package with all the features using which we are able to manage our PCs very efficiently. 

One area of improvement is regarding the patching of Office 365 products. We have some difficulties on this side, and it can be improved.

Their support should be improved. Mostly, when we are doing patches on Microsoft 365 clients, we need to escalate to Microsoft support. It takes a long time to get to someone in their support team who has good knowledge of the product. Their support at level one is not quite helpful and knowledgeable.

In my previous company, we deployed SCCM two years ago.

And in my current company, I have been using this solution for more than one year.

Its stability is quite good, and its performance is quite good. There is nothing to complain about.

It is scalable, but we are far from reaching that limit. We don't have any problem with its scalability.

We have three people working on the SCCM side. In terms of the implementation, we have 6,000 PCs that have this installed. It is being used daily.

Mostly, when we are doing patches on Microsoft 365 clients, we need to escalate to Microsoft support. We are not quite happy with the support because it takes a long time to get to someone who is knowledgeable. When we have a tricky issue like this, it is very complicated to get appropriate support. We lose a lot of time with Microsoft support before we find someone who is able to understand and resolve the issue. 

Positive

We were previously working with BigFix. I also worked with HPE's solution. As compared to these two products, SCCM is much more integrated with the Microsoft ecosystem. We are fully on Windows, so it is much easier for us to manage our PCs with SCCM. It is easier to have a Microsoft product on Microsoft operating systems.

It is a Microsoft product, and we have an efficient team that is managing the solution. We have a lot of people who have the knowledge of doing its setup. So, deployment is not an issue for us. If you know the product, it is quite easy. You just need the knowledge of the product.

From the beginning to the end, it took about six months. It was deployed on all PCs.

We mainly had two people for its implementation. I managed the deployment, and I had one external resource who helped me in implementing the full product. To implement it, we needed to integrate all of the enterprise applications. This integration of the enterprise applications was outsourced, and there were a few people involved.

For its maintenance, we have a resource in India who is managing the solution. We need one full-time administrator for managing the solution. We also have one person who is integrating new applications and updates with this platform.

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.

In the next release, we are moving to the cloud, which also fits the strategy of Microsoft. We would like that the features on the cloud side are very similar to what we have on the on-premise side. We are looking to move to the cloud with Intune, but Intune is not like SCCM in terms of the features. We prefer that they develop all the features on the cloud.

I would recommend others to go for it if they are using any other solution to manage their Windows or Microsoft environment. It will make life easier. I would also recommend others to check the cloud solution before implementing the on-premise solution. They can see what can be done on the cloud. Cloud is not fully ready to replace the on-premise solution, but they can do some of the parts on the cloud and some of the parts on-premises.

I would rate it a nine out of 10.