Item: Microsoft Intune
Rating: 8
Author: Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

It is very effective for simple tasks such as pushing out Windows updates, Defender updates, and a large array of other software. We have also started using it for servicing Windows 10 computers. With the modern life cycle of Windows 10 being more aggressive then past versions, it has been extremely handy to use Windows 10 servicing to keep our computers running the latest builds of Windows 10.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Windows 10 servicing.
Endpoint protection policies and updates.
Reporting.

Cons

Surface Driver updates seem flaky.
Sometimes needs some TLC to keep Microsoft SCCM and WSUS happy.
Menu structure sometimes gets a little confusing.

Return on Investment

Higher PC up time.
Faster deployments of software.
Faster deployments of operating systems.
Automatic deployment of rules and management for endpoint protection.
Reporting on PCs.

Alternatives Considered

I inherited an already existing environment system center. My previous experience was using WSUS. Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager does still use WSUS but it is a far more robust and complete solution for managing and reporting on all your PCs. Our Microsoft Licensing includes rights to use SCCM, so it makes it the smarter choice for us.

Other Software Used

Hyper-V, Windows Server

Performance

I've never had any issues with its performance. Sometimes synchronizing Windows updates with WSUS can take longer then I'd like but it seems to work well overall. We find that the network usage can get very high on this server when it is sending out updates to clients, so we implemented some QoS rules to prevent it from using all of our bandwidth.

Ease of Integration

It is a very complex piece of software, requiring SQL and WSUS integration and is constantly being updated to new builds. There are many online resources that really make the setup and management very easy to handle. I also appreciate that it supports in-place upgrades of the OS and the software itself. We have moved from Microsoft SCCM 2007 on Windows 2008 to the program's current build on Windows 2019 simply by running upgrades of Microsoft SCCM and the OS it's running on.

Likelihood to Recommend

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager isn't too useful for smaller companies. But with businesses of 100+ users and PCs, it is very handy. It allows you to report on and manage all of those PCs. I can easily push out new software to certain PCs. and ensure they are always fresh with either the latest updates or latest builds of Windows.

Comments

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Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager is great for medium sized businesses and up