What is the Difference Between WSUS and SCCM

The main difference between WSUS and SCCM is that WSUS is a software update service that allows the administrators to manage updates released for Microsoft products while SCCM is a systems management software that allows managing a large number of computers running on various operating systems.

Microsoft Corporation is an American Multinational Technology company. It develops, manufactures, and sells various items including software, electronics, personal computers, and related services. Microsoft Windows, the Microsoft Office suite, Internet Explorer are some popular software products of Microsoft. WSUS and SCCM are also two products of Microsoft. In brief, WSUS is a package management and remote administration software while SCCM is a systems management software.

Key Areas Covered

1. What is WSUS
     – Definition, Functionality
2. What is SCCM
     – Definition, Functionality
3. What is the Difference Between WSUS and SCCM
     – Comparison of Key Differences

Key Terms

WSUS, SCCM

What is WSUS

WSUS stands for Windows Server Update Services. It is an essential component in Microsoft Windows Server. It is a software that allows the administrators to manage and distribute updates and hotfixes released for Microsoft products that work in a commercial environment. WSUS distributes the updates to the connected computing devices on the network after downloading them from Microsoft. There are various updates such as critical updates, security updates, drivers, service packs, etc.

A repository is a storage location that helps in installing software packages on to computers. WSUS 2.0 and above works on a repository. Moreover, WSUS allows the administrators to approve or reject updates to install by a given date. It is also possible to produce reports on what updates the machine in the network requires. Moreover, it is also possible to update computers on a disconnected network. Administrators can use WSUS with Group Policy for client-side configuration of the Automatic Updates client. It avoids end users from disabling corporate update policies.

What is SCCM

SCCM stands for System Center Configuration Manager. It is a system management software that allows managing a large number of computers running in various operating systems. These operating systems can be Windows, MacOS, Linux, Unix, etc. It also supports operations such as remote control, software distribution, deploying operating systems, network access protection, hardware and software inventory, and, patch management.

SCCM consist of many components. Policy infrastructure, Center Configuration Manager Scheduler, Center Configuration Manager Configuration Item Software Developers Kit (CCM CI SDK), Desired Configuration Management Agent (DCM Agent), Desired Configuration Management Reporting (DCM Reporting)  are some of them.

Difference Between WSUS and SCCM

Definition

WSUS is a software update services developed by Microsoft Corporation that enables administrators to manage the distribution of updates and hotfixes released for Microsoft products to computers in a corporate environment. In contrast, SCCM is a systems management software of Microsoft that manages a large group of computers running on various operating systems. Thus, this is the main difference between WSUS and SCCM.

Long Form

The long form of WSUS is Windows Server Update Services while SCCM stands for System Center Configuration Manager.

Type

Another difference between WSUS and SCCM is that WSUS is a package management and remote administration software whereas SCCM is a systems management software.

Main Functionality

While WSUS mainly updates distributions to the connected devices in the network, SCCM mainly performs systems management. Hence, this is one other difference between WSUS and SCCM.

Conclusion

WSUS and SCCM are two Microsoft products. The difference between WSUS and SCCM is that WSUS a software update service that allows the administrators to manage updates released for Microsoft products while SCCM is a systems management software allows managing a large number of computers running various operating systems.

 Reference:

1. “Windows Server Update Services.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Dec. 2018, Available here.
2. “Get Started with Windows Server Update Services (WSUS).” Microsoft Docs, Available here.
3. “Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Nov. 2018, Available here.
4. “Microsoft.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Jan. 2019, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Microsoft WSUS Admin 2” By Source (Fair use) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Sccm-clientserver-architektur” By Markus Hupfauer – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia