10 Configuration Management Tools The Experts Love

The Best Configuration Management Tools List

Here’s a shortlist of the best configuration management tools:

  1. 1.

    SysAid

    — Best CMS for manufacturing

  2. 2.

    ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus

    — Best for managing and tracking from a single console

  3. 3.

    Comindware Tracker

    — Best low-code workflow software

  4. 4.

    ManageEngine Service Desk Plus

    — Best full-stack ITSM with configuration management

  5. 5.

    ServiceNow

    — Best for IT service management

  6. 6.

    Octopus

    — Best DevOps automation tool

  7. 7.

    Pointel CMS

    — Best contact center configuration management

  8. 8.

    Rudder

    — Best open source configuration management tool

  9. 9.

    Juju

    — Best enterprise CMS

  10. 10.

    Ansible

    — Best for ease of use

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Teams scaling their product or service—and therefore, their entire IT ecosystem—need configuration management tools to manage multiple aspects of the IT system that supports their end product. 

These configuration tools bear a heavy load, helping a team manage the infrastructure, applications, networks, security, servers, clouds, devices, assets—essentially, anything that needs to be connected to their IT system. 

Configuration tools touch essentially every aspect of your digital business infrastructure, which is why it’s so important to choose the right one. But, with so many options available, how do you decide which one to use?

Choose The Best Configuration Management Software

This post will highlight and compare the best configuration management database (CMDB) tools that are available, and help you understand how each one is different. 

In this article, I’ll provide a simple breakdown of the best configuration management tools that are available for QA professionals.

These are the software configuration management tools we want to introduce you to in this article. These CM tools are the items that made our final top 10 list.

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Other Config Software Options

Here’s a few more that didn’t make the top list. If you need additional suggestions for handy configuration management tools, check these out.

Looking for other types of tools? Check out these resources:

Configuration Management FAQ

What is configuration management?

Configuration management (CM), sometimes regarded as “asset control”, is concerned with making sure a digital business infrastructure is functioning properly. In configuration management, IT teams look into the entire IT environment to maintain, control, deploy, provision and quality check a managed system. The managed system typically includes software, along with physical servers, virtual servers, public clouds, private clouds, networks, network devices, and storage.

In configuration management, there is a common term called “desired state configuration”, which refers to configuring a system according to a description of its desired state.

Why is configuration management important?

Configuration management (CM) helps to outline and structure a product’s functional and physical attributes in order to maintain a level of high-performance consistency. CM is important for:

  1. Planning each procedure and outlining the duration of their employment
  2. Breaking components down into deliverables
  3. Documenting controlled change
  4. Tracking the status of configuration items
  5. Tracking and managing incidents
  6. Ensuring a verification/audit upon delivery
  7. Scaling a system’s infrastructure without breaking the system
  8. Minimizing administrative burden associated with a scaling system

What is configuration management software? And what is SCM software?

Simply put, configuration management software, which some people also refer to as “software configuration management” software is an essential part of a managed IT environment. It helps an IT team ensure, on a holistic level, that a system is running with a functional infrastructure. It can include components for system automation, servers configuration management, CI/CD, security, operations, compliance, and more.

Who are the primary users of an SCM system?

An SCM system would typically be used among developers, IT operations or service management teams, and QA teams.

I still need to elaborate upon and research this list—so please let me know: Have you tried out any tools listed above? 

What configuration controls do you look for in configuring software? 

If you have a go-to favourite config tool that you swear by, let us know in the comments below!

Keep learning by checking these out: