What are the advantages of Azure Update Manager over MCM for server updates?

Honestly, AUM feels like a stripped-down version of what SCCM offers with some limitations. However, a plus is that you don’t need to maintain SCCM server infrastructure, which is a win for those looking to simplify things.

From my perspective, Azure Update Manager and MCM aren't exactly comparable as they serve different roles. Azure Update Manager acts more like an orchestrator for updates rather than managing everything directly. You can schedule jobs, set different update windows, and manage types of updates (like feature or quality updates), plus it gives you a solid overview of your server farm's state. But remember, it doesn't handle local settings for downloading or installing updates like a traditional WSUS setup does.

For me, Azure Update Manager works quite well. I set it up to schedule updates, and while I do get notifications for failures, I attribute those to Windows issues rather than AUM. It's pretty basic, but it does the job. Just be aware that you can't defer updates; I usually install them shortly before Patch Tuesday, effectively 30 days post-release.

I find AUM pretty effective for scheduling and installing patches, but I still rely on WSUS to actually push those patches to my servers. It's like a complementary tool rather than a standalone solution.