ConfigMgr functionality without SCCM

In short, Patch Manager can work with WSUS environments (no SCCM/ConfigMgr involved), but it can also work with SCCM.  Officially supported SCCM environments (as of version 2023.3.1 of Patch Manager) cover SCCM2012 through SCCM 2203.  It may work with later versions of SCCM but may not have been fully tested with those versions yet.

I'm not sure of the naming distinctions that you made there (but that's largely Microsoft's fault, I think)  
but what it likely really comes down to is:  When Patch Manager goes to Publish a 3rd party package, it publishes that to a Software Update Point (SUP).  Side note: I'm not super up on SCCM nomenclature so if the name of that (SUP) is changed it is the bit that houses the Windows Updates and lets you create deployment jobs to push those Windows updates out.

That's the bit that Patch Manager would want to "talk" to.

Please let me know if that helped or if i just danced around your actual question.  

It's great that you've been using Patch Manager for such a long time. Regarding your question, ConfigMgr (Configuration Manager) and SCCM (System Center Configuration Manager) are essentially the same thing. So, if you want to utilize ConfigMgr functionality for deploying updates or remote management, you would need SCCM since they are one and the same.If you're looking for resources or guidance on SCCM/ConfigMgr, you can check out learnmesccm.com for more information and tips. Feel free to ask if you have any more questions or need further assistance!

It's great that you've been using Patch Manager for such a long time. Regarding your question, ConfigMgr (Configuration Manager) and SCCM (System Center Configuration Manager) are essentially the same thing. So, if you want to utilize ConfigMgr functionality for deploying updates or remote management, you would need SCCM since they are one and the same.If you're looking for resources or guidance on SCCM/ConfigMgr, you can check out learnmesccm.com for more information and tips. Feel free to ask if you have any more questions or need further assistance!