KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) vs. PDQ Deploy & Inventory

I think it has added value for any organization. It reduced our Tech Support cost by: -Supporting users anywhere -Reducing users downtime as well keep them informed with the status of their tickets -Managing software and hardware actively -Processing automation -deploy mass software installs, patching or updates - Provide approved software's to users to install without IT help

Incentivized

PDQ Inventory is great if you have a local network of computers on or off a domain. As long as you have a way to log into them with common credentials. Great for large organizations, particularly ones interconnected with VPNs. PDQ Inventory isn't so great for PCs that aren't connected to the same LAN the server is on. (i.e. non-vpn remote users) They used to have a remote agent you could install, but it was removed after numerous issues.

Incentivized

• Helpdesk ticketing, the software allows not only the building of a portal that the users can log into to submit the tickets, but it also allows them to generate a ticket via email, which is a huge successful implementation that we have had.
• Live inventory tracking. With an agent installed on a PC, as long as we maintain the data, it can report back information that is crucial to the machine.
• Web portal makes for easy maintenance and implementation of the software and updates.

Incentivized

• Deploy updates to software like Adobe and Java
• Show which computers are currently connected and turned on
• Turn on computers that are off
• Turn off computers that are on
• View which hardware (RAM, HDD, processor, etc) is on each device

Incentivized

• Administrative interface can be slow at times, and does require some decent PC specifications to run adequately.
• The cost of the KACE solution can be very expensive depending on how many agents you plan to deploy
• There is a learning curve in order to master KACE's capabilities - however Quest does provide lots of resources to dig into. It is not as intuitive as it could be.

Incentivized

• The scripting part could benefit from samples / examples
• Deployment scenarios could be included for ease on first use
• Including Inventory directly within Deploy would be great

Incentivized

PDQ is very useful and one of the tools that we use a lot.

Incentivized

Overall, the software is simple to understand and use. That said, most vendors have been slowly updating their user interfaces to HTML5 so that they have a clean updated look and feel. This is where KACE falls short in that the UI is great for a packaged software 10 years ago. This isn't a major limitation as the software is really meant primarily for technology users.

Incentivized

The interface is straight forward and guides you through the process there. PDQ keeps track of the when new updates are made available writes the scripts and all l you need to do is push the button. (Mr George Jetson) Now with the download done you just sit back worry free and watch the software install in 1% of the time it would take to take care of the PC manually.

Incentivized

KACE does exactly what you need it to do, it maintains your computer environment. You can set patch schedules, inventory computers, setup software catalogs; basically everything you need to ensure the computers on your network are being actively managed. This is all with little need for constant configuration or updating the setup.

Incentivized

I have not had to use PDQ Deploy support's process. In terms of the actual application, I haven't found an exe, msi or script that I can throw at it that it can't handle. Being able to call the config file for Office is an especially useful feature.

Incentivized

For our size organization, KACE offered a more complete solution that was easier to understand and deploy when compared to Ivanti. It was also more affordable to get the features we wanted. Ivanti might be more appropriate in a larger environment. You would definitely need someone that was primarily dedicated to run behind Ivanti.

Incentivized

The only other product on the market is Ninite, the major disadvantaged of Ninite you need to build you own packages and scripts for deployment. I would much rather download the packages and manager the software in this fashion then to take all of the time to do it Ninites way. I would need to go find and keep update date in the industry when a vendor updates something... I have not time to do this Please Choice PDQ.

Incentivized

• The time savings on Windows patching through the KACE SMA alone has helped us in saving hundreds of technician hours.
• Ticket tracking through the KACE SMA has reduced the amount of calls to our helpdesk asking about the status of a ticket.
• The tracking of licensed software through the KACE SMA has kept us in compliance and saved time from having to run around and look to see where the software is installed.

Incentivized

• Convenience! Despite being a small team, PDQ Deploy has boosted our ability to deliver up-to-date Windows applications to our client PCs in a fraction of the time it took when the process was a manual one. Our reach has naturally improved; installing a simple application on a suite of 20 PCs no longer seems to be a daunting task.
• TIME-SAVING! I cannot emphasize enough the time savings one can enjoy with this product!

Incentivized