KACE Systems Management Appliance and Azure Bastion compete in the endpoint management and remote access categories. KACE SMA appears to have the upper hand in comprehensive endpoint management and mass deployment capabilities, whereas Azure Bastion is superior in providing secure remote access.
Features: KACE SMA offers comprehensive endpoint management with seamless integration with platforms like Bomgar and ServiceNow. It excels in mass deployment, image management, and scripting, optimizing IT management across campuses. Azure Bastion provides secure remote access to virtual machines, avoiding the need for public IPs and leveraging Azure Active Directory for controlled access.
Room for Improvement: KACE SMA could enhance user-friendliness in image deployment and ease integration for patch management. Simplifying complex tasks like software cataloging and improving agent management is also suggested. Azure Bastion could benefit from better data transfer during remote sessions and more flexible browser integration, along with improved visibility during VM reboots.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: KACE SMA supports diverse deployment environments, especially on-premises, and provides robust technical support praised for responsiveness. Azure Bastion capitalizes on public cloud ease of setup backed by Microsoft's support, although specific customer interaction insights are limited for comparison.
Pricing and ROI: KACE SMA is competitively priced on a per-device basis, appreciated for enhancing IT efficiency and management time. Azure Bastion's pricing, while higher than some competitors, is considered fair due to its security offerings and seamless Azure ecosystem integration.
We have noticed savings of approximately twenty percent by using Azure Bastion compared to VM pricing.
The return on investment is seen in the quick access to information, good inventory management, and efficient systems management.
We usually get backup within two hours.
Support is satisfactory but with room for improvement, primarily concerning data transfer issues.
I would rate the customer support for Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) as a 10.
The customer service is very good, providing quick customer support in Spanish.
It is designed to provide access over a private network without hitting the internet.
We have outgrown the size of one KACE appliance and are now running two.
The product is very scalable as it supports 10,000 thousand endpoints with just one appliance.
Azure Bastion is stable.
A storage solution must be created to transfer data, and this requires additional permissions like ACL or NFS.
I would like to see integrated AI features with Azure Bastion, especially for connectivity issues.
It would be nice to have the capability to cut and paste across desktops, similar to old-fashioned Remote Desktop emulation.
Currently, we have to go into each org to deploy applications when we need them all across the university.
The user interface needs improvement as customers have mentioned they do not like the interface since it is not an SMA-based interface.
Microsoft's pricing is on the higher side and could be more competitive.
The price is not necessarily cheaper, but it is acceptable.
The pricing is in the middle range of the market, not too expensive but not the cheapest either.
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is that, hands down, it beat all of the others in simplicity and pricing.
Azure Bastion eliminates the need for a jump server by providing secure access to servers without hitting the public network.
We use Azure AD integration to specify who has access and what they can do.
The security is the main reason we use Azure Bastion because it is integrated with Azure Active Directory, ensuring that access is secure.
Scripting has saved us hundreds of hours over the years when patching these vulnerabilities compared to how we did it before.
The most valuable features include simplicity, which makes systems management easier and faster, especially for device management.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Azure Bastion | 1.5% |
| KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) | 1.6% |
| Other | 96.9% |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 5 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 1 |
| Large Enterprise | 6 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 8 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 20 |
| Large Enterprise | 15 |
Azure Bastion is a service you deploy that lets you connect to a virtual machine using your browser and the Azure portal. The Azure Bastion service is a fully platform-managed PaaS service that you provision inside your virtual network. It provides secure and seamless RDP/SSH connectivity to your virtual machines directly from the Azure portal over TLS. When you connect via Azure Bastion, your virtual machines do not need a public IP address, agent, or special client software.
KACE Systems Management Appliance offers integration capabilities, efficient image deployment, and comprehensive asset management. It supports centralized management across diverse devices and locations, simplifying IT processes and enhancing security.
KACE Systems Management Appliance provides single-pane visibility for endpoint management, mass software deployment, automated patch management, robust scripting, and detailed inventory tracking. It streamlines IT management and improves cyber-security compliance through remote software updates and centralized IT request handling. Despite struggles with scalability and the need for interface improvements, it enables efficient device imaging, script automation, and network management through detailed reporting. Organizations find it effective for software deployment, asset management, and endpoint monitoring, serving thousands of IoT devices and desktops.
What are the key features of KACE Systems Management Appliance?In healthcare, KACE Systems Management Appliance is used for maintaining device compliance and security standards. Educational institutions benefit from its capabilities to manage large numbers of endpoints across campuses. In finance, it aids in strict compliance requirements through automated patch management and detailed reporting. Retail sectors leverage its asset management features to streamline operations across numerous locations.
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