Ivanti Patch for Configuration Manager vs Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) comparison

Ivanti and Quest Software are both solutions in the Patch Management category. Ivanti is ranked #25, while Quest Software is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.0. Ivanti holds a 1.2% mindshare in PM, compared to Quest Software’s 5.3% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Ivanti users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Quest Software users who would recommend it.

Ivanti Patch for Configurat...

Read 2 Ivanti Patch for Configuration Manager reviews

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270 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Quest KACE Systems Manageme...

Read 38 Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) reviews

1,742 Views
1,097 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Ivanti Patch for Configurat...

Quest KACE Systems Manageme...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 2025

Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance and Ivanti Patch for Configuration Manager compete in the system and patch management category. Ivanti Patch for Configuration Manager holds an advantage in comprehensive features, while Quest KACE SMA is more favorable in pricing and support.

Features: Quest KACE SMA provides versatile capabilities in asset management, software distribution, and security compliance. Meanwhile, Ivanti Patch for Configuration Manager enhances integration and automation of patch management, offering detailed reporting and improved security management. The focus of Ivanti on patch management specialization makes it preferable for those seeking enhanced security features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Ivanti Patch for Configuration Manager benefits from seamless integration with existing IT infrastructure, improving deployment efficiency. Quest KACE SMA offers straightforward setup and reliable customer service, which efficiently addresses issues. While Ivanti provides robust integration techniques, Quest KACE SMA's ease of use and support accessibility give it an operational edge.

Pricing and ROI: Quest KACE SMA presents a competitive pricing structure, appealing to organizations seeking value without compromising essential management features. Its rapid ROI enhances its attractiveness. Although Ivanti Patch for Configuration Manager is more costly, it offers long-term benefits with advanced capabilities and integration features. Organizations prioritizing security and automation will find Ivanti worth the investment, despite a higher initial setup cost.

To learn more, read our detailed Ivanti Patch for Configuration Manager vs. Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Ivanti Patch for Configuration Manager vs. Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

April 2025

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Helped 850,028 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Ivanti Patch for Configurat...

Ranking in Patch Management

25th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Quest KACE Systems Manageme...

Ranking in Patch Management

10th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Client Desktop Management (6th), Endpoint Compliance (7th), Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (15th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Patch Management category, the mindshare of Ivanti Patch for Configuration Manager is 1.2%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is 5.3%, down from 6.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Patch Management

Featured Reviews

Gaurav Chandola

Senior Associate Specialist at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Provides detection logic that tells us which customer will record an update and is less expensive than other solutions

I haven't had experience with customer service and support, however, we did have an advisory case with one of their technical support staff. We were publishing and getting the full metadata for the patch. We were getting the full updates for the patch release. There was confusion as to why we were seeing that in the SCCM, instead of in the full metadata patch. The support person was able to help us in understanding what we were doing wrong, highlighting it could be a certificate issue. We generated a new certificate, and after they were applied, the issue was fixed. Overall, I would rate their customer service and support a five out of five.

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Scott Tweed

Windows Engineer at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Low maintenance, reliable, and easy to create packages

I like how when you click on the device, it shows you everything that has changed as well as the software versioning. I am really enjoying the inventory aspect of it. The deployment process for both deploying and creating a package is straightforward. I believe the inventory in KACE is superior to SCCM's. I know with SCCM I could do things like remote console into machines via the agent's remote console, but that is not a feature that is provided in KACE. I know that at least in the Systems Management Appliance, I can't get to it. I'm not sure how distribution works, with distribution points. I'm not sure if KACE has that feature. You could use an SCCM to set up distribution points at remote sites so that they don't have to download patches or software from across the country. If you have a DP or something similar, they could pull it down.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"This solution is stable."

"The most valuable feature of Ivanti Patch for SCCM is the detection logic."

"Overall, I rate the solution ten out of ten."

"This solution makes it easy to control assets and upgrade all types of software."

"Patching is definitely the most valuable feature. It gives us good, centralized software, which comes in very handy since we are doing 400 servers at a time. It enables us to manage all the servers, and to deal with the application team regarding reboots and scheduling."

"I am impressed by the service desk ticketing and asset management."

"KACE has made our life much easier since we got off the Microsoft solution. The Microsoft solution was a lot harder to image over different ports and stuff. They would only have this one place where we could do all the imaging. Now, we have a whole building where we can image from. This means that we can image from our storage area, where we have a place to do our imaging. We can also image right at our desks, which is a lot easier."

"The single pane of glass for managing devices is helpful because it allows me to perform updates and control things without having to disturb the doctors or nurses."

"There is one place for a lot of different things. If somebody has a problem with their computer, they will put in a ticket. From there, we will know who it is and the assets assigned to them, because there is one place to go look for what we are talking about and with whom we are talking. Just having one place for everything is really convenient. For example, we are able to deploy software to hundreds of computers. We don't need to go to each individual device."

"We have our KACE agent deployed on all of our workstations and servers, and it provides us with reports on the hardware and software inventory for those."

More Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) pros

Cons

"We have some problems with patches not installing successfully."

"In future releases, I would like to see improvements with the feature upgrade for the SCCM, which Microsoft has already integrated. Currently, Ivanti does not give us information about the enablement package."

"It took a little bit of time to figure out how to use the KACE Service Desk. I like the way that I'm able to customize it. But when it comes to how our techs are able to use it, it's not as functional as our current solution, which is BMC FootPrints Service Desk."

"When we have to do a rebuild on these machines, although it is rare, I would like to be able to do more than 10 at a time. With the current limit, it slows me down because I have to set up 10, then the next 10, and so forth."

"KACE implemented the possibility of reducing the network speed of the KACE agent. You can set it so that it takes whatever network speed you want or you can set it to 5 Mb, to save network speed. You set it for all the computers, but it would be preferable to separate between VPN connections in our home office and the local area. It would be great to be able to set separate speeds for different VLANs."

"The only hiccups we had were some power issues, where the box was a little under-powered early on."

"What could be improved is the possibility to use replicas in a secure way outside our network in order to maintain the machines that never connect to our corporate network."

"My biggest complaint is that almost every time they send out a new version, it fixes something and breaks another. Something that wasn't working in the last version now works, but something else stops; or they'll remove some dashboard that I really found to be nice and replace it with something totally different that I could care less about."

"We'd love to see support for larger dependencies in the scripting feature."

"There should be a mini toolbox, like the competitors of KACE have, with the small features for KACE administrators. That would make their lives easier. If you are troubleshooting a specific endpoint, remote control is available as is Wake-on-LAN. But if you want to execute some commands, you have to use a third-party tool, the PS tool. If they would integrate those small things, it would make KACE more powerful."

More Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We do not have a license with Ivanti, instead we buy just the plugins for the consoles, making it a much less expensive option versus other solutions."

"The product is reasonably priced."

"Licensing is done on a per device basis, so it's dependent on how many agents you've got installed."

"The pricing and licensing are absolutely fair."

"n terms of pricing and licensing, my advice is that you need to assess what you need and then look at what they offer. It's easy to get caught up in the things that you want, but don't really need."

"It was a very attractive price. This is a huge feature of this product. If you would "credit score" this product versus others out there on the market, this one has a very attractive price."

"We buy consulting fees from Software Factory, then we pay extra for it."

"Their pricing is per end-point device. There is an initial cost for the license for the server, which is pretty low, and then there is a per end-point device license, which is also fairly low. So, the pricing is still reasonable."

"We pay annually for technical support."

More Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

21%

Computer Software Company

10%

Real Estate/Law Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

10%

University

10%

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

What do you like most about Quest KACE Systems Management?

My company had bought some new machines. We used the tool to do some basic settings to ship every machine the same way and undertake the Windows deployment. We did the scripted installation. The to...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Quest KACE Systems Management?

The pricing is in the middle range of the market, not too expensive but not the cheapest either.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Quest KACE Systems Management?

The user interface needs improvement as customers have mentioned they do not like the interface since it is not an SMA-based interface and lacks a manual configuration option.

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Comparisons

Microsoft Configuration Manager vs Ivanti Patch for Configuration Manager

Compared 66% of the time

BigFix vs Ivanti Patch for Configuration Manager

Compared 34% of the time

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Microsoft Configuration Manager vs Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

Compared 34% of the time

Microsoft Intune vs Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

Compared 26% of the time

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

Compared 11% of the time

BigFix vs Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Windows Server Update Services vs Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

Compared 6% of the time

More Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Patch Management

March 2025

Ivanti Patch for Configuration Manager report

Download Ivanti Patch for Configuration Manager product report

Buyer's Guide

Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

April 2025

Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) report

Download Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) product report

Also Known As

Patch for SCCM, Shavlik Patch for SCCM, Ivanti Patch for MEM

Dell KACE Systems Management

Overview

Ivanti Patch for Configuration Manager is an invaluable plug-in for Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (MEM) that streamlines patch management by allowing you to publish and manage third-party software patches alongside Microsoft updates, all within a unified workflow. This means you can save both time and effort by eliminating the need for separate tools to manage your patching process. With comprehensive patch coverage for various third-party products, automated deployment, flexible scheduling, real-time reporting, and seamless integration with Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, Ivanti Patch simplifies and enhances your patch management.

Ivanti

Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance is a comprehensive tool for managing IT endpoints. It facilitates asset management, software distribution, and endpoint tracking while offering remote access capabilities and a centralized help desk.

Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance is designed for organizations that need efficient endpoint management. It offers a range of features like inventory tracking, automated patch management, and ticketing. By integrating with remote access tools such as Bomgar, Quest KACE helps reduce manual tasks involved in managing software updates and system deployments. Although it faces challenges in scalability and requires improvements in integration and reporting, it remains a versatile choice for asset tracking and endpoint administration.

What are Quest KACE SMA's key features?

Asset Management: Streamline the organization and tracking of physical and virtual assets.
Remote Access: Integrates with Bomgar for secure, remote troubleshooting and management.
Software Distribution: Deploy applications across devices efficiently without physical intervention.
Centralized Endpoint Management: Manage endpoints from a centralized console to ensure compliance and optimization.
Automated Patch Management: Schedule and deploy patches to maintain system security and performance.
Help Desk: Integrated ticketing system for tracking and resolving user issues.
Scripting and Reporting: Enhance administrative tasks through automated scripts and detailed reports.

What benefits should users consider?

Improved Productivity: Reduces manual interference with automated deployments and updates.
Labor Savings: Minimizes labor requirements with efficient remote management tools.
Integrated Reporting: Provides actionable insights through comprehensive reports to optimize IT operation.
User-Friendly Interface: Boosts effectiveness due to its intuitive, easy-to-navigate design.

Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance is implemented across industries for managing IT assets and endpoints, particularly where remote management and compliance are critical. It's employed in healthcare, education, and government sectors for efficient patch management, inventory control, and software deployment, aiding organizations in managing security accreditations and centralizing help desk operations.

Quest Software

Sample Customers

University of Pittsburgh

Waypoint, Mattos Filho, Meetic, Gems Education, Green Clinic HealthSystem, Service King

Buyer's Guide

Ivanti Patch for Configuration Manager vs. Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

April 2025

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