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KACE Systems Deployment Appliance (SDA) vs Microsoft Configuration Manager comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 12, 2025

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

Microsoft Intune
Sponsored
Ranking in Configuration Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
304
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (1st), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
KACE Systems Deployment App...
Ranking in Configuration Management
15th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.8
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Configuration Man...
Ranking in Configuration Management
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
85
Ranking in other categories
Software Distribution (1st), Server Monitoring (5th), Patch Management (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the Configuration Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 9.2%, down from 10.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of KACE Systems Deployment Appliance (SDA) is 0.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Configuration Manager is 11.0%, down from 13.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Configuration Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Intune9.2%
Microsoft Configuration Manager11.0%
KACE Systems Deployment Appliance (SDA)0.3%
Other79.5%
Configuration Management
 

Featured Reviews

AkashKamble - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables management of multiple operating systems with a single license
The best feature is that it's a Microsoft product, so if anything goes wrong, we get quick support for anything required. Remote system functionality allows us to sit anywhere and take control of any device via remote management. We can enhance security for clients' laptops with built-in Microsoft Defender, which is available with the Microsoft Intune license. We use it for reporting purposes through endpoint analytics. When pushing scripting, there are two types available: remediation script and reservation script. Through endpoint analytics, you can push defender policies to clients. It helps with reporting, inventory updates, and monitoring tenant status health.
MH
User interface and deployment efficiency save time and reduce staff needs
The best features KACE Systems Deployment Appliance (SDA) offers include the ease of operation and the ability to create images for deployment. When I say ease of operation, the user interface is easy to create the images, and the people deploying do not have to have access to the appliance in order to deploy images. KACE Systems Deployment Appliance (SDA) has positively impacted our organization by allowing us to keep labs with over 300 machines all up to the exact same image for every semester. This has saved our team hundreds of man hours and reduced it down to just a few people doing the deployment compared to how things were done before SDA.
JunedBedrekar - PeerSpot reviewer
Have effectively deployed patches and applications while integrating with cloud solutions
The features I find most valuable in Microsoft Configuration Manager are replication and scripting. If I want to get a fetch report for anything, such as hardware-related issues or group policy-related issues, I need to fetch the report by using SCCM's scripting language and remediation part. The inventory collection features of Microsoft Configuration Manager are good because we always prefer the inventory. We do it by using the script language. We use remote management capabilities in Microsoft Configuration Manager. Remote management capabilities are useful if the user is not providing access; we can use the backend users to update the group policy and sync the devices. These are the main features we require.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Based on my experience, I find Intune very flexible for managing Windows devices. We can use scripting, and we can make use of the self-service portal or the company portal to publish some of the applications for Windows."
"It works well if you have a Microsoft environment."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Intune is patching-related capabilities."
"When managing a large number of devices in an organization, it becomes easy to handle them on one platform using Microsoft Intune."
"It is very easy for me to configure all the things. Once I create policies and applications in Intune, it is very easy for us to enroll users."
"Great for software update needs, operating system version updates, and security policy enforcement."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Intune is having all our devices compliant with our policies."
"A valuable feature is user enrollment, where users can enroll their devices in their organizations themselves."
"KACE Systems Deployment Appliance (SDA) has positively impacted our organization by allowing us to keep labs with over 300 machines all up to the exact same image for every semester, saving our team hundreds of man hours and reducing it down to just a few people doing the deployment compared to how things were done before SDA."
"Its ticketing is pretty good."
"The solution doesn't require any maintenance from our end because it is a cloud-based solution and Microsoft takes care of everything."
"The solution has a very good set of features."
"I like its ease of use. It does what you need it to do, and it's a one-stop-shop for the company and for all your deployments. If you incorporate Intune into it, you can have both. You can bring your own devices and corporate devices, and everything runs out of SCCM and Intune."
"It uses detailed descriptions of the workstations, and that is good for me."
"The tool's most valuable features are easy patch management and software deployment."
"It is easy to install, and quick to deploy."
"The product is useful for patch management."
"This solution captures all the devices in our infrastructure."
 

Cons

"A more incisive reporting tool with automated progress updates and graphical representation would be beneficial, as the current manual method lacks efficiency and visual clarity."
"While the ability to deploy applications at startup is reliable, the policy-based application deployment method has not reached the same level of consistency."
"The most significant challenge is reporting and monitoring. The reporting accuracy for deploying applications and all aspects of Intune needs to be improved."
"There's a significant discrepancy in Intune pricing between tenants."
"The reports aren't complete, and it's not easy to build custom reports. For example, Windows Autopilot isn't working well in cases where the computers don't have a good internet connection. Then the option is not good enough."
"Lacking ability to leverage more iOS device management internally."
"Intune needs to incorporate more tools to reduce the number of third-party applications we rely on."
"The feature that allows us to import the business application from the configuration manager to Intune is not very good at this time."
"KACE Systems Deployment Appliance (SDA) works well, but it would be nice if it were org based like the SMA, allowing one SDA to service several different departments."
"I have heard feedback that the imaging is slow. It takes somewhere around an hour to image one PC."
"The solution can be improved by speeding up the synchronizing of the policies on the devices."
"I would like to see more automation."
"The ability to integrate MDM would be great."
"It does seem a bit buggy from time to time."
"On some hardware, we'd like an easier way to get peripherals attached."
"Our company would prefer not rebooting computers while people are using them. There seems to be no strategy behind it."
"The App to upgrades to the server needs to be improved."
"In terms of scalability, I believe there's room for improvement. While SCCM is capable of handling our current needs effectively, scalability could be enhanced to accommodate future growth and larger deployments."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive. The cost depends on the license that we choose."
"The E5 license is expensive."
"Its pricing seems reasonable."
"The product is offered as part of a Microsoft standard bundle. The pricing can be competitive to Airwatch, and Maas360."
"While I don't have access to high-level financial information, I believe we have achieved lower costs with this implementation."
"If you're ever going to buy an Office 365 environment, then pricing is reasonable given all that it does, but if you're not, then you might find the pricing expensive."
"The price of Intune is often included as part of a bundle with other Microsoft licenses, which makes it somewhat cheaper."
"Previously the price was $4 per month per user. Now it's $2.25 per user per month."
Information not available
"The licensing is good because they have various options, depending on what you are looking for."
"There is not a license needed to use the solution."
"I would rate the cost as eight out of ten."
"Pricing is negotiable with Microsoft, depending upon which of their packages you choose."
"Its licensing is quite complicated because we are getting the license not only for SCCM but for the full Microsoft package. We don't need to pay for a separate license. We need to have one license that includes everything we need, such as Windows, Microsoft 365, SCCM, encryption, and so on. So, we don't have a specific price for it. Perhaps, it is good that it includes the full suite of licensing of Microsoft. It is expensive, but we are getting a lot of features."
"There is an annual license needed to use the solution."
"Pricing and licensing are a downside of SCCM. It's expensive. I'd have to confirm this, but I think they changed the licensing to core-based instead of socket-based. It's not cheap, because you have to buy the software, you have to buy SQL. Another thing we learned from talking to Microsoft is that they provide you a license for SQL if you run it on the same box as the primary server. If you run it outside that box, you have to buy SQL. Microsoft does recommend you running it on the same box because of performance. But then, in order to run SQL, SCCM, and everything on the same box, you better have some resources. It's an expensive solution. There's no doubt about it."
"The price of SCCM depends on the size of the organization. The price is competitive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
No data available
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business116
Midsize Enterprise46
Large Enterprise152
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise64
 

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Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
No data available
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM ), Microsoft SMS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Information Not Available
Bank Alfalah Ltd., Wªrth Handelsges.m.b.H, Dimension Data, Japan Business Systems, St. Lucie County Public Schools, MISC Berhad
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