KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) vs Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management comparison

KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) vs. Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management

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Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score

7.3

KACE Appliance boosts productivity and reduces costs by streamlining system management, cutting labor needs, and simplifying processes.

Sentiment score

4.9

Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management boosts efficiency, reduces costs, enhances security, and delivers a 95% ROI with 35% cost reduction.

The return on investment is seen in the quick access to information, good inventory management, and efficient systems management.

For more quotes and insights, download the KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) report

Avocat at Star Boxes India Pvt Ltd

Improvements to our security infrastructure contributed to overall business growth of approximately 150 percent over the past year.

For more quotes and insights, download the Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management report

Android Developer at Droidforge

By automating tasks, it significantly reduces the human resources required, leading to increased efficiency and productivity.

reviewer2590986

Senior Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

It has reduced the number of development and scripting hours along with maintenance hours.

Curtis Nielson

Security Operations Manager at Solventum

Customer Service

Sentiment score

6.6

KACE Systems Management Appliance users praise the responsive, professional support and ITNinja for high satisfaction despite mixed experiences.

Sentiment score

7.5

Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management's customer service is highly praised for its responsiveness, effectiveness, and swift problem resolution capabilities.

I would rate the customer support for Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) as a 10.

Server Administrator III at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees

The customer service is very good, providing quick customer support in Spanish.

For more quotes and insights, download the KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) report

Avocat at Star Boxes India Pvt Ltd

The support team was knowledgeable and offered a variety of quick resolution options.

For more quotes and insights, download the Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management report

Android Developer at Droidforge

Their SMEs have sufficient knowledge, and if they are not the right contact, they quickly redirect us to someone who can help resolve issues.

Ramachandran Sugumar

Senior Information Security Engineer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

I would rate their customer support a ten out of ten.

reviewer2590236

Information Security Lead at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.1

KACE SMA efficiently manages endpoints, easily scales, integrates well with virtual environments, and accommodates growth with minimal setbacks.

Sentiment score

7.8

Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management excels in scalability, supporting diverse environments with numerous users, networks, and large datasets efficiently.

The product is very scalable as it supports 10,000 thousand endpoints with just one appliance.

Avocat at Star Boxes India Pvt Ltd

We have outgrown the size of one KACE appliance and are now running two.

For more quotes and insights, download the KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) report

Server Administrator III at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees

We have about 300,000 assets installed with agents worldwide.

reviewer2590236

Information Security Lead at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

The scalability is excellent as we manage more than one hundred thousand assets, including over one hundred thousand endpoints, approximately 2,600 servers, and more than 1,200 network devices.

Arshad N. R.

Cyber Security Specialist at UBS Financial

Qualys Cybersecurity Asset Management has proven to be a highly scalable solution for us over the past couple of years.

reviewer2593263

Manager Information Security at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

8.1

KACE SMA is stable and reliable, with quick support for issues and minimal downtime, appreciated for its resilience.

Sentiment score

7.5

Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management is stable, highly rated, with minimal issues, and appreciated for its consistent enhancements and features.

KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is stable and secure;

For more quotes and insights, download the KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) report

Security Administrator at EbixCash

I would rate the stability of Qualys CSAM a ten out of ten.

Bharawaj S

IT Engineer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

The product stability has notably declined over the last two months, and the performance to fulfill a page request is very slow compared to its previous performance.

Christopher Mateski

SENIOR MANAGER, CYBERSECURITY THREAT, RISK & ARCHITECTURE at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees

They are constantly adding capabilities.

Scott Frederick

Director of Vulnerability Management at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management report

Room For Improvement

KACE SMA users seek enhanced scalability, reporting, UI design, easier remote management, and better integration with reduced resource consumption.

Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management struggles with integration, configuration flexibility, tagging accuracy, and performance issues needing improvement.

Currently, we have to go into each org to deploy applications when we need them all across the university.

Server Administrator III at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees

The dashboard could be more interactive; for example, it should provide alerts if an endpoint is vulnerable to viruses.

Security Administrator at EbixCash

The user interface needs improvement as customers have mentioned they do not like the interface since it is not an SMA-based interface.

For more quotes and insights, download the KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) report

Avocat at Star Boxes India Pvt Ltd

Qualys is currently not able to identify assets lacking DNS information.

reviewer2589096

Senior Information Security Engineer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

Features enhancing the interaction with IT or security teams should be added, such as a ticketing feature that, if an issue arises in the CSAM module, enables direct ticket creation in systems like ServiceNow.

SurajTripathi

Senior Security Consultant at CyberNxt Solutions LLP

If there's one key aspect to focus on, it's discovery—the ability to identify assets that you are not aware of, even when you can see they are present.

Nicki Møller

Information Security Engineer at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management report

Setup Cost

KACE SMA's per-device licensing offers cost-effective scalability and comprehensive management, providing value across various organization sizes.

Qualys offers high yet flexible pricing, valued for comprehensive features and cost-effectiveness, especially when bundled with other services.

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

Avocat at Star Boxes India Pvt Ltd

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.

Server Administrator III at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees

In terms of cost-effectiveness, considering a situation where I want to deploy KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) for just pushing updates, it is completely fine.

For more quotes and insights, download the KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) report

Security Administrator at EbixCash

A cost-effective solution.

Arshad Nr

Senior Security Consultant at CyberNxt Solutions LLP

I believe that the stability and reliability of Qualys offer great value for the money.

Nicki Møller

Information Security Engineer at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

A monthly subscription starting at approximately $72 per month, depending on the specific package and features included.

For more quotes and insights, download the Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management report

Android Developer at Droidforge

Valuable Features

KACE SMA enhances productivity with off-hours deployment, automation, and streamlined asset and license management through a single interface.

Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management enhances security with real-time visibility, integration, TruRisk scoring, and simplified asset and patch management.

Scripting has saved us hundreds of hours over the years when patching these vulnerabilities compared to how we did it before.

Server Administrator III at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees

Overall, KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) helps streamline my processes by allowing me to check the uptime and downtime of machines, whether they are connected to the internet or not, and how long a machine has been switched off.

Security Administrator at EbixCash

The most valuable features include simplicity, which makes systems management easier and faster, especially for device management.

For more quotes and insights, download the KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) report

Avocat at Star Boxes India Pvt Ltd

By correlating this with QDS scores, we can accurately assess the risk level of high or low QDS scores associated with each asset and monitor them accordingly.

reviewer2589096

Senior Information Security Engineer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

The most valuable feature is the real-time visibility Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management provides into all assets across our development and operational environments.

For more quotes and insights, download the Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management report

Android Developer at Droidforge

It also performs scans to identify any vulnerabilities, which helps to take proactive measures before those vulnerabilities are identified by any attacker.

reviewer2590236

Information Security Lead at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

Categories and Ranking

KACE Systems Management App...

Ranking in Patch Management

9th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Client Desktop Management (3rd), Endpoint Compliance (7th), Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (12th), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (10th)

Qualys CyberSecurity Asset ...

Ranking in Patch Management

4th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Vulnerability Management (9th), Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM) (3rd), Attack Surface Management (ASM) (2nd), Software Supply Chain Security (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Patch Management category, the mindshare of KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is 3.6%, down from 5.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management is 2.0%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Patch Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management	2.0%
KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)	3.6%
Other	94.4%

Patch Management

Featured Reviews

Centralized software deployment has simplified endpoint control but needs stronger security alerts

Security Administrator at EbixCash

What I like best about KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is that it allows pushing custom-made applications to all computers that have KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) endpoint installed. This makes it easier for the organization to push patches and updates. If I need to push EDR updates, I can use KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA), as it automatically updates the EDR on that endpoint, and that is a great feature. Overall, KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) helps streamline my processes by allowing me to check the uptime and downtime of machines, whether they are connected to the internet or not, and how long a machine has been switched off. I can also gather hardware details and software inventory from it. I can show a live demonstration if a video conference can be arranged. Incident resolution capabilities with KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) have improved operational efficiency for system administrators, as it makes it easier to track machines with KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA), gather their IP addresses, and push several updates, patches, or software deployments at once. I can design compliances as per my requirements, such as ensuring passwords are reset after 45 days.

Read full review

Nicki Møller

Information Security Engineer at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Enables automation and quick access to necessary information

One of the significant challenges Qualys is discovery, which I know Microsoft excels at. I can't recall how well Qualys performs this function; it seems I might be missing some details. However, if there's one key aspect to focus on, it's discovery—the ability to identify assets that you are not aware of, even when you can see they are present. Understanding what those assets are is crucial. With Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management, it was very difficult to extract detections from the system. The features within Qualys are limited to what they have developed. Sometimes a complete overview is needed to push to a Power BI dashboard, Splunk, ServiceNow, or other platforms. The export process is incredibly challenging. We needed a developer to write a hundred-line Python script that would loop over certain assets due to export limitations. Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management could improve its integration capabilities. While it generates substantial data, correlating it with other data sources can be challenging. The export process is difficult, and pre-built integrations with other tools could be enhanced for better process implementation.

Read full review

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885,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

University

11%

Non Profit

Government

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	20
Large Enterprise	16

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	23

Questions from the Community

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

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.

What needs improvement with Quest KACE Systems Management?

I wish Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) would have a top-down approach since we use orgs; currently, we have to go into each org to deploy applications when we need them all across the...

What is your primary use case for Quest KACE Systems Management?

My main use case for Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is to deploy applications and maintain security, and we use it day-to-day to handle those tasks. With Quest KACE Systems Managemen...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management?

I'm not entirely sure about the pricing; I don't know.

What needs improvement with Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management?

I think the one thing Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management can do better is the package management and the updating process. Knowing that you can't update any of the packages until you've done the...

What is your primary use case for Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management?

I primarily use it for a small, single-site, multi-source setup with multi-WAN inputs. I have a main fiber connection and a couple of failovers while managing different networks across different se...

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Product Reports

KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

Download KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) product report

KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) report

Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management

Download Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management product report

Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management report

Also Known As

Dell KACE Systems Management

No data available

Overview

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?

Integration capabilities: Seamlessly connects with existing IT systems.
Efficient image deployment: Facilitates quick and effective distribution of system images.
Comprehensive asset management: Provides detailed tracking and management of IT assets.
User-friendly helpdesk: Simplifies handling IT requests and issues.
Automated patch management: Ensures devices are up-to-date with security patches.
Robust scripting: Allows for automation of complex IT tasks.
Detailed inventory tracking: Maintains accurate records of all IT assets.

What benefits should users expect from KACE Systems Management Appliance?

Simplified IT processes: Centralized management enhances operational efficiency.
Improved security: Streamlines cyber-security compliance through automated updates.
Flexibility in customizations: Adapts to specific IT environment needs.
Increased productivity: Efficient ticketing and reporting ease organizational operations.
Remote software updates: Ensures all devices are current, reducing security risks.

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.

Quest Software

Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management provides key features including asset inventory management, end-of-life tracking, dynamic tagging, and integration with CMDB, offering extensive visibility and support for proactive threat response.

Qualys offers comprehensive visibility across hardware and software assets, aiding in tracking unauthorized applications and facilitating automated vulnerability remediation. Its user-friendly interface and dynamic risk scoring enhance security posture management. Users leverage it for vulnerability management and compliance, benefiting from real-time risk identification and efficient operations in cloud and on-premises environments.

What are the key features of Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management?

Asset Inventory Management: Provides detailed visibility over hardware and software assets.
End-of-Life Tracking: Helps identify technical debt by pinpointing outdated hardware and software.
Dynamic Tagging: Allows flexible classification and categorization of assets.
Real-Time Risk Identification: Detects risks as they arise, enhancing threat response capabilities.
CMDB Integration: Streamlines data integration for comprehensive asset insights.

What benefits should users look for in Qualys reviews?

Improved Security Posture: Enables proactive threat management and streamlined operations.
Efficient Remediation: Automates vulnerability management and patch deployment.
User-Friendly Operations: Simplifies cybersecurity operations with an intuitive interface.
Comprehensive Asset Visibility: Offers unparalleled insight into organizational assets.
Scalable Solutions: Facilitates asset tracking across cloud and on-premises environments.

Cybersecurity teams in various industries, such as financial services, healthcare, and manufacturing, utilize Qualys to manage technical debt through end-of-life tracking and facilitate robust patch management. It supports compliance and visibility initiatives, essential for maintaining data integrity and operational security in dynamic environments.

Qualys

Sample Customers

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

Information Not Available

KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) vs. Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management