KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) vs Qualys Patch Management comparison

KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) vs. Qualys Patch Management

April 2026

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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

6.1

Qualys Patch Management boosts ROI by automating patch deployments, improving efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing vulnerability risk management.

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

With Qualys, we can save around 70 percent of time and between 30 to 40 percent of money.

Zafar Syed

Information Security Manager at BARC India

We have a 50 percent return on investment due to reduced operational complexity and increased efficiency in patching and detection.

Revathi VeeraRaghavan

Information Security - Manager at Infosys

We have achieved significant time savings of 90 percent, primarily due to comprehensive oversight and visibility of security issues.

reviewer2593263

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

For more quotes and insights, download the Qualys Patch Management report

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

7.3

Qualys Patch Management's customer service is praised for responsiveness and effectiveness, despite occasional language barriers and delays.

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 is experienced and responsive.

Arshad Nr

Senior Security Consultant at CyberNxt Solutions LLP

The support team is responsive and provides detailed information.

GokulM

Vulnerability Management Engineer at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees

Whenever we raise a request and mention the priority of the ticket, they respond immediately via email or call.

Pallavi Jain

Security Consultant at Onity

For more quotes and insights, download the Qualys Patch Management report

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

8.3

Qualys Patch Management is highly scalable, effectively managing global assets with flexibility, though improvements in multi-tenancy and affordability are suggested.

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

It scales efficiently across different machines globally, ensuring patches are deployed smoothly.

reviewer2589096

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

Qualys Patch Management is a globally scalable product, easily handling increasing workloads and users.

Zafar Syed

Information Security Manager at BARC India

If a client has purchased licensing for ten thousand assets and exceeds that, Qualys continues to scan those additional assets, which ensures the client's coverage.

Amber Mitchell

Lead Product Manager ASM at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Qualys Patch 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

7.7

Qualys Patch Management is reliable, with high satisfaction ratings, responsive support, and minimal issues primarily due to network limitations.

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 Patch Management nine point five out of ten.

reviewer2590236

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

The stability of Qualys Patch Management is impeccable.

Sandeep Pasi

Sr Cyber Security Manager at BARC India

Overall, it is reliable.

Karan Bhateja

System Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Qualys Patch 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 Patch Management requires improvements in bug fixes, reporting, integration, user interface, support, and flexibility for better performance.

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

There is a limitation where Qualys may not always offer solutions for remediation, particularly for end-of-life or end-of-service applications.

Karan Bhateja

System Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

It would be better if Qualys Patch Management identifies whether the process has failed at the first instance and provides a retry button or retry mechanism, allowing retries for failed patches.

AntonyLai

Sr Security Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

For critical options, they could make them red, green for medium, and blue for less significant options.

reviewer2706300

Cyber Security Specialist at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Qualys Patch Management report

Setup Cost

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

Qualys Patch Management is cost-effective for large assets, with competitive pricing and volume discounts, despite initial costs for smaller setups.

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

We get many more features at the same price as other solutions such as Microsoft SCCM.

Arshad Nr

Senior Security Consultant at CyberNxt Solutions LLP

However, it can be a bit expensive sometimes, and I think clients can be shocked when they see the price.

Amber Mitchell

Lead Product Manager ASM at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees

The pricing is reasonable and less expensive than the previous tool.

Chaitanya Kajjam

Technical Lead - Security Operations at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Qualys Patch Management report

Valuable Features

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

Qualys Patch Management enhances asset visibility, risk prioritization, and streamlined patch deployment, improving security and compliance efficiently across large networks.

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

We leverage this functionality to deploy scripts that adjust registry values, effectively patching vulnerabilities and enhancing the security of our machines.

reviewer2589096

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

We have been able to apply workarounds for zero-day vulnerabilities efficiently.

Arshad Nr

Senior Security Consultant at CyberNxt Solutions LLP

It provides insight into the organization's security posture and keeps databases updated with new CVEs.

Mubashir K

Security Specialist at a photography company with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Qualys Patch Management report

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 (2nd), Endpoint Compliance (7th), Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (12th), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (10th)

Qualys Patch Management

Ranking in Patch Management

1st

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Patch Management category, the mindshare of KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is 3.5%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qualys Patch Management is 3.0%, down from 4.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Patch Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Qualys Patch Management	3.0%
KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)	3.5%
Other	93.5%

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

reviewer2706300

Cyber Security Specialist at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Patch management process becomes more efficient and cost-effective while significantly improving vulnerability remediation rates

Regarding improvements in Qualys Patch Management, I did not quite understand the downsides they were expecting. Initially, I was confused about where to find and how to use the available features. It was challenging to identify the options we could employ and why we were using them. However, once I gained hands-on experience, I was able to identify the tool's particular features, making it easier for us to use it. The initial phase had some difficulty with the user interface. I would them to improve user training. They have used many colors, which can be confusing, so they should use specific colors for specific options. For critical options, they could make them red, green for medium, and blue for less significant options. This would make it easier for a beginner to recognize which buttons are dangerous to click. Such adjustments can help new users learn the solution faster.

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894,738 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

University

11%

Non Profit

Government

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

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	16
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	28

Questions from the Community

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

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. However, apart from that, I d...

What needs improvement with Quest KACE Systems Management?

For improvements in KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA), I would want to see it become a standalone software agent. I am curious about why it does not offer EDR functionality. Additionally, the...

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

I have deployed KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) around 230 plus PCs, and I use it to push Windows updates and scripts. I have designed various scripts for tasks such as password resets afte...

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

The setup cost for Qualys Patch Management was manageable since it was handled in-house, and while the pricing could be a bit cheaper, it remains reasonable.

What needs improvement with Qualys Patch Management?

While Qualys Patch Management is a powerful tool, there are areas for improvement, such as enhancing patch-to-asset accuracy, improving deployment feedback and error visibility, optimizing bandwidt...

What is your primary use case for Qualys Patch Management?

My name is Gift Denison Djemeda, and I stay in Botswana, a country in Southern Africa, where my full title is a Vulnerability Management Specialist, focusing on vulnerability management and infrast...

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Product Reports

KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

May 2026

KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) report

Download KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) product report

Download Qualys Patch Management product report

Qualys Patch Management

April 2026

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 Patch Management offers asset visibility, risk-based prioritization, and automation to enhance security. It integrates with VMDR for vulnerability prioritization, ensuring efficient patch deployment and reduced manual effort.

Qualys Patch Management focuses on automating patch deployment and bridging the gap between vulnerability identification and resolution. It supports Windows and Linux servers, providing real-time assessments and comprehensive reporting. The integration with VMDR prioritizes risks efficiently, promoting collaboration between IT and security teams. Organizations benefit from streamlined workflows, improved vulnerability response times, and enhanced remote management.

What are the key features of Qualys Patch Management?

Asset Visibility: Provides precise tracking of all assets across environments.
Risk-Based Prioritization: Enables prioritization based on vulnerability risk level.
Automation: Streamlines patch deployment to reduce manual workload.
VMDR Integration: Integrates with VMDR for efficient vulnerability management.
Real-Time Assessments: Offers immediate analysis and feedback on patches.

What benefits can organizations expect from Qualys Patch Management?

Enhanced Security Posture: Reduces vulnerabilities across systems.
Improved Operational Efficiency: Streamlines workflows for faster resolutions.
Cost Reduction: Minimizes manual efforts, reducing associated costs.
Cross-Department Collaboration: Enhances communication between IT and security.

In industries like finance and healthcare, Qualys Patch Management is pivotal for maintaining stringent security standards. It helps organizations quickly address vulnerabilities, crucial in sectors that handle sensitive data. The ability to integrate with existing systems ensures minimal disruption and maximizes resource efficiency.

Qualys

Sample Customers

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

Information Not Available