No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) vs VMware Aria Automation comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

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
7.2
VMware Aria Automation improved ROI through cost savings, enhanced productivity, and faster provisioning, reducing manual processes and boosting efficiency.
The return on investment is seen in the quick access to information, good inventory management, and efficient systems management.
Avocat at Star Boxes India Pvt Ltd
 

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
6.6
VMware Aria Automation support is generally responsive and knowledgeable, but some delays occur with escalated issues and case handling.
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.
Avocat at Star Boxes India Pvt Ltd
When you open a ticket, in very, very few cases, they solve it. This is around a particular solution, Tanzu.
Senior IT at ITSolutions
We never had major issues to report or request support.
IT Infrastructure Manager at a insurance company with 501-1,000 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
7.5
VMware Aria Automation is highly scalable, adaptable to various setups, and appreciated for integration and ease of expansion.
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.
Server Administrator III at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

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
6.8
VMware Aria Automation is generally stable, with improvements noted; issues mainly occur during upgrades or complex deployments.
KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is stable and secure;
Security Administrator at EbixCash
Until version eight, it was perfect because it was very proven and stable, and it was doing very well what it was promising.
Senior IT at ITSolutions
 

Room For Improvement

KACE SMA users seek enhanced scalability, reporting, UI design, easier remote management, and better integration with reduced resource consumption.
VMware Aria Automation needs improved documentation, integration, UI, and cost-effectiveness, along with enhanced orchestration, training, and error management.
The dashboard could be more interactive; for example, it should provide alerts if an endpoint is vulnerable to viruses.
Security Administrator at EbixCash
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 user interface needs improvement as customers have mentioned they do not like the interface since it is not an SMA-based interface.
Avocat at Star Boxes India Pvt Ltd
VCF 9 will bring VCF Automation and VCF Operations, the new product line of VMware.
Senior IT at ITSolutions
It operates for both of my products, however, as a product, it is complicated to integrate and automate with other products.
Cloud Engineer at BIDV - Ngân hàng TMCP Đầu tư & Phát triển Việt Nam
 

Setup Cost

KACE SMA's per-device licensing offers cost-effective scalability and comprehensive management, providing value across various organization sizes.
Enterprise users find VMware Aria Automation costly yet appreciate its integration and savings, comparing it to free alternatives like SaltStack.
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
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
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.
Security Administrator at EbixCash
 

Valuable Features

KACE SMA enhances productivity with off-hours deployment, automation, and streamlined asset and license management through a single interface.
VMware Aria Automation streamlines tasks through extensive integration, scalability, and user-friendly interfaces, enhancing operational agility and hybrid cloud support.
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
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.
Security Administrator at EbixCash
The most valuable features include simplicity, which makes systems management easier and faster, especially for device management.
Avocat at Star Boxes India Pvt Ltd
We leverage VRO when the going gets tough. When something is not doable with the tools we have with VMware Aria Automation, we use the capabilities of VRO because it has many plugins for many things.
Senior IT at ITSolutions
It helps us automate the workflow of creating many VMs and the TensorFlow key method.
Cloud Engineer at BIDV - Ngân hàng TMCP Đầu tư & Phát triển Việt Nam
We have strong regulations for maintaining compliance and mitigating risks with this product.
IT Infrastructure Manager at a insurance company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

KACE Systems Management App...
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Client Desktop Management (2nd), Endpoint Compliance (6th), Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (11th), Patch Management (11th), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (11th)
VMware Aria Automation
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
172
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Management (2nd), Configuration Management (11th), Network Automation (7th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (29th), Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Systems Management solutions, they serve different purposes. KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is designed for Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) and holds a mindshare of 2.7%, up 1.3% compared to last year.
VMware Aria Automation, on the other hand, focuses on Cloud Management, holds 5.7% mindshare, down 9.5% since last year.
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)2.7%
Kaseya VSA9.7%
NinjaOne9.4%
Other78.2%
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)
Cloud Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
VMware Aria Automation5.7%
IBM Turbonomic4.7%
VMware Aria Operations3.8%
Other85.8%
Cloud Management
 

Featured Reviews

AdityaJain - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Administrator at EbixCash
Centralized software deployment has simplified endpoint control but needs stronger security alerts
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.
VasilisGiannitsiotis - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior IT at ITSolutions
Automation has streamlined complex financial workflows but still needs more intuitive orchestration
Something to improve in VMware Aria Automation would be related to VCF 9, as I do not know what it is trying to bring because they exposed it as the solution of everything. So VCF 9 will bring VCF Automation and VCF Operations, the new product line of VMware. I have not seen what this brings or what else it includes. Maybe in the area of vRealize Orchestrator, this would be beneficial because VRO can do everything. Perhaps a more user-friendly way to use that tool would be helpful because the possibilities there are endless. I am looking for more user-friendly navigation in VMware Aria Automation.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) solutions are best for your needs.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
University
9%
Construction Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise16
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business33
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise131
 

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's the difference between VMware vRA (automation) and vROps (operations)?
vROP is a virtualization management solution from VMWare. It is efficient and easy to manage. You can find anything you need from the software interface. It provides complete visibility over applic...
Is there any way to try VMware Aria Automation for free?
When it comes to VMware Aria Automation, you have three choices for free runs: Hands-on Lab (HOL) Advanced lab A free trial I cannot describe in detail the second and third options as my company ...
Which sectors can benefit the most from VMware Aria Automation?
I was looking at VMware Aria Automation case studies recently and I got the impression that three main kinds of companies were using it most often: Social organizations Financial institutions and ...
 

Also Known As

Dell KACE Systems Management
VMware vRealize Automation, vRA, VMware DynamicOps Cloud Suite, SaltStack
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Waypoint, Mattos Filho, Meetic, Gems Education, Green Clinic HealthSystem, Service King
Rent-a-Center, Amway, Vistra Energy, Liberty Mutual
Find out what your peers are saying about NinjaOne, Kaseya, datto and others in Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM). Updated: October 2026.
920,769 professionals have used our research since 2012.