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KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) vs SUSE Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025

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 SMA increases efficiency and productivity, offering rapid ROI by streamlining operations and reducing time, costs, and staffing needs.
Sentiment score
1.0
SUSE Manager offers cost savings, efficiency, reduced risks, better resource allocation, and optimized performance through automated server management and system health visibility.
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 SMA support is praised for its expertise and 24/7 availability, with occasional room for flexibility improvement.
Sentiment score
3.1
SUSE Manager support is mixed; helpful yet sometimes lacking, with cultural differences affecting customer satisfaction and support consistency.
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
Generally, the support is good, but there are instances where the support team seems disinterested in solving complex problems.
IT Consultant at a non-tech company with self employed
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
KACE Systems Management Appliance efficiently supports various organization sizes, excelling in integration, scalability, and comprehensive network management.
Sentiment score
4.8
SUSE Manager effectively scales for medium-sized businesses, connecting multiple environments and accommodating growth without issues.
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
The product is very scalable as it supports 10,000 thousand endpoints with just one appliance.
Avocat at Star Boxes India Pvt Ltd
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
KACE Systems Management Appliance is praised for its stability, reliability, and efficient performance, with swift recovery during incidents.
Sentiment score
4.1
SUSE Manager is stable and reliable, with occasional issues swiftly resolved by support, reinforcing user confidence in management.
The stability of SUSE Manager is fine.
IT Consultant at a non-tech company with self employed
 

Room For Improvement

KACE Systems Management Appliance struggles with scalability, usability, customization, integration, image deployment, and technical support responsiveness.
SUSE Manager users seek a larger code library, better integration, enhanced support, easier navigation, and improved cybersecurity features.
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
Features that can be helpful in disaster recovery.
Technology Specialist at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees
A better description of the initial setup process could enhance user experience.
IT Consultant at a non-tech company with self employed
From an integration perspective, it is difficult to integrate with Jira or any ticketing tool, which is challenging.
Unix Administrator at emaratech
 

Setup Cost

KACE Systems Management Appliance offers cost-effective enterprise solutions, although potentially expensive for small businesses, with no additional feature costs.
<p>SUSE Manager provides flexible, cost-effective pricing options, though some users experience unexpected costs for advanced features and support.</p>
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
 

Valuable Features

KACE SMA offers integrated, centralized IT management for efficient software deployment, asset management, and security with customizable inventories.
SUSE Manager provides live patching, monitoring, automation, compliance, security, and simplifies management across Linux systems, enhancing usability and efficiency.
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
The most valuable features include simplicity, which makes systems management easier and faster, especially for device management.
Avocat at Star Boxes India Pvt Ltd
It supports more than six or seven Linux flavors, and when compared to other tools such as Satellite, which only supports the Red Hat operating system, SUSE Manager supports Red Hat, Ubuntu, Debian, and some other Linux operating systems for patch management.
Unix Administrator at emaratech
SUSE Manager is valuable for managing systems, patching, and utilizing SaltStack connectivity for various installations and other routines.
IT Consultant at a non-tech company with self employed
 

Categories and Ranking

KACE Systems Management App...
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Client Desktop Management (3rd), Endpoint Compliance (7th), Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (11th), Patch Management (9th), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (10th)
SUSE Manager
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
4.0
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (13th)
 

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 1.7%, up 1.3% compared to last year.
SUSE Manager, on the other hand, focuses on Configuration Management, holds 3.5% mindshare, up 3.5% since last year.
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)1.7%
Kaseya VSA15.8%
NinjaOne11.4%
Other71.1%
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)
Configuration Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SUSE Manager3.5%
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform12.2%
Microsoft Configuration Manager9.5%
Other74.8%
Configuration Management
 

Featured Reviews

MH
Server Administrator III at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Reliability and adaptability enable efficient application deployment and security management
The best features Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) offers include the scripting function, which stands out to me because I can find specific needs and deploy the applications based on those needs. There was a time when scripting really saved me time by allowing me to find specific registry entries and modify them to patch security vulnerabilities. Scripting has saved us hundreds of hours over the years when patching these vulnerabilities compared to how we did it before. I really enjoy the security features that are enabled to deploy Microsoft and other vendor patches, which stand out to me as key functionalities.
DK
Unix Administrator at emaratech
Supports a wide range of operating systems but integration challenges persist
From an integration perspective, it is difficult to integrate with Jira or any ticketing tool, which is challenging. We didn't try that, but we opened a case with SUSE support, and they said that it requires consultation for this new use case. In terms of support, both response time and knowledge-wise, they need to improve.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
12%
Non Profit
10%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Energy/Utilities Company
7%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise15
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
 

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 needs improvement with SUSE Manager?
The integration of some functions on cybersecurity could be improved if possible, along with features that can be helpful in disaster recovery.
What is your primary use case for SUSE Manager?
The use case for SUSE Manager is for several tasks such as bringing up the instances for SAP HANA, bringing them down, and performing automatic procedures such as housekeeping on HANA files. There ...
What advice do you have for others considering SUSE Manager?
I have experience with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. I mostly work with SUSE Linux, but we have a couple of servers with Red Hat. I use SUSE Manager. My review rating for SUSE Manager is 10 out of 10.
 

Also Known As

Dell KACE Systems Management
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Waypoint, Mattos Filho, Meetic, Gems Education, Green Clinic HealthSystem, Service King
Day & Zimmermann, Cisco, CEMEX, L.B. Foster, Adient, Istanbul Technical University, 7Pixel, University of Maine System, Guerbet
Find out what your peers are saying about KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) vs. SUSE Manager and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.