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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

KACE Systems Management Appliance significantly simplifies software deployment and management, allowing automated imaging and configuration tasks.
Asset management is highly valued, aiding in licensing and inventory management efficiently.
The centralized "single pane of glass" management improves accessibility and control over endpoint management without physical interaction.
Script building and task automation within the deployment center enhance IT productivity exceptionally.
Patching and updates are managed centrally, facilitating efficient deployment across numerous devices, maintaining compliance and operability.

CONS

KACE Systems Management Appliance lacks an intuitive patching process, especially for non-Microsoft applications.
Sales team of KACE Systems Management Appliance has been criticized for being overly aggressive with frequent calls.
The KACE Go Mobile App has stability issues and crashes frequently, affecting its usability.
KACE Systems Management Appliance's initial setup is complex and requires precise steps, making it challenging to implement without comprehensive documentation.
Imaging capabilities of KACE Systems Management Appliance have limitations, particularly when handling more than 30 to 40 machines at a time.
 

KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) Pros review quotes

KB
PC Technician at Cape Fear Community College
Sep 25, 2018
This product made the job easy to do without having to go put hands on the machines.
it_user798876 - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Director -Head of ICT with 51-200 employees
Nov 6, 2018
The most valuable feature is the ability to have an overview of all devices that are accessing our environment.
it_user1258581 - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Jan 12, 2020
I am impressed by the service desk ticketing and asset management.
Learn what your peers think about KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer1506942 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Systems Integrator at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Feb 10, 2021
KACE has made our life much easier since we got off the Microsoft solution. The Microsoft solution was a lot harder to image over different ports and stuff. They would only have this one place where we could do all the imaging. Now, we have a whole building where we can image from. This means that we can image from our storage area, where we have a place to do our imaging. We can also image right at our desks, which is a lot easier.
reviewer1508673 - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Administrator at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Sep 13, 2022
The Systems Deployment Appliance is magical when it comes to automating deployment... Not only can we have multiple images, specific to end-users' uses, but we have a plethora of post-installation tasks to install or configure the system, tasks that can be re-used for each system. You just have one basic base image, and then you use the post-install tasks to customize everything else. It is amazing.
reviewer1512810 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enterprise Service Desk Systems Manager at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Feb 17, 2021
We have our KACE agent deployed on all of our workstations and servers, and it provides us with reports on the hardware and software inventory for those.
it_user1548024 - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant Unit Head, IT Systems Support at a security firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Apr 5, 2021
The solution provides us a single pane of glass with everything that we need for endpoint management of all devices. It definitely has made our endpoint management process much easier.
TH
Laboringenieur / Computeringenieur at HTW Berlin
Apr 21, 2021
The scripting part increases IT productivity because of the specialized software in our environments for students' courses. You need to use software which is not programmed by developers. A lot of software for building houses or other things is developed by normal guys, who do not have much skill in programming. When you need to install this type of software, it is very difficult. You have to install registry keys, etc. For that, it is very good to use the scripting part of this solution. So, you can automate this part as well.
MW
Works at a healthcare company with 501-1,000 employees
Apr 26, 2021
The most valuable feature of KACE is the mass package deployment. There are a lot of endpoint management solutions in the market. The way KACE responds is with the installation management feature, which is done in a very intelligent way, as well as scripting. It's wow. It's really wow. On top of that, there is a mass undeployment feature as well.
CS
IT Manager at a educational organization with 201-500 employees
May 2, 2021
I can reach people now that I couldn't have reached previously. We are saving about 25 percent in time.
 

KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) Cons review quotes

KB
PC Technician at Cape Fear Community College
Sep 25, 2018
The only hiccups we had were some power issues, where the box was a little under-powered early on.
it_user798876 - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Director -Head of ICT with 51-200 employees
Nov 6, 2018
I think it should have the ability to have the applications automatically update. It would be really helpful if this would override what the user might choose to do.
it_user1258581 - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Jan 12, 2020
I've had some issues with patch catalogue.
Learn what your peers think about KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA). Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer1506942 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Systems Integrator at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Feb 10, 2021
They could make the booting solution easier for different things, e.g., easier to insert drivers. They could make it easier to create a new image and put it onto the server. Those would be some nice solutions. They could make it so that somebody who has no knowledge at all can do it. That would be really nice. Because every time, until I get it memorized, I still need to go back to the training, the manual, or Google it to figure it out again. If they would make it a lot easier, to where a nine-year-old could do it, that would be really cool. If they made it easier, I could have more people managing the images on the server, instead of just one or two people.
reviewer1508673 - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Administrator at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Sep 13, 2022
I would sure like them to be able to copy and paste out of OneNote. That drives me nuts. You can't copy from OneNote into KACE.
reviewer1512810 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enterprise Service Desk Systems Manager at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Feb 17, 2021
Scalability is my primary concern right now.
it_user1548024 - PeerSpot reviewer
Assistant Unit Head, IT Systems Support at a security firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Apr 5, 2021
The initial setup was complex. It is a Linux-based virtual server, where the customer cannot get into the back-end, so you can only follow their prompts. Then, there are specific things that have to be done in their implementation and upgrade phases that have to be done in a certain order or steps. If you don't get those steps right, the system doesn't work. I think that either simplifying that process or providing really good step-by-step documentation would be helpful.
TH
Laboringenieur / Computeringenieur at HTW Berlin
Apr 21, 2021
It is a little bit difficult to use the license compliances because you need to decide when you are using the software catalog if you are using it with their license compliance or the normal software part. Under the inventory, you can use software as a menu link or software catalog. Most of my specialist software is not in the software catalog. When I try to import them, in my license compliances overview, there are cryptic names for this software that I have to import. That is not very good for the reports that I use. When I take them to my bosses, they see cryptic names of software that they don't understand. It would be much better for me if I could use software and the software catalog as well for the license compliances.
MW
Works at a healthcare company with 501-1,000 employees
Apr 26, 2021
There should be a mini toolbox, like the competitors of KACE have, with the small features for KACE administrators. That would make their lives easier. If you are troubleshooting a specific endpoint, remote control is available as is Wake-on-LAN. But if you want to execute some commands, you have to use a third-party tool, the PS tool. If they would integrate those small things, it would make KACE more powerful.
CS
IT Manager at a educational organization with 201-500 employees
May 2, 2021
I still need better communication about which processes are really due and which processes are currently being processed. According to the initial setup service provider, there is still no real management or overview on KACE where you can really see 100 percent of what is going on as well as what is going to be processed next and whether I can influence the overall process. It could really help me if I knew, e.g. exactly in 10 minutes my colleague will be supplied with this or that software. I haven't found this yet. If they could add this, that would be cool. It is still missing and I haven't yet found something like this.