Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, Mac vs Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) comparison

Ivanti and Quest Software are both solutions in the Patch Management category. Ivanti is ranked #17 with an average rating of 9.0, while Quest Software is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.0. Ivanti holds a 0.5% mindshare in PM, compared to Quest Software’s 5.5% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Ivanti users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Quest Software users who would recommend it.

Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNI...

Read 4 Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, Mac reviews

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109 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Quest KACE Systems Manageme...

Read 38 Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) reviews

1,826 Views
1,147 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNI...

Quest KACE Systems Manageme...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 2025

Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance and Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, Mac are competitors in patch management and IT automation. Ivanti Patch is considered superior due to its comprehensive features and is seen as worth the investment.

Features: Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance offers robust management capabilities, integrated systems management across various platforms, and efficiency in handling diverse IT environments. Ivanti Patch focuses on specialized patch management for Linux, UNIX, and Mac, ensures thorough security compliance, and extensive patching support. The primary difference is Quest KACE's broad scope versus Ivanti's depth in patching.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Ivanti Patch has a straightforward setup tailored to its platforms and provides effective, responsive customer service. Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance offers a comprehensive deployment process that may take more time but benefits from strong customer support. The main contrast is Ivanti's streamlined onboarding against Quest KACE's extensive deployment functionality.

Pricing and ROI: Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance offers cost-effective solutions with quick ROI by streamlining IT operations. Ivanti Patch involves higher initial costs justified by enhanced security and compliance, providing long-term ROI. The distinction lies in Quest KACE's value-driven pricing strategy versus Ivanti's focus on long-term gains.

To learn more, read our detailed Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, Mac vs. Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, Mac vs. Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

March 2025

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Helped 842,296 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNI...

Ranking in Patch Management

17th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Quest KACE Systems Manageme...

Ranking in Patch Management

10th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Client Desktop Management (5th), Endpoint Compliance (7th), Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (13th)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Patch Management category, the mindshare of Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, Mac is 0.5%, down from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is 5.5%, down from 6.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Patch Management

Featured Reviews

Mario Del Toro

CyberSecurity Executive IAM Engineer at Tata Consultancy

Helps to manage the accesses for the users, provide specific permissions, and verify identities

I use the solution to manage the accesses for the users, provide specific permissions, and verify identities. The tool is a stable product. The tool needs to improve its visual system. I would rate the product's stability a ten out of ten. I would rate the solution's scalability a nine out…

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Scott Tweed

Windows Engineer at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Low maintenance, reliable, and easy to create packages

I like how when you click on the device, it shows you everything that has changed as well as the software versioning. I am really enjoying the inventory aspect of it. The deployment process for both deploying and creating a package is straightforward. I believe the inventory in KACE is superior to SCCM's. I know with SCCM I could do things like remote console into machines via the agent's remote console, but that is not a feature that is provided in KACE. I know that at least in the Systems Management Appliance, I can't get to it. I'm not sure how distribution works, with distribution points. I'm not sure if KACE has that feature. You could use an SCCM to set up distribution points at remote sites so that they don't have to download patches or software from across the country. If you have a DP or something similar, they could pull it down.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The tool is a stable product."

"The solution is easy to implement."

"Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, and Mac helps to ensure that everything is up to date."

"The website development section is the most valuable feature of the solution."

"It is excellent in terms of updating and configuring everything the way we need. For anything more complex, we do professional service engagements, and they're exceptional. For anything less complex, we just need to ask questions. Their support division is extremely good too."

"The most valuable feature is the ability to have an overview of all devices that are accessing our environment."

"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."

"This product made the job easy to do without having to go put hands on the machines."

"The most valuable feature is the imaging of computers through the SDA... Being able to do that so quickly with the SDA, and to then use the SMA for reinstalling software, has been huge for our productivity."

"The ability to push an image to a machine, wake that image up, and just blast a new image to a computer without even having to touch it, and then push the software to that machine. This just made things so much more convenient for us and so much more efficient."

"The software asset management has been a big help, even when it comes to license true-ups. I can use it to find out how many Tivoli we have, and boom, there's the number... And you can actually click on the information about the software and it shows, for example, that these five servers are where it's being reported. If you really want, you can log in to them and validate."

"The information available via KACE is up to date, critical to our normal operations, and has become the go-to tool of our IT teams for extended support."

More Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) pros

Cons

"The tool needs to improve its visual system."

"The better way to improve the solution is by working on an area where it lacks, which includes the migration part."

"The solution can be quite expensive, compared to other options on the market."

"Its dashboard needs improvement. Currently, there is no way to modify the dashboard. There should be more flexibility so that we can create views according to our use case."

"One of the complications is that they don't have 24/7 support, and they're also not in our time zone... Sometimes, no matter how critical my application is, if my production server is down I won't be able to connect with anybody till 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time."

"It could be designed a little bit more intuitively in terms of administration."

"The KACE Go Mobile App crashes a lot, and it always has. I would love to see that get fixed because it's very convenient when it does work properly, but most of the time it does not."

"The GUI needs some work. I love all that it can do, however, it can be just be so cluttered at times."

"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."

"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."

"What could be improved is the possibility to use replicas in a secure way outside our network in order to maintain the machines that never connect to our corporate network."

More Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is open-source, so we do not need any licensing."

"n terms of pricing and licensing, my advice is that you need to assess what you need and then look at what they offer. It's easy to get caught up in the things that you want, but don't really need."

"There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."

"We pay annually for technical support."

"We are also saving on the licensing fee, compared to other endpoint management solutions."

"Its pricing model is good for what it offers. Nobody here gives me a hard time about renewing the contract every year. It might be a little cost prohibitive for a smaller company who has to stand up a virtual environment as well as have virtual environment licensing and the hardware. If you have a smaller environment, it might be cost prohibitive. If you only have a couple of hundred computers, you might be more willing to do those manually. In our environment, the cost savings of having KACE far outweigh the licensing costs. We are okay with its pricing model."

"Based on other solutions that we had implemented, its pricing seems to be quite competitive. It is not inexpensive, but it is also not more expensive than any other solution. They have the standard licensing fees and support fees."

"Licensing is very straightforward. They don't overcomplicate it. This is not a Cisco product where you have to have 30 different licenses just to open the box. It's pretty much set-and-forget. You pay an annual license... The cost is in the mid to upper range, but the ROI exceeds the outside cost, especially once you've had the system for a while."

"The pricing and licensing are good. It's worth it."

More Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Computer Software Company

12%

University

10%

Government

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, Mac?

Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, and Mac helps to ensure that everything is up to date.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, Mac?

The solution is not expensive. It is cheaper than other solutions. The solution is open-source, so we do not need any licensing.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, Mac?

The better way to improve the solution is by working on an area where it lacks, which includes the migration part. Currently, on Amazon AWS, we have hosted all the websites. It is fine to migrate f...

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What do you like most about Quest KACE Systems Management?

My company had bought some new machines. We used the tool to do some basic settings to ship every machine the same way and undertake the Windows deployment. We did the scripted installation. The to...

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

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

See all answers

What needs improvement with Quest KACE Systems Management?

The user interface needs improvement as customers have mentioned they do not like the interface since it is not an SMA-based interface and lacks a manual configuration option.

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Patch Management

February 2025

Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, Mac report

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Buyer's Guide

Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

March 2025

Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) report

Download Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) product report

Also Known As

HEAT Patch, PatchLink

Dell KACE Systems Management

Overview

Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, Mac, powered by Heat, swiftly detects vulnerabilities in today’s environment, from workstation to data center. And it deploys expertly pretested patches automatically, helping organizations to patch with more efficiency and efficacy.

Ivanti

Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance is a comprehensive tool for managing IT endpoints. It facilitates asset management, software distribution, and endpoint tracking while offering remote access capabilities and a centralized help desk.

Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance is designed for organizations that need efficient endpoint management. It offers a range of features like inventory tracking, automated patch management, and ticketing. By integrating with remote access tools such as Bomgar, Quest KACE helps reduce manual tasks involved in managing software updates and system deployments. Although it faces challenges in scalability and requires improvements in integration and reporting, it remains a versatile choice for asset tracking and endpoint administration.

What are Quest KACE SMA's key features?

Asset Management: Streamline the organization and tracking of physical and virtual assets.
Remote Access: Integrates with Bomgar for secure, remote troubleshooting and management.
Software Distribution: Deploy applications across devices efficiently without physical intervention.
Centralized Endpoint Management: Manage endpoints from a centralized console to ensure compliance and optimization.
Automated Patch Management: Schedule and deploy patches to maintain system security and performance.
Help Desk: Integrated ticketing system for tracking and resolving user issues.
Scripting and Reporting: Enhance administrative tasks through automated scripts and detailed reports.

What benefits should users consider?

Improved Productivity: Reduces manual interference with automated deployments and updates.
Labor Savings: Minimizes labor requirements with efficient remote management tools.
Integrated Reporting: Provides actionable insights through comprehensive reports to optimize IT operation.
User-Friendly Interface: Boosts effectiveness due to its intuitive, easy-to-navigate design.

Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance is implemented across industries for managing IT assets and endpoints, particularly where remote management and compliance are critical. It's employed in healthcare, education, and government sectors for efficient patch management, inventory control, and software deployment, aiding organizations in managing security accreditations and centralizing help desk operations.

Quest Software

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

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

Buyer's Guide

Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, Mac vs. Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

March 2025

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