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Microsoft Intune vs Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 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
7.7
Microsoft Intune reduces costs, enhances security, streamlines processes, and improves resource efficiency for significant operational savings.
Sentiment score
7.1
Quest KACE streamlines operations, saving time and resources, offering quick ROI and enhancing productivity through efficient patch management and automation.
Everything we've gained from it makes my job easier day after day, and I see value in it as an engineer.
Importantly, when someone leaves the company, it helps protect document access on their devices.
Applications are deployed through Intune, and we see fewer tickets for common issues because we can resolve them through the solution.
The return on investment is seen in the quick access to information, good inventory management, and efficient systems management.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Microsoft Intune support varies, with mixed reviews favoring premium support, while others desire more consistent and efficient basic support.
Sentiment score
7.8
Quest KACE support is praised for responsiveness, knowledgeable staff, and effective problem-solving, with minor ticket resolution time issues.
When a support ticket is submitted, it directly reaches someone with Intune support expertise.
When I contacted Microsoft, they had the same expertise, if not more, which is phenomenal because I felt heard and my problem was solved.
Sometimes, the support provided is excellent, and the representative is knowledgeable, while other times, the service needs improvement.
The customer service is very good, providing quick customer support in Spanish.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Microsoft Intune offers seamless scalability for enterprises, supporting diverse devices, though improvements for macOS and dynamic groups are suggested.
Sentiment score
7.2
Quest KACE scales efficiently, managing up to 10,000 endpoints, and adapts to expansions with simple resource additions and licensing.
The scalability of Microsoft Intune is ten out of ten.
Ideally, we want to automatically segregate devices based on user properties like primary use, but currently, dynamic groups seem limited to device properties.
It supports organizations with 200 endpoints and those with more than 15,000 endpoints.
The product is very scalable as it supports 10,000 thousand endpoints with just one appliance.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Intune is stable and reliable, rated high by users, with minor issues often caused by external factors.
Sentiment score
7.9
Quest KACE SMA is reliable with minimal downtime, regular updates improve functionality, but frequent updates may need attention.
Microsoft Intune has been very stable.
A couple of years ago, the performance was not as good as it is now, but there are noticeable backend improvements.
We've encountered problems with other services like Exchange, Intune has remained unaffected.
 

Room For Improvement

Intune needs better macOS support, integration, UI, MAM capabilities, third-party patching, and faster security policy application.
Quest KACE struggles with scalability, automation, usability, imaging, customization, and support, while needing improved licensing, reporting, and integration.
Features like unlocking devices sometimes fail, and the support offered for other operating systems is insufficient.
There are communication issues, so you might start working with a feature without knowing if it will be deprecated six months from now.
Many third-party companies offer single-pane-of-glass reporting that shows you what your update environment looks like, how your patch is doing, application status, etc., but Intune's reporting is not intuitive.
The user interface needs improvement as customers have mentioned they do not like the interface since it is not an SMA-based interface.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Intune's integration with Microsoft 365 licenses offers attractive pricing and flexibility, benefiting large organizations but less accessible for small businesses.
Quest KACE SMA offers competitive pricing with per-device licensing, valued for comprehensive features and ROI for large organizations.
Introductory professional services, like a fast-track service, were included with our E5 membership, and there have been no additional costs.
The Intune suite and add-ons, such as batch management and remote help, are costly.
We get Intune bundled with our Microsoft agreement.
The pricing is in the middle range of the market, not too expensive but not the cheapest either.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Intune offers seamless integration, security management, and centralized device management across Windows, iOS, and Android platforms.
Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance streamlines asset management, deployment, and IT tracking, enhancing productivity with automation and integration tools.
Intune excels in configuration and compliance management for Windows 10, ensuring devices receive timely updates and adhere to organizational standards.
Dynamic groups allow us to set conditions for automatic membership, eliminating the need for user intervention or manual review and ensuring a seamless workflow.
Windows Autopatch is the most valuable because it removes the burden of patch management.
The most valuable features include simplicity, which makes systems management easier and faster, especially for device management.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Intune
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
244
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (2nd), Remote Access (1st), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
Quest KACE Systems Manageme...
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
38
Ranking in other categories
Client Desktop Management (5th), Endpoint Compliance (7th), Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (13th), Patch Management (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Systems Management solutions, they serve different purposes. Microsoft Intune is designed for Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) and holds a mindshare of 35.7%, down 42.1% compared to last year.
Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA), on the other hand, focuses on Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM), holds 1.5% mindshare, up 0.7% since last year.
Unified Endpoint Management (UEM)
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)
 

Featured Reviews

Joseph Merusi - PeerSpot reviewer
Everything has worked better since we started using it
Sometimes the syncing is inconsistent. I'm confident that the devices are checking in every eight hours, but sometimes the devices aren't picking up the settings as quickly as I would expect. Some features haven't been updated in a while, and Microsoft doesn't seem interested in developing them. Unless you talk to an engineer, you don't know whether there will be an update. There are communication issues, so you might start working with a feature without knowing if it will be deprecated six months from now. Some reporting areas still need development. For example, I noticed that the reporting for driver updates is still confusing.
Scott Tweed - PeerSpot reviewer
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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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
24%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
University
10%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How does Microsoft Intune compare with VMware Workspace One?
Microsoft Intune is a great tool for managing a mobile device fleet while keeping access control. The solution makes it easy to control security and manage the usage of mobile apps when you have a ...
What are the pros and cons of Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune is a great configuration management tool and has a lot of good things going for it. Here are some of the things I like about it: Pros: Protected productivity: Intune gives you th...
How does Google Cloud Identity compare with Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also access to both Microsoft’s user community as well as around-the-clock customer s...
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...
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.
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.
 

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
Dell KACE Systems Management
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Waypoint, Mattos Filho, Meetic, Gems Education, Green Clinic HealthSystem, Service King
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Intune vs. Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
842,388 professionals have used our research since 2012.