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Puppet Enterprise vs Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 27, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Intune
Sponsored
Ranking in Configuration Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
230
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (1st), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
Puppet Enterprise
Ranking in Configuration Management
16th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Quest KACE Systems Manageme...
Ranking in Configuration Management
14th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
38
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Compliance (7th), Patch Management (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Configuration Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 12.0%, up from 10.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Puppet Enterprise is 1.2%, down from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is 4.4%, up from 3.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Configuration Management
 

Featured Reviews

Gaurav Chandola - PeerSpot reviewer
We can manage all aspects of our devices from a single console, easy to scale, and quick to deploy
Intune has many benefits from the Microsoft perspective. This solution can manage Windows 10 devices, app management, and provide security solutions. We don't need to worry about our network connection, and we'll be more secure with regular security patches and compliance. Since everything will be deployed through the internet and users will log in using the internet only, the risks have been mitigated. Security updates, security patching, and the application will be targeted from Intune. The location tracker will be available to track where the device is and the user's location. The user will be restricted from accessing certain applications using compliance policies. Conditional access policies will be based on the reason why the user needs access to the application. Microsoft Intune is one of the best products in the industry for managing Windows devices. The solution has more feature restrictions. The conditional access policies also eliminate the dependency on the on-prem network for the devices. The solution also manages our security settings and a lot of other beneficial features such as Microsoft Purview which gives us the compliance portion. We can manage all aspects of our device from a single console, including M365 services. This allows us to configure data classification types, such as public, private, internal, confidential, and highly confidential.
Erik  Ableson - PeerSpot reviewer
A stable solution that is more suited for larger companies with mature CI/CD structures and image management processes
Puppet Enterprise is more suitable for clients working up much more structured deployment images they manage internally. Before choosing Puppet Enterprise, users should think seriously about what they're trying to accomplish and ensure they put the right pieces in place. Overall, I rate Puppet Enterprise an eight out of ten.
Fernando Cezario - PeerSpot reviewer
Helpful for IT asset management and offer a good dashboard
I like the KACE software dashboard so much! It's convenient. I don't need to know technical details like file formats (PDF or whatever) for installation, even for applications like Adobe. Here's how I use it: Let's say I have a license for Adobe and I need to install it on a computer named Julian. I simply open a case, enter the name of the application (Adobe), open the dashboard, and search for the computer named Julian. Once I select the computer, it shows up in the dashboard. Now, in the same case, I can open a large batch of software, select the application (Adobe Acrobat again), and choose the computer named Julian. KACE then deploys the application with minimal errors, usually within one or two minutes. Julian even receives a notification on their computer that the installation process has begun. It's fantastic! Moreover, it helped so much streamline our IT asset management and inventory. Sometimes someone changes the computer assigned to someone else. For example, Juliano had a computer, and then Matos changed it to his own use. I wouldn't know about this change if it weren't for KACE. KACE automatically tracks this information and saves it for me, allowing me to call it up on the dashboard. For example, if I need to find Juliano's computer in the system, I don't need to search through endless spreadsheets. I just search for "Juliano" in KACE. KACE also lists other details like the last login user. So, if I see "Juliano" on KACE but a different user is logged in, that tells me something might be wrong. I find this functionality very helpful for IT asset management.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Internet-based access with security is what I have found to be most valuable. It is also a stable and scalable solution."
"If you need only to load a specific profile and you don't have deep security functionalities, et cetera, Intune is very nice and good."
"This product works very well for companies already using the full Microsoft suite."
"Intune can wipe devices. For example, if a disgruntled employee wants to leak the data on their company phone, Intune can terminate their access and wipe the entire device with a click."
"I appreciate Intune's autopilot feature, which allows us to enroll devices and install applications to meet corporate requirements seamlessly."
"Intune device restriction policies enable me to enforce limitations on the device, like blocking the mobile camera or restricting the employees from using and inserting USB devices, including thumb drives and flash drives."
"We are using the mobile feature, and we are also using MDM to lock the devices, to push restrictions, et cetera"
"There is a single pane of glass for user access and a single sign-on facility for the user. If you have already logged in to Microsoft Azure or on-premises, you can redirect directly to Microsoft Endpoint Manager, monitor all your security threats, and analyze the data associated with the application in a single, unified way."
"Puppet Enterprise has reduced the time of production changes or environment changes."
"The main purpose for this automation tool would be: deploying, controlling, ordering change for the system and IT Infrastructure."
"Puppet3 and 4 series provides optimum deployment solutions for infrastructure and applications."
"Puppet Enterprise is a stable solution."
"The versatility is great."
"Puppet Enterprise has good functionalities."
"Anything that we manage through Puppet always runs perfectly."
"The most valuable features are the agent, high load balancing, and overall robustness and features."
"When vulnerabilities are exploited so much, it is nice to be able to quickly detect or deploy what is needed within our off-work hours or during work hours without a reboot."
"I am impressed by the service desk ticketing and asset management."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to monitor updates—the software versions—on machines so that we can keep everything compliant."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"We're able to deploy software and push out fixes to endpoints faster than ever."
"The scripting is a very valuable feature, as it saves us time on pushing certain things out to the users, such as software and patches."
 

Cons

"Microsoft needs to enhance device-level security, as sometimes when using Microsoft Intune, the device's operating system becomes stuck and requires a full uninstall to remove the Intune bug."
"Reporting needs improvement."
"Intune should improve the management of non-Microsoft devices. It would be better to manage Mac, Android, and other non-Microsoft operating system devices within the same Intune interface."
"It would be awesome if Microsoft opened their API so we could filter more properties. If we have to do anything outside of Intune that requires a third-party solution to talk back to it, we're very limited in what we can do. Trust your people. We promise not to break your stuff. Open it up just a tiny bit wider."
"The scalability could be improved, and like most other MDM products, Intune is good but not 100% there yet."
"It would be great if Intune offered better data protection controls for BYOD Windows PCs."
"Reporting could be improved. It needs to be more expensive and robust."
"More integration with monitoring tools is needed."
"The solution has really complex code, you have to understand the Ruby language. However, once you know the code then you can move ahead without any problems."
"There's a lot of scope for enhancement on the DevSecOps side. They should definitely include features for compliance, for both the Linux and Windows side of the devices, as well as for network devices. Compliance is something they need to work on."
"It's a bit of a pain point to make sure that everything works once we've upgraded it because Puppet has been evolving pretty fast."
"At the beginning the initial setup was kind of complex."
"Puppet Enterprise should improve the general extensibility for places where they can't install it."
"We would like Puppet to add more integration for applications."
"Puppet Enterprise is more complex and difficult to configure."
"Imaging becomes a problem when you start to try to go beyond doing more than thirty or forty machines at a time. We initially tried to do that virtually and it just, it wouldn't work."
"I've had some issues with patch catalogue."
"KACE implemented the possibility of reducing the network speed of the KACE agent. You can set it so that it takes whatever network speed you want or you can set it to 5 Mb, to save network speed. You set it for all the computers, but it would be preferable to separate between VPN connections in our home office and the local area. It would be great to be able to set separate speeds for different VLANs."
"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."
"Scalability is my primary concern right now."
"It could be designed a little bit more intuitively in terms of administration."
"The software asset management functionality is an area that needs to be improved. It could be more automated because when connections need to be made, such as when I connected Adobe and my malware removed, the process was pretty much manual."
"There is always room for improvement. However, the system does most of what we need at this moment."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The clients pay for a license and each can have a different type of license, such as an E3 or E5."
"The pricing is inherently reasonable, as Microsoft leverages market insights to maintain the total cost of ownership at around ninety to ninety-five percent of what would be incurred in an on-premise scenario."
"If you're subscribing to Premium or E3, there are no additional costs for Intune, it's included."
"There is a license needed for this solution and it is either included in one of the enterprise license agreements. Microsoft licensing is a mathematical institute, it could be quite complex. We tend to ask specialized organizations to research what the most profitable way it would be for us to use licenses in the organizations."
"Microsoft licenses are costly."
"Microsoft Intune's costliness stems from licensing fees and the overhead associated with its management, user experience, and device remediation."
"While I can't provide insights from a business perspective, it's worth noting that the pricing may differ significantly, and the discount we received might not be reflective of standard business rates."
"It's affordable. It's cheaper if you have an Office 365, E5, or E3 subscription because everything is there."
"The main thing that we noticed when we switched from the enterprise version to the community version was the difference in cost — the infrastructure is pretty expensive."
"Puppet Enterprise can be an expensive solution for smaller businesses."
"Depending on the size of the organization there is a point when the price of Puppet Enterprise should be lower. However, they provide really good functionality, features, and capabilities."
"Puppet Enterprise’s pricing is competitive."
"Their pricing is per end-point device. There is an initial cost for the license for the server, which is pretty low, and then there is a per end-point device license, which is also fairly low. So, the pricing is still reasonable."
"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."
"The pricing is great. It's billed annually and it's very reasonable."
"There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"We buy consulting fees from Software Factory, then we pay extra for it."
"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."
"The pricing and licensing are absolutely fair."
"It was a very attractive price. This is a huge feature of this product. If you would "credit score" this product versus others out there on the market, this one has a very attractive price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
26%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Government
7%
Educational Organization
51%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
6%
Government
5%
Computer Software Company
13%
University
12%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

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 ...
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...
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 ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Puppet Enterprise?
Puppet Enterprise can be an expensive solution for smaller businesses.
What needs improvement with Puppet Enterprise?
Puppet Enterprise should improve the general extensibility for places where they can't install it.
What do you like most about Quest KACE Systems Management?
KACE automatically tracks this information and saves it for me, allowing me to call it up on the dashboard. For examp...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Quest KACE Systems Management?
It is expensive in Brazil. Generally, it's considered expensive, especially compared to solutions like Spiceworks.
 

Also Known As

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Los Alamos National Laboratory, GitHub, IP Commerce, Cedexis, Spiceworks, Server Density, Swisstopo, Chockstone, Constant Contact, NICS, Citrix
Waypoint, Mattos Filho, Meetic, Gems Education, Green Clinic HealthSystem, Service King
Find out what your peers are saying about Puppet Enterprise vs. Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.
817,354 professionals have used our research since 2012.