Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) vs Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform comparison

Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) vs. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

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Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Intune

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 Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is 4.4%, up from 3.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is 16.3%, up from 16.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Configuration Management

Featured Reviews

Gaurav Chandola

Senior Associate Specialist at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

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.

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Fernando Cezario

Level 2 Support at Tigs

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.

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Muralitharan KS

Software Architect at OSELabs

Efficient server management and detailed reporting with flexible deployment capabilities

We are primarily using Ansible for automation purposes as it is a configuration management tool. It is utilized for various activities such as DNS activity, changes to web servers, virtual host settings, and other day-to-day tasks, all of which are templated in Ansible Ansible allows us to manage…

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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

"Windows Autopatch is the most valuable because it removes the burden of patch management."

"As an IT administrator, I appreciate Intune's ability to implement granular device-level policies for our organization's employees."

"The most valuable includes managing everything from a single console."

"Microsoft integrated BitLocker and Active Directory into Intune, simplifying management."

"If I assess Intune's user experience, I would say it is perfect and simple."

"Agile and easy to deploy MDM solution that covers the maximum number of policies. Stable, scalable, and with knowledgeable technical support."

"It is a stable solution."

"The technical support of Microsoft Intune is good."

More Microsoft Intune pros

"The big pros of Quest KACE Systems Management are its simple interface, and simple, direct management. It's very easy to maintain and manage the device, and it's easy to get it up and running. You can have it up and running in an hour..."

"We can get the majority of what we need with this product and do not have to spend money on something else."

"The service desk can be configured and customized to better serve our environment."

"Pretty much all of the features are valuable. The inventory is very helpful to be able to keep track of our devices. The deployments make it easy to deploy new software packages or upgrade packages. The help desk is also a great tool for tracking problems and problem tickets."

"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."

"With KACE, we were able to have a simplification of the software deployment management with more granularity and flexibility."

"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."

"There is ease of use, and its pricing was a driving factor."

More Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) pros

"Role-based access control and agentless architecture are the main features which may attract users."

"Since it is in YAML, if I have to explain it to somebody else, they can easily understand it."

"Ansible provides great reliability when coupled with a versioning system (git). It helps providing predictability to the network by knowing exactly what's being pushed after validating it in production."

"Some colleagues and other companies use it and comment that it is easy to use, easy to understand, and offers good features."

"The solution can scale."

"The reason I like Ansible is, first, the coding of it is very straightforward, it's very human-readable. I'm also on a contract, and I can clearly iterate and bring people up to speed very quickly on writing a Playbook compared with writing up a Puppet manifest or a Salt script."

"I like being able to control multiple systems and push out updates quickly with just a couple of clicks of a button and commands. I like the automation because it is a time saver."

"Ansible Galaxy is helpful for roles and Git Submodules: No dependency in managing playbooks. Also, fact caching in redis for host/role grp information speeds up execution. Finally, variable management is easy."

More Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform pros

Cons

"Deploying an app can be a complex process due to dependencies."

"It would be great to see on-premises mailboxes and for the solution to have geofencing capabilities."

"They should make it easier to order it, however, that's generally true for everything from Microsoft."

"The UI is not user-friendly and has room for improvement."

"The tool's tunnel gateway is not very good, making it an area where improvements are required."

"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."

"We only have major classifications for iOS and Android, but there are different brands that have different cycles of updates. If they can fine-tune it to make it more brand-specific, that would be even better."

"It doesn't economize when you scale up. We have over 14,000 employees, and we have between 7,500 and 8,000 city-owned or personal devices being used to conduct city business. Its price can be improved. It is not a cheap solution."

More Microsoft Intune cons

"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."

"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."

"I would like them to implement VBScript language in KACE Systems Management. Currently, we can only use PowerShell."

"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."

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

"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."

"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."

"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."

More Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) cons

"Some of the modules in Ansible could be a bit more mature. There is still a little room for further development. Some performance aspects could be improved, perhaps in the form of parallelism within Ansible."

"I have seen indications that the documentation needs improvement. They are providing a "How to Improve Your Documentation" presentation at this conference."

"From Red Hat Insights point of view, the product is not on top as it is not responding as per the demand...Like on cloud platforms, you can see the main parts of Red Hat Insights, along with the inventory of all your apps. So, that is missing in Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform."

"The job workflow needs to be worked on. It's not really clear to how you actually link things together. What they probably could do is provide an example workflow on how to stitch things together. I think that would be very helpful."

"Because Ansible is establishing SSH sessions to perform tasks, there is a limit on scalability."

"Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is not the best at server provisioning. Terraform is better."

"The web GUI can be a little bit better. There should be a couple of more features."

"Documentation could be improved. Many times, if I'm looking for something, I have to Google it in a lot of places, then figure out what the best approach will be. There are some best practices documents, but they don't give you the information."

More Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"In terms of the product price and licensing costs, my company finds the product to be reasonably priced."

"There is a license required to use this solution. However, it was part of a bundle package. Microsoft Intune is far less expensive than other solutions, such as Workspace ONE."

"It comes as a bundle, so you do not really know what the prices are. Microsoft does not break it down to the user cost for us. It is just bundled with our E5 license."

"Microsoft Intune is expensive."

"Microsoft licenses are costly."

"While Microsoft Intune boasts a wide range of features, its user-friendliness and bundled licensing cost are key considerations for me."

"There is a license required to use the solution. If you're core users in Office 365, for example, you have Outlook email and E3 license, this is only email. You have to buy an EMS license to have Microsoft Intune. It is expensive."

"While Microsoft charges for actual usage, it lacks discount options."

More Microsoft Intune pricing and cost advice

"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."

"It may be more expensive, but you get what you pay for."

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

"The product is reasonably priced."

"It is expensive in Brazil."

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

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

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

"We went with product because we have a subscription for Red Hat."

"We use the open-source version of the solution."

"I don't see the pricing or licensing features, but from what I understand, it is fairly reasonable."

"I am using the community edition of the solution which is free."

"Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is an expensive solution. There may be additional fees to use advanced features."

"Customers need to pay yearly for the license."

"Ansible Tower is pretty expensive."

"Everything is generally fair. No one ever likes to pay a lot of money, but we are getting the value. We also get support with it. It has been fair and worthwhile."

More Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

26%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

13%

University

11%

Government

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Educational Organization

31%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

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 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.

What needs improvement with Quest KACE Systems Management?

Easier integration would be beneficial.

What is the difference between Red Hat Satellite and Ansible?

Red Hat Satellite has proven to be a worthwhile investment for me. Both its patch management and license management h...

How does Ansible compare to Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (SCCM)?

Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager takes knowledge and research to properly configure. The length of time that ...

What do you like most about Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform?

The most valuable features of the solution are automation and patching.

Jamf Pro vs Microsoft Intune

Comparisons

Compared 17% of the time

Workspace ONE UEM vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 7% of the time

ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 6% of the time

More Microsoft Intune Competitors

Microsoft Configuration Manager vs Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

Compared 30% of the time

BigFix vs Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Windows Server Update Services vs Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

Compared 8% of the time

Automox vs Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

Compared 5% of the time

ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus vs Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

Compared 3% of the time

More Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) Competitors

Microsoft Configuration Manager vs Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Compared 14% of the time

VMware Aria Automation vs Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Compared 11% of the time

Red Hat Satellite vs Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Azure DevOps vs Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Compared 6% of the time

BigFix vs Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Compared 5% of the time

More Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Competitors

Product Reports

Microsoft Intune

Download Microsoft Intune product report

Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

Download Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) product report

Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) report

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Download Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform product report

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform report

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager

Dell KACE Systems Management

Ansible

Learn More

Microsoft

Quest Software

Red Hat

Overview

Microsoft Intune is a comprehensive cloud-based service that allows you to remotely manage mobile devices and mobile applications without worrying about the security of your organization’s data. Device and app management can be used on company-owned devices as well as personal devices.

In an increasingly mobile workforce, Microsoft Intune keeps your sensitive data safe while on the move. Microsoft Intune makes it possible for your team members to work anywhere using their mobile devices. Microsoft Intune provides both the flexibility and the control needed for securing all your data on the cloud, no matter where the device with the data is located.

Microsoft Intune Device Management Key Features

With Microsoft Intune Device Management you can:

Ensure devices and apps are compliant with your security requirements.
Rapidly deploy and authenticate apps on all company devices.
Remotely access devices to troubleshoot issues or to remove data from them.
Generate reports for all devices in the system.
Monitor the way users access and share information to protect company information.
Set rules and configure settings on personal and organization-owned devices to access data and networks.
Create user groups and device groups, allowing you to rapidly access many users and devices simultaneously.

Mobile Application Management

Mobile application management in Intune is designed to protect your organization’s data at the application level.

With Microsoft Intune Application Management you can:

Configure apps to run with specific settings enabled.
Update existing apps that are already on the device.
See reports on which apps are used and monitor their usage.
Selectively wipe organization data from apps.
Add mobile apps to user groups and devices.

As part of Microsoft's Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) suite, Intune integrates with Microsoft Entra ID for access control and with Azure Information Protection for data protection. It also integrates with Microsoft 365 Applications.

Reviews from Real Users

Microsoft Intune stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its ability to secure all devices under its management and the flexibility that the solution offers its users.

A computing services manager notes, "Its security is most valuable. It gives us a way to secure devices, not only those that are steady. We do have a few tablets and other devices, and it is a way for us to secure these devices and manage them. We know they're out there and what's their status. We can manage their life cycle and verify that they're updated properly."

The head of IT engineering at a financial services company writes, "The one feature we find most useful is the Mobile Application Manager. There are two types: we have the complete MDM and the Mobile Application Manager (MAM). We don't give our users phones, it is their own personal phone, and we need to allow them to have access to the company details on their phone. We need to create a balance between their own personal data and the company data. We deploy the Mobile Application Manager for them so that we won't be able to interfere with their own personal data."

Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance is a comprehensive endpoint and service desk management platform. It supports IT operations with functionalities such as ticketing, patch management, software deployment, and asset management.

KACE provides robust automation for managing software distribution and patch tasks. Organizations depend on it for security updates, system compliance, and centralized control over diverse devices. Integration with tools like Bomgar and ServiceNow enhances its remote support capabilities, while its intuitive interface streamlines IT processes, increasing productivity. Managing thousands of endpoints, it supports accreditation compliance and reports on system status and security.

What are the key features of Quest KACE SMA?

Automation: Streamlines software deployment and patch management.
Asset Management: Offers comprehensive inventory controls.
Integration: Compatible with Bomgar and ServiceNow for enhanced remote support.
System Deployment: SDA simplifies deployment across multiple machines.
Intuitive Interface: Facilitates IT task management from a single pane.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Increased Productivity: Simplifies IT tasks, optimizing resources.
Centralized Control: Manages a wide range of devices from one interface.
Security Compliance: Ensures systems are updated and compliant.
Enhanced Support: Improved remote support through integrations.
Reporting Capabilities: Provides insights into IT operations and status.

Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance is implemented across industries needing robust IT management solutions such as healthcare for compliance and security, education for asset tracking, and corporate enterprises for efficient IT operations. Its multifunctional nature caters to diverse industry requirements, enhancing communication and data management.

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is a powerful network automation solution that allows organizations to handle every aspect of their application launch process within a single product. It enables users to share their automations so that teams within an organization can collaborate on various projects with ease. Ansible Automation Platform is designed to be used by all employees involved in the network automation process.

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Benefits

Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by choosing to deploy Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform include:

Maximum benefit for reduced overhead. Ansible Automation Platform is an all-in-one solution that can enable users to do the jobs of multiple products with one. Users do not need to purchase multiple products to handle their network automation and application development needs. It is equipped with prefabricated content from more than one hundred companies that are partnered with it.

Scalable. Ansible Automation Platform is a highly scalable solution. It can easily be scaled up so that automations can be extended across the various devices that make up an organization’s network.

Flexibility. Ansible Automation Platform is highly flexible. It enables users to tackle any and all automation-related tasks.

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Features

Automation analytics. Ansible Automation Platform comes equipped with an automation analytics feature. This feature enables organizations to measure the effects of their automations and plan how they are going to implement automations moving forward. It makes it easy for administrators to spot anomalies in their automations and resolve them before they can escalate and become major issues.

Integration suite. Ansible Automation Platform gives organizations access to a wide variety of integrations that enable them to connect to Ansible’s partners. Now users can augment their capabilities without needing to purchase additional solutions that will enable them to run features that are not normally a part of Ansible’s array of tools. The Ansible environment is built to handle the wide variety of integrations that their partners offer. In order to accomplish this it includes the APIs that users need in order to fully benefit from the integrations.

Centralized interface. Ansible Automation Platform comes with a centralized GUI interface that enables users to manage all of their network automation and application creation activities from a single location. Businesses can guarantee that their operations are going to be handled efficiently and according to a single standard. The management process is greatly simplified. All of the tools that users need are located in one place.

Reviews from Real Users

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is a highly effective solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Two major advantages it offers are its automation manager and its comprehensive centralized GUI-based management interface.

MD J., a solution architect at STBL, says, “The automation manager is very good and makes things easier for customers with multi-cloud platforms.”

Aankit G., a Consultant at Pi DATACENTERS, writes, “We like the GUI-based interface for the tower. Before, we only had a command-line interface to run all the Ansible tasks. Now, the Ansible tower provides the complete GUI functionality to run, manage, and create the templates and the Ansible jobs. This includes the code and YAML file we can create. The GUI interface is the added advantage of this solution, including some integration with the different plugins.”

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway

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

HootSuite Media, Inc., Cloud Physics, Narrative, BinckBank

Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) vs. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform