

Ansible Automation Platform and KACE Systems Management Appliance compete in the IT automation and systems management category. Ansible seems to have the upper hand in flexibility and community support, while KACE excels in endpoint management and user-friendliness.
Features: Ansible Automation Platform features an agentless architecture that uses SSH, offering minimal setup and easy maintenance. It supports a wide range of modules for flexibility across different platforms. Additionally, the strong community support provides numerous shared resources. KACE Systems Management Appliance focuses on endpoint management with asset management, patch management, and service desk capabilities. These features effectively manage deployments and configurations.
Room for Improvement: Ansible's limitations include speed and scalability due to its reliance on SSH, and it could benefit from more robust documentation and enhanced network modules. KACE faces scalability issues in large deployments and could improve its user interface and integration capabilities. Enhanced patch management functionalities are also needed.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Ansible offers deployment options on-premises, hybrid, private, and public cloud environments, supported by strong community and documentation. KACE is primarily deployed on-premises and praised for effective customer support, but relies heavily on user-friendly documentation and forums, indicating room for better direct support interaction.
Pricing and ROI: Ansible provides both free and paid options, with enterprise features like Ansible Tower at a higher cost, offering ROI through time-saving and efficiency. KACE is reasonably priced for large deployments with significant value from its comprehensive management features. Both solutions offer unique advantages aligning with their pricing structures, resulting in varied ROI based on deployment size and feature utilization.
The return on investment is seen in the quick access to information, good inventory management, and efficient systems management.
I would rate the customer support for Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) as a 10.
The customer service is very good, providing quick customer support in Spanish.
I have not escalated any questions to the Red Hat support team regarding Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, as their modules are professional and complete.
The Ansible sales and technical support services need significant improvement.
The product is very scalable as it supports 10,000 thousand endpoints with just one appliance.
We have outgrown the size of one KACE appliance and are now running two.
Ansible can face scalability issues, such as limitations when trying to scale up infrastructure.
The stability of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is excellent, deserving a 10 out of 10 rating.
Currently, we have to go into each org to deploy applications when we need them all across the university.
The user interface needs improvement as customers have mentioned they do not like the interface since it is not an SMA-based interface.
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform could improve by creating modules for upcoming AI and ML tech stacks.
Both Event-Driven Ansible and cloud management platform features are crucial improvements needed.
More detailed dashboards would be beneficial because there is a lack of dashboards on Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform.
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is that, hands down, it beat all of the others in simplicity and pricing.
The pricing is in the middle range of the market, not too expensive but not the cheapest either.
The pricing is high, and since I'm not using all functionalities, it would be better if the price depended on the functionalities used.
The cost of combining Red Hat Developer Hub and Ansible is extremely high, which presents a significant challenge with the Red Hat product.
It is free and open-source for testing or small labs.
Scripting has saved us hundreds of hours over the years when patching these vulnerabilities compared to how we did it before.
The most valuable features include simplicity, which makes systems management easier and faster, especially for device management.
The agentless architecture of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform, using the SSH key, makes it passwordless and allows us to push configurations with one click, creating a major advantage.
The automation capabilities streamline deployment processes, providing reliability and reducing manual intervention and errors.
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is easy to integrate.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) | 1.6% |
| Kaseya VSA | 16.4% |
| NinjaOne | 11.5% |
| Other | 70.5% |
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform | 13.5% |
| Microsoft Configuration Manager | 10.4% |
| Microsoft Intune | 8.2% |
| Other | 67.9% |

| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 8 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 20 |
| Large Enterprise | 15 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 24 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 8 |
| Large Enterprise | 48 |
KACE Systems Management Appliance offers integration capabilities, efficient image deployment, and comprehensive asset management. It supports centralized management across diverse devices and locations, simplifying IT processes and enhancing security.
KACE Systems Management Appliance provides single-pane visibility for endpoint management, mass software deployment, automated patch management, robust scripting, and detailed inventory tracking. It streamlines IT management and improves cyber-security compliance through remote software updates and centralized IT request handling. Despite struggles with scalability and the need for interface improvements, it enables efficient device imaging, script automation, and network management through detailed reporting. Organizations find it effective for software deployment, asset management, and endpoint monitoring, serving thousands of IoT devices and desktops.
What are the key features of KACE Systems Management Appliance?In healthcare, KACE Systems Management Appliance is used for maintaining device compliance and security standards. Educational institutions benefit from its capabilities to manage large numbers of endpoints across campuses. In finance, it aids in strict compliance requirements through automated patch management and detailed reporting. Retail sectors leverage its asset management features to streamline operations across numerous locations.
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform streamlines IT operations with features like a simplified GUI and extensive module support. Its agentless architecture and YAML ease make it an adaptable choice for managing diverse infrastructures efficiently.
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform offers a robust automation framework that supports multiple environments and integrates well with various applications. Its agentless Python-based architecture facilitates efficient server management and rapid update deployment. Users benefit from centralized management through Ansible Tower, role-based access control, and dynamic inventory. However, improvement areas include documentation, API integration, network support, and UI scaling. Enhanced community contributions could address module availability and compatibility gaps.
What are the most important features of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform?In industries like finance, healthcare, and technology, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is used for network management, security compliance, and configuration tasks. Organizations utilize its capabilities for cloud and on-premises deployment, infrastructure provisioning, and workflow orchestration. Many integrate it with tools such as Puppet or Terraform to enhance CI/CD processes, benefiting from its agentless design in adapting to cloud environments.
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