HCL BigFix vs. KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
BigFix
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
BigFix, now supported by HCL Technologies since the acquisition of BigFix from IBM in 2018, is an endpoint management solution providing endpoint visibility and IT asset discovery, automated endpoint patching (BigFix Lifecycle and BigFix Patch) policy enforcement (BigFix Compliance), and software asset discovery for licensed and unlicensed software (BigFix Inventory).N/A
KACE Systems Management Appliance
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
Quest now offers the KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) as an IT Asset tracking and management appliance (also available as a virtual deployment if hardware requirements are met). Beyond discovery, inventory tracking and license management, KACE emphasizes automating software upgrade distribution with minimal end-user disruption, featuring remote replication for multi-site upgrades and rollouts. KACE SMA may be bundled with KACE Cloud Mobile Device Management (MDM) to form a complete UEM…N/A
Pricing
HCL BigFixKACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BigFixKACE Systems Management Appliance
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details——
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
HCL BigFixKACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)
Considered Both Products
BigFix

No answer on this topic

KACE Systems Management Appliance
Chose KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)
The biggest part to KACE verses these options was the ability to have an agent installed on the endpoint that could communicate back to our primary KACE appliance for updates. As we have customers with different network setups and the machines are never in a direct connect to …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
HCL BigFixKACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)
IT Asset Management
Comparison of IT Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
HCL BigFix
-
Ratings
KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)
8.6
12 Ratings
12% above category average
Software and hardware inventory tracking00 Ratings10.012 Ratings
License management00 Ratings9.011 Ratings
Asset lifecycle monitoring00 Ratings8.010 Ratings
Contract management00 Ratings6.06 Ratings
Asset relationship management00 Ratings10.08 Ratings
Best Alternatives
HCL BigFixKACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)
Small Businesses
NinjaOne
NinjaOne
Score 9.2 out of 10
ConnectWise RMM
ConnectWise RMM
Score 7.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
KACE Systems Management Appliance
KACE Systems Management Appliance
Score 10.0 out of 10
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
Score 9.4 out of 10
Enterprises
KACE Systems Management Appliance
KACE Systems Management Appliance
Score 10.0 out of 10
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
Score 9.4 out of 10
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User Ratings
HCL BigFixKACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(5 ratings)
10.0
(12 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.6
(3 ratings)
Support Rating
6.0
(3 ratings)
9.5
(4 ratings)
User Testimonials
HCL BigFixKACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)
Likelihood to Recommend
HCL Technologies
HCL BigFix is well-suited:
  1. Patch Management for Diverse Devices: HCL BigFix is ideal for organizations with a diverse range of devices, including laptops, desktops, cloud, virtual machines, and mobile devices. Its endpoint management functionality enables seamless patching across various operating systems such as Windows, MacOS, ChromeOS, and Linux.
  2. Comprehensive Patch Management: With HCL BigFix, organizations can achieve comprehensive patch management across their IT infrastructures. It ensures that all endpoints, regardless of the operating system, receive timely and secure patches, reducing vulnerabilities and enhancing overall security.
  3. Troubleshooting and Monitoring: HCL BigFix excels in providing a dashboard that effectively displays problematic and functional machines. This feature allows IT teams to quickly identify and address issues, improving overall troubleshooting efficiency.
    However, there are some scenarios where HCL BigFix may be less appropriate or areas for improvement: 1. Coverage Expansion: It is important for HCL BigFix to continue expanding its coverage to include all possible resources installed within the IT infrastructure. Ensuring comprehensive coverage can enhance its effectiveness. 2.On-Site and OS Upgrades: Optimizing the process of on-site and operating system upgrades can help streamline the deployment process further. Improvements in this area would contribute to a smoother and more efficient upgrade experience. 3.Communication Speed: Enhancing the speed of communication between the HCL BigFix agent and the server can help improve the overall responsiveness and efficiency of the solution.
  4. Pricing Optimization: Adjusting the pricing of HCL BigFix to be more cost-effective would make it more accessible and attractive to organizations of different sizes and budgets.
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Quest
I think it has added value for any organization. It reduced our Tech Support cost by: -Supporting users anywhere -Reducing users downtime as well keep them informed with the status of their tickets -Managing software and hardware actively -Processing automation -deploy mass software installs, patching or updates - Provide approved software's to users to install without IT help
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Pros
HCL Technologies
  • Software inventory.
  • Patch deployment.
  • Patch review.
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Quest
  • Inventory: KACE provides a ton of hardware and software inventory information that is easy to search, filter, and export. This is critical when we need to find the answers to questions about how many of such and such we have in our fleet.
  • Patch Management: We were using WSUS before and it was altogether too cumbersome. KACE has given us the power, flexibility, and verification we need to feel comfortable our patches are up-to-date.
  • Service Queue: We made KACE our help desk system and it does everything we need it to do. Great improvement over our old system.
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Cons
HCL Technologies
  • The patching function is difficult for RedHat Linux servers, and can be improved.
  • The site configuration and access control appears to be cumbersome.
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Quest
  • The KACE SMA needs a better way to handle different roles in the software so certain users can access or administrate certain parts of the software, but not the entire software installation.
  • The KACE SMA could improve the ticketing process of projects. The aspects of the title and some information do not always flow down from the parent ticket to its child tickets.
  • The KACE SMA could improve the UI of the software with the addition of different CSS color schemes.
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Usability
HCL Technologies
No answers on this topic
Quest
Overall, the software is simple to understand and use. That said, most vendors have been slowly updating their user interfaces to HTML5 so that they have a clean updated look and feel. This is where KACE falls short in that the UI is great for a packaged software 10 years ago. This isn't a major limitation as the software is really meant primarily for technology users.
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Support Rating
HCL Technologies
Recently we noticed the customer service on the support has dropped compared to when we first deployed the software.
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Quest
KACE does exactly what you need it to do, it maintains your computer environment. You can set patch schedules, inventory computers, setup software catalogs; basically everything you need to ensure the computers on your network are being actively managed. This is all with little need for constant configuration or updating the setup.
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Alternatives Considered
HCL Technologies
We have significantly enhanced our ability to patch desktops, including laptops, desktop, cloud, virtual machines and other mobile devices used by end-users. BigFix's endpoint management functionality allows us to seamlessly patch a wide range of operating systems, such as Windows, MacOS, ChromeOS, and Linux systems, ensuring comprehensive patch management across IT infrastructures. We have established a track record of delivering secure and hassle-free patching solutions to our clients
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Quest
We have selected this software because it rolls several different systems into one. We have a helpdesk system with this and an asset and inventory management system as well. We pay one price for the whole system instead of paying multiple companies different amounts that would have totaled more than we pay for the single system.
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Return on Investment
HCL Technologies
  • When there is a need to patch a Windows System it has worked
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Quest
  • KACE has saved us from having to spend several days of employee hours in crafting DVDs and duplicating them (100+ DVDs)
  • KACE has saved us on the postage required to send out those DVDs for every update (monthly) to all of our customers electronically
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ScreenShots