Absolute Visibility vs. Kaseya VSA vs. Microsoft Intune

Absolute is less appropriate for antiquated machines which run slow or at end of life.

Incentivized

This package is well suited for businesses of any size that needs a method of connecting to systems on or off the network. This is one of the few packages that doesn't require the end user to provide permission before allowing the techs to connect which is what my agency needed as we have a majority of our systems are used by "general public" that walk in our doors and if they are doing something that they are not supposed to it would be unlikely that they would grant permission for us to access the systems.

Incentivized

Windows Autopilot makes provisioning user Windows PC laptops a breeze. A user only needs to turn on the laptop, join it to their local WiFi, login with their O365 account then sit back and let Windows Autopilot handle the app installations required for work, configure the laptop settings to meet my organization requirements. I have seen this all completed in less than 30 minutes depending on how fast the internet connection is. Where Microsoft Intune needs to improve I think is the part where it can push out software updates to 3rd party apps. Right now I have to use Automox to fill in this gap.

Incentivized

• I tracked a stolen computer all the way to Africa from USA and disabled it.
• I set up geofences with alerts. As soon as a computer got a wifi connection outside of our fences it would email me its current location.
• Absolute's persistent technology was helpful. -Even when a pawn shop would attempt to "wipe" a device before getting it online, as soon as it got online it notified me of the OS re-installation and current location. We could call authorities and they could recover the device for us. And they were happy it made their job easier and deterred the pawn shop from reselling stolen devices.

Incentivized

• Scripting - Very powerful scripting engine that allows us to update/install applications and maintain PC's and Servers.
• Policy Management - Globally configured policies allowing us to make changes to thousands of PC's quickly.
• Monitoring - Monitoring engine allows us to Proactively respond to alerts quickly minimizing downtime significantly.
• Patch Management - This module requires minimal effort to manage and maintain.

Incentivized

• [Microsoft Endpoint Manager (Microsoft Intune + SCCM)] helps to speed up the deployment of patches/software throughout our environment. I can easily build a package and then deploy across all endpoints.
• The ability to supercede software is also quite handy. This automates the removal of old versions and replacing them with newer versions.
• The Intune Autopilot option is very useful if you want to deploy software to devices straight out of the box. You can configure them to download software when a user opens a new PC and turns it on for the first time.

Incentivized

• I do not know where I would consider this product to be deficient in functionality, difficult to use or any major changes that needed to be addressed.
• I wish the pricing of this product was a little lower, but I do think it is well worth the cost and consideration, especially if you are using it on devices containing electronic medical records, personal health information or personal privacy information.

Incentivized

• The only area I can see where a lot of room for improvement can be made is in scripting of Agent procedures. Making operations more modular and able to be assembled by technicians who might not be strong in a scripting environment would be helpful. In the mean time, Kaseya has an entire site and a whole team of developers who write Agent procedures for common tasks and make them available for free to all Kaseya VSA customers.

Incentivized

• Installation is very laborious and complicated. The number of things to manually configure during the installation is incredible.
• OS deployment is hard to configure and troubleshoot. The Microsoft article on deploying Windows 10 via System Center Configuration Manager in a test environment takes 44 minutes to read (Microsoft's estimate, not mine -- check here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/windows-10-poc-sc-config-mgr). If something goes wrong, there are multiple log locations to check on both the server and client, making troubleshooting difficult.
• The management console looks old, and its performance isn't great. It is often hard to find settings in the console, and it refreshes slowly. The old name for System Center Configuration Manager, SMS, comes to mind often. "Slowly Moving Software."

Incentivized

Excellent product with easy learning curve

Incentivized

Mascom Wireless is a Microsoft shop and SCCM has proved to be helpful in keeping our Microsoft products up to date every month without fail. We also have a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement which we renewed for three years ending 2022. The remote access utility works wonders for the organisation and have saved travel bills including subsistance allowance. We have been able to fulfill security audits both internal and external. We have been able to keep a robust inventory of our computer assets and nothing falls of the cracks

Incentivized

I think this is a solid tool for enterprise IT, however it would be higher if Kaseya VSA addresses the areas raised around recent stability, their support team, multiple session & screen support etc. It does do it's main job and allows an easy way for IT to operate and is mostly fine.

Incentivized

Overall, Microsoft Intune is very usable. While help documentation can be lacking, once setup and configured, Intune does all the work that used to be manual. There is a lot of automation and advanced features and manufacturer integrations you don't get anywhere else. These are absolutely game changers when managing IT workloads.

Incentivized

It's a 'heavy' system, which demands a lot of resources form the datacenter perspective. So, make sure you followed the requirements to avoid frustration in the future. From the 'client' perspective, it's fine. I've never had any issue with that.

Incentivized

It was lots of back and forth email communication whenever I tried to solve my connection issues. I would send them detailed logs of the date, time, computer, and more of when I was experiencing connection issues. All I would get is an email back a few days later saying that they didn't find an issue in the service

Incentivized

Being a Microsoft product, support was good. Out interaction was limited to our in-house IT team which was installing the Intune app in our mobile device. The installation was smooth and we haven't faced any difficulties with the app while using it. Provides a smooth and secure access to all Office 365 apps in mobile while separating the personal and professional data.

Incentivized

Work with a "test group" of users who you have a good relationship with so that when things don't work properly they understand! Work with your partner nicely without forcing things especially timelines as you are bound to make mistakes and create oversights in the project Management can also interfere with the implementation (which can cause delays) if you make too many mistakes which takes me back to having a "test group" where you have good relations

Incentivized

I have only used Absolute Data and Device Security (DDS). It was recommended by my Dell sales rep. After reviewing the product info, and loading a demo, it became clear that this is what was needed to add to our existing security to protect us from information loss due to a data breach on our portable devices. I presented this solution to the appropriate departments, and they agreed that this was something well worth the investment.

Incentivized

We moved away from NinjaRMM for support of PowerShell scripting and APIs. Overall, the experience with NinjaRMM, though limited in features, was tenfold better than our experience with VSA. We have been desiring strongly to move away from VSA to N-Central (having been provided a full demo that we installed on our cloud infrastructure) but have been unable to do so due to Kaseya's draconian contract policies. It's important to note that NinjaRMM was allowing us to go month-to-month and switching to Kaseya VSA was one of the worst business decisions I ever made. It's equally important to note that, if you are considering Kaseya VSA, you will be locked into a 3-year contract that is nearly impossible to escape from once the documents are signed. SolarWinds N-central only requires a 1-year contract and then has month-to-month billing available. I can provide no good reason for anyone to consider Kaseya VSA when there are dozens of better systems out there to choose from.

Microsoft Intune is more robust as far as fine-tuning security controls. It also allows for software installs, folder access controls, updating PCs, and other features simply not found in previous products we have used. Because it is rolled into MS 365 it's very cost effective. It's also a single pane of glass for managing user PCs and personal devices

Incentivized

• I think that Absolute Data and Device Security (DDS) is well worth the investment to protect important data securely. Without it, a data breach could cost an astronomical amount of money and you many never be able to complete recover from it.
• It also aids in recovery efforts for stolen devices and therefor reduces the financial cost of replacing the lost devices.
• There is a free trial available that is well worth the time investment to see if Absolute Data and Device Security (DDS) might be a valuable tool to add to your existing security plans.

Incentivized

• It has increased the efficiency of operational tasks for our technicians
• It has change the speed at which we are able to deploy updates and software patches
• It caused us to spend additional money on more security tools due to concern from breaches

Incentivized

• The positive impact it's had was it has been really beneficial in having an all-in-one Systems Management solution to be able to manage all endpoints across the organization. This has saved both time and costs from having to search/setup/manage other System Management applications and also have saved money from having to purchase a license for other commercial products.
• Another positive impact it has had was in being able to easily remote into computers/endpoints, and also being able to provide remote assistance to end-users.
• The negative impact has been it is not being fully utilized by most of the IT staff, as it is a more complicated platform to learn/master. This would require funding for IT staff to take training in learning the product, or require time to consult the documentation in the use of the product. As a result, this may hurt productivity in being able to have to work on other things.

Incentivized