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KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) vs. ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    KACE Systems Management Appliance

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/AQuest 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

    ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus

    Score9.2 out of 10
    N/AServiceDesk Plus is free help desk software from ManageEngine, a division of Zoho Corporation.

    $10

    Starting Price Per Month

    Pricing
    KACE Systems Management ApplianceManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Standard
    $10.00
    Starting Price Per Month
    Professional
    $21.00
    Starting Price Per Month
    Enterprise
    $50.00
    Starting Price Per Month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    KACE Systems Management ApplianceManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    KACE Systems Management ApplianceManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
    Considered Both Products
    Quest Software
    No answer on this topic
    ManageEngine A Div of Zoho Corporation Pvt Ltd
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    80%
    Would buy again
    4 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    7 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    7 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    80%
    Happy with the feature set
    4 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    6 Answers
    Features
    KACE Systems Management ApplianceManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
    IT Asset Management
    Comparison of IT Asset Management features of KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) and ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
    Feature
    KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)
    8.6
    12 Ratings
    11% above category average
    ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
    -
    Ratings
    Software and hardware inventory tracking10.012 Ratings00 Ratings
    License management9.011 Ratings00 Ratings
    Asset lifecycle monitoring8.010 Ratings00 Ratings
    Contract management6.06 Ratings00 Ratings
    Asset relationship management10.08 Ratings00 Ratings
    Incident and problem management
    Comparison of Incident and problem management features of KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) and ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
    Feature
    KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)
    -
    Ratings
    ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
    7.5
    22 Ratings
    8% below category average
    Organize and prioritize service tickets00 Ratings8.022 Ratings
    Expert directory00 Ratings6.015 Ratings
    Service restoration00 Ratings7.217 Ratings
    Self-service tools00 Ratings7.020 Ratings
    Subscription-based notifications00 Ratings7.716 Ratings
    ITSM collaboration and documentation00 Ratings8.818 Ratings
    ITSM reports and dashboards00 Ratings7.520 Ratings
    ITSM asset management
    Comparison of ITSM asset management features of KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) and ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
    Feature
    KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)
    -
    Ratings
    ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
    6.1
    17 Ratings
    28% below category average
    Configuration mangement00 Ratings6.616 Ratings
    Asset management dashboard00 Ratings6.516 Ratings
    Policy and contract enforcement00 Ratings5.212 Ratings
    Change management
    Comparison of Change management features of KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) and ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
    Feature
    KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)
    -
    Ratings
    ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
    6.8
    18 Ratings
    22% below category average
    Change requests repository00 Ratings7.717 Ratings
    Change calendar00 Ratings5.813 Ratings
    Service-level management00 Ratings7.016 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    KACE Systems Management ApplianceManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
    Score9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    KACE Asset Management Appliance
    Score8.9 out of 10
    SysAid
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Lansweeper
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Ivanti ITSM
    Score6.3 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    KACE Systems Management ApplianceManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (12 ratings)
    9.0
    (22 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    8.6
    (3 ratings)
    7.7
    (6 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.5
    (4 ratings)
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    KACE Systems Management ApplianceManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Quest Software
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ManageEngine A Div of Zoho Corporation Pvt Ltd
    We use the free version, it allows up to 10 technicians to be added to the system, but that has never been an issue, as we are a small team. The functionality and usability of MESDP are great and can work with larger teams too. It is well suited to be used as a main Ticketing system, and this is not limited to IT only, I am sure other teams that need to keep track and log issues will be able to utilize MESDP without any issues. There is a self-service portal as an option, however, we do not use it as of yet, as there has not been the need for it. If you would need to use the same instance within multiple departments, this may be a bit tricky to achieve, as there is no easy way to limit visibility to tickets from other departments, however, I am sure there is a way around it.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Quest Software
    • 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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ManageEngine A Div of Zoho Corporation Pvt Ltd
    • It is very easy to create business rules that automatically route email tickets to the correct department and apply templates to correctly categorize the incident.
    • The technician auto-assign function allows email tickets to be fairly apportioned using a round robin technique. We do not cuurently use the load balancing technique which is also available.
    • It is very easy to bulk edit requests to correct miscatergorization by Analysts. (i.e. Incidents vs. Service Requests)
    • Coordinating communications and notifying ticket holders when a network or application event is resolved is very simple.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Quest Software
    • 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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ManageEngine A Div of Zoho Corporation Pvt Ltd
    • Reporting tools; the report features can be a little limited, it can be quite tricky to get the information you want displayed in detail
    • You can set required fields within the ticket template, which should mean the user has to complete them before they can submit the ticket, however this often doesn't enforce correctly
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Quest Software
    No answers on this topic
    ManageEngine A Div of Zoho Corporation Pvt Ltd
    Because this is the best tool, we have given ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus a rating of 9 out of 10 because it provides a good overall IT service management experience, especially for ticketing, asset management, automation, and reporting. It has helped us organize IT support processes and improve visibility. For ticketing.
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Quest Software
    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.
    Incentivized
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    ManageEngine A Div of Zoho Corporation Pvt Ltd
    As any other feature-rich software package, starting out with ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus has a little bit of a learning curve, but it usually doesn't take very long until you can use the basic features. Training new technicians on the use of the software does not take very long, and for users to submit tickets it is as easy as sending an email.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Quest Software
    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.
    Incentivized
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    ManageEngine A Div of Zoho Corporation Pvt Ltd
    I have a few issues with MESDP and even though we use the free version, the support staff was very quick to respond and extremely competent and helpful. Luckily, I have only had to use them a couple of times over the 2.5 years I have been using their product, but they strike me as very competent, friendly and helpful, regardless of the version of their product you use.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Quest Software
    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.
    Incentivized
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    ManageEngine A Div of Zoho Corporation Pvt Ltd
    Spiceworks was free, which obviously had both benefits and limitations - I will say that the community around Spiceworks has always been great. If we could replicate that experience with the ME user base, it would be terrific.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Quest Software
    • 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
    Incentivized
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    ManageEngine A Div of Zoho Corporation Pvt Ltd
    • The tool does not scale well from an ROI perspective. As you add a customer, you must add a new instance, hence a new license.
    • The tool is probably on the expensive side (34,000 USD per 130 technicians per year).
    • There is no usage beyond incident, change, and problem management. The CMDB feature is extremely limited and cannot generate additional ROI. There is no knowledge-base or integration with other software (other than ME Desktop Central).
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots