What users are saying about
21 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener noreferrer'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 8.1 out of 100
Based on 21 reviews and ratings
66 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener noreferrer'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 8.5 out of 100
Based on 66 reviews and ratings
Likelihood to Recommend
KACE Systems Management Appliance
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
Director, IMIT
Calgary Foothills Primary Care NetworkHospital & Health Care, 51-200 employees
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
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.

Verified User
Manager in Information Technology
Retail Company, 501-1000 employeesFeature Rating Comparison
IT Asset Management
KACE Systems Management Appliance
8.8
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
—
Software and hardware inventory tracking
KACE Systems Management Appliance
8.9
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
—
License management
KACE Systems Management Appliance
8.7
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
—
Asset lifecycle monitoring
KACE Systems Management Appliance
8.9
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
—
Contract management
KACE Systems Management Appliance
8.5
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
—
Asset relationship management
KACE Systems Management Appliance
9.3
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
—
Incident and problem management
KACE Systems Management Appliance
—
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
8.5
Organize and prioritize service tickets
KACE Systems Management Appliance
—
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
8.7
Expert directory
KACE Systems Management Appliance
—
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
7.7
Service restoration
KACE Systems Management Appliance
—
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
8.5
Self-service tools
KACE Systems Management Appliance
—
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
9.2
Subscription-based notifications
KACE Systems Management Appliance
—
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
9.3
ITSM collaboration and documentation
KACE Systems Management Appliance
—
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
8.5
ITSM reports and dashboards
KACE Systems Management Appliance
—
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
7.7
ITSM asset management
KACE Systems Management Appliance
—
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
7.3
Configuration mangement
KACE Systems Management Appliance
—
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
8.1
Asset management dashboard
KACE Systems Management Appliance
—
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
6.9
Policy and contract enforcement
KACE Systems Management Appliance
—
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
6.9
Change management
KACE Systems Management Appliance
—
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
9.0
Change requests repository
KACE Systems Management Appliance
—
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
9.3
Change calendar
KACE Systems Management Appliance
—
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
8.7
Service-level management
KACE Systems Management Appliance
—
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
9.2
Pros
KACE Systems Management Appliance
- 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.
Vice President, Information Technology
INSURICAInsurance, 501-1000 employees
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
- 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.
IT Desktop Support Manager
Essex Property TrustReal Estate, 1001-5000 employees
Cons
KACE Systems Management Appliance
- 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.
Quality Assurance Analyst II
Ashland UniversityHigher Education, 201-500 employees
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
- When trying to select the top row ticket, you have to be careful not to select all tickets. Happened to us twice and we assigned all open tickets to one technician. Took a few minutes to correct.
- Site is sometimes a bit sluggish to respond. Don't know if that is an issue with our network infrastructure or the program itself, though.
- When users send emails to the help desk, we sometimes experience delays until the tickets appear on the site for the technicians.

Verified User
Analyst in Information Technology
Paper & Forest Products Company, 1001-5000 employeesLikelihood to Renew
KACE Systems Management Appliance
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus 6.0
Based on 1 answer
we are looking at other tools like Zendesk which may replace ServiceDesk. We are currently evaluating both tools to see which one would serve our needs better

Verified User
Manager in Information Technology
Higher Education Company, 1001-5000 employeesUsability
KACE Systems Management Appliance
KACE Systems Management Appliance 8.6
Based on 3 answers
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.

Verified User
Professional in Information Technology
Construction Company, 1001-5000 employeesManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus 8.0
Based on 3 answers
It is still very cumbersome, lots of data entry on the back end to build how we want it but it is still not completely user friendly. Many functions still dont work and contacting someone for help isnt always easy or we get told solutions for issues we have just arent built yet.
Information Technology Administrative Assistant
Capital Region Medical CenterHospital & Health Care, 1001-5000 employees
Support Rating
KACE Systems Management Appliance
KACE Systems Management Appliance 7.9
Based on 6 answers
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.

Verified User
Professional in Information Technology
Construction Company, 1001-5000 employeesManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus 9.6
Based on 5 answers
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.

Verified User
Manager in Information Technology
Retail Company, 501-1000 employeesAlternatives Considered
KACE Systems Management Appliance
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.

Verified User
Technician in Information Technology
Higher Education Company, 1001-5000 employeesManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
ServiceDesk plus was selected because it had more value over the money spent considering the other options, this software does many things and everything it does it excels. It is snappier, more intuitive and easier to configure once you have a general idea of what you want to achieve. Other than that is also well suited for any range of companies that want to integrate ITSM into their IT process.
Corporate Informations and Technology Manager
GB Advisors, Inc.Automotive, 201-500 employees
Return on Investment
KACE Systems Management Appliance
- 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

Verified User
Manager in Information Technology
Industrial Automation Company, 51-200 employeesManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
- 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).

Verified User
Administrator in Information Technology
Information Technology and Services Company, 1001-5000 employeesPricing Details
KACE Systems Management Appliance
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
No
KACE Systems Management Appliance Editions & Modules
—
Additional Pricing Details
—ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
General
Free Trial
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
Yes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
No
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus Editions & Modules
Edition
Standard | $10.001 |
---|---|
Professional | $21.001 |
Enterprise | $50.001 |
- Starting Price Per Month