Microsoft System Center Service Manager vs. PDQ Deploy & Inventory

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft System Center Service Manager
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft System Center Service Manager is an integrated platform that is designed for automating and adapting IT Service Management best practices to an organization’s requirements. The platform includes built-in processes for incident and problem resolution, change control and asset lifecycle management.N/A
PDQ Deploy & Inventory
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
PDQ.com headquartered in Salt Lake City offers PDQ Deploy, a software deployment tool used to keep Windows PCs up-to-date without bothering end users.
$1,575
per year per user
Pricing
Microsoft System Center Service ManagerPDQ Deploy & Inventory
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft System Center Service ManagerPDQ Deploy & Inventory
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsPDQ was built by entrepreneurs & educators. Small businesses (<50 employees), nonprofits, and schools enjoy a 15% discount.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft System Center Service ManagerPDQ Deploy & Inventory
Features
Microsoft System Center Service ManagerPDQ Deploy & Inventory
Incident and problem management
Comparison of Incident and problem management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft System Center Service Manager
7.8
7 Ratings
5% below category average
PDQ Deploy & Inventory
-
Ratings
Organize and prioritize service tickets8.04 Ratings00 Ratings
Expert directory7.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Service restoration7.04 Ratings00 Ratings
Self-service tools8.75 Ratings00 Ratings
Subscription-based notifications7.04 Ratings00 Ratings
ITSM collaboration and documentation9.76 Ratings00 Ratings
ITSM reports and dashboards7.16 Ratings00 Ratings
ITSM asset management
Comparison of ITSM asset management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft System Center Service Manager
8.2
7 Ratings
0% below category average
PDQ Deploy & Inventory
-
Ratings
Configuration mangement9.86 Ratings00 Ratings
Asset management dashboard8.77 Ratings00 Ratings
Policy and contract enforcement6.05 Ratings00 Ratings
Change management
Comparison of Change management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft System Center Service Manager
6.7
6 Ratings
24% below category average
PDQ Deploy & Inventory
-
Ratings
Change requests repository6.16 Ratings00 Ratings
Change calendar6.05 Ratings00 Ratings
Service-level management8.05 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Microsoft System Center Service ManagerPDQ Deploy & Inventory
Small Businesses
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Score 9.0 out of 10
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Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
Score 9.0 out of 10
Action1
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Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
Score 9.3 out of 10
GitLab
GitLab
Score 8.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Microsoft System Center Service ManagerPDQ Deploy & Inventory
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(7 ratings)
9.7
(12 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.5
(6 ratings)
Support Rating
8.9
(2 ratings)
10.0
(5 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft System Center Service ManagerPDQ Deploy & Inventory
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
I think any organization that runs windows on their computers that is size over 50 workstations and looking for a complete package to manage their windows machines must have Microsoft System Center Service Manager, especially if they have Windows servers and VMs. The capability of managing multiple devices at ones can save a lot of time for the IT jobs.
Read full review
PDQ
PDQ Inventory is great if you have a local network of computers on or off a domain. As long as you have a way to log into them with common credentials. Great for large organizations, particularly ones interconnected with VPNs. PDQ Inventory isn't so great for PCs that aren't connected to the same LAN the server is on. (i.e. non-vpn remote users) They used to have a remote agent you could install, but it was removed after numerous issues.
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Pros
Microsoft
  • This tool is used to track support requests among our IT staff.
  • We use this tool to automate some more routine tasks.
Read full review
PDQ
  • Push out new software
  • Push out Updates to current software
  • Push out patches and updates that we don't have other ways to push out
  • Keep end-users updated with little involvement
Read full review
Cons
Microsoft
  • Kind of clunky.
  • Takes a lot a lot a lot of configuration.
  • There is a lot of jargon to learn to be able to use it to its full ability.
Read full review
PDQ
  • As good as there email support is.. would like a live operator option
  • Some updates are hard to understand when 5 versions of the same program exist
  • Thats about it, PDQ deploy is the best out there
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
PDQ
PDQ is very useful and one of the tools that we use a lot.
Read full review
Usability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
PDQ
Logical - If I want to do something with the software, it is quite clear on how I need to go about that. There isn't some weird process that is proprietary to just that vendor and is counterintuitive. What I want to see is displayed with just a couple clicks.
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Support Rating
Microsoft
The customer support service is excellent. They help from start/deployment through to any time later on. They responded quickly and resolved our issues professionally and in no time.
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PDQ
The built-in help menus and general ease of use render whatever systems support there might be almost irrelevant. There is stability in the system's simplicity; if you're in the position to use such a product, you're your own best friend. Simple web searches more often than not turn up the solution to any little niggles, such as what silent install switches specific applications require (a remarkably wide choice of options exist). System updates are timely and unobtrusive, installing in no time at all. Maybe I've just been lucky; if so, long may it continue!
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Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
We selected MCSM because it is a solid product that we could use very quickly, compared to other tools there is a lot more effort for integration into the infrastructure, costing time and money. We implemented the tool very quickly and since it integrates with other Microsoft products, it was very easy to get up and running.
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PDQ
This software was referred to us by an IT professional. Previously, we were installing the software with the help of remote desktop applications but it was very time consuming; it was wasting the user's time since he could not use his computer. After testing PDQ Deploy, we just never looked back.
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Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Save a world of time when imaging
  • Save a world of time with patch management
  • Provides decent reports to get a snapshot quickly
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PDQ
  • Speed of deployment is very positive for new software setup, saving hours of testing and deployment locally
  • Made patching for large computer estate very efficient, another positive for staff not having to spend hours of patching individual machines
  • Works well for small team of IT's and again makes various repetitive tasks much easier
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ScreenShots