BMC Helix Client Management vs KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) comparison

BMC and Quest Software are both solutions in the Endpoint Compliance category. BMC is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.5, while Quest Software is ranked #8 with an average rating of 10.0. BMC holds a 4.1% mindshare in EC, compared to Quest Software’s 5.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of BMC users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Quest Software users who would recommend it.

BMC Helix Client Management

Read 7 BMC Helix Client Management reviews

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98 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

KACE Systems Management App...

Read 39 KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) reviews

2,638 Views
132 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

BMC Helix Client Management

KACE Systems Management App...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 1, 2025

KACE Systems Management Appliance and BMC Helix Client Management compete in the comprehensive endpoint management solutions category. KACE appears to have an advantage in patch management and simplicity, while BMC Helix offers broader endpoint support and strong remote control features.

Features: KACE integrates seamlessly with tools like Bomgar and excels in deployment and imaging capabilities, enabling automatic software distribution and efficient asset management. Its robust inventory and patch management provide a consolidated device view. BMC Helix manages diverse endpoint environments well, with powerful remote control and comprehensive SaaS integration appealing to mixed-device settings.

Room for Improvement: KACE needs better scalability for larger networks and improvements in the user interface, reporting features, and automation for patch and driver updates. BMC Helix would benefit from enhanced integration capabilities, a wider set of mobile device management features, and improvements in its discovery tool for complete endpoint visibility.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: KACE is often deployed on-premises and in hybrid or cloud environments. Its customer service is highly rated for responsiveness and expertise, with technical support being a significant strength. BMC Helix, typically deployed on-premises, offers satisfactory technical support and solid customer service, though KACE's support is frequently highlighted for proactive assistance.

Pricing and ROI: Both solutions present good value, with KACE noted for reasonable and competitive pricing. KACE users report significant ROI from time saved in endpoint management tasks, making it cost-effective even at higher licensing tiers. BMC Helix is affordable with a modular licensing model, allowing scalability without significant cost increases, contributing to a favorable long-term ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed BMC Helix Client Management vs. KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

BMC Helix Client Management vs. KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

July 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

BMC Helix Client Management

Ranking in Endpoint Compliance

7th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Mobile Device Management (MDM) (8th)

KACE Systems Management App...

Ranking in Endpoint Compliance

8th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Client Desktop Management (3rd), Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (12th), Patch Management (10th), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (9th)

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Endpoint Compliance category, the mindshare of BMC Helix Client Management is 4.1%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is 5.0%, up from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Endpoint Compliance Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
BMC Client Management	4.1%
KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)	5.0%
Other	90.9%

Endpoint Compliance

Featured Reviews

Cristian Testa

Presales Manager Product Manager - Latin America Region at tdi

A stable solution that allows you to manage IT clients from receipt to retirement

The initial setup is straightforward and easy to use, but you need to understand the different functionalities and modules. The console version and the Hub application are different, and you need some knowledge to make the process easier. Deployment typically takes about two months. You start with the initial setup and then continue with operations. The deployment process is straightforward. The master installation takes about thirty minutes. After that, you deploy different relays to discover the endpoints and create the credentials and sources to install the agents. Once the agent is installed on an endpoint, you can manage it as needed. The first step is always the installation. BMC Client Management can be deployed both on cloud and on-premises. After the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an increased need for remote solutions, so we have customers using both models. In BMC Client Management, I'd rate the initial setup as an eight out of ten.

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Scott Tweed

Windows Engineer at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Low maintenance, reliable, and easy to create packages

I like how when you click on the device, it shows you everything that has changed as well as the software versioning. I am really enjoying the inventory aspect of it. The deployment process for both deploying and creating a package is straightforward. I believe the inventory in KACE is superior to SCCM's. I know with SCCM I could do things like remote console into machines via the agent's remote console, but that is not a feature that is provided in KACE. I know that at least in the Systems Management Appliance, I can't get to it. I'm not sure how distribution works, with distribution points. I'm not sure if KACE has that feature. You could use an SCCM to set up distribution points at remote sites so that they don't have to download patches or software from across the country. If you have a DP or something similar, they could pull it down.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The most valuable features of the solution are patch management and software license management."

"BMC Client Management is a stable solution and one of the best in the market. It allows me to manage all recipe endpoints, including iOS, Android, Linux, Unix, and Windows, all within the same solution."

"One feature I like, that was especially valuable during the pandemic, is remote control. Remote control grants administrators and support personnel access to the laptops and PCs of employees (who might be working from home) in order to fix any issues that come up as and when they come up, even without having to wait for a support request."

"The support from BMC Client Management is very good."

"The inventory and patch management tools are very valuable."

"It's a scalable solution. We have deployed it for customers using 3000 nodes to those using 300,000 nodes."

"The most valuable features of the solution are its patching capabilities and the help it offers when it comes to use cases, like prompting for the reboot after a certain period of time."

"The big pros of Quest KACE Systems Management are its simple interface, and simple, direct management. It's very easy to maintain and manage the device, and it's easy to get it up and running. You can have it up and running in an hour..."

"With KACE, we were able to have a simplification of the software deployment management with more granularity and flexibility."

"We use the Systems Deployment appliance. It's our bread and butter. It is every machine that gets imaged here in this building and out through the whole state goes through the SDA. We rely on it completely. There is no manual process of getting a laptop out of a box, plugging it up, turning it on, and waiting for Windows to start. If you were to go to Best Buy and buy a brand new laptop, you spend the next two to three hours just setting it up. We don't do that. We get a laptop, plug it into the network, connect it to the SDA, and within about three clicks, we're done."

"It is excellent in terms of updating and configuring everything the way we need. For anything more complex, we do professional service engagements, and they're exceptional. For anything less complex, we just need to ask questions. Their support division is extremely good too."

"There is one place for a lot of different things. If somebody has a problem with their computer, they will put in a ticket. From there, we will know who it is and the assets assigned to them, because there is one place to go look for what we are talking about and with whom we are talking. Just having one place for everything is really convenient. For example, we are able to deploy software to hundreds of computers. We don't need to go to each individual device."

"This solution makes it easy to control assets and upgrade all types of software."

"We have our KACE agent deployed on all of our workstations and servers, and it provides us with reports on the hardware and software inventory for those."

"Overall, I rate the solution ten out of ten."

More KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) pros

Cons

"The solution needs to add whitelisting because many customers request it."

"BMC Client Management supports only iOS devices. It would be good if they would support Android as well."

"The solution does not offer the functionality of remote access to users."

"In BMC Client Management, I would like to see more features for executing commands remotely. For example, with SAP, there isn't the capability to execute all the commands available in the console. The latest version includes more endpoints, but they do not cover everything the operations team needs. Additionally, I think improving the hierarchy for managing endpoints is crucial. Extending the endpoint capabilities would be highly beneficial."

"BMC Client Management could improve in the area of integration."

"The on-premises version of BMC Client Management has powerful remote control functionality and decent compliance features, but these features both rely on the discovery tool in order to gain a complete set of insights about the endpoint's environment. Now, BMC's discovery solution depends on having an agent installed in each endpoint and sometimes the agent doesn't work properly, making it difficult to get an accurate understanding of the environment (including special topologies) even with BMC's discovery tool."

"It would be good if BMC Client Management can perform vulnerability assessment scanning at the endpoint on its own and mitigate that. Then, we wouldn't have to rely on a third party VA tool. I would like to see this application move to being a web-based one."

"Scalability is my primary concern right now."

"Paying for the product should come with full and extended training anytime it is needed."

"Imaging becomes a problem when you start to try to go beyond doing more than thirty or forty machines at a time. We initially tried to do that virtually and it just, it wouldn't work."

"There isn't a lot they need to improve with the solution itself at this point. It is pretty close to providing a single pane of glass for everything that we need for endpoint management specifically on all devices. There is very little that it doesn't provide for us, and for those, we have to go to other methods. There are some of the patching solutions that it doesn't take care of for us. So, we have to do those manually on the devices, and that's really the biggest thing. It doesn't do patching really well for non-Microsoft applications. The major application updates, particularly Windows updates, don't function nearly as well, but, for the vast majority of things, it does just fine. If they could improve in this aspect, that'd be great, but I don't know if they're going to be able to do that."

"The only pain point I have is with their salespeople. They call too often. They're too aggressive in trying to upsell. We know what we need, and we know if we want to expand. I don't mind quarterly calls from them, but sometimes, it is weekly. They need to get their sales team under control. The main goal of their support people and professional services is to make sure they deliver the service, and they deliver it well, whereas their salespeople are so interested in making a sale that they're wasting my time."

"The K1000 doesn't communicate well with some clients without SMB. There are some issues with getting things to image correctly because they rely on SMB, and SMB is a protocol that is being removed due to security reasons. Organizations are trying to rely less and less on SMB. I know Quest is aware of it. They've talked about having a new version that wouldn't rely on SMB for connection to the clients, but they haven't gotten there yet."

"The initial setup was complex. It is a Linux-based virtual server, where the customer cannot get into the back-end, so you can only follow their prompts. Then, there are specific things that have to be done in their implementation and upgrade phases that have to be done in a certain order or steps. If you don't get those steps right, the system doesn't work. I think that either simplifying that process or providing really good step-by-step documentation would be helpful."

"Its dashboard needs improvement. Currently, there is no way to modify the dashboard. There should be more flexibility so that we can create views according to our use case."

More KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"BMC Client Management is a very affordable solution. There is one main server license which I believe is around $1,000 per year, and then there is the license for the actual solution. With the solution license, you can opt for a suite license where you get access to all the features and benefits, or alternatively you can buy any of the five main components of the suite license individually."

"BMC Client Management is a high-priced solution, but given its performance and capabilities, I think it offers great value. I don't have the exact number for the yearly licensing costs. I believe there is an additional cost of around two hundred dollars."

"The solution is low cost."

"To use BMC Client Management they charge annually per node."

"We need it, so we have to pay the price. It is what it is. If you need a gallon of milk, then you have to pay the price for it. You don't want to buy the cheap stuff. You want to buy the stuff that is organic and good for your body, which doesn't have all this other junk in it. You want it clean for your body. Quest has done that for our deployment and management systems."

"There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."

"Licensing is done on a per device basis, so it's dependent on how many agents you've got installed."

"n terms of pricing and licensing, my advice is that you need to assess what you need and then look at what they offer. It's easy to get caught up in the things that you want, but don't really need."

"We buy consulting fees from Software Factory, then we pay extra for it."

"Some of the other solutions were just astronomical in price compared with KACE and didn't necessarily have the ease of use either. So, we chose Quest KACE for its easy-to-use features and cost."

"It was a very attractive price. This is a huge feature of this product. If you would "credit score" this product versus others out there on the market, this one has a very attractive price."

"Licensing is very straightforward. They don't overcomplicate it. This is not a Cisco product where you have to have 30 different licenses just to open the box. It's pretty much set-and-forget. You pay an annual license... The cost is in the mid to upper range, but the ROI exceeds the outside cost, especially once you've had the system for a while."

More KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

22%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Government

12%

Retailer

University

12%

Government

10%

Financial Services Firm

Non Profit

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	20
Large Enterprise	15

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BMC Client Management?

The most valuable features of the solution are its patching capabilities and the help it offers when it comes to use cases, like prompting for the reboot after a certain period of time.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for BMC Client Management?

BMC Client Management is a high-priced solution, but given its performance and capabilities, I think it offers great value. I don't have the exact number for the yearly licensing costs. I believe t...

See all answers

What needs improvement with BMC Client Management?

In BMC Client Management, I would like to see more features for executing commands remotely. For example, with SAP, there isn't the capability to execute all the commands available in the console. ...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Quest KACE Systems Management?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is that, hands down, it beat all of the others in simplicity and pricing.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Quest KACE Systems Management?

I wish Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) would have a top-down approach since we use orgs; currently, we have to go into each org to deploy applications when we need them all across the...

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What is your primary use case for Quest KACE Systems Management?

My main use case for Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is to deploy applications and maintain security, and we use it day-to-day to handle those tasks. With Quest KACE Systems Managemen...

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Comparisons

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Compared 29% of the time

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Compared 12% of the time

NinjaOne vs BMC Helix Client Management

Compared 11% of the time

BigFix vs BMC Helix Client Management

Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 30% of the time

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Compared 22% of the time

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Compared 8% of the time

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Mobile Device Management (MDM)

August 2025

Download BMC Helix Client Management product report

Buyer's Guide

KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

August 2025

KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) report

Download KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) product report

Also Known As

BMC Helix Client Management, Helix Client Management, BMC Fromdistance Mobile Device Management

Dell KACE Systems Management

Overview

BMC Helix Client Management offers comprehensive features for efficient oversight of enterprise technology, enhancing security compliance, and ensuring effective software audits.

With capabilities like patch management, software license administration, and remote control, BMC Helix Client Management is vital for remote troubleshooting and maintaining compliance during software audits. Users value the ability to manage diverse operating systems, leveraging inventory management, software deployment, and endpoint management. However, there is a need for improved Linux patching support, better integration, and expanded remote access functionality. Offering its vulnerability assessment scanning and enhanced endpoint management would be beneficial. A more robust discovery tool is required for better compliance and insights, suggesting a transition to a web-based platform.

What are the standout features of BMC Helix Client Management?

Patch Management: Ensures timely and efficient application of software patches.
Software License Administration: Helps manage and optimize software licensing compliance.
Remote Control: Facilitates efficient remote troubleshooting for various devices.
Inventory Management: Provides detailed hardware and software inventory tracking.
Comprehensive Endpoint Management: Supports diverse operating systems for streamlined management.

What benefits and ROI can be expected from BMC Helix Client Management?

Enhanced Operational Efficiency: Automates desktop management and streamlines patching processes.
Cost Optimization: Identifies and eliminates redundant licenses to reduce costs.
Security Compliance: Facilitates management of security measures across devices.
Regulatory Compliance: Assists in meeting industry standards and software licensing requirements.

BMC Helix Client Management is instrumental across industries for deploying software, ensuring compliance, and managing security remotely. Organizations use it for software compliance, automating desktop processes, and detailed inventory management, significantly contributing to efficiency and compliance with licensing standards.

BMC

KACE Systems Management Appliance offers integration capabilities, efficient image deployment, and comprehensive asset management. It supports centralized management across diverse devices and locations, simplifying IT processes and enhancing security.

KACE Systems Management Appliance provides single-pane visibility for endpoint management, mass software deployment, automated patch management, robust scripting, and detailed inventory tracking. It streamlines IT management and improves cyber-security compliance through remote software updates and centralized IT request handling. Despite struggles with scalability and the need for interface improvements, it enables efficient device imaging, script automation, and network management through detailed reporting. Organizations find it effective for software deployment, asset management, and endpoint monitoring, serving thousands of IoT devices and desktops.

What are the key features of KACE Systems Management Appliance?

Integration capabilities: Seamlessly connects with existing IT systems.
Efficient image deployment: Facilitates quick and effective distribution of system images.
Comprehensive asset management: Provides detailed tracking and management of IT assets.
User-friendly helpdesk: Simplifies handling IT requests and issues.
Automated patch management: Ensures devices are up-to-date with security patches.
Robust scripting: Allows for automation of complex IT tasks.
Detailed inventory tracking: Maintains accurate records of all IT assets.

What benefits should users expect from KACE Systems Management Appliance?

Simplified IT processes: Centralized management enhances operational efficiency.
Improved security: Streamlines cyber-security compliance through automated updates.
Flexibility in customizations: Adapts to specific IT environment needs.
Increased productivity: Efficient ticketing and reporting ease organizational operations.
Remote software updates: Ensures all devices are current, reducing security risks.

In healthcare, KACE Systems Management Appliance is used for maintaining device compliance and security standards. Educational institutions benefit from its capabilities to manage large numbers of endpoints across campuses. In finance, it aids in strict compliance requirements through automated patch management and detailed reporting. Retail sectors leverage its asset management features to streamline operations across numerous locations.

Quest Software

Sample Customers

Charter Manufacturing

Waypoint, Mattos Filho, Meetic, Gems Education, Green Clinic HealthSystem, Service King

Buyer's Guide

BMC Helix Client Management vs. KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

July 2025

Free Report: BMC Helix Client Management vs. KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)

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