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KACE Systems Deployment Appliance (SDA) vs Microsoft Configuration Manager comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 2025

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

Microsoft Intune
Sponsored
Ranking in Configuration Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
279
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (1st), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
KACE Systems Deployment App...
Ranking in Configuration Management
28th
Average Rating
7.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Configuration Man...
Ranking in Configuration Management
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
82
Ranking in other categories
Server Monitoring (7th), Patch Management (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Configuration Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 10.2%, up from 9.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of KACE Systems Deployment Appliance (SDA) is 0.2%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Configuration Manager is 11.9%, down from 13.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Configuration Management
 

Featured Reviews

AkashKamble - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables management of multiple operating systems with a single license
The best feature is that it's a Microsoft product, so if anything goes wrong, we get quick support for anything required. Remote system functionality allows us to sit anywhere and take control of any device via remote management. We can enhance security for clients' laptops with built-in Microsoft Defender, which is available with the Microsoft Intune license. We use it for reporting purposes through endpoint analytics. When pushing scripting, there are two types available: remediation script and reservation script. Through endpoint analytics, you can push defender policies to clients. It helps with reporting, inventory updates, and monitoring tenant status health.
reviewer1731783 - PeerSpot reviewer
Straightforward to use with good ticketing but accessing inventory needs to be easier
I have heard feedback that the imaging is slow. It takes somewhere around an hour to image one PC. Accessing the inventory piece needs to be improved. We are going to refresh a PC every four years. We need something that can handle that. We're going to keep the EWAs form in there. We want to have the form, some kind of form, where we have the inventory and all we have to do, is just come in and view the EWAs or survey that equipment. Otherwise, you have to go in and check and say to remove it out of the system manually. We want some kind of way to keep track of everything, similar to an assessment management system. They need to have some kind of system whereby, if you have the schedule to deploy, if they missed the deployment, then they can pull back and wait for next time, instead of pushing then waiting as soon as the PC turns on and then just dumps the file to the PC.
MikeNelson2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Deployment recovery works well but requires configuration improvements
While I do not use the product frequently, many issues were due to configuration rather than the product itself. I cannot give an exact recommendation as it is not my area of responsibility. The team that uses it finds it adequate. It is presently good enough for us not to investigate other options. Overall, I rate the product a six out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most useful features in Microsoft Intune are the policy enforcement and conditional access. These features make our operations easier from a company perspective."
"The product has eased the deployment of Microsoft apps to the devices. We can manage it properly. We can control it and push the updates. Another company helped us with the deployment. However, we can do it internally."
"Intune is flexible. If you want to move a device that was previously on-prem, we can bring it to the cloud and apply all the policies. This is helpful for even those organizations that were on-prem and not on the cloud. They can also come and use these features, which are pretty cool and would be handy to protect the data and manage the devices as well."
"The reporting and analytics features in Microsoft Intune have been a lifesaver."
"Implementing Microsoft Intune has provided a more streamlined and consistent method for device management across our multiple domains, effectively consolidating our administrative efforts."
"I am easily able to manage devices and assets, especially laptops and desktops."
"It is user-friendly, and the performance is also good. It is a convenient product"
"The ability to work from all over the planet is valuable. You just need a functioning and working Internet connection."
"Its ticketing is pretty good."
"It lets you know what your infrastructure is like and what state you are in."
"There is a faster time to rollout. If we get a new PC, it can be ready for productivity right away."
"It works well for the endpoints for the customer I'm consulting. It has a bunch of knobs, and you can tune it to do lots of things."
"I like Mircosoft's technical support. Microsoft has a few updates, like some of the critical KBs. They are published within the interval time, and in case of an escalation on the client missions, we will raise a ticket with the Microsoft team. They will create a hotfix or a critical update. They will chat with us, and that is one thing I like about Microsoft. Whenever any issues occur at my organization, they will help you out soon as possible within the SLA."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is patch management."
"The initial setup is straightforward and not too complicated."
"It's helped us solve problems surrounding patching, installing, and reporting different patches, etc., on the virtual machines."
"It saves a lot of money when you can install things automatically and they are installed the exact same way on every computer."
 

Cons

"In the next release, I would like a feature to be able to properly lock down the device. For example, if an attacker or somebody steals the phone, you can be sure that the pin cannot be broken."
"There is improvement needed in integrating with the installed Office solutions versions, such as Office 2019. The Office 365 integrates without a problem."
"Sometimes the syncing is inconsistent. I'm confident that the devices are checking in every eight hours, but sometimes the devices aren't picking up the settings as quickly as I would expect."
"The product needs to upgrade itself when the server is overloaded."
"From my level of analysis, the feature I would prefer to see added to Microsoft Intune is extensive support. Anything that helps to diagnose the problem and solve it would be useful."
"There are items that require improvements. One is the controls from iOS."
"The policies we had in SCCM and AD offered features that are missing from Microsoft Intune."
"There is room for improvement in integration and security as well."
"I have heard feedback that the imaging is slow. It takes somewhere around an hour to image one PC."
"The tool's deployment can be cumbersome."
"Our company would prefer not rebooting computers while people are using them. There seems to be no strategy behind it."
"There were misconfigurations by our team rather than issues with the product itself. However, it does seem a bit buggy from time to time, based on what I have heard."
"The ability to integrate MDM would be great."
"Managing role-based access control within Microsoft Configuration Manager was not helpful because we had other identity management solutions specifically designated for identity management."
"I would like to see some improvements in WSUS and control of other, non-Microsoft, product updates."
"The main room for improvement is the on-screen display. I think it would be good if some improvements were made."
"Troubleshooting in general needs improvement. There's just a ton of logs to go through, and so finding the error log that corresponds with that you're doing can sometimes be difficult."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing for Microsoft Intune is reasonable. Our clients are satisfied."
"It is reasonable. When you have Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 license, it is already licensed in that license. So, you could say it is free."
"I recently got to know that the AD P1 license is compulsory to use Intune Autopilot, which was surprising for me. Earlier, this was not the case. It is the wrong thing to do. We now need to purchase AD P1 licenses for us and for our customers. I would rate it a seven out of ten for pricing."
"I would rate the price a four out of ten with ten being the most expensive."
"Most of our clients come to us with licensing already in place. On average, it costs $6 per device per month to add Intune to an Office 365 subscription, but I am not sure."
"We don't pay for Intune because it is bundled with the premium subscription to Office 365. It includes Intune and Defender. I don't have to buy two extra products to manage my enterprise."
"It comes as a bundle, so you do not really know what the prices are. Microsoft does not break it down to the user cost for us. It is just bundled with our E5 license."
"Microsoft Intune has been incorporated into our Microsoft E5 licenses."
Information not available
"There is an annual license needed to use the solution."
"As far as I know, it is an annual operating expense license."
"We have a support license from Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager and the overall price of the solution is reasonable."
"The price could be better."
"We have to pay for a license."
"Pricing is negotiable with Microsoft, depending upon which of their packages you choose."
"The solution is expensive. Microsoft Configuration Manager would likely be considered high-priced for small businesses because they may not fully utilize all of its features and capabilities."
"I would rate the cost as eight out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
No data available
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
No data available
Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM )
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Information Not Available
Bank Alfalah Ltd., Wªrth Handelsges.m.b.H, Dimension Data, Japan Business Systems, St. Lucie County Public Schools, MISC Berhad
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