SCCM vs. Altiris?

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TheSmJ

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At my company (of about 170 employees spread over the world) we are looking into some new system management options. Currently we use Keseya, which is supported through a 3rd party, but we are looking to get rid of them and replace them with something we support ourselves.

So the options I was asked to look into are SCCM and Altiris.

Based on my reading so far, SCCM supports all Windows machines, plus IOS/Android/Symbian/WM7, etc. Altiris supports Windows, Linux, and OSX, but no mobile platforms. Since our company is 99.99% Windows-based anyways, this isn't to much of a concern.

As an aside: What can SCCM do with mobile devices anyways? Remote lock them?

I've heard that it can be difficult pushing out non-Microsoft software using SCCM (but not impossible) whereas its a breeze in Altiris.

I'm sure SCCM is fully integrated with AD. Does anyone know if Altiris is, and to what extent?


Any pointers would be appreciated! I've just started reading about these solutions and there's more information/FUD than I can handle. Hearing from people with actual experience with these products would help me a lot.
 
SCCM can push non MS software just as easily as MS software. As long as whatever product you have is either an MSI or EXE then SCCM can push it. What it does have problems with is non MS software patches. (flash patch, java patch, etc)

SCCM can't really do MDM as much as MS wants to tout that it can. It can remote lock and remote wipe, but thats about it. It can't push apps to android/iphone, you can't monitor which apps or remote remove certain apps or enforce security policies. If you want to get granular like that you'll need a 3rd party solution for your MDM.

I've never worked with Altiris so I have no idea about that product.
But SCCM combined with SCOM and SCVMM is a deadly combination for an administrator. 1 person can manage a very large enterprise with those tools.
 
Before deciding what the right solution for your problem is. Can you define your problem?
What do you want the software to accomplish?
What are the main requirements for the project?
What don't you like about your current implementation?
Any near term future things that you will want to support?
 
After about 1 hour of training I was able to do just about anything I needed with SCCM.

As far as deploying software and checking in machines. I will say on occasion on site visits were required on a few computers, normally due to them not being part of the correct group policy or having some other local issues.

I did not configure SCCM I just used it.

Very powerful and useful tool.

I have never used Altiris.

Oh Altiris is from Symantec if it works as well as SEP or SEE, I would pass.
 
The problem with the Keseya solution we currently have is that we do not support it ourselves, but through another company. We've had issues with the company, and long story short my boss wants them gone.

We'd like software that can push out applications, install/update/monitor AV, push out Windows security updates, and push out 3rd party software updates (if at all possible). I plan on having a meeting with my boss tomorrow to find out what else he's looking for, but those are the requirements I've been given already.
 
What type of server infrastructure do you have?

Have you looked at Windows In-Tune(Cloud SCCM)?

And hell no to Altiris. It is horribly bloated.
 
We're running 3 Windows 2k8 R2 servers (AD DCs), 3 Exchange servers (all users are to be moved to the new EX 2k10 server within the month) and other various servers for application hosting, file storage, etc. These are running inside VMware VM host/SAN boxes in 3 locations (Japan, Michigan, and California). We have a handful of Server 2k3 boxes which we are in the process of replacing.

The vast majority of PCs are Win7 Pro x64, aside from a handful of Win XPPro machines currently being replaced, and two Macbook Pros the executives insist on using.

Everyone in the company uses an iPhone aside from myself and the other admin, which are Androids. If we do decide to get into MDMs (something we haven't talked about but I plan to bring it up tomorrow) we'll more than likely look at other options.
 
Well, I have implemented and administered both Kaseya and SCCM 2012 at my current location. I use both on a repeated basis. On one hand I have taken the Kaseya Certified administrator training and on the other had some help from MS professionals configuring my SCCM environment. There are some terrific things about Kaseya, there are some terrific things about SCCM. There are some annoying things about both as well.

I hated Kaseya when I first started as it takes completely different approaches from a MS world. I recommend you guys take the training which is pretty cheap relatively speaking and then takeover the management of Kaseya. It's really a one man administration tool once you know how to use it.

Both products do what you are looking for. In my opinion:

Applications: SCCM is really hard to get configured but cleaner at pushing out Apps
AV: This is basically the same as above, you won't be monitoring a 3rd party AV system from either unless you are referring to MS Endpoint Protection
Windows Updates: SCCM can be better here because you can package all the updates needed and it will run in the background. Kaseya uses the traditional update, reboot, update method.

Some things I use Kaseya for:
Scheduling remote scripts on hundreds of machines in a few minutes - one example of this is used for activating Adobe, Office, Windows, etc.
Helpdesk System - nothing for SCCM that I know of
Mac Support - Can remote desktop, execute bash script, backup files, etc
Desktop Backup - Backup a user folder to a network location quickly for re-imaging a PC. SCCM can do this but so far I have been unsuccessful in setting it up.
Check-in from Internet - Your Execs can be at home and as long as they are connected to the internet and Kaseya is configured correctly you will be able to remotely support them without VPNs, etc.
Server Monitoring - You can get very detailed, currently I just have it send me email alerts once a server goes offline

If you have any specific questions I can try to PM you but hopefully this helps.
 
I've used Kaseya in the past at another job and am well aware of what it can do. I brought up the possibility with us sticking with it and just dropping the support, but the boss didn't want to for some reason I can't remember anymore.

If we go SCCM, we will be using Endpoint. In fact, the whole reason this came up was w/ us trying to find a new AV solution (right now we have AVG, which is being managed by Kaseya). I brought up Endpoint as a possible solution, which of course is tied to SCCM. My boss had heard of issues with SCCM and pushing 3rd party software so he also wanted to me to also look into Altiris, which is supposedly easier to use.

So far I've found a lot more praise being sung for SCCM (both here and elsewhere) vs Altiris. There's also a lot more information to be found for SCCM in general.
 
TheSmJ said:
I've used Kaseya in the past at another job and am well aware of what it can do. I brought up the possibility with us sticking with it and just dropping the support, but the boss didn't want to for some reason I can't remember anymore.

If we go SCCM, we will be using Endpoint. In fact, the whole reason this came up was w/ us trying to find a new AV solution (right now we have AVG, which is being managed by Kaseya). I brought up Endpoint as a possible solution, which of course is tied to SCCM. My boss had heard of issues with SCCM and pushing 3rd party software so he also wanted to me to also look into Altiris, which is supposedly easier to use.

So far I've found a lot more praise being sung for SCCM (both here and elsewhere) vs Altiris. There's also a lot more information to be found for SCCM in general.
Click to expand...

Kaseya support in general is terrible whether you are using a third party or Kaseya themselves. Every time I try to talk to them it is just like a brick wall. SCCM will definitely take the cake for more information to help aide in configuration and ongoing support. As far as AV is concerned if you have that many users it is time to switch to an enterprise solution - most likely it will be able to push the AV client out from the server regardless of whether you get EP integrated with SCCM.

Also, I don't know what the pricing is for Kaseya but I think you will find SCCM much more costly especially once you add EP unless you have enterprise licensing.
 
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Look at KACE, Dell bought them out a few years ago but I do love the K-Box. My new company is switching to SCCM, but it does look promising.
 
Based on what I've read, Endpoint pretty much requires SCCM, otherwise its a more expensive version of MSE. Is that wrong?

In terms of AV, we're looking for a solution that can be pushed out from a server and centrally managed. I've heard great things about EP, and my boss and I already like MSE, so unless we go with something other than SCCM, Endpoint is what we'll have.

In terms of the cost of licensing all this stuff, I have to admit reading about all the options made my head spin. Once I get all the other details nailed down I might just contact the company of whatever we want to buy and ask them for help.
 
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