Software : KACE & SCCM 2012

KACE & SCCM 2012

I know this may be a weird question to ask here, but it seems like SCCM is becoming one of the major industry standards. I don't know much about it, but the popularity is increasing. My company has licenses for this since it's part of our volume licensing that we buy. From my understanding, SCCM can deploy software packages and OS deployments as well. Am I correct in that assumption?

Can anyone weigh in here and assist with some answers to these questions?

-Can KACE & SCCM run side-by-side without interrupting eachother?

-Any advantages/disadvantages to SCCM compared to KACE?

-How easy is SCCM? I know there is probably a steep learning curve (I taught myself everything in the K1000 and K2000 without any initial Dell training - so I have the ability to self teach).

-Any other comments or suggestions? Even if SCCM clearly doesn't have any distinct advantages over KACE, I may still try to learn it just to add it to my resume since there doesn't seem to be a lot of jobs in the Chicago area that require KACE experience.

Thanks :)

5 Comments [ + ] Show comments

I don't see the two running "side-by-side" in a production environment, especially for OS deployment. We are just starting to learn it after using the K1 and K2 for over a year now, and it is very comprehensive and thus has a steep learning curve. The concepts are all similar, but the execution is different enough that you'll be spending lots of time getting to know it. - nheyne 11 years ago
Thanks - I just meant that they wouldn't hurt each other if they were both running. 99.9% of our deployments would be done via K1 & K2, but I would like to have SCCM running so I could do test deployments to machines and slowly start to get used to it. - sfigg 11 years ago
- For everything but OS deployments I could see that, but for imaging you couldn't run the two PXE environments side by side. You could do a bootable USB although I had trouble getting that to work smoothly. - nheyne 11 years ago
Well, the techniques are similar. They are different products with advantages and disadvantages. If you _REALLY_ know the techniques the only difference is the interface. It seems to be a waste of money if you use both products in the same production environment. I helped out a friend of mine sometime ago with SCCM. His company brought it and he had to test and bring it to production. I never used it but after few minutes I was able to do the same steps like with KACE (not each step was similar)
Later I pointed him to my test env with KACE and he was able to do the same steps after few minutes. - Nico_K 11 years ago
SCCM has a major infrastructure demand and many pieces that interact in complex ways. I think MS has gotten better in regards to hardware demands but I don't know the details. I hope to know more after next week's TechEd. - mpace 11 years ago
1: KACE and SCCM wont bother each other.
2:3rd party analysts say that the SCCM product has much more time requirements and specialization for staff to support than KACE. Takes weeks not hours in SCCM.
3: Being a SME in Systems management that will help over the long run so knowing more about lots of tools and how they are different will help you do your job - kchalberg 11 years ago

Answers (2)

Posted by: dugullett 11 years ago

I can't answer how easy it is, but it seems to me like adding another management system into the mix would get confusing. Trust me.... we're still moving machines off of Zenworks. Whenever I create an install I do it twice. Once for Kace, and once for Zenworks.

You might also want to take a look here before implementing.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/virtuallabs/bb539977.aspx

Comments:

Yeah, I don't intend on using it as my main deployment tool yet as I'm comfortable with KACE and can do most things on it without any issues. I just want to start using SCCM as it seems to be becoming the standard in a lot of areas that I see, and I think I could benefit from learning how to use it for future jobs. - sfigg 11 years ago
- My own personal opinion is that KACE is easier to learn, especially if you're self-taught, but with SCCM you'll want some help. - nheyne 11 years ago
  - Thanks - from some of the SCCM videos I've seen, I would agree that it seems more complex. However, I don't intend on being in my company forever, and I've only seen one job posting in the Chicago area where they require KACE experience, and since I'm focusing more on an imaging/software deployment/desktop management role, SCCM would be more beneficial for my resume I believe. - sfigg 11 years ago
- I recently was preparing for an interview where they were wanting to implement SCCM. I studied the link above, and did a lot of the labs. After a few of them I decided Kace was much easier (although I'm sure some here will argue).
  
  I've been working with Kace for almost four years now, and I've seen them go from a smaller company that Dell just bought to what they are now. I see them being more in demand in the coming years. - dugullett 11 years ago
  - Yeah I agree with that. Dell is a huge company so their main systems management suite is going to keep expanding and improving. Of course Microsoft is huge as well, but for us the integration with Dell products is a very big incentive since we are a Dell environment. - nheyne 11 years ago

Posted by: andrew_lubchansky 11 years ago

Wouldn't you also have an issue with your DHCP Scope Options for PXE? I guess you could setup separate subnets and have different scope options for each subnet.

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