Kace Favored Over Altris, LANDesk and Microsoft in New EMA White Paper Study

Business Wire, Feb 12, 2007

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- KACE, the leader in IT management solutions for mid-market organizations, today announced the availability of a new comparative white paper that finds KBOX system management appliances have significant cost and ease of deployment advantages over competitive offers. Prepared by leading IT analyst firm Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), the paper, entitled "Best Practices in Lifecycle Management: Comparing KACE, Altiris, LANDesk, and Microsoft SMS," uses the critical features in lifecycle management as a framework for functional comparison and highlights the importance of cost considerations to determine the overall solution value.

In this study, EMA researchers evaluated the KBOX family of IT automation appliances from KACE with competitor offerings, including Altiris' Client Management Suite and Server Management Suite; LANDesk's Management and Security Suites; and Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 R2.

Analyzing key features in several lifecycle management disciplines, EMA researchers concluded that the KBOX appliances provide substantially equivalent - and in some cases superior - capabilities to that of its competitors in these critical disciplines, but at a quarter of the cost. For example, with a 1,000 node deployment, the KBOX could potentially save customers up to $250,000, versus competitive solutions.

"EMA believes (KBOX) provides functional equivalence to other solutions in critical areas, and has a distinct cost advantage, providing exceptional value-for-the-money," concluded Andi Mann, Senior Analyst with EMA and lead analyst for the study. "A KBOX solution costs as little as one quarter of its software-only rivals. With its ease of use and fast time-to-value, KBOX appliances present a very attractive alternative to Altiris, LANDesk, or Microsoft SMS."

The KBOX 1000 Series is a secure, robust line of appliances that provides affordable, end-to-end systems management coverage across the lifecycle, from deployment to retirement. As one of the easiest-to-use, comprehensive and affordable IT automation solutions, the KBOX system allows companies to increase IT efficiency, enable compliance, and significantly improve security without interruption.

"The KBOX IT automation appliances are the ideal choice for Fortune 100,000 businesses looking to be more efficient and productive while reducing costs within IT organizations," said Rob Meinhardt, CEO and co-founder of KACE. "As the results of the EMA study illustrate, when you take everything into account, including functionality, ease of use, software pricing, and maintenance costs, the KBOX appliances are the most exceptional value. Affordability and ease-of-use are key barriers to IT automation in the mid-market. KBOX breaks down these barriers by offering a high powered solution at a fraction of the cost and complexity of our competitors."

To access the EMA "Best Practices in Lifecycle Management: Comparing KACE, Altiris, LANDesk, and Microsoft SMS," white paper, go to: http://www.kace.com/infocenter/infocenter.php

About KACE[TM]

KACE[TM], a privately held technology company, is the leader in IT automation appliances. The KBOX[TM] family of appliances deliver easy-to-use, comprehensive IT automation that is affordable and really work. The KBOX[TM] 1000 Series Systems Management Appliances automate routine and complex IT maintenance tasks for end-point nodes on a network. The KBOX[TM] 2000 Series Systems Deployment Appliances provide centralized provisioning and remote system recovery.

KACE is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and has offices in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Chicago, Illinois. To learn more about KACE and its product offerings, please visit http://www.kace.com or call 1-888-522-3638.