The patching solutions review concludes this week with Ivanti‘s patch solution, as well as PDQ Deploy/Inventory.

As a quick reminder, here’s where our bake-off currently sits:

Quick reminder: none of these solutions are bribing me with fat wads of cash to plug their products. Some day I hope to have such problems, but today is not that day.

Ivanti

You might know Ivanti as Shavlik – that’s the product name I’m more familiar with anyways. Back in February, Shavlik became Ivanti.

Pros

  • Pretty easy to install and manage – even without a deep background in IT (in today’s episode I tell a story that can back this claim based on my experience)

  • Does a solid job of applying patching Windows OS and third party

Cons

  • Pricing is a little steep – last figures I saw were ~$80 per server, per year and ~$40 per workstation, per year.

  • ITScripts library (that allows for GPO-style policy enforcement) is a little slim when compared to similar functionality offered from other solutions

PDQ Deploy/Inventory

I’ve seen this "in the wild" at probably a half dozen companies. It’s an extremely powerful tool, but also requires some patience and practice to get comfortable with it.

Pros

  • Lets you crazy with building custom packages you can deploy to granular groups

  • Awesome online help resources, including a YouTube video library that’s got a video for just about everything

  • Quick response to support tickets

Cons

  • A bit more complicated to get comfortable with than the other solutions

  • A little confusing on the Windows patching side – not quite as "point and patch" as some of the other solutions

  • Agentless system – machines have to be able to "see" the PDQ

Patching solutions bake-off gist:

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Written by: Brian Johnson

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