Affordable Alternatives for Software Inventory and Windows Patch Management
Asked by
MellowCedar47
I'm responsible for IT at a small company with roughly 280 users. In my previous sysadmin roles, I used Baramundi for software and hardware inventory, software deployment, and Windows patch management, but it's too expensive for my current organization. We already use Intune for basic device management, although software deployments and patching feel painfully slow. I've tested several alternatives, but each seems to be missing features I consider important. What affordable, reliable tools have you used successfully for inventory, software deployment, and Windows and third-party patch management?
Answers
Ansible can handle Windows updates and third-party application updates with a few well-designed playbooks. It’s a good low-cost option if you’re comfortable maintaining the automation yourself, but it won’t provide the same polished software catalog or reporting experience as a dedicated management platform.
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PDQ Deploy and PDQ Inventory are excellent if most of your devices are on-premises and reachable over the network. They’re easy to use, have strong inventory features, and the combined licensing is relatively affordable for a small IT team. For remote devices, their cloud-based agent is the more appropriate option, though pricing is generally per endpoint.
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You could also improve the Intune setup by deploying updates in staged rings: a small pilot group, then a broader test group, followed by the general user population. It won’t solve every issue with slow deployments or limited third-party patching, but it can make patch management safer and more predictable.
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Action1 is worth evaluating. It’s focused more on patching and endpoint management than a full RMM, but the package catalog is strong, automations are straightforward, and deployments tend to be fast. It can work well alongside Intune, and the free tier may cover a smaller initial deployment.
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