We performed a comparison between Automox and Microsoft Windows Server Update Services based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Patch Management solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."The fact that it's just one product that can patch multiple operating systems is really great."
"They've been adding some new features lately, which I'm not nearly as familiar with, but the ability to just deploy patches and exempt certain machines from certain patches is helpful. For instance, for our servers, we may not want to roll out zero-day patches. We are able to exempt those and make sure that they don't get those policies. We've got certain servers that have to run a particular version of Java, and being able to exempt those servers from receiving Java updates is pretty fantastic."
"Among the most valuable features are its ease of use and the Worklets. Both of them are time-savers. Worklets enable us to customize things for a given environment. It's something like when Apple lets other people create applications. Other peoples' Worklets can be used in our environment and in our customers' environments. That saves a lot of time, and it's really cool."
"It's easy to deploy agents to endpoints."
"The biggest improvement to our organization involves the reduction in its man hours... We've probably saved hundreds of hours."
"Its flexibility is most valuable."
"Coming from prior solutions that were a lot more effort, Automox's patch management abilities are transformational. When I took over patching at my company, they were using on-premise architecture to patch. As the workforce shifted from being in the office into their home offices, I was able to lift and shift with no effort other than deploying the new agent out into the environment."
"Previously, we would run a report, scan it, and compare it. We were spending 15 to 30 minutes a month on each machine on this stuff because you would find stuff that wasn't up to date, then you had to fix it. This solution takes that time down to minutes. Automox saves us easily many hours a month."
"It ensures we get the necessary updates and features from the servers."
"The central points of managing product updates have been the tool's most valuable features."
"The solution gives authentic updates."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Windows Server Update Services is the efficiency once configured."
"Setup is very simple and straightforward."
"We get server updates from the internet and from the Bluetooth server. All of the clients are connected to it, and they're all updated from this exact server. It updates automatically."
"Provides the ability to create multiple downstream servers."
"PowerShell is a valuable feature."
"The only thing that we've ever truly wanted is an onsite repository. Currently, all updates are provided directly from the internet. So, if you have 1,000 devices, all 1,000 devices go directly out to the internet. We would love the option of being able to put the updates on local storage so that we're not consuming as much bandwidth. That is literally the only thing that we've ever wanted."
"As concerns the patching concepts, there's a bit of a learning curve in terms of working out how Automox wants you to work within the console, not only splitting up everything into groups, but then having the various policies assigned."
"We would like to see additional detailed reporting for Service providers like us. We had to build our own reports via their APIs to meet our needs."
"Asset management would be a great feature to add to Automox. We would run easier scripts or more out of the box scripts that would help us in audits. \"
"The stability has come a long way from what it was like when it started and now it's really good."
"The biggest area they need to fix, without a doubt, is the ability to copy and sync profiles and worklets between all of the organizations you manage, and the ability to have top-level user access control across all of the companies that you manage."
"They need to improve the automation features."
"When we bring on a new client, we need to go into that client and manually set up my account, my chief engineer's account, three technicians' accounts, and a billing person's account all over again, which is annoying. We have probably up to 15 or 16 of our clients on Automox now. For every single one of those, we have had to go in and set this up. Then, if anything changes, we have to remember to go to Automox and change it 15 or 16 times. So, we just want inheritable permissions, and that is it. We have talked to them about this, and they are like, "Yeah, we hear a lot of complaints about it." I am thinking, "Guys, I have been complaining about this for a year and a half. When are you going to do it?" It must be some tricky thing or not an easy fix, because I can only assume if it were easy, then they would have done it by now."
"The challenges exist according to the planning. For example, if you plan to implement and apply updates to your infrastructure, including servers and clients, you must provide storage information and have a clear plan for that from start to end."
"Because you have to pay for the product and there may be other good free solutions, this may not be the best choice for a cost-minded organization."
"Microsoft Windows Server Update Services could improve the ease of use."
"Having the ability to group updates by the operating systems would be very helpful."
"The product lacks to offer some of the features offered by some of the open source solutions like Linux and others, making it an area where improvements are required."
"Setup is complex."
"The main problem with WSUS is that the management console doesn't allow you to do a lot of operations. It's actually quite a primitive console, and has been since day one. In order to be more effective, you need to use another tool from Microsoft that can take advantage of WSUS and also offer you the extra features you need."
"One area for potential improvement involves the administrative portal, where numerous options, including asset management and patch management, are integrated."
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Automox is ranked 11th in Patch Management with 10 reviews while Microsoft Windows Server Update Services is ranked 2nd in Patch Management with 41 reviews. Automox is rated 8.8, while Microsoft Windows Server Update Services is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Automox writes "Monitors our devices irrespective of the location and the environment, allows us to exempt certain machines from certain patches, and has perfect patch management abilities". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Microsoft Windows Server Update Services writes "Lets us manage all our organization's updates from a single management console". Automox is most compared with Microsoft Intune, BigFix, Microsoft Configuration Manager, Tanium and ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus, whereas Microsoft Windows Server Update Services is most compared with BigFix, ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus, Microsoft Configuration Manager, Quest KACE Systems Management and ManageEngine Patch Connect Plus. See our Automox vs. Microsoft Windows Server Update Services report.
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