SmartDeploy Reviews

Summary: We were able to use Smart Deploy as a solid solution in under a few months (side project). So far, each push has saved us a few hours for each push. Overall very satisfied with this as a solution and support has been helpful in getting us what we need.

Positive: After trying to implement MDT (Microsoft Deployment Toolkit), we ran into some issues and not having technical support was difficult for our technicians. Smart Deploy is a better alternative since it includes support, a very self-intuitive interface, and good help documentation/videos.

Negative: I wish that each license would come with unlimited support (and phone support), instead, you have to pay for different levels of support.

Summary: I have used Altiris, Micrsoft SCCM, PDQ, and others to deploy workstations and Smartdeploy is by far the easiest to use. Updating your golden image is easy and not having to update drivers on the main image makes it so much easier managing your images.

Positive: Ease of use
Support team very responsive
Constantly updating
Huge selection of driver packs
Cost effective yet feature rich

Negative: Instructions on website for setup are outdated they do not match the version that is currently released
Took sometime to follow the directions since we had to hunt for the feature they were talking about.

Summary: From start to finish this software has been a really big help in getting our new machines deployed after our previous solution died on us (SCCM). It has saved us countless hours due to all of this. I hope that they make the application deployment more robust and easier to use as it's still more complicated to use than SCCM was.

Positive: Rollout is easy.
Easy to build, capture and deploy an image.
Cheapest paid imaging solution that has this feature set.

Negative: Application deployment still seems to be in its infancy and is more complicated than other solutions.

Summary: If you are looking for a simple out-of-the-box solution that requires minimal training and administration, then Smart Deploy will probably be perfect for you. We opted for it in our Small Enterprise because we needed to implement a solution that was quick to setup and would not take time away from other administrative responsibilities. It also needed to be plug-and-play for the technicians doing the imaging.

Cost: The product is very expensive for the service it offers in my opinion. Sites say "Starts at 15, but that is deceptive. That is a very high volume price. Anyone with that number of computers is a large enterprise that I am sure already has a solution in place. I am sure they also require customizations beyond the Smart Deploy offering. That 15 is also the price minus the "support contract". So it's 15 + 3-4 for ongoing support. But the support isn't just raising tickets with them, it's the driver packs as well, so that means you need to pay for the support. The solution is not customizable enough for large enterprise, and too expensive for small-mid businesses. That give Smart Deploy a strange gray area of usefulness where the organization probably has the knowledge to implement something better or cheaper like MDT, it just doesn't have the manpower. That is where we fell in.

Support: This is the first SaaS solution I have purchased where the contact you purchase dictates the number of tickets you are allowed to raise. the normal contract only allows for 5 tickets per month. As previously mentioned, I needed to perform some customizations to the imaging process which Smart Deploy does not make straight forward. After a production deployment I went back counted 42 different questions/issues I had to ask the pre-sales engineer for assistance on. I was even provided incorrect documentation from them that did not work. That means the standard level of support provided would not have been sufficient for me to implement in my organization.

To recap, if you want to customize the imaging process, then Smart Deploy is not for you. If you need something quickly in place that requires minimal administration, then it is.

Positive: Minimal upkeep, out of the box solution, relatively straight forward GUI, support is responsive, provided driver packs (see cons as well), multiple deployment options (network, offline, over the internet), received a lot of pre-sales assistance to implement a proof of concept.

Negative: Customizations are cumbersome (i.e. running PS and CMD scripts is possible, but the syntax is strange), MDT type xml customizations are not possible, driver packs are out of date, about 2-3 times slower than MDT/DISM, does not auto-generate and store logs on server if imaging is initiated via usb (must script copying the log file back), expensive for the service it offers, limited service tickets per month.