Vendors often fight over whose solution is best. They set up their own tests to prove that they are better than the competition. Unfortunately, vendor sponsored tests sometimes include a certain bias. Say vendor X knows its software works well a specific volume of traffic running application A and that a competitor’s solution doesn’t perform as well on that specific workload. The test can be rigged to focus on those parameters. Hey, presto! Vendor X scores much better than its rival “proving” its superiority.
Hence, it is always best to look for independent evaluations of different products with no bias of any kind (such as vendors sponsoring the study). Research firm GigaOM operates in this way. Its studies are done in a way to maintain objectivity.
Recently, GigaOM evaluated 18 patch management vendors to determine which solutions were the strongest. That put Syxsense up against some long-established giants such as Ivanti, BMC, and Tanium that are more than ten times our size. The analyst firm graded Syxsense as a Leader in patch management and a Fast Mover in a challenging marketplace.
This high rating came about due to the breadth and depth of the Syxsense offering when it comes to identifying, acquiring, verifying, and installing patches to physical and virtual devices, and software systems. GigaOM analyst Ron Williams carefully looked into areas such as patch characterization, prioritization, testing, implementation tracking, and verification to determine the robustness and comprehensiveness of each patch management solution. He checked the range of operating systems (OSs), applications, and environments they can work with.
How Syxsense was Graded
Syxsense gained an outstanding rating from GigaOM for all market segments: small & midsized businesses (SMBs), large enterprises, and as something service management service providers (MSPs) can use to provide patch management to their clientele.
While some vendors specialize in one OS or one environment and some don’t have the ability to patch mobile devices, Syxsense performed well in GigaOM tests due to its extensive range of coverage. As well as Syxsense, only other two other vendors out of 18 were given an outstanding rating against all areas of patch coverage: desktop and server Windows and Linux, desktop macOS, mobile, and remote systems.
GigaOM makes particular use of what it calls its key evaluation criteria to compile these detailed comparison reports. Syxsense was graded by the analyst firm as being very capable in inventorying, tested sources and patching architecture, and outstanding in lifecycle management, patch testing, patch deployment, path prioritization, and patching of third party and in-house applications. Further, when graded against the evaluation metrics of flexibility, management capabilities, resource load management, security, usability, and patch reporting, Syxsense came as outstanding on all categories. No other solution scored higher on these metrics.
GigaOM’s Opinion of Syxsense
Beyond its Leader and Fast Mover rating, GigaOM went into detail about how Syxsense patch management fared during the evaluation process. It explained that the company’s customers range from 100 to 100,000 endpoints and that the platform consists of a larger set of tools focused on intelligent (AI-based) endpoint management. With full coverage of Windows, macOS, and Linux desktops and servers, as well as mobile devices and remote systems, Williams stated:
“Syxsense provides a strong patch management solution, especially when the rest of the portfolio is considered. It covers all identified patching targets. Its strengths lie in lifecycle management, patch testing, patch deployment, patch prioritization, and a large number of third-party applications. Syxsense also supports an API, allowing integration with other systems such as ITSM and CMDB.”
In terms of challenges, he noted that Syxsense uses only a trusted repository of vendors. In Williams opinion, this disallows the use of distributed repositories and may present a bottleneck when a large number of endpoints are patched in the same physical location, though there are methods to mitigate this issue. Syxsense addresses the patch deployment bandwidth challenge by intelligently distributing applications and patches without tying up bandwidth across the enterprise. This is accomplished using technology that sends software and patches across the wire once, using peer-to-peer within the network for local distribution.
You can find out more about it and download the report here:
Syxsense Named a Fast Mover in GigaOm Radar Report for Patch Management Solutions
