We performed a comparison between Atera 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."Atera has saved our organization money. We look at Atera as an extra employee that we only pay about $300 a month. This is incredible savings over having to hire somebody to do all the tasks that Atera performs for us."
"Atera has helped me to provide more accurate solutions based on a given problem. For example, we base our solutions on event scenarios, like the alerts. We identify that there's a series of problems occurring in a particular area from the information provided by the alerts."
"I would say it's the number one tool for all ITMS."
"We value the alerts that come with the product which allow me to reach out to my clients. Overall, Atera generates additional revenue streams for work done on their machines."
"I have better access when I go to look for something regarding either a specific user or software. It is easier to locate. When I am troubleshooting with my clients on the phone, I am not fiddling around looking through a bunch of ticket notes trying to locate something. It makes me a lot more efficient."
"There are a lot fewer hardware replacements. Once people migrated from old style hard disks over to SSDs, you have things like hard disks filling up faster. So, I run a script to clear out all the waste, e.g., all the temporary files and downloads. A lot of our business runs through a custom web application that we built. This involves people downloading a lot of PDFs and Excel files, and not just having them sitting in folders. With Atera, I can just go through and clean the temporary files out."
"Atera saves money. A trip to the customer costs between $20 to $30. Then, you need to charge the customer $20 to $30 for the travel. However, if you are doing this work remotely, then you are not driving. This makes the process easier and saves money for you and the customer. For example, if it is just one machine, then the savings comes out to $50 to $60. If we are talking about a huge client, who has hundreds of machines and is changing their infrastructure, that is a lot of money."
"The most valuable features of this solution are automatic batch matching and unattended support access."
"The performance has been okay."
"Compared to Linux, Windows Server’s setup is easier."
"Microsoft Windows Server Update Services is highly stable. It is one of the most stable solutions from Microsoft."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Windows Server Update Services is the efficiency once configured."
"Once we configure it and it keeps updating the patches, all I need to do is filter out which patches are required or not."
"The most valuable feature is the decreased level of internet usage by my network."
"The most valuable feature is its ability to identify which updates are needed on a particular machine."
"The interface is easy to use."
"There is definitely room for improvement with its automation capabilities."
"The chat solutions need improvement because we first need to connect to the customer. This needs to improve so that there is a particular feature that can provide support to customers even if they are not connected to a computer."
"Customization could be improved."
"They are working on an update, and I would like to see more stuff outside of just computers and servers. Increasingly, we need to be able to monitor and manage network devices. Atera is improving on that already, which is one place that it is currently lacking."
"I would like to see more mobile device management. iPad is a big one. I know they've been working on some of that. For me, it would be amazing if I could do tablet devices and even expand it to POS systems or the like. I know that a lot goes into that but I've seen it is an area they're looking at."
"The solution is scalable. However, in the past, we did have some issues."
"The billing module has a standard layout which is too limited for my needs."
"It will be interesting if Atera can integrate all kinds of products. In North America, there are a lot of resellers, like Ingram Micro, Tech Data, Arrow Electronics, etc. It would be amazing if Atera could integrate with these products. If they could integrate with these products for MSPs, it would be much easier. Then, if you are buying something, and need to add something, you don't need to jump from place to place because this is a very quick sales instrument for use on a daily basis."
"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."
"It would be good if it could deploy third-party patches or applications."
"Microsoft should improve their support for the product. A lot of guys are installing their products, especially Xero. If you have a real problem, though, it's quite difficult to find someone who you can support you."
"The product must integrate with third-party applications."
"The security could be improved."
"The product must improve its support."
"In the next release, I would like to see additional tools added to fix the engine issues on the client's side."
"Job management and control is an area that is in need of improvement."
More Microsoft Windows Server Update Services Pricing and Cost Advice →
Atera is ranked 10th in Patch Management while Microsoft Windows Server Update Services is ranked 3rd in Patch Management with 39 reviews. Atera is rated 9.2, while Microsoft Windows Server Update Services is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Atera writes "Pay just one price for unlimited devices and remote features enable easy access to all end points regardless of their location". 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". Atera is most compared with NinjaOne, Datto Remote Monitoring and Management, N-able N-central, Microsoft Configuration Manager and ConnectWise Automate, whereas Microsoft Windows Server Update Services is most compared with BigFix, ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus, Quest KACE Systems Management, Microsoft Configuration Manager and Automox. See our Atera vs. Microsoft Windows Server Update Services report.
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