PDQ Deploy & Inventory

Really easy to used

Pros:

Really easy to used platform to deploy softwares and patch

Cons:

Sometimes need some search to have good silent deploy

PDQ has become the most used toolset in my career.

Comments: This is the 2nd job I have had with PDQ. Part of the reason I was hired for this position was my knowledge of PDQ. The previous admins had purchased but no one knew how to use it. The overall system was in a neglected state. In the 9 months I have been here I have rebuilt and moved PDQ to new servers and changed the way Patch management was done. I retired WSUS because I can do all that it does and more with PDQ. So much more. And the customer support is amazing. I use it when I am stuck with what seems to be unique to our company issues and your staff makes it simple to resolve. I do believe I have become a much more efficient engineer because of PDQ. Keep up the awesome work!!

Pros:

Automation is a must when you have over 400 devices. It makes complex problems much easier to accomplish.

Cons:

I really have not had time to learn all of the features of your products. But that is not on PDQ. Your YouTube videos are amazing and fun to watch. Keep up the humor. That goes a long way in IT.

PDQ Deploy anomalies

Pros:

Simplify server management Saves on me sign in multiple times Repeat task on remote machines

Cons:

These features seem inconsistent: - Say you want to run a number on commands on a number of servers you cannot get a combined report of the output of all the commands. Often this is needed as the report may be input into further tools - You should be able to set default credentials for each computer you add manually which can be overridden from 'deploy one' - You should be able to group a group of computers like a tree structure eg. directory structure in Windows or UNIX - Computers should be able to be a member of more than one group. When you add a known computer to another group it should copy all these properties as default starting point - In new package, you should have the ability to not have to choose a step type but the commands the user types in most cases tell you what type of step it is

Want to look like a Admin Superstar? PDQ is the only way.

Comments: A big piece from the management side is being able to quickly true-up or massive Microsoft E5 licensing and pricing. The hardest port of using PDQ is teaching HD staff all of the powerful things that can be accomplished with the combination of Inventory and Deploy.

Pros:

Ease of use, integration with other tools, price, functionality, the overall stability of both Inventory and Deploy and the integration of the two products.

Cons:

They ONLY thing that I have found no way to do that would make things perfect, is to be able to pass a computer name or IP address variable to a custom PowerShell script or custom scanner.

Scale your Business with PDQ Deploy and Inventory

Comments: Overall best for my use because of it's ease of use and convience provided by it.

Pros:

Best thing is that it is very easy to use and guides us with the maps of printers and deployment of updated softwares.

Cons:

Sometimes some error occurs in the deployment that is not so clear...On large scale it's speed slows down

Easy to use

Pros:

Without agent installation on the Clients.

Cons:

So far nothing negative has been noticed.

Excellent Deployment and Installation Tool

Comments: Was able to install products that GPOs couldn't. Was able to discretely target systems, or initiate a sitewide roll-out.

Pros:

Many options for setting up install and deploy routines. Automatically refreshed network inventory. Active Directory Integration. Ability to target by queries, OUs or just about anything.Good integration between the prodcts (Deploy and Inventory). Good reporting.

Cons:

Can be kind of daunting for new users. A bit slow sometimes.

A must have tool for any sysadmin

Pros:

PDQ Deploy makes software deployment an easy task. Super powerfull tool to install programs and patch computers without bothering users. Best tool i've ever used.

Cons:

No cons i can think of. Really, maybe ui can be a little more modern? but who cares?

Automating made Easy

Pros:

Automating Software and Patches for Desktops.

Cons:

Wake on LAN does not work. Also, the package library is limited. I do not have the option to add different software to the package library so It can auto-download/ approve the latest version,

PDQ Deploy

Pros:

This is a great solution to deploy software and scripts remotely.

Cons:

Sometimes you will get a success message even though the task did not complete.

Cheap solution for cheap LAN only use-cases

Comments: I am overall happy regarding the needs that we currently have. Absolutely not good enough for modern and especially mobile cloud-based infrastructures though.

Pros:

Block programming approach to defining the deployments and inventory. Really in-depth access to the OS that can read whatever you can think of with an ease. Visualisation of the results is not possible though.

Cons:

No mobility support, no cloud, no dashboards, nothing. Users cannot interact with any deployment in any other way than by pressing OK. UX level cca when Greenday lead the hitparades.

Good

Comments: Good

Pros:

PDQ Deploy & Inventory service and support

Cons:

PDQ Deploy & Inventory service and support Software and report type

Does what you ask it to do

Comments: It alerts us to problems before being reported by the end user

Pros:

I’ve use it for all sorts, managing 500 machines. I use collections to alert me to machines missing keyboard/mice, hard drive space, machines offline for over 3 days. Battery life in laptops. Software inventory….. the list goes on

Cons:

It’s dependancy on DNS. I’m not sure if our dns is configured correctly

Just Amazing

Comments: I love it.

Pros:

Ease of deployment of custom software, not managed by SCCM

Cons:

I only have 3 Cons:1. It is two seperate programs (Inventory & Deploy), and allthough there is some integration, we still need to synchronize variables manually.2. The missing ability to use LDAPS intstead of old deprecated LDAP.3. I would love to be able to put the databases on our Enterprise MSSQL Cluster Server, instead of these local SQLite databases.

PDQ Deploy for Education

Comments: I literally cannot do my job without this software. I daresay that once you try it, you will find that you will agree with me.

Pros:

The software itself works really well. The hard part consists of getting all the machines to talk to each other and then figuring out the silent command -line statements that are needed to install the software. For most of the well-known software, the silent switches are well known and for the most popular tools PDQ will even supply their own scripts.

Cons:

I'd love PDQ Deploy to re-imagine their local Agent idea. The last time they tried it supposedly didnt meet their standards. I'd say look at other software like Goverlan and even AWS Thinkbox Deadline (a renderfarm manager) to see how they do a local Agent to see if those would meet the criteria. PDQ has no ability to install software that doesn't offer a command-line silent switch. You'd think that this would never come up in Education but... you'd be surprised. We run a lot of 3D and VFX apps that are made by one developer and when you ask them for the silent switches they reply "what are you talking about" . Now, to be sure, this isn't really a "con" of PDQ, but it is fair to mention. If you have any software that just doesn't have any command-line automation which can run silently via a Windows Service User, you'll have to get something alongside PDQ Deploy to make that happen.

Keeping tabs with PDQ Inventory

Comments: I started using the free version at a former job and introduced it to my team at my current job. I asked a few times for the licensed version and eventually after i produced a potential ROI document i managed to get 2 licenses for both deploy and inventory. My colleague and i get so much more accomplished leaving time for the more physical side of our jobs.

Pros:

I love everything about this software. The tools are all there, command line, MMC Management, Reboot, remote assist and desktop wake... Dunamic grouping so i can keep abreast of what needs this or that software. What operating System, whether it is laptop, desktop or server. Registry printers etc etc, is there anything it cant do.

Cons:

None absolutely none. With this in my tool box i save myself weeks worth of work within a year. The ROI impresses the fiscal department, our turnaround of work requests jumped staggeringly according to our quality and rounding departments.

PDQ Deply and Inventory

Comments: As stated above, this has made my monthly patching much easier and also allowed me to auto patch more apps than just Windows updates. I have also built out auto deployment packages that I use when settin gup new machines. I add them to my domain, Inventory picks them up on scan and adds them to a dynamic collection, Deploys heartbeat deployment for that collection pushes out the preconfigured list of apps/packages and generates a message on each machine when finished.

Pros:

Tried this out after some frustration with SCCM. While the MS product was getting my monthly patch Tuesday stuff covered, it felt a little complicated to manage. With PDQ deploy, it feels much easier, plus im now getting windows patches as well as patching many other apps(Chrome, edge, 7-zip, VLC, etc.) in what I feel is a much more user friendly and intuitive interface.

Cons:

Has built-in support for VNC for remote control which I don't currently use. I'll be making the switch but wish there were other options.

PDQ - A must have tool

Comments: Fantastic. This tool saves our staff time and money. The team who created it have built something that has become a staple in our IT toolbox.

Pros:

The ability to push out software updates, add/remove files remotely, and ease of managment.

Cons:

We'd like to see more templates for more common software deployments and tasks, but the team is working on adding those on a regular basis.

PDQ Inventory & Deploy

Comments: Software packaging is easy with important feature such as job resume after client reboot. Extensive package library with plenty of common software ready to deploy and constantly updated by PDQ.

Pros:

Solution is easy to set up, both PDQ inventory & Deploy are up and running within minutes. Software packaging is easy to build, and deployment is smooth and job can be schedule for automation to targeted clients.

Cons:

Lack of OS deployment and Windows Update scan and patching similar to WSUS.

Must have part of large network

Comments: I've used it for a large portion of my career. Always been essential.

Pros:

The multitude of deployment options. Built in or downloadable uninstalls for almost everything. Running powershell commands on 2000 pcs couldn't be easier.

Cons:

Sometimes I wish there was a client option for the occasional DNS issues.

Fits perfect in our Organisation

Comments: Fast Software-Deployment with a few clicks. Easy to handle. No need to visit the Users Desktop. Auto Download helps us to keep all Devices up to date.

Pros:

In connection with Inventory it is very easy to deploy Updates and Tools with a few Clicks. With Automatic Deployment we get rid of annoying tasks like check and update Clients. It's nearly fire and forget :-)To create Deployment Packages is very easy. I'm able to deploy nearly any Tool within seconds without the need to visit the Desktop onsite.

Cons:

Most of the Tools/Programs we're deploy with PDQ automaticaly detect and uses the OS-Language. But there are some Tools (e.g. Firefox) which does not. It was helpful to extend the Auto Download Package so that we can deploy the appropriate Language Pack. Actually we can convert the Auto Download Package to a Standard Package and modify this Standard Package. Unfortunately we lose the advantage of the auto download feature.

Excellent value for managing software across the network

Comments: We are able to keep more software up-to-date and increase our security measures as a result of deploying PDQ.

Pros:

It's very easy to create and deploy software to all connected devices. We are able to quickly create a deployment, determine who needs it, and set it to run. Within minutes we can push new software or updates out to every machine on the network.

Cons:

PDQ does not use an agent, so you can only install software on devices on the internal network. It would be nice to be able to "check in" on some schedule. It's also not possible as far as I can tell to deploy when a compute reboots at the end user's convenience and not when we force a reboot.All told, these are minor inconveniences that in no way overshadow the total package.

Can't live without it

Comments: I had an initial issue with building my first package. I reached out to their support team which was top shelf. I had made a simple mistake which they found and then educated me on why it didn't work so I wouldn't make the same mistake.

Pros:

What I like most about this software is the ability to push out software to all my devices. Once a package has been built you are set. When you need to upgrade that software all you have to do is update the .exe/.msi file and you can still use the original package you built. I also support multiple domains and it integrates really easily.

Cons:

Don't have an option right now for work from home pc's.

Love it - Works even better with PDQ Inventory

Comments: Love this stuff. Easy to use. Does what it says it can do. The company is awesome to work with. What more can you ask for.

Pros:

Set up is easy and once you have it set up it just works. Love it!

Cons:

I wish it would handle all of Microsoft patches but I fully understand why it doesn't.

PDQ Deploy

Comments: PDQ helps keeps our system up to date as well as allow IT to push out updates fast and easy.

Pros:

This software is super intuitive and convenience once you get to use it for a while. Software deployment is easy and the ability to schedule it make it super powerful.

Cons:

PDQ separates the software into smaller products. In my opinion, PDQ deploy and inventory should be combined.