Desktop Management Buyers’ Guide 2025

Desktop management solutions enable IT teams to manage and maintain the health and security of their organization’s endpoints. Typically, this refers to desktop or laptop workstations, but some solutions also cover other device types, such as cell phones, tablets, and IoT devices. 

• The desktop management software market was valued at USD 2.8 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.9% between 2024 and 2032 to reach a value of USD 5.6 billion.
• Growth is being driven primarily by the increasing complexity of desktop environments and the subsequent need to be able to manage them more efficiently.
  • The global surge in the past five years in remote working has created a need for centralized tools that can manage dispersed desktop fleets, including monitoring, maintenance, and support tasks.
  • With so many different endpoint types available on the market now and the proliferation of BYOD device policies, IT teams need a way to unify and standardize their device management processes within a heterogeneous environment.
• Further growth is being driven by the need for stronger data protection and cybersecurity.
  • Desktops are often targeted entry points in cyberattacks, and many organizations are investing heavily in endpoint management tools with strong patching, monitoring, and compliance support capabilities. 

Why trust us: We’ve researched, demoed, and tested several leading desktop management solutions, spoken to organizations of all sizes about their IT management challenges and the features that are most useful to them, as well as interviewed executives from leading providers in the desktop and wider IT management spaces.

You can find our product reviews, interviews, and Top 10 shortlists to the best desktop management products on the market in our IT Management Hub.

Know Before You Buy: Our Recommendations

Before we jump into the details, here are our top tips on how to get the most out of your desktop management implementation:

• For MSPs: Before you invest in a solution, check whether it offers multi-tenancy support. This will allow you to seamlessly manage endpoints for multiple customers. 
• For teams prioritizing straightforward deployment: Consider how the solution fits within your organization’s existing ecosystem—does it offer native integrations with the tools you’re already using, and does it support all the different types of hardware and operating system you have deployed? If so, deployment will be much easier!
• For busy teams: Once deployed, take advantage of the solution’s automation capabilities. Automating patches, updates, and other routine tasks will save your team lots of time and energy.

How Desktop Management Solutions Work

Desktop management solutions are typically deployed by installing an agent on each endpoint that you want to manage. This agent keeps tabs on the individual device, monitoring its performance, health, and security status, as well as user activity. It then communicates that information back to the central desktop management platform. Most desktop management tools are cloud-based SaaS offerings, which means you can then access this endpoint data via an online management portal or cloud application. 

Once deployed, as well as enabling you to monitor each endpoint, desktop management solutions allow you to remotely roll out patches and updates, configure device settings and security policies, and troubleshoot any issues your end users are having with their devices. 

Desktop Management Vs. Other IT Management Tools

Desktop management solutions do have some overlap with other types of IT management tools; specifically Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM), Mobile Device Management (MDM), and Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) tools.

RMM tools enable MSPs and IT departments to remotely monitor endpoint health and uptime, automate maintenance tasks, deploy and manage security solutions, deploy patches and updates, remediate common issues through scripting, and remotely access devices for more in-depth troubleshooting tasks. While some RMM tools offer support for mobile devices, they’re best suited to desktop- and laptop-centric environments. These tools are specifically designed for service providers managing multiple client networks or large device fleets across different locations. 

MDM tools enable IT teams to enforce device and security policies, control app installations, and manage other administrative tasks across mobile devices. They’re best suited to mobile-centric organizations or those with BYOD environments.

UEM tools are the most flexible in terms of coverage; they offer support for all device types, including desktops, laptops, mobile devices, IoT devices, and even wearables. They offer a combination of MDM and desktop management capabilities, including policy enforcement, device lifecycle management, security and compliance policy configuration and management, and application management. As such, they’re best suited to larger enterprises managing a diverse mix of device types, with a strong focus on unifying security policies. 

While they offer lots of similar functionality to the tools above (i.e., endpoint monitoring, software deployment and updates, patching, remote access, and inventory management) desktop management tools are primarily focussed on desktop and laptop endpoints. In terms of use case, they’re ideal for IT teams whose main concern is maintaining the health and performance of employee PCs.

Benefits Of Desktop Management

There are three main benefits to implementing a desktop management solution:

1. Continuously monitor your users’ devices.
   • With a desktop management solution, you can keep an up-to-date inventory of all your users’ devices and which applications are installed on them. By having all this information in one place, you’ll be able to identify any technical issues affecting desktops much more quickly.
   • The best desktop management tools also notify you of any security issues they detect across your users’ devices, such as if they’re running unauthorized software or being accessed by unauthorized users. This means you can identify and remediate any threats more quickly and efficiently.
2. Keep on top of software and OS patches and updates.
   • Desktop management tools enable you to control which software is installed on your users’ endpoints and automate patching for that software. 
   • This can not only save your team valuable time, but also help you minimize disruption to end users by scheduling updates for times when they’re not working.
3. Improve troubleshooting. 
   • The best desktop management tools offer remote access and troubleshooting features. This means that, instead of going back and forth with users, your support team can see for themselves exactly which problems their end users are experiencing and address them more effectively.
   • This is a particularly helpful benefit for organizations with remote users that may not have access to in-person IT support! 
4. Reduce your operational costs. 
   • A good desktop management solution can help you extend device lifecycles, reduce helpdesk incidents, and provide automation to help minimize the amount of time spent ion repetitive tasks such as patching—all of which can help you reduce your IT operational costs.

Common Desktop Management Challenges

There are a few common challenges that you might come across when implementing a desktop management solution. Here’s what they are and how to overcome them:

1. Some desktop management providers may only support certain OS types or be better equipped to support legacy systems than others. To make sure you’ll be able to get the most out of your solution—including full coverage of your device network—make sure you check with potential providers that they support not only the devices that you’re using, but also any third-party systems you plan to integrate the platform with. 
2. If you have a lot of endpoints in your environment or your solution isn’t configured correctly, your team may become overwhelmed by large volumes of low-priority alerts. We recommend utilizing any implementation and configuration support offered by your provider, and setting up the solution so that it only alerts you to the activities/events that your team wants—or needs—to know about. Some tools also offer alert prioritization to help minimize this issue.
3. Certain desktop management processes, such as prompting users to restart their computers to carry out updates, can be disruptive to end user productivity which, in turn, can cause users to become frustrated. To avoid this, we recommend configuring your solution to run updates within a designated timeframe (i.e., outside normal working hours). You may also want to look for a solution that allows end users to temporarily postpone updates until a more convenient time—particularly if you have users in multiple time zones or your organization operates 24/7.

Best Desktop Management Providers

Our team of software analysts and researchers have put together a shortlist of the best providers of desktop management solutions, as well as adjacent lists covering similar topics:

• The Top 11 Desktop Management Software
• The Top 9 Microsoft 365 Management Tools
• The Top 9 Remote Management Tools For Windows
• The Top 8 RMM Solutions For MSPs
• The Top 10 Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) Solutions
• The Top 10 Mobile Device Management (MDM) Solutions

Features Checklist

When comparing desktop management solutions, Expert Insights recommends looking for the following features:

1. Asset inventory: The solution should create an inventory of all the devices on your network and provide real-time visibility into the applications installed on each desktop.
2. User and role-based access controls: You should be able to configure appropriate permissions and access levels for different team members based on their role within your company.
3. Patch management: The solution should help you identify, test, and deploy operating system and software patches to maintain security and compliance. The best tools will allow you to automate this process and schedule rollouts during non-operational hours to help minimize disruption.
4. Policy enforcement: You should be able to configure and apply organizational rules across all your users’ devices, such as password policies and device restrictions. Plus, the solution should notify you in real-time of any policy violations.
5. Reporting and analytics: You should be able to access insights into system health, compliance, and usage trends to help you make informed maintenance and security decisions.
6. OS imaging and deployment: The solution should make it easy for you to set up new or reconfigured systems through standardized images.
7. Remote desktop control: You should be able to access and troubleshoot user machines without being physically present.
8. Security management: The solution should integrate with any security tools you’re using across your endpoint fleet and enable you to deploy and configure those tools from one central interface. These might include antivirus, endpoint protection, and firewalls.
9. Integration with directory services: Your solution should integrate with your user directory (e.g., Active Directory) so you can centralize user and device management.
10. Automation and scripting capabilities: You should be able to create custom tasks and workflows to streamline your IT operations.
11. Cross-platform support: Last but certainly not least, the solution must support all the different hardware and OS types in your device fleet, such as Windows, macOS, and Linux systems.

Future Trends: Where Is The Desktop Management Market Headed?

As the desktop management market continues to grow, we expect it to become more influenced by the increasing dominance of AI in the IT and cybersecurity spaces. Specifically, we will likely see the introduction of interfaces with AI agents, or more AI-powered features that help streamline and/or optimize repetitive, administrative tasks. 

Some solutions are already doing this: 

• IBM MaaS360 includes an AI chatbot and voice assistant, which can run analytics and assist with simple help desk inquiries. 
• Atera has introduced agentic AI capabilities to streamline scripting, ticketing, and basic troubleshooting tasks. 

However, we can expect features such as these to become standard across most leading desktop management tools.

Additionally, as more small- and medium-sized businesses digitize their operations, they’re starting to seek manageable, cost-effective IT and security solutions. As a result, we can expect to see more desktop management providers offering lightweight, scalable, and cost-effective versions of their solutions that are specifically tailored to the needs of SMBs.

Further Reading

You can find all our articles on desktop management in our IT Management Hub.

Want to jump right in? Here are a few articles we think you’ll enjoy: 

• Shortlist: The Top 11 Desktop Management Software
• Q&A: Kaseya Sr Director On Reducing RMM Costs, Using Fewer Tools, And Tackling Ransomware
• Podcast: Fortra EVP of Strategy On The Benefits Of Security Consolidation And The Evolving Threat Landscape